Faux Thai Pasta
One of the great food-related gifts I received from my parents was an early appreciation for Asian food. As the story goes, they would make stir-fries and wash the spicy bits off, until I was about 3 or so and demanded to eat everything fully spiced. I'm not sure of how accurate this story is, but I do know that I love pretty much all types of Asian cooking, the spicier the better.
Back then, of course, Chinese was the big thing-- easily accessible outside urban areas, and very much Americanized. Now there's a Thai restaurant on every corner, and Vietnamese, Malaysian, Japanese, Cambodian, Korean, and many more... and in many places you can get Chinese that consists of more than Chop Suey, and is acually accurate for its region. (Supposedly there are eight main Chinese cooking traditions, although I believe that is debated.)
(A note to mollify my parents, if they are reading-- they certainly never prepared or purchased anything as prosaic as chop suey or egg foo yong.)
Now, my favorite flavor profile is the salty-sweet-fishy-yummy taste of Thai and Vietnamese food made with lots of fish sauce. It's all part of the greater taste sensation of umami, which in context can make my mouth water like nothing else.
But sometimes I want those flavors to be easy to come by. I don't always want to go out to dinner, or get take out, or work too hard for any sort of cultural or culinary authenticity.
Faux Thai Pasta fulfills this need. Basically, it's pork meatballs over rice noodles in a spicy peanut sauce. It's got lime, fish sauce, peanut, chili paste, cilantro, and vegetables, and only takes about half an hour to prepare. Click the link to check out the recipe.
When I was in law school in Michigan, and I lived in the dorm for the first summer, I had a little electric wok and a teensy fridge, and I ate a version of this almost every day, made with a packet of ramen noodles, a lime, p.b., soy sauce, and chopped scallions. (I was very poor. I don't necessarily recommend it as an everyday meal!)
Please note, I don't actually measure a lot of this stuff, but I am trying to pay more attention so I can write stuff down. I've tried to nest the activities in a logical way. Basically, you make the meatballs, put them in the oven, soak the noodles, chop the veg and make the sauce, and then stirfry the noodles and sauce.
Ingredients
Meatballs
1.5 lbs ground pork
1 small onion, chopped fine
5 cloves garlic, chopped fine (you'll use 3 more below, so chop 8)
1/2 small bunch cilantro, chopped fine (you'll use the other half, below, so
chop the whole bunch)
2 T cornstarch
3 T fish sauce
Sauce
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (unsweetened)
1/2 cup fish sauce ( I use Squid Brand)
Juice of 3 limes
Chili paste to taste (I use Huy
Fong Chili Garlic, which is my all-time
favorite condiment-- try it in canned chicken noodle soup!)
1-3 T brown sugar to taste (I like this light on the sweetness. If you
don't have unsweetened p.b. skip the sugar.)
Noodles
1 package rice stick (the noodles that look like the ones used for Pad Thai)
4 carrots, grated
2 bunches scallions, the greens chopped fine and the whites cut into 1/2 long
pieces
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
Peanut oil
1 English cucumber, sliced into half moons
1 lime, in wedges
Make the Meatballs:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl, making sure everything is well distributed.
- If possible, let sit in the fridge for 1/2 to 1 hour.
- Form into small balls and place on a cookie sheet.
- Bake for about 1/2 hour (depending on the size of the meatballs), turning a couple of times for even browning, until insides are not pink.
Make the Noodles:
- Place the rice stick in a large bowl, and fill with VERY HOT but not BOILING water.
- Let sit for about 20 minutes, while you are chopping the vegetables and preparing the sauce.
Make the Sauce:
- In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients and process until smooth.
- Taste it, and adjust all the flavors to taste. It should be tangy and flavorful but not too spicy-- I like to let the spiciness be adjusted at table.
- Set aside.
- When the noodles are soft and floppy, but not mushy, drain.
- In your wok, heat about 1 T of peanut oil until hot over medium-high heat.
- Add the chopped garlic and the long scallion pieces, and stirfry until soft.
- Add the softened rice noodles and the grated carrot.
- Add the sauce, and stir to mix well.
- Cook for about 5 minutes, until everything is hot, and the noodles are al dente.
- Remove from heat.
Serve:
- Place the noodle mixture in a large flat bowl.
- Garnish with the reserved chopped scallion greens, chopped cilantro, sliced cucumber, and a lime wedge.
- Serve with additional chili garlic paste or sriracha sauce.
