Spam Phad Thai

A new Hawaiian/Thai Truck (Pai's) has joined the ever-growing fleet of mobile food enterprises in Seattle, and my first thought when I heard about it was that they MUST have Spam Phad Thai on their menu.

As it turns out, they don't - but we decided we should give that combo a try at home tonight. Pretty darn delicious, though next time I'll definitely cook the Spam musubi style before slicing it and adding it to the noodles - to get that extra sweet/salty flavor and the crispy crust.

Frugal Fridays: Noodle King

Awhile back, I unofficially threw in the towel with Frugal Fridays - as I was having more and more trouble finding satisfying lunch options for under $5 (after tax). Some of the options I found had raised their prices, and it seemed inflation was eliminating any new options. I would walk around for an hour and not find anything, then settle on something disappointing. Then today, quite by luck, I stumbled upon a lunch for just $4.35 after tax.



A lunch date had to be postponed, so I found myself without a lunch or a plan. I just finished reading Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China, so was eager to explore Chinese food beyond the familiar Kung Pao & General Tso's. I had read about the recently opened Noodle King over on MSG150.com, and thought it sounded perfect.



The restaurant is clean, spacious and well lit, thanks to the high ceilings, mirrors and windows - and the staff were friendly and efficient. I was seated quickly and given water and a bowl of kimchee-esque pickled & spicy veggies to snack on. The menu includes a wide variety of dishes, though nearly all feature the hand-tossed noodles you can watch being made in the kitchen. In the interest of eating outside my comfort zone, I went with the Soy Sauce Pig's Feet Noodle Soup (small) - a Pho-like broth with thick, round noodles, baby bok choy, cilantro, and delicious pig's feet chunks that seem to have been braised, as the meat literally fell off the bones.



The soup was perfect for a cold, rainy Seattle spring day - and I was happy to have tried something new. And then the bill came, and I was even more happy - $4.35. Hard to beat that!



(Frugal Fridays is a series dedicated to finding Seattle lunch spots where you can walk in with a $5 bill and walk out with a fulfilling, preferably healthy, lunch. If you have suggestions of places in the Seattle area with a great lunch for under $5 after tax, post a comment - I'd love the help.)

We Can Always Have Popcorn...

Tonight we made a comforting tuna noodle casserole - perfect to combat the dreary weather we've had. In it were some fresh peas from the market, that Dan shucked when he got home today, tuna and milk from the market, plus a can of cream of celery soup, cheese, and chips from the grocery store.



We used our usual recipe, but switched to a new type of noodle, based on both Carolyn & Lisa saying it makes the best tuna noodle casserole. Two Demibiczak women can't be wrong! Found in the kosher/Jewish foods section, Mrs. Weiss' Kluski Enriched Egg Noodles lived up to their reputation. They also bulk up a lot - an 8 oz bag is plenty for a big casserole, though I went for 12 oz and nearly overflowed the dish.



Dan skipped lunch today, so despite the hearty dinner, he was still hungry. When we're not sure what to eat, or we think dinner might not be filling enough, our joke has become 'We can always have popcorn', though we rarely actually do.



Tonight, my ravenous husband needed his popcorn, so I made up a big batch with butter and (a bit too much) salt. I just pray the kernels don't get stuck in my teeth and embarrass me at the dentist tomorrow morning.

Remembering Where Our Food Comes From

When we sat down to do meal planning this week, Dan wanted to do a Vietnamese fish dish, and after flipping through some books, we found a recipe in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen for a whole steamed fish, with a noodle filling that looked good. He couldn't get whole fish or the cellophane noodles we needed during his usual Saturday shopping, so we got up this morning and headed down to Uwajimaya, where we knew we could get both without problem.

We picked out our noodles, then headed over to the seafood department, looking over the variety of whole fish on ice and in the case, and didn't see anything that was the right size (we were looking for a 1.5-2 lb fish). Then we noticed the huge tilapia tank - filled with fish swimming around together, and realized that was what we needed. I thought I would handle it much better, but the initial excitement of ordering a live fish turned to a sick pit in my stomach as one was fished out and then beaten on the head repeatedly with a club to kill it before being scaled and gutted. I felt dizzy, and more than a little nauseous, but kept reminding myself out loud that every fish in the case, every fish I've ever eaten, and every animal I've ever eaten was once alive and had to be killed to become my dinner. We really do become dissociated from that fact quite easily when buying meats & seafood that's been butchered. We don't have to look our dinner in the eye and apologize.

The fish may have gotten the last laugh, though, since we had a helluva time cooking it. The recipe calls for steaming the fish whole, but my bamboo steamers and biggest pot were a little too small for that. I ended up putting a cooling rack on top of the pot, placed the fish on top of that, then covered it with two layers of aluminum roasting pans, upside down to trap in the steam & heat.

But even after cooking the fish an extra 10 minutes, when I tried to serve it the true revenge became apparent. First, only about half the fish was cooked through properly, so I had to gingerly peel back the skin and pick out what I could. And second, serving whole fish is a pain! All those bones and the gelatinous skin and a few scales that got missed make for a challenge. And when the whole head fell apart in pieces when I tried to flip the fish over, that was a shock. I've eaten fish eyes and cheeks before, but they were picked out and served to me - not falling all over the table. This might be our last foray into whole fish, because (as Dan pointed out) neither of us mind spending hours preparing a meal - in fact, we enjoy it - but we don't want to spend hours trying to serve it.

Classic Steamed Fish with Pork, Mushroom & Noodles
Filling:
2 Tbspn vegetable oil
2 Tbspn finely chopped yellow onion
1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled & minced
1/4 lb ground pork, coarsely chopped to loosen
4 dried shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted, stemmed, and thinly sliced
2 Tbspn fish sauce
1.5 oz cellophane noodles, soaded in hot water until pliable, drained, and cut to 4-6 inch lengths
2 scallions, green part only, cut into 2 inch lengths
Black Pepper

1 whole striped bass, 1.75-2 lbs, cleaned with head & tail intact
Salt
2 scallions, white part only, cut lengthwise into thin strips
1 Roma tomato, cored, cut lengthwise into 3 wedges, and seeds removed
4-6 sprigs of cilantro

To make filling, heat oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and ginger and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the pork and mushrooms and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, or until the pork is no longer pink. Remove from heat. Add the fish sauce, noodles, and scallions and stir for 1 minute, until the noodles are soft and transparent. Season to taste with pepper and set aside.

Rinse the fish well. Generously rub inside and out with salt, then rinse thoroughly under cold water. Pat the fish dry. Lay the fish flat across your work surface and with a sharp knife, score it at a 45 degree angle to the spine in 3-4 places, spacing the cuts 1 inch apart and going only about 3/4 of the way to the bone.

Set aside a few white scallion strips for garnish, and tuck the rest in the score marks. Place the fish on a heatproof plate about 1 inch smaller than the diameter of your steamer. Stuff half the filling in the fish cavity and arrange the rest over the fish. Put the tomato wedges on top and place the plate in the steamer.

Fill the steamer with water and bring to a rolling boil. Place the steamer tray on the steamer, cover and steam the fish for 18-22 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the thickest part easily pierces the flesh all the way to the bone.

When the fish is done, turn off the heat and remove the plate from the steamer. Slide the fish off the plate onto a serving platter. Garnish with scallions and cilantro, and serve.

Frugal Fridays: Oriental Mart Kitchenette

I had to run an errand today at the Pike Place Market, so I decided I'd seek out a Frugal Friday lunch spot in that area. I didn't have anything in mind, but was sure I'd stumble on something. After checking out the menus of several places (and being surprised by what they charge tourists for a bowl of soup these days!) I spotted a handmade sign on the wall, amidst the post alley shops across from the market, that read "Combo 2 - Pancit Bihon & Steamed Rice $3.50 + tax". To be honest, I had no idea what Pancit Bihon was, or why it was so inexpensive, but I decided that part of doing Frugal Fridays is being adventurous - so I sat down at the counter and ordered Combo 2.



The staff were really nice, and the friendly Hawaiian woman that helped me told me to eat first before paying when I pulled out my wallet. She brought me over a big plate piled with steamed white rice, and loaded up with stir fried noodles, mixed with a little cabbage, carrot, and some bits of egg and chicken.

I wouldn't say it was the most well-rounded meal I've had (carbs on carbs, with almost no veggies or protein), but it was certainly filling and inexpensive. And the atmosphere was great. Plus, now I know what Pancit Bihon means... sort of.

The Oriental Mart Kitchenette also features Chicken & Pork Adobo, Chili Beef, and a 'Gourmet Chicken' dish. Somehow, I missed the note at the bottom of the sign about the 'Special of the Day' - and now I wonder if I missed out on an even better frugal Fridays lunch. I guess I'll just have to check it out the next time I'm in the market.

To get there, head to the main entrance of the Pike Place Market - where the guys throw fish and tourists sit on the big bronze pig - but as you pass the florist and Left Bank Books on the North side of the street, take a right into the shops. There will be a butcher on your right, and the Oriental Mart Kitchenette is on your left. The address is 1506 Pike Place Market, but you might get lost in the cacophony of the market.



(Frugal Fridays is a weekly series dedicated to finding Seattle lunch spots where you can walk in with a $5 bill and walk out with a fulfilling, preferably healthy, lunch. If you have suggestions of places in the Seattle area with a great lunch for under $5 after tax, post a comment - I'd love the help.)

Pad See Ew

Last night we got the beef marinating for tonight's dinner: Pad See Ew. It's a Thai noodle dish that Dan loves, but I never seem to order. We found a recipe in The Best of Regional Thai Cuisine and decided to give it a try. The results were good, though I think we need to seek out the specific types of soy sauce they recommend, as I believe the sweet dark soy sauce is what gives the dish it's signature taste.

Pad See Ew
1/2 lb beef sirloin
1 Tbpsn light soy sauce
1 Tbpsn oyster sauce
1 Tbspn granulated sugar
1/2 tspn salt
1 tspn ground white pepper

Slice the beef across the grain into thin, bite sized strips. Combine the remaining ingredients above and marinate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

8 oz dried wide rice noodles
2 cups sliced broccoli
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 Tbspn sweet dark soy sauce (see-iew)
2 Tbspn minced garlic
1 Tbspn light soy sauce
1 Tbpsn fish sauce
1 Tbspn granulated sugar
2 whole eggs, beaten
1/2 tspn ground pepper

Cook the noodles in boiling water until soft & pliable (according to package directions, or about 7 minutes). Rinse with cold water and drain. In a wok or skillet over medium heat, add 2 Tbspn of the oil and swirl to coat the surface. Stir in the noodles and sweet soy sauce. Cook and stir until all noodles are evenly coated; remove and set aside. In the same wok with high heat, add the remaining 2 Tbspn oil and cook the garlic until fragrant. Stir in the beef and cook until almost done - about 3 minutes. Add the broccoli, light soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar and stir fry for 2 minutes, until sauce has reduced. Create a well in the bottom of the wok, add a little oil if too dry, and scramble the eggs until firm. Stir in the noodles and mix well. Continue cooking until heated through. Transfter to serving plates and sprinkle with ground pepper.

Grilled Pork & Vermicelli (Bún chả)

Tonight I was feeling much better, after a day spent with a heating pad on my back while at work. So I was able to make Bún chả for us for dinner, using another great recipe from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors. Since I was shopping for the noodles while overwhelmed by muscle crams all over my body, I ended up grabbing the wrong kind of vermicelli (mung bean instead of rice), which might've needed a little longer cooking time, so they were quite al dente... but still good.

Grilled Pork and Vermicelli (Bún chả)
2 1/3 lbs boneless pork shoulder, well trimmed and cut across the grain into strips about 3 inches long, 1 inch wide, and 1/4 inch thick.
2/3 lb small dried round vermicelli rice noodles, boiled for 3-5 minutes, drained, and flushed with cold water
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and julienned

Marinade:
1 large shallot, chopped
2 1/2 tspn sugar
3/4 tspn black pepper
1 Tbspn honey
2 1/2 Tbspn fish sauce
3 Tbpsn vegetable oil

In a morter, combine the shallot, sugar and pepper and pound with the pestle until a rough paste forms that is slightly liquid. Transfer to a bowl and mix in honey, fish sauce, and oil. Add pork and coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 24 hours.

Nước chấm Dipping Sauce:
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1 Tbpsn rice vinegar
3 Tbspn sugar
2/3 cup lukewarm water
5-6 Tbspn fish sauce
2-3 Thai or serrano chilies, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced

In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, vinegar, sugar and water and stir to dissolve sugar. Taste and adjust flavors to balance sweet and sour, if needed. Add the fish sauce, starting with 5 Tbpsn and then adding more as your palate dictates, balancing sour, sweet and salty. Aim for a light honey/amber color and a bold, forward finish. When you're satisfied with balance, add chilies and garlic. Keep the sauce at room temperature until ready to serve.

Thirty minutes before cooking, remove the pork from the refrigerator. Arrange noodles on plates for serving. Prepare a medium-hot charcoal fire or gas grill. Grill the pork slices, turning once, for about 4 minutes on each side, or until nicely browned, a little charred, and sizzling.