{ Pad Macaroni }

Another favorite dish of mine, Pad Macaroni. There was a time in my life where my mom would take my sister and I to a public a swimming pool over the weekend, my sister and I were about 11 or 12 years old at the time. My favorite part of our swimming day was the part where we get to order anything we want from the pool cafeteria; Pad Macaroni was the dish that I would order every time, and has never once disappointed me. One part of me believe that it was because I was very picky when I first moved to Thailand from Italy, that brought some attention to my grandmother. So, she tried to comfort me with the food that she was not familiar with (Italian food). She would often made a spaghetti with ketchup for me, and I ate it, in fact I preferred that over any other Thai food at the time. And with Pad Macaroni, the combination of pasta, ketchup and soy sauce was just simply one of the best thing I've ever had when I was a child.

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{ 1-2 servings }

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup of dried macaroni (I normally use rotini instead)
• 1/4 lb of strip sliced chicken breast (tofu, shrimp, or pork would be good combination as well)
• 2 whole white mushrooms
• 1/2 - 1 whole tomato
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp of chopped cilantro
• 1 whole green onion cut up in pieces with 1 inch in length
• 1/4 cup of sliced yellow onion
• 1 tbsp of chopped garlic
• 3-4 tbsp of ketchup
• 2-3 tbsp of soy sauce
• 3 tbsp of vegetable oil

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1. Boiled pasta for about 3-4 minutes (make sure that it is not cook thoroughly).

2. In a medium-large saucepan add vegetable oil heat it up over medium-high. Add garlic (mix it well with the oil) then quickly add chicken, stir it for 10-15 seconds.

3. Add onion, green onion, sliced tomato, mushroom, soy sauce and ketchup and stir fry it for about 30-40 seconds.

4. Add an egg and half way cooked pasta and stir fry all the ingredient in the pan until chicken and pasta are cooked, sprinkle with cilantro before serve.

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Voila!

{ Kim Haugh: Tempeh Scampi }

{ Kim Haugh }

The very first guest of Palatable Dish, Kim Haugh, is a graphic designer that can cook! Kim is a cheese fiend, a french-fry lover, and a vegetarian. She is also a very good friend of mine, but I can assure you that I'm not trying to sell my friend's cooking here, the food that she makes is delicious (as a matter of fact, I regret that I didn't take any of the left-over home!!!)

So, how about a little story about our dish today here, Tempeh Scampi, a common food in Kim's kitchen (besides cereals... ;)...)? It started out with Chicken Scampi, one of her favorite dishes that her mother used to make when she was younger. And one day, the not-so-fond-of-meat palette of hers gradually brought her into a vegetarian world, "I feel the most passionate about the environmental impact issues...", Kim said. From knowing her quite sometimes now, I'm actually starting to think that if there is a war between animals and humans Kim would totally ditch us human and take on the animal side (you'll be seeing her standing by the army of squirrels.) Well, long story short, Kim's love for her mom's chicken scampi with a not-so-much-for-meat attitude, a vegetarian version of scampi, the sauteed tempeh pieces infused with lemon juice, garlic and butter, has most, if not all, of the flavor that a chicken scampi that her mom used to made has to offer (minus the chicken of course).

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{ 2-3 servings }

ingredients

• 1 block of tempeh (8 oz.) - break into bite-size pieces
• 1-2 chopped tomatoes
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup of lemon juice
• 3 tbsp of butter
• 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp of pepper

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{ Tomatoes, garlic, lemon, green onion, parsley, and tempeh.}

{ Tempeh and tomatoes. }

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1. In a medium saucepan heat 1 1/2 tbsp of butter and 1/2 tbsp of olive oil over medium high until the butter melts. Add tempeh and cook for about 2-3 minutes or until it turns golden brown, set aside on a separate plate once it's done.

2. In the same saucepan add the rest of olive oil and butter and heat until the butter melts. Over medium heat, add chopped green onion, stir it for about 3-4 minutes, then add garlic, salt and pepper and stir it for about 30 seconds. Adjust the heat to medium high, add tempeh, tomatoes, lemon juice, and parsley and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until the sauce forms. Serve it over rice.///Top with some parmesan cheese and chopped parsley for some extra flavor.///

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Voila!

{ Tuna Nam Prik }

When I think of Nam Prik I think of a sound of some Thai chillies and other spices are being mashed with a pestle in a stone mortar that my grandmother used to make. Nam Prik could be prepared in many way, but ones that my grandmother often make were Nam Prik Kapi (Thai chili paste with shrimp paste) and Nam Prik Pla Pon (Pla-tu?) (Thai chili paste with Indian Mackerel), these two dishes go really well with rice and fresh vegetable. Since Nam Prik was a well known dish in Thailand and you can walk less than a mile to get some kind of Nam Prik (and I believe they are also available at 7-11 stores in Thailand), I never bother to make one myself. Luckily when I moved to United States I still get to taste Nam Prik and finally learn how to make it from my mother. It has actually been awhile that I haven't made or even tasted one, I'm actually glad that a few of my friends, who I used to have them try this dish reminded me of it, so, today's dish is specially made for my friends (whom I haven't seen in ages!!!) and for the sake of the old time. ///By the way, this is a very garlicky and oniony dish!///

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{2-3 servings}

Ingredients:

• 1 can of tuna
• 4-5 peeled onion shallots
• 6-7 peeled garlic cloves
• 2-3 dried Thai chillies
• 3-4 fresh Thai chillies
• 1/3 cup of chopped cilantro
• 1/3 cup of chopped green onions
• 3-4 tbsp of lime juice
• 3-4 tbsp of fish sauce
• 1/3 tsp of sugar (optional)
• 5 tbsp of vegetable broth (optional)

///Cucumber and carrots goes really well with this dish. And a bowl of rice!///

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{ Roasted garlic, onion shallots, Thai chilies, Thai dried chillies. }

1. In a medium saucepan, set the stove to medium-high heat, and pan roast garlic, shallots, and Thai fresh chillies, stir the ingredients occasionally for about 5 minutes.

2. In a bowl, mix roasted ingredients, dried Thai chillies, and tuna together.

3. Mash all the ingredients in a bowl with mortar and pestle (to be traditional) or simply just chop it in a food processor.

4. Place the chopped ingredients back in a bowl then add lime juice, fish sauce, green onion, cilantro, sugar and vegetable broth.

///I normally put them all back in a saucepan and cook it for a minute then let it cool before I serve.///

Voila!

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{ Noodle: Rad Na Moo }

One of my favorite dishes, Rad Na (stir-fry noodle top with gravy) I had in Thailand with a few friends after school :)

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{ 1 serving }

Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb of pork (could use chicken, tofu, beef, or seafood...)
• 1/4 tsp of white pepper
• 1/4 lb of fresh wide rice noodle
• 3-4 oz. (about 100 grams) of chinese broccoli (Kana)
• 2 tsp of chopped garlic
• 3 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp of black soy sauce
• 3 tbsp of white soy sauce (regular soy sauce would do)
• 1 tbsp of oyster sauce
• 1 1/2 cup of chicken/vegetable broth
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1 tsp of soy bean paste (optional)
• 1 tsp of garlic powder (optional)
• 1 cup of dissolved corn starch or tapioca starch (should be 1 tbsp of starch/1 cup of cold water)

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{ garlic }

1. Cut/slice pork into a bite size. Marinate it with white soy sauce (2 tbsp), white pepper, garlic powder (optional), and oyster sauce ///I usually marinate the meat overnight but you can skip this step and just mix them together for a quick meal///

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{ Chinese Broccoli (Kana) }

2. Slice Chinese broccoli as shown in the picure.

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{ Wide Rice Noodle }

3. In a medium-large fry pan (set the stove to medium-high) add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot add 1 teaspoon of chopped garlic, give a little stir to it then add the noodle. Add 1 tablespoon of black soy sauce and mix it well. Once the noodle is cooked place it in a dish/bowl.

4. In a medium-large fry pan or a wok (set the stove to high) add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add 1 teaspoon of chopped garlic, give it a little stir then add mixed/marinated pork into the pan, stir it well.

5. Just right before the meat is thoroughly cooked add Chinese broccoli and give it a little stir, then add 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of black soy sauce, soy bean paste, and 1 teaspoon of white soy sauce, mix it well.

6. Add chicken/vegetable broth into the same pan and bring it to a boil, then slowly pour the dissolved corn/tapioca starch into a boiling broth just enough to make a gravy like out of it. Once the liquid is nice and thick turn off the stove and pour the final product on top of the noodle.

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Voilà!

///Add some roasted Thai pepper for some spiciness...///

{ Noodle: Instant Udon Soup }

There was a time in my life, when I was in Thailand, that I was so in to Japanese cartoons (manga) and video games. Japanese culture has had quite an influent on me. I don't remember exactly which manga I was reading but one of them did inspire me to start making my first Udon noodle soup (I would say Ranma 1/2 since I remember first time seeing a spiral pattern fish cake from it.) Since I had no idea what exactly is supposed to be in the broth, I technically just made a chicken noodle soup with udon and fish cake, and as a child that was good enough for me.

Anyway, now that there are internet and more cook books available, making Udon noodle soup can never get any easier, better yet... an instant Udon noodle soup. One of the easiest way to satisfy your palette during winter time, and something different from your normal chicken noodle soup... >_>.

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{ 1 serving }

Ingredients:

• 1 pack of instant Udon noodle (any flavor that you'd like)
• 1 1/2 cup of water
• 4-5 pieces of snow peas
• 2-3 pieces of sliced fish cake
• 20-30 grams of Enoki mushroom
• 1 sheet of seaweed
• 1 tsp of thinly cut green onion

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{ Snow peas, Enoki mushroom, fish cake }

1. Add Udon noodle in a boiling water. Cook for about 2 minutes, then add snow peas, and Enoki mushroom, cook for 30-40 second more.

2. Right before you turn off the heat, add soup base (that comes with the instant Udon noodle.)

3. Top the soup with fish cake, green onion, and seaweed.

///Add some shichimi to kick it up a notch!///

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Voilà!

{ Noodle: Chicken Paloh Soup }

Yesterday I was craving for one of the Thai-Chinese dish called Paloh. As I was a (picky) child this was one of my favorite dish. Traditionally you would be eating this with rice (in Thailand.) And it actually contains hard boiled eggs and pork in this soup. Anyway, here's what you can do alternately.

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{ 3-4 servings }

Ingredients:

-set 1-

• 5-6 pieces of chicken drumsticks
• 1 tsp of garlic powder
• 1 tsp of cinnamon powder
• 3 tbsp regular soy sauce
• 1/4 cup of vegetable oil

-set 2-

• 2 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
• 3 cups of water

-set 3-

• 2-3 medium size of cinnamon sticks
• 6-7 pieces of star anise
• 5-6 pieces of bay leaves
• 1 tbsp of dried coriander seeds
• 1/4 cup of black soy sauce
• 1/4 cup of shitake mushroom soy sauce
• 2 tbsp of sugar

-set 4-

• 1 lb. of fresh egg noodle
• 2 tbsp fried garlic with its oil
• 2 cups of sprout
• 1 cup of chopped cilantro
• 1 pack of tofu cutlet

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{ Cinnamon Stick, Bay leaf, Star anise }

1. Marinated chicken drumsticks with garlic powder, cinnamon powder, and regular soy sauce for about 10-15 minutes.

2. In a medium pan add vegetable oil, once the oil gets hot add the marinated chicken drumsticks. Cook the drumsticks until the outside turns golden brown (don't cook all the way through.) Set aside.

3. In a medium-large saucepan add water and chicken (or vegetable) broth and bring it to a boil.

4. Add set 3, and the partially cooked drumsticks into a saucepan. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let it cook for about 2 hours.

5. Cook the noodle (approximately 1/4 lb per person) in a separate pot. Once the noodle is cooked, drain, add fried garlic, bean sprout, and chopped cilantro, mix it well.

6. Once the soup is done pour it over the noodle, and top the dish with some sliced tofu cutlet.

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Voilà!

{ Tom Ka Gai: Coconut Chicken Soup }

Hello! I'm pretty sure many of you are already familiar with this dish, Tom Ka Gai. Yes, that spicy coconut milk soup. Well, I have to admit that I was motivated to make this dish by my new banker (secretly, I'd just like to get his lasagna recipe!). Anyway, for those family and friends of mine that are Thai, please read the "Note from the author" on your right hand side before you move on o_o ---->

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***Note: minus the chili paste and green onion if you want it to be a bit more traditional***

{ 2-3 servings }

Ingredients:

• 5 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 cans (about 400 ml. each ) of coconut milk (could use more or less, depends on how creamy you want it to be. Also, some Thai people use milk instead)
• 1/2 of a whole onion
• 2/3 cup of chopped cilantro
• 2/3 cup of chopped green onion
• 2/3 lb of chicken breast
• 1/2-1 cup of sliced mushroom (however much you'd like)
• 5-6 pieces of sliced Galanga (Ka) ///see image below///
• 6-7 pieces of sliced lemon grass ///see image below///
• 3-4 tbsp of tamarin paste
• 3-4 tbsp of (Thai) chili paste
• 3-4 tbsp of fish sauce

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{ Lemongrass }

{ Galanga (Ka) }

{ Sliced Galanga (Ka) }

{ Onion }

{ Green Onion }

{ Cilantro }

1. Slice/cut lemongrass, galanga, onion, cilantro, and green onion as shown from images above.

2. Slice chicken breast into strips.

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3. In a medium-large saucepan add chicken or vegetable broth and bring it to a boil, then add galanga and lemongrass. Bring the temperature down to medium and cook it for about 5 minutes, then add chicken and onion. Cook for about 15 minutes.

4. Add coconut milk and bring it to a boil.

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{ Thai Chili Paste }

{ Tamarin Paste }

{ Fish Sauce }

5. Add chili paste, tamarin paste, and fish sauce, stir it well.

///Adjust the amount of these ingredients to suit your own palate///

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{ Fresh Thai Pepper }

6. Turn the temperature down to medium-low, then add Thai pepper (if you want it to be spicy), green onion and cilantro. Roasted pepper would also give an excellent flavor.

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Voilà!

Oh, and don't forget a bowl of rice!

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{ Kin Jay: Shitake Mushroom and Cellophane Noodle Soup }

When I used to live in Thailand, every year my family will celebrate Kin Jay Festival (Vegetarian Festival), technically, you'll become a vegetarian for a period of time (I believe it's sometimes in October.) Anyway, since I've been eating a lot of meat for the past few days, today, I'd like to make something simply vegetarian. This dish was first made available for my palette about 15 years ago by my sister. The actual ingredients that my sister used were dried shitake mushroom, cellophane noodle, water, and white soy sauce. But here's what you can also add on...

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***Note: traditionally, Kin Jay Festival food does not contain any ingredients that has a strong flavor/smell (not so sure what's the story behind it) such as green onion and garlic***

{ 1 serving }

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of vegetable broth
• 1-2 tbsp of white soy sauce (regular soy sauce would do)
• 2-3 whole dried shitake mushrooms
• 1 pack of cellophane noodle
• garnish (optional): green onion, cilantro, or seaweed...or all of the above...o_o.

Before you start cooking, soak dried shitake mushrooms in a bowl of water for about 2-3 hours (it will be easier to slice and better texture to eat.) Do the same thing with cellophane noodle.

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{ Dried Shitake Mushroom }

You can get dried shitake mushroom from any asian market, they are not that expensive. (The one that I got was about $9.99, bigger package, and that would last me for about a year. Or you could get a smaller package for like 4 dollar-ish...)

Once dried shitake mushrooms are soft enough, thin slice them.

In a saucepan, add water and vegetarian broth, bring to a boil then add sliced shitake mushroom. Cook for about 10 minutes.

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{ Cellophane Noodle }

Add pre-soaked cellophane noodle into the saucepan, add soy sauce (actually, the amount of soy sauce totally depends on you!!!) And cook the noodle for about 30 seconds.

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Voilà!

///I added some green onion and seaweed for some extra flavor...///

{ Ingredient: Thai Dried Chili }

I decided to create a section just for ingredients, mainly to make my life easier for when I post the next dish. Also, I'm not going to give any history of my ingredients or any nutrition facts, as you can probably look for those informations up on the internet (Gawd bless the internet... :D) For this one, I'd like to introduce Thai dried chili. As some of you may have already known about this chili, perhaps more than I do, this chili does consider to be pretty hot. Not as hot as habanero, but certainly hot enough to make a friend of mine rolled himself on the floor as he suffocated, and I believe he said something like "when is this going to stop..." in a debilitated tone of voice (not to exaggerated the situation but he did dare to eat a whole chili by itself...good time...good time...)

Anyway, this item is definitely worth it for your spice's cabinet. It is really cheap (last time I saw was like 99 cent for one package, that would last for a few month, unless of course if your tongue made out of steel and you snack hot pepper regularly for your daily supplement, then I think you know what to do.)

<--- Here's what you can do with it --->

You can only get this at the asian market, (since I've never seen any from American's grocery stores in my area) most, if not all, carry this item.

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Roast the chili on a medium high heat (yes in your cooking pan with nothing in it but chili!) Stir it frequently until it becomes dark brown.

***WARNING: in this process, you want to make sure that your ventilation system is working. Best way to do this is to cook it outdoor (if possible), if not, open all the windows and be prepared for the fume of heated chili...think of it as a tear gas or pepper bomb that will be exploded in your kitchen (ok maybe not, but pretty close, I think ...o_o)***

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You could store the roasted chili as it is, or you could ground it up. Either way, this roasted pepper does make an excellent condiment for your table.

///Try add it to your next pizza or pasta instead of the other grounded red pepper...///

{ Thanks Giving }- part 02

{ Egg Noodle }

Cook egg noodle in boiling water for about 20-30 sec. Drain water out, place the noodle in a bowl and add about 1/4 cup of fried garlic (with its oil.) Mix it well.

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{ Shitake Mushroom Soy Sauce }

{ Black Soy Sauce }

Add about 1/4 cup of shitake mushroom soy sauce, 1/3 cup of black soy sauce, and 1/4 cup of vegetable or chicken broth into the noodle, mix it well.

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{ Bean Sprout }

Add bean sprout (or cooked Bok Choy), green onion, and cilantro into the noodle bowl.

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Place the noodle on a serving pan, garnish it with green onion and cilantro.

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<---for the meat--->

You could grill, roast, bake, or broil the meat (whatever option that you have.) Once it's cooked, thinly slice the meat ( as you can see I'm not very good at slicing the meat...) Either set the meat in a separate plate to keep friendship with your vegetarian friends or just go ahead and place it nicely on top of the noodle.

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Voilà!

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///Big thanks to Reika and John for sharing other delicious dishes!!!///

{ Thanks Giving }- part 01

Tomorrow is Thanks Giving and I'm pretty sure wherever I end up to will definitely have most, if not all, of the traditional dishes on the table. So, here is a dish that I choose to make it for tomorrow (something that I know they wouldn't have it on the table...), Bamee Hang Moo Dang (egg noodle with roasted red pork). One of a Thai/Chinese dish that I think it could consider to be quite palatable with the turkey...

And before we go any further, I'd like to mention that I don't normally measure my ingredients (I will try my best to do so in the future) so most of the dishes that I will be creating in this blog will just be my own approximation of the ingredients...

Serving size (6-8 dishes)
Ingredients:

• 1-2 whole garlic
• 1/2 - 1 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 bunch of green onion
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro
• 2 lbs of fresh egg noodle
• 1-2 lb of pork meat
• 1 pack of Roasted Red Pork Seasoning Mix (unless you want to make it totally from scratch...the main ingredients are: sugar, salt, soy sauce, star anise powder, cinnamon powder, paprika powder, and some red food coloring...)
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
• 1/4 cup shitake mushroom soy sauce
• 1/3 cup black soy sauce
• 1/2 lb of bean sprout or bok choy

<---here are some prep that you could start the night before--->

Peel and chop up the garlic...

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With medium-high heat add a cup of vegetable oil and chopped garlic in a small sauce pan, stir frequently until the garlic turn golden brown. Let it cool down, set aside (and keep its oil as well, it could be useful for many other dishes!)

///Fried garlic makes an excellent extra ingredient for many dishes, such as in soup and in many of Thai noodle dishes...///

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Chop up all of green onion and cilantro about..1/4 inch of a length.

///Green onion and cilantro also make excellent extra ingredients for many dishes, such as in soup and in many of Thai noodle dishes...(try adding them in your next chicken noodle soup)///

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And of course, marinate the pork with the Roasted Red Pork Seasoning Mix overnight (guarantee full flavor), then refrigerate it.

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//To be continued//