Can I just say YUM!! I have always been a fan of peanut sauces, peanut butter, even just peanuts. And when I discovered the wonderful world of Thai food I was of course drawn to dishes featuring peanut sauces. We lived out in California for awhile and we had the best Thai restaurant I've ever been too. It was heartbreaking to leave it behind. They never disappointed us, we went there so often they practically knew us by name. And now we are without a Thai restaurant. =(
But now I have a recipe I can make to ease some of that heartbreak: Thai Peanut Noodles! How authentic it is, I have no idea, but I do know it is delicious! And yet another great recipe from the girls at Our Best Bites. Here is the link. We made it according to the recipe, opting for the "mild" version with only 1 tsp of the Sriracha chili sauce, because of my temperamental stomach and because we were hosting my in-laws for dinner, and they prefer things on the mild side. Hey, who can blame them, it's nice to be able to taste your food rather then burning off your taste buds, right? And this is one dish you'll be happy to have your taste buds intact. For the cilantro, onions, peanuts and lime, we just put those in little bowls for people to doctor up their noodles to their liking (like I left out the onions because I don't care for them).
To accompany our noodles my husband made some Chicken Satay. This was the January Cooks Challenge from the Daring Kitchen. I don't know if I was supposed to make it or not, but we love Satay, and have yet to find a good recipe, so of course we tired it! The consensus. It's good, but maybe don't pack on too much of the marinade when you actually cook it. We broiled it, and my husband added some extra marinade mid broil to help keep it from drying out. This resulted in a very strong flavor. Good, but strong.
Here is the Satay recipe, originally for pork, but can be adapted to whatever protein you wish: tofu, shrimp, beef, and of course chicken, and it's accompanying Peanut Sauce:
Satay Marinade
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T ginger root, chopped (optional) (2 cm cubed)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ground coriander (5 mls)
1 tsp ground cumin (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric (2-2.5 mls)
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (30 mls)
1 pound of pork (loin or shoulder cuts) (16 oz or 450g)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T ginger root, chopped (optional) (2 cm cubed)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ground coriander (5 mls)
1 tsp ground cumin (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric (2-2.5 mls)
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (30 mls)
1 pound of pork (loin or shoulder cuts) (16 oz or 450g)
Feeling the need to make it more Thai? Try adding a dragon chili, an extra tablespoon of ginger root, and 1 tablespoon (0.5 oz or 15 mls) of fish sauce. (I keep some premature (still green) dragon chili peppers in the freezer for just such an occasion.)
Directions:
1a. Cheater alert: If you have a food processor or blender, dump in everything except the pork and blend until smooth. Lacking a food processor, I prefer to chop my onions, garlic and ginger really fine then mix it all together in a medium to large bowl.
2a. Cut pork into 1 inch strips.
3a. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.
1a. Cheater alert: If you have a food processor or blender, dump in everything except the pork and blend until smooth. Lacking a food processor, I prefer to chop my onions, garlic and ginger really fine then mix it all together in a medium to large bowl.
2a. Cut pork into 1 inch strips.
3a. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.
Chill Chart
Pork | Beef/Lamb | Chicken | Vegetables | Tofu (no oil) |
4-8 hrs Up to 24 hrs | 6-8 hrs Up to 24 hrs | 1-4 hours Up to 12 hrs | 20 min – 2 hrs Up to 4 hrs | 20 min – 4 hrs Up to 12 hrs |
Faster (cheaper!) marinade:
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (1 oz or 30 mls)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ginger powder (5 mls)
1 tsp garlic powder (5 mls)
1 tsp cayenne pepper (5 mls)
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (1 oz or 30 mls)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ginger powder (5 mls)
1 tsp garlic powder (5 mls)
1 tsp cayenne pepper (5 mls)
Directions:
1b. Mix well.
2b. Cut pork into 1 inch thick strips (2-2.5 cm thick), any length.
3b. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.
1b. Mix well.
2b. Cut pork into 1 inch thick strips (2-2.5 cm thick), any length.
3b. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.
Cooking Directions (continued):
4. If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak your skewers in warm water for at least 20 minutes before preparing skewers.
5. Gently and slowly slide meat strips onto skewers. Discard leftover marinade.*
6. Broil or grill at 290°C/550° F (or pan fry on medium-high) for 8-10 minutes or until the edges just start to char. Flip and cook another 8-10 minutes.
5. Gently and slowly slide meat strips onto skewers. Discard leftover marinade.*
6. Broil or grill at 290°C/550° F (or pan fry on medium-high) for 8-10 minutes or until the edges just start to char. Flip and cook another 8-10 minutes.
* If you’re grilling or broiling, you could definitely brush once with extra marinade when you flip the skewers.
Peanut Sauce
3/4 cup coconut milk (6 oz or 180 mls)
4 Tbsp peanut butter (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (2.5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground coriander (2.5 mls)
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)
1. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well.
2. Over low heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter and your soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often.
3. All you’re doing is melting the peanut butter, so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat.
4 Tbsp peanut butter (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (2.5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground coriander (2.5 mls)
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)
1. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well.
2. Over low heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter and your soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often.
3. All you’re doing is melting the peanut butter, so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat.
I am really happy that there was just enough leftovers for me to enjoy for lunch. =)
4 comments:
apparently blogger doesn't like me to copy and paste and despite my efforts to format the post it decided to make some changes of its own, like making "Peanut Sauce" all blue and fancy. Oh well. Next time I won't be lazy and I'll just type the recipe in.
the food was great! thanks again
I haven't tried that recipe but now I'm going to! When we were in Guam there was an amazing Thai place that was to die for! It was so sad to leave it behind and it was even more sad when that's all I craved during my last pregnancy!
That would be so sad Mary. You should definitely try it. Kayten loved the noodles. Just go easy on the spicy stuff if your girls don't like it. We went quite mild, but it still had some heat, and my leftovers were even spicier.
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