Drunken Noodles

Ingredients:

10 oz dried wide flat rice noodles
10 oz gai lan
10 oz shrimp
6 cloves garlic, minced
3-5 Thai bird peppers, minced
3/4 cup torn holy or Thai basil leaves

for the sauce:
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons black soy sauce
3 tablespoons golden mountain sauce or dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar


Directions:
Prep the dry noodles according to package instructions. Set aside. Whisk together sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside. Heat a small amount of oil in a wok. Stir fry the garlic and chiles until fragrant. Add the shrimp, gai lan and sauce and stir fry, until it is nearly fully cooked. Add the noodles. Stir fry until the shrimp is fully cooked then stir in the basil. Serve immediately.

My thoughts:

Drunken noodles are a Thai restuarant staple. The origins of the name is somewhat cloaked in mystery but the most popular seems to be that these noodles are so spicy that you'll want to drink a lot. I've also heard that they are a good dish after you've had too much to drink. Frankly, I don't think you need an excuse to eat these noodles. My favorite version, which I reproduced here, has gai lan (Chinese broccoli) in it to make it more of a full meal; some versions are basically just sauce, protein and noodles. The trick to drunken noodles is using the correct sauce and if you can find it, holy basil or at least Thai basil. You can swap out the shrimp with an equal amount of chicken, pork or tofu. Ground meats work well too.

Pad See Ew

Ingredients:
3/4 lb thin cut boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bit sized pieces
8-10 oz dried or fresh wide flat rice noodles
1 bunch gai lan (Chinese broccoli), sliced diagonally
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons black soy sauce
1 tablespoon mushroom flavored soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 egg, beaten

marinade
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons black soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 Thai bird pepper, minced
1/2 teaspoon palm sugar
salt
white pepper

Directions:
Place the chicken and marinade in a resealable bag. Marinate 30 minutes. Prep the dry noodles according to package instructions. Set aside. Whisk together the sauces. Set aside. Cook the egg in a single layer in a nonstick skillet. Break into strips. Set aside. Heat a small amount of oil in a wok. Stir fry the gai lan until fragrant until bright green. Remove to a bowl. Add the garlic and stir fry until fragrant. Add the chicken (discard the marinade)and stir fry until almost cooked through and slightly charred on both sides. Add the fresh or prepped dried noodles and half of the sauce. Stir fry 1 minute, the noodles should char slightly around the edges. Add the egg and gai lan. Stir fry and toss with remaining sauce. Serve immediately.

My thoughts:

Pad see ew is a staple at many Thai restaurants. It has a balance of sweet-savory that is really appealing even if you are, like me, a spicy food lover. I had a lot of fun developing a recipe that mirrors what I've had at my favorite restuarant. Cooking each bit individually is key to this recipe's success. Marinating the chicken infuses it with flavor and helps the chicken stay juicy. Take care not to let too much of the actual marinade into the wok or the final dish will be too saucy. The bit of sugar in the marinade helps achieve the "wok char" on the noodles and chicken that adds a smoky flavor and complexity to the dish. It tasted fresher and better than what I've had out and I made it in less time than it takes to get to the restuarant and park.


Note: The really wide fresh (or dried) rice noodles needed for this dish can be difficult to find. Substitute the widest noodles available.

Bacon Rice

Ingredients:
5 slices thick cut bacon

for the omelet:
1 green onion, chopped (green parts only)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon sesame oil
4 dried shiitake mushrooms
canola oil

For the rice:
1 cup sushi rice*
a couple drops sesame oil
sesame seeds

For the Chinese broccoli:
4-5 stalks Chinese broccoli (gai lan), chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon light soy sauce or kecap manis
1-2 tablespoons oyster sauce


To serve:
light soy sauce or kecap manis
extra chopped green onion

Directions:
For the rice:
Make the rice according to package instructions but adding a couple drops of sesame oil and some sesame seeds to the water. This time I used the liquid leftover from rehydrating the mushrooms for the omelet for a little extra flavor instead of water.

For the omelet:
Cover dried mushrooms with hot water for 20 minutes, then squeeze the liquid out and cut into thin strips. In a small bowl, beat eggs with the sesame oil and the green onions. Cook like an omelet in a large hot skillet, tilting to spread the egg mixture across the surface of the pan, about 2 minutes. When the top of the omelet is almost set, flip the omelet and cook for 1 minute on the other side. Remove to a plate and roll the omelet into a tight coil then slice it into thin, even strips. It should then uncoil, leaving you with long strips of egg.


For the Chinese broccoli:
Heat the oil in a wok. Stir fry the garlic then add the Chinese broccoli. Stir fry until the greens are starting to wilt, then stir in the soy sauce and oyster sauce.


Meanwhile: Fry the bacon in a large skillet. Drain onto paper towel-lined plates then cut into small pieces. Set aside.

To serve: toss the cooked rice, bacon, Chinese broccoli and omelet together. Drizzle with soy sauce. Sprinkle with green onion. EAT!


*I like Koshi rice which is really tasty Japanese variety called Koshihikari grown here in the US, but any good quality sushi rice will do.


Yield: 2-4 servings

My thoughts:

This recipe grew out of Matt's memory of an high school friend mentioning that she would eat bacon rice for breakfast. At the time he thought it was odd but once he told me about it, we realized that it actually sounded kind of good. We weren't entirely sure what was in it so we came up with this, a sort of pan-Asian un-fried rice. The very few mentions of bacon rice I could found after we made if for the first time were mostly for Japanese American homestyle bacon fried rice or of visits to "bacsilog" -bacon, egg & garlic fried rice- stalls in the Philippines. Frankly, I am not sure if fried rice is quite what I want to start my day off with. My version is slightly more dressed up and I bet, a bit fresher tasting. Despite the bacon, this recipe yields a decidedly non greasy meal, especially if you use thick, center cut bacon which generally is high in flavor but lower in fat and then thoroughly drain the slices.

Another pro in the un-fried column is that despite our 3x+ a week consumption of sushi rice, I almost never have leftover rice. Making the rice the day I actually want to eat it, rather than having to think ahead and make it the day before so I can make fried rice, is much easier and by the time the rice is done, all of the other components should be ready.

While we eat this more often than I'd care to admit, I never thought I'd post the recipe. Bacon rice what we make when I am too tired to come up with something new and/or am tired of photographing everything that comes out of the kitchen. It's made up entirely of ingredients we pretty much always have on hand and is really quick to put together. Despite its undisputed deliciousness, I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in an actual recipe. I changed my mind after mentioning making it a couple times on Twitter and I was overwhelmed with recipe requests. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, bacon is always a hit!

So here it is. Written out it looks a little complicated but it really just a bunch of little steps that can pretty much be completed at the same time for a meal that takes approximately 30 minutes to make. We like to have it as a weeknight dinner or for a weekend breakfast/brunch before heading out to a busy day. Consider yourself forwarded, once you make it for the first time you will want to make it again and again.


A few notes:
I like to make it with some vegetables because it makes the dish into more of a complete meal but if you are in a hurry or want to serve this for breakfast (and are vegetable adverse in the AM) you can leave them out.

You can also vary the vegetables. I love Chinese broccoli so I used that but it is also tasty made with other leafy greens like baby bok choy, Shanghai cabbage. tatsoi or even spinach, prepared in the same way.

Other variations: Add some chopped shrimp to the omelet. Add some cubed tofu or fresh mushrooms to the vegetable mix. Using the kecap manis (a palm sugar-sweetened soy sauce) will give you a sort of sweet-smoky-salty bacon rice that is an interesting variation on what we typically make.

Numbing Hot Shrimp with Chinese Broccoli

Ingredients

for the sauce:
2 teaspoon palm sugar
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons black vinegar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon black sesame oil
1 teaspoon shaoxing

everything else:
1 lb Chinese Broccoli, cut into manageable pieces
1 lb peeled medium sized shrimp
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 inch knob ginger, grated
2 shallots, minced
1 tablespoon whole Sichuan peppercorns
2 tablespoons canola oil
10 dried Chinese red chilies, cut in half and seeds discarded
5 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and sliced thinly

to serve:
hot white rice

Directions:
Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Heat the oil in a wok or skillet. When the oil is hot add the chiles and peppercorns and stir-fry for a few seconds until they are fragrant, breaking the peppercorns a bit with the back of a spoon. Next, add the shallot, rehydrated mushrooms, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry for an additional minute. Add the shrimp and vegetables and stir-fry for a few minutes. When the shrimp is almost fully cooked, pour in the sauce and stir-fry, taking care that the sauce is evenly distributed, until the shrimp is fully cooked and pink.

My thoughts:

Sichuan (AKA Szechwan, Szechuan) peppercorns, are the last culinary coup around these parts. Finally located* after many, many months of searching local shops, I finally got to experiment with them. While they may be called "peppercorns", it is a bit of a misnomer as they are actually the outer pod (the seeds are removed) of a fruit and aren't related to chiles or pepper. They are used in many spicy dishes but they are not what is generally thought of as hot and don't have a pungent aroma like chiles. They do have sort of citrus flavor. So if they are not hot, then why are they used so frequently in spicy dishes? They have a chemical that causes an interesting tingle and numbness in the mouth that really sets off any sort of spiciness. It's not a "fresh from the dentist" numbness but sort of a subtle almost cooling, tingle in your mouth and throat. Adding the dried red chiles to the dish creates a meal that is pleasantly spicy but not burn-your-mouth hot.





*At Towson Oriental Market, for you locals. Ask at the counter for help because they look a lot like another spice, are not labled in English and the design of the packaging makes it difficult to make out their distinctive shape.

Chinese Greens with Oyster Sauce and Ginger

Chinese Greens with Oyster Sauce and Ginger
Ingredients:

2 lb assorted Chinese greens (ie baby bok chuy, baby spinach, Chinese broccoli etc)
6 tablespoons oyster sauce
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoon black sesame oil
1 tablespoon ginger , minced
4 green onions, finely chopped
2 garlic chives, finely chopped

Directions:

Coarsely chop all greens. In a large wok, heat 2 tablespoons oil, add the ginger and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the green onions and the rest of the ingredients apart from the oyster sauce, soy sauce, and black sesame oil. Cook 1-2 minutes until the vegetables start to wilt. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, and black sesame oil, stir to coat. Cook about 1 minute or until the sauce begins to reduce. Plate and serve.

My thoughts:
It's amazing how much vegetables cook down. You start off with a huge overflowing wok and end up with only 4 servings. A really yummy, salty-spicy side dish for a Chinese meal.