Pad Si Ew

The following recipe was featured for my Thai Cooking Class. You can read and view other recipes from the class HERE.

Pad Si Ew
(sweet soy sauce noodles)
Joelen’s recipe

1 onion, sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons oil
1 lb sliced chicken, pork or beef (your choice)
4 tablespoons black soy sauce
4 tablespoons regular or lite soy sauce
2-3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 package wide rice sticks (pho noodles)
2 cups frozen broccoli

To prep rice sticks, boil water in a dutch oven. Once water has come to a boil, turn off heat and place dried rice sticks into the water. Let it sit for 5-7 minutes until it softens. Drain & set aside.

In a large wok, heat oil. When hot, add onions & garlic.
Once onions have softened, add meat (chicken, pork or beef) and saute for 3-5 minutes.
After 3-5 minutes, add soy sauces and sugar.
Stir and reduce until sauce is slightly thick, about 5-7 minutes.
Add broccoli & toss to heat through.
When broccoli is heated through, add drained rice stick and toss gently.
To serve, place noodles on platter and garnish with fresh bean sprouts, crushed peanuts and/or sliced green onions.

Wasabi.. not only for Sushi!

In an attempt to use up some leftover wasabi, I decided to make a sushi inspired sauce combining wasabi and soy sauce. I call this, shrimp with wasabi soy noodles.Here’s my recipe:

1 lb large raw shrimp
1/2 package Shanghai egg noodles

2 cups water

2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon wasabi
1 tablespoon sugar
splash of mirin
splash of sesame oil
1/2 cup julienned green beans
1 tablespoon slivered almonds

In a wok, add water & shrimp.

Cook shrimp until pink.

Add remaining ingredients except noodles, beans and almonds.

Allow shrimp to simmer and absorb flavors.
Remove shrimp and set aside.

Add noodles and cook until softened and sauce is absorbed.

Add beans and almonds; toss to coat.
Serve noodles with shrimps on the side.

Soggy, Wet & Drunk

After getting caught in a downpour this afternoon in the Argyle neighborhood of Chicago. Over some sweet and creamy mango ice cream bars, we sat in our car contemplating our dinner options. Rather than hitting up the numerous Thai and Vietnamese restaurants surrounding us, we headed home after being inspired to cook up some Thai food. With some veggies yearning to be used in my kitchen, I went to work and made Pad Kee Mao, also known as “Drunken Noodles.”

Drunken noodles (or Pad Kee Mao, ผัดขี้เมา) is a Thai noodle dish similar to Pad See Ew, but with more flavor. It is made with broad rice noodles, soy sauce, garlic, and usually meat, sometimes bean sprouts, and various seasonings. Chili and thai basil adds to its well known spiciness.

We thought we had enough heat to deal with, so I made Pad Kee Mao without chili tonight. No one knows where the name of this dish comes from. Some believe it is called drunken noodles because it’s an excellent hangover cure. Others believe that it is so hot that the eater has to be drunk to be able to stand it, while some are sure that it’s because one becomes drunk trying to drown out the heat with alcohol. Still others believe that the name comes from the wide assortment of ingredients the dish contains: The chef is drunk enough to throw in a bunch of vegetables and spices without thinking it over. The most probable explanation is that this is one of the only foods available on the streets of Thailand late at night and in the very early morning, the times when drunken partyers are looking for something to eat. It is very possible that the extremely “wobbly” noodles themselves give the dish its name.

Here is my recipe for Pad Kee Mao, but you’re welcome to use various other vegetables you have on hand:

1 pkg flat rice noodles in “shards” or sticks
water to cook noodles
thai basil leaves – whole or chiffonade
assorted veggies such as:

sliced fresh mushrooms

sliced green & yellow bell pepper
2 plum tomatoes, wedged
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 large onion, sliced
2 eggs scrambled
1 large chicken breast (or your choice of meat)
cooking oil

Sauce (combine the following in a bowl):

1/2 cup oyster sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2-3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons lime or lemon juice

In a pot, boil water and cook noodles until softened, about 5-7 minutes.
Drain noodles and set aside.
Prep veggies for stir frying.
In a large wok or skillet, heat oil to cover pan.

Add garlic and onions until it sweats.

Add peppers and mushrooms; cook until softened.
Add tomatoes and cook until softened.
Remove from pan and set aside.
Add oil if needed and fry up scrambled eggs.
Remove from pan and set aside.
Add oil if needed and stir fry chicken.
Season with salt & pepper if you’d like.
Combine all ingredients in pan and add sauce.
Toss until thoroughly coated with sauce.
Garnish with whole or chiffonade basil.
Serve hot.

Pad Thai-riffic!

One thing I love about our new neighborhood is the close proximity we are to asian markets. There is a thriving neighborhood called “Argyle” that is home to many Vietnamese and Thai Chicagoans. I’m in heaven while grocery shopping within the Argyle neighborhood… because so many of the asian ingredients I use can be found at much better prices here.

While shopping in Argyle, I decided to make some Pad Thai. Making pad thai sauce from scratch is often a lengthy process involving lots of ingredients to get the perfect sweet and spicy flavors reminicent of traditional pad thai. So while shopping in the asian markets, I found a pre-made pad thai sauce that looked promising. With it, I made chicken pad thai.

Pad Thai is a dish of stir-fried rice noodles with eggs, fish sauce, tamarind juice, red chili pepper plus a combination of bean sprouts, shrimp, chicken, or tofu, garnished with crushed peanuts and cilantro. Its normally servied with a lime wedges – the lime juice added to the dish really freshens it up! In Thailand, it is also served with a piece of banana flower.

There have evolved two different styles of Pad Thai: the version most often found in the streets of Thailand, which is relatively dry and light; and the Western version which may be covered in a red oil and can be heavy tasting.

Outside of Thailand, Pad Thai is one of the best-known Thai dishes, and is very popular in Thai restaurants in America and Australia.

Here is my cheater’s recipe for Chicken Pad Thai:

1 bottle pre-made pad thai sauce

1/2 package of bahn pho noodles (small or medium width)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 large onion, sliced
1/4 cup carrots, sliced in matchsticks
1-2 boiled chicken breasts, chopped
1 block tofu, diced
2 eggs, cooked & scrambled
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 stalks green onion, sliced
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
crushed peanuts
lime wedges

In a pot, boil water and add rice noodles.
Cook noodles until softened; drain & set aside.

In a large pan, add oil and prepare scrambled eggs.
Remove from pan; set aside.

In same pan, add oil.
Add garlic, onions and sliced carrots.
When softened, add cooked chicken.

Add entire bottle of sauce; stir to coat.
Add tofu; stir to coat.
Add cooked noodles & scrambled eggs.

To serve, plate noodles and top with cilantro, green onions, bean sprouts, peanuts and lime.

Pretty Pancit Palabok

In light of my asian cooking trend, I made Pancit Palabok for dinner. Its a favorite Filipino rice noodle dish of ours that I made with the help of some help of palabok sauce packets.

Pancit Palabok is also known as Pancit Luglug and are essentially the same dish, with the difference being primarily in the type of the sauce used. Both types of pancit use a round rice noodle smothered with a thick, golden shrimp sauce or other flavored sauce, and topped with:

– Shrimp, (the size and shell-on or shell-off depending on preference)
– Crushed or ground pork rind (chicharron) for toppings
– Hard-boiled egg (sliced into disc or quartered lengthwise or chopped)
– Freshly minced green onion

Palabok is a communal comfort food, and can be found at nearly all Filipino potluck parties. They are best made and eaten in batches for they are easily consumed.

Here is my recipe for a simplified Pancit Palabok:1 package pancit luglug noodles

1 pancit palabok sauce packet
water as directed on sauce packet
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, sliced
1 lb roasted pork, diced
1/2 lb frozen seafood mix (includes shrimp, mussels, calamari, crab, scallops)
2 stalks green onion, sliced
1/2 cup chicharon
hard boiled eggs, sliced
lime wedges

Cook the pancit luglug noodles in boiling water until softened.

Drain noodles and set aside.
In a pan, heat oil and add garlic & onions.
When softened, add pork and seafood mix.
Cook thoroughly.
Add sauce packet & water as directed on package.
Let pan come to a boil and add noodles.
To serve, top with sliced green onion, chicharon, egg and lime.

Asian Beginnings

Finally! We are in our new home and loving it! The downside? The room I’m so anxiously waiting to do some damage in is the last one to be completed. The kitchen is the only room that has yet a piece missing – my kitchen table/work island. Hopefully it will arrive in the next week or so.

Despite my lack of counter/workspace, I have already starting my cooking routine. My husband and I have been living off of American fast food or asian buffet restaurants…. and quite frankly, we are sick of it! It seems like we have been drawn to asian food recently since we haven’t had any good home cookin for the past two weeks and we’re very close to asian markets in our new neighborhood.

With that, I made some beef & broccoli stir fry over Hong Kong pan fried noodles as our first dinner in our new home. Hong Kong pan fried noodles is a Hong Kong-style dish consisting of flour noodles that have been pan-fried until crispy, and served together with vegetables, chicken, beef and/or seafood.

Here’s my recipe for Beef & Broccoli over Hong Kong Pan Fried Noodles:

1/2 pkg Hong Kong flour noodles

1/4 cup canola oil

1 lb lean beef cut thin for stir fry
1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 large onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large head of broccoli, cut in small flowerettes
1 can straw mushrooms, drained
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
salt & pepper to taste

Prepare beef by coating it in cornstarch, salt & pepper; Set aside.

In a medium hot pan, heat your oil.
Add flour noodles to pan in one even layer.
Cook noodles until crisp on one side.
Remove from pan and drain over paper towels.

Add beef to the hot pan and brown.

Add garlic and onions; stir until softened.

Add broccoli, oyster sauce, water and soy sauce.
Heat through until broccoli is cooked.

Plate crispy noodles and top with stir fry.

Pancit Bihon

:Pancit Bihon
(Filipino stir fried rice noodles)

1 pkg Excellent brand “rice stick special bihon” noodles, soaked in hot water
Silver Swan or Lauriat soy sauce
1 cup water
carrots – sliced in match stick
red bell pepper, sliced thin
green beans, julienned
2 cups sliced cabbage
chicken – small cubed or bite sized pieces
2-3 cloves chopped garlic
1 medium to large chopped onion
1 cube chicken buillion
garlic salt
black pepper

1. Heat large wok with about 2-3 tablespoons of cooking oil (veggie, corn, canola will do)
2. Add chopped garlic and onions to the pot – cook til translucent.
3. Add all meats and cook til heated through.
4. Season meats with garlic salt, black pepper, chicken buillion cube
5. Add veggies, water and soy sauce (I start pouring and count to 3, then stop.) Let simmer till shrimp is pink and cooked through.
6. Add soaked noodles
7. Toss until heated through.
8. Place on platter and serve with lemon or calamansi (philippine lemon)

Somen Since its So Cold!

Tonight we are having beef & broccoli with Japanese somen noodles. I also added some bamboo shoots for added color and texture. It hit the spot perfectly on such a cold night in Chicago.

Somen are thin, round, white noodles made from wheat flour and is similar to vermicelli. Strands of somen are generally found dried and often packaged in band tied bundles. It’s often served cold but is also added to soups. But for tonight, I decided it would compliment my beef & broccoli stir fry wonderfully… and it did!

Beef & Broccoli Somen Recipe:

1 lb beef chuck, sliced thin

2 tablespoons cornstarch
oil for browning beef

1-2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 small onion, sliced

1 cup beef broth
1 lb fresh broccoli florets or frozen chopped broccoli
1 cup bamboo shoots
1/4 cup soy sauce

1-2 tablespoons oyster sauce
garlic powder & black pepper to taste
small handful of somen noodles
water for boiling noodles
sesame oil (optional)

1. Toss sliced beef in the cornstarch and set aside.
2. In wide shallow pan, heat cooking oil and brown beef.

3. Add minced garlic and sliced onion.

4. When beef is completely browned, deglaze the pan with beef broth, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Stir to get all the brown bits from the bottom.

5. Season liquid to taste with garlic powder and black pepper.

6. Add broccoli and bamboo shoots; let simmer for about 10 minutes until cooked through.

7. Cook somen noodles in boiling water for 5-7 minutes; remove and drain.

8. Toss noodles in stir fry and add a few drops of sesame oil for added flavor/aroma.