Pad Kee Mao

In the downtown area of where I live, there are a countless number of small restaurants and shoppes (yes shop-pes) which speckle the streets with their small town charm. Driving up the main street at night is one of my favorite things to do; there are lights in the trees, and the whole city is buzzing with life. Among these gems is my favorite Thai restaurant ever. It’s a small Mom and Pop style run place, with one waiter, and kitsch galore. Of course, it’s all Thai themed, so it’s not reminiscent of a 50’s diner, but the food is the main attraction.

I try to get something different every time we go, and have been successful thus far. When I do go with my friends, we all get something different, which I enjoy. Since we’re like family, there are lots of, “Hey, can I steal a bite?”s and “Oh my god, you guys need to try this. IT’S SO GOOD!!”s. All in all, I’ve had 8 different things off their menu of over 250 different things (the upside in Asian style restaurants).

Wanting to spread the love, without spreading my wallet too thin, I thought it would be a good idea to try to imitate my most recent favorite dish, Pad Kee Mao. Also known as Drunken noodles, this dish has absolutely no (or I suppose, very little) alcohol in it. At the restaurant it comes with your choice of protein (my favorite being Tofu), served over a bed of wide rice noodles, and wonderfully stir-fried vegetables, smothered in the house spicy bean sauce (it sounds gross, but it’s the best thing in the WORLD). They also have the most tantilizing cucumber water; it kills the heat like none other.

So how does a college kid approach the unknown? : Google. I found so many different recipes, and each one of them had a few different ingredients, or different methods; I was over-stimulated with all my options. I took all of the common threads in the recipes, and linked them to this recipe. Living in the central Midwest also has its down side; do you have any idea how hard it is to find “Golden Mountain Sauce” or “Mirin” is to find here?? Not only did I not even know what to look for, but once I found the Mirin sauce, I got to the register and was stopped by the attendant.

“Sir may I see your I.D.?”
“Why? I’m not buying alcohol…”
“The red light went off, which means alcohol. *inspects Mirin bottle* Sir, this is 8% alcohol, I can’t sell this to you.”
“It’s vinegar!! Do you think I’m going to drink it in my car on the way home?!”
“Sir, it has alcohol in it. You aren’t 21. I’m sorry. *walks away*”

There aren’t words for the anger I felt at that moment. I stalked out of the store, and came home, all in a tiff about how Meijer wouldn’t sell me vinegar. Only 10 more months, and I’ll be old enough. Then they’ll see….

Alas, I’m rambling again. Here’s what I could salvage of a Pad Kee Mao recipe. You can Google search for one like this, or this, but if you don’t recognize the ingredients, you might want to ask for a field trip to the International aisle of your local market.

Pad Kee Mao

SAUCE
2 Tbsp Oyster sauce
2 Tbsp Fish sauce
2 Tbsp Brown sugar
4 Tbsp Soy sauce
1 Tbsp Sriracha, or chili sauce
1 Tbsp Thai Garlic chili paste
Juice of two limes
2 Jalapenos, seeds and ribs included, diced (or Thai chilies if you can find them)
(these are ingredients I couldn’t find, but were in all the recipes I saw)
2 Tbsp Golden Mountain Sauce (light colored soy sauce)
2 Tbsp Mirin (Sake vinegar, which I learned after some post-store-scene research)

NOODLES
I, again, failed at finding the correct noodles.

1 pack of Maifun Rice sticks, or cellophane noodles (these SHOULD be wide rice noodles)

STIR FRY
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 package of extra firm tofu
½ pound snow peas, washed and pat dry
½ yellow onion, diced small
1 Tbsp minced Garlic
2 bell peppers, seeded and diced (preferably colorful ones)

Boil water in a saucepan. Once boiling, pour over dry noodles in a heat-proof bowl. Let stand for about 15-20 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the ingredients of the sauce, and mix well. Set aside.

In a large skillet or wok, add the sesame oil, and heat until the oil is smoking. Once hot, add the onion and bell peppers. Cook until soft, about 4-6 minutes. Open the Tofu, and pat it dry with a paper towel. Cut it into planks, then into equal sized cubes, about ½”x ½”x ½”. Add the Tofu in, and cook until slightly brown. Stir in the garlic and snow peas and cook until the snow peas are warmed through. Add the sauce and noodles. Cook for another 3-5 minutes, or until the sauce is evenly distributed and everything is hot. Serve with LOTS of cucumber and dairy products, as this is a VERY spicy dish.

Remy's Ratatouille

We’ve all seen it – Ratatouille. It’s a heartwarming tale of a rat that cooks for the best food critic in all of Paris, and succeeds. I first saw it with my nieces about a year ago, and immediately fell in love with it. I had never heard of Ratatouille before nor had I seen it made – until last week when I was perusing Deb’s wonderful website. It looked just like the movie version, and tasted much better than I could ever imagine roasted vegetables in tomato sauce ever possibly could.

I was happy to finally get some use out of my mandoline (the only other time it was used was when I catered for 80 this past spring – more on that later). Not only was it simple to make, but it’s a collage of fresh vegetables and spices that meld into something that does exactly what it did to Anton Ego in the movie – sends you back home. I’ve gained an appreciation for my parents cooking over the past year, because I never knew the amount of work that went into cooking a meal for at least four people every night of the week. Now I know why some nights degraded to Shake&Bake or, “Hey, let’s order a pizza.” I try to cook every night, but some nights, Jimmy John’s is just too irresistible. But I digress.

If you don’t have a mandoline (or even if you do), be careful when slicing the vegetables (and don’t be like me and slice off some of your index finger…oops.) You can also serve this over your grain of choice; I just made Couscous because I completely forgot until the Ratatouille was almost done.

Remy’s Ratatouille (adapted from SmittenKitchen.com)

1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant
1 smallish zucchini
1 smallish yellow squash
1 longish red bell pepper
Large pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried Thyme
Salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 375F.

On your mandoline (or very carefully with a knife), slice the ends off of the zucchini, squash, and eggplant. Slice the vegetables into 1/16” slices. Cut off the stem of the red pepper and carefully remove the seeds, leaving the flesh intact. Cut off the bottom to make a tube, and slice this on the mandoline as well.

In your baking dish (I used a 7”x11” pan – a round or oval one would work as well) pour in the tomato puree. Sprinkle the onion, garlic, salt, 1 tablespoon Olive Oil, pepper, and red pepper over the tomato sauce. Stir well. Layer the vegetables so a small part of each vegetable is visible. Do this around the entire dish until it is full. You will have veggies left over. Sprinkle the thyme and remaining tablespoon olive oil over the dish and cover with parchment paper. Bake for 45 – 50 minutes, until the tomato sauce is bubbly and the veggies are soft, but still retain their shape. Mix in the remaining veggies with your grain of choice. Serves 4.

Green Dal

Sometime around February, my friends and I finally got around to going to the ethnic restaurants that were a mere block from our apartment. Our first expedition was a dinner at the small Indian place around the corner. None of us had ever had Indian food before so we enlisted our friend Colin, who frequented this restaurant, to guide us. Let me tell you, Indian restaurants have a very distinct odor. Many restaurants bequeath an odor that is similar, or at least somewhat related to the food served; this restaurant didn’t smell bad, but there was something that wasn’t right. Immediately I was on guard for the food to be on par with the aroma.

I was impressed with the selection on the menu. There were over 200 items to be had, all different in some way. Since there were six of us, we all ordered six different things and shared, as good friends do. When the food arrived, I fears were realized; the food was a goopy mess of different unidentifiable pastes and thick sauces. I was reassured by Colin that he had eaten this food before and no harm would come to us. Sitting on my pride, I swallowed my fear, and dove into the first bowl of goop. After the initial shock of the intense heat, I was amazed by the myriad of flavors dancing around my mouth. There was something familiar, and something very different about what I was eating. There was meat, vegetables, sauce, and when dipped in the naan, it was a complete meal. After the six of us were completely satisfied, and our plates cleaned, we headed back to my apartment to sleep off the feast we just finished.

Since that night, I’ve been pining to recreate something Indian in my own kitchen, and now I’ve finally done it. It wasn’t anything spectacular that I’d recommend serving at Christmas or any major holiday, but as something for everyday. That being said, it is something that will wow whoever you make it for, because as the food cooks, it transforms into its own sauce, and spicy covering for whatever you put inside of it. And it’s incredibly healthy. Read the ingredients over, and try to find something unhealthy about this (leaving out the heaping dollop of sour cream I put on mine). Also, read Deb’s description of how this type of food helps when it’s hot out. I can’t explain it, but damn, it’s true.

Green Dal (adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Everyday Yellow Dal)

1 cup green split peas, soaked in cold water for 1 hour
2 large tomatoes (about 16 ounces), cut into 8 wedges per tomato
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 medium red onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
5 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, finely ground
3/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne 1/4 cup minced cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt

OPTIONAL
I grilled some chicken breasts with cumin and chili powder on them, sliced them up and added them at the end. You can do this with any meat if you don’t want a vegetarian dish.

Drain the split peas, and place them in a large saucepan, or high walled pot, with the tomato slices and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about an hour. Pick out the tomato skins carefully after an hour. Stir vigorously with a whisk to bring it together. Keep warm over very low heat.

In a medium skillet over high heat, heat the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin and stir making sure to mix in all of the cumin. Add the chopped onion and sauté for about 3 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic and continue to sauté until the onion turns dark brown, another 5 minutes. Add the coriander, turmeric and cayenne, stir and pour mixture over the split peas and tomato mixture (the Dal). Add in the cilantro, butter, and salt and stir. Cook another 5 minutes, on medium low heat until everything is warmed through. Serve with cilantro and sour cream. Serves 4.