Ash Reshteh – Persian for “OMFG, this is good!”

This is my take on a classic Persian soup that in a fantastic way to use up a ton of greens and herbs that may be coming out of your garden or CSA bag. I honestly had some low expectations the first time I made this. It sounded like a pretty boring soup: healthfood masquerading as something fun. But rather than being uninspired glop, this turned out to be a hugely satisfying and incredibly delicious recipe—in part because of the use of a variety of wonderful garnishes. Being wrong has never been as deliciously pleasant.

Serve with a crap ton of garnishes and flatbread, if available.

Prep time: 3 cocktails

1 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley, stems removed
1-2 bunches cilantro, stems removed
1 cup fresh dill, stems removed
1 cup fresh basil, stems removed
Olive oil
1 ½ yellow onions, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic
½ tsp turmeric
1 TBSP zaatar
Ground black pepper
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
¼-1/2 cup French green lentils
3 quarts vegetable stock, homemade or store-bought
1 pound frozen spinach or chard, chopped
6-8 ounces whole wheat linguini
1-2 pinches saffron
Lemon wedges

Garnishes should include at least a few of the following:
Fresh mint
Plain yogurt or sour cream
Fried scallions (you can make them yourself or buy a bag at an Asian grocer)
The greens of a bunch of scallions, chopped

Combine herbs in a food processor and pulse until you get to the point of having them coarsely chopped – maybe 6-8 pulses. You want the average piece to be a little smaller than your pinky fingernail. Set aside.

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Once shimmering, add onions and sauté, stirring well, until they turn a little golden brown, about 15 minutes. Add garlic and sauté one more minute, stirring a few times. Add turmeric, zaatar, and a lot of fresh ground black pepper and stir until everything is well-integrated and fragrant, about 30-60 seconds.

Add garbanzo beans and lentils. Stir well for 30 seconds and add your veggie stock, frozen spinach or chard, and the herb mixture from the food processor. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook, covered for 60 minutes. Adding water if needed.

Now break your dried linguini in half and break each half again so that you end p with quarter-length noodles. Stir into the soup and stir frequently. Boil uncovered until the noodles are done and the lentils are soft – about 20-30 more minutes, adding more water if necessary.

When noodles are just about done, boil a very small amount of water. Crush up the saffron threads between your fingers and place in a small bowl. Pour a couple tablespoons of the boiling water over the threads and allow to steep for 2 minutes. Then add the saffron/water to the soup and stir well. Cook everything a couple more minutes and adjust taste, as necessary.

Serve with lemon wedges and garnishes.

Charred broccoli rabe, lemon, and faux sausage tossed with pasta

Broccoli rabe (also known as broccolini or rapini) is an absolute treat out of the early summer garden. I came up with this recipe a few months ago when we were harvesting it like crazy. It is an attempt to make something of a vegetarian Carbonara that incorporates our bounty of broccoli rabe, as well as a couple vegan sausages we had to use up. 

This does call for a specialty gadget: a rasp grater or Microplane. Don't be a loser and buy pre-grated parmesan cheese or cut a corner and try to grate this with something else. Take the $16 hit and buy one of these if you don't already have one. It makes an incredible tool for citrus zests, hard cheeses, chocolate, and frozen garlic for a variety of applications. I'm seriously watching you. DO NOT disappoint me the way you have already done with your parents!

Prep time: 2 cocktails

12 ounces bow tie (frfalle) or penne pasta
2 high-quality spicy Italian vegetarian sausages (like Beyond brand)
1-2 TBSP high-temperature cooking oil, like canola or avacado
2 grocery store bunches-worth of broccoli rabe, each piece cut into 2-3 more edible sizes
10 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
4 eggs -- 2 whole eggs and 2 yolks only whisked in a small bowl
1 cup of fresh grated Parmesan with a microplane (I'm still watching you), plus extra for serving
Salt and pepper
Minced parsley and red chili flakes for garnish

Prepare pasta and rinse and set aside. Cook sausage in stovetop over medium heat until nicely browned. Remove and cut into 1/2" thick wheels.

Put oil into a frying pan over high heat. Once your pan gets very hot, add the broccoli rabe. The point here is to basically blacken parts of it, so make sure your pan is hot before adding. Fry it a few minutes until your desired amount of char is achieved, then turn off heat and stir in garlic. Saute another minute or until the garlic turns a bit golden but not browned or burned, then squeeze the lemon juice over the broccoli rabe and stir one last time. Transfer broccoli rabe and garlic to a plate. 

In a medium or large saucepan or dutch oven, heat the cooked and drained pasta over medium heat until it is nice and ward. Toss in a tiny dash of olive oil if it is sticking badly. Once pasta is nice and hot, add the egg and Parmesan, plus a lot of salt and pepper to taste. The goal is to have the egg cook just enough to have a creamy sauce-like consistency that sticks to the pasta but has a nice velvety texture and isn't fully cooked. This usually only takes a minute--maybe less. Once you're about at this point stir in broccoli rabe and remove from heat. Serve right away with additional parmesan, parsley, and chili flakes on top. 

Divine Intervention Sapporo Ramen

Last night, we had a religious experience. My wife's eyes rolled back in her head and she started speaking in tongues. I started weeping out of a profound, unexpected joy. Even the dog made odd noises. Of course, we didn't find Jesus; I just made the most amazing ramen ever. The wife's expression happened to be "domo arigato gozimus" and my profound weeping was because I nailed the broth perfectly. And the dog turned out to just be gassy. So even though we didn't find eternal salvation, it turned out to be a pretty remarkable night, nevertheless.

This is a slight revision to Sapporo-style ramen. That ramen uses butter to add a richness to the broth. However, as a not-huge fan of butter, I opted for coconut milk instead. Also, since the broth is traditionally cooked with various animal bits to add umami, I make a few vegetarian-friendly tricks, like incorporating mushrooms, browning the miso, and adding some fermented black beans. The result is a perfect, harmonious balance of savory, rich, satisfying bowl of noodles and vegetables with just a touch of sweetness.

Note that you can get the needed Japanese ingredients at any Asian grocer, including kombu, wakame, hijiki, mirin, bonito flakes, fermented black bean paste, and buckwheat noodles.

Prep time: 3 cocktails

Egg marinade:
2 eggs
2-3 TBSP soy sauce
2-3 TBSP mirin (Japanese cooking wine)
1/2 cup water

Broth base:
2-inch square kombu or 3 TBSP wakame or hijiki
5 good-sized shiitake mushrooms
6 cups water
1 cup bonito flakes
1 tsp anchovy paste (optional)

Seasoning mix:
1 TBSP sesame seeds
2 tsp untoasted sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1" piece ginger, grated with microplane or finest side of a box grater
3 scallions, chopped
2 TBSP miso paste
2 TBSP fermented black bean paste
1/4 cup mirin or sake
2 TBSP soy sauce
1 cup coconut milk

Soup elements:
8 ounces dried buckwheat noodles
1/2-1 cup mung bean sprouts
1 bunch spinach, stems removed
1/2-1 cup frozen sweet corn
1 block tofu, chopped into 3/4" cubes (can be firm or silken/soft, depending on preference), optional

Optional garnishes: 
Bonito flakes, chopped scallions, and/or a drizzle of toasted sesame oil

A couple hours before you start the soup, you'll need to make the eggs, since the need to marinate. You want to medium-boil your eggs by gently dropping them in boiling water and reducing heat to a very low boil. Boil them for 7-8 minutes. Remove and place under cool running water and remove shells. Then combine the peeled eggs with the rest or the marinade ingredients in a small Tupperware container or zip-lock bag and put in the refrigerator.

Now make the broth by combining all the broth ingredients in a pressure cooker. With the lid off, bring to a boil but remove the kombu right before you boil or it will become slimy (if using hijiki or wakame, no need to remove). Once boiling, put the lid on it and bring up to normal pressure for your altitude for 10 minutes. Then remove from heat and let pressure drop completely. Remove lid and strain out mushrooms and any remaining seaweed.

While your broth is cooking, you can pre-prep the some of your soup elements. Cook the noodles according to the directions on package and cool them under running water and set aside. Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the bean sprouts for 1 minute and strain them out. In the same water, you can then blanch the spinach for 3-4 minutes and strain out. Let cool and then squeeze all the moisture out and chop it up coarsely. Finally, add the corn to the boiling water for a couple minutes, then drain and set aside (you can obviously make all these veggies in separate pots of water, if you would prefer).

Next, start on the seasoning mix. Heat a small frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add sesame seeds and toast for a couple minutes, stirring pretty frequently. When they are lightly toasted, transfer to an electric spice grinder and grind into a powder. Set aside.

Now in a large pot or dutch oven, heat the untoasted sesame oil over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, and scallions and saute for 1-2 minutes. Now add miso and bean paste and stir constantly for a couple minutes. You want some of the paste to get browned stuck to the pan, but don't let anything fully burn. Next, deglaze the paste by adding the mirin/sake and sesame seed powder. Once everything is incorporated and the bits that were stuck to the pan are unstuck, add the soy sauce and coconut milk. Stir everything well and add the broth from the pressure cooker (after removing mushrooms and seaweed). Adjust seasoning if necessary by adding salt or soy sauce to taste. Add tofu cubes and bring to a low boil for a couple minutes. Then it's ready to serve!

In a bowl, combine your noodles, corn, spinach, sprouts, and tofu. Pour the broth over the top and slice your marinated eggs in half lengthwise and add a half an egg. Top with any of the additional garnishes of your choice and serve!

I'm going to upma Indian food game with vermicelli upma

We had a dinner party last night and I wanted to balance a lot of dals with one or two lighter starch dishes. Since it was also the first time we had met some of the guests, I wanted to have something mild, in case any of their sensitive Montana palates couldn't handle some of my more adventurous interpretations of Indian food (and then I'd never invite them back again). So I settled on this noodle dish. Vermicelli upma comes from southern India, where it's a common breakfast dish. But it's great any time of day, especially because it is quick and easy to whip up. And it's so good that everybody got upma grill asking for the recipe. So here it is!

Since I made this dish intentionally a little mild, you can dial up the garam masala or adapt the other seasoning and hot pepper content if you want a bigger flavor.

Prep time: 1/2 cocktail

4 TBSP oil or ghee, divided
8 ounces dried vermicelli noodles, broken or cut into quarter-length sections
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp whole brown mustard seeds
1/2 tsp garam masala
8-12 fresh curry leaves
1-2 serrano chilies, diced
1-2 handfuls of chopped veggies (cabbage, peas, red bell peppers, cauliflower, etc.)
1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup raw cashews, coarsely chopped

Heat the half of the ghee or oil in a large Dutch oven over medium. When oil shimmers, add dried noodles. Stirring very frequently, saute the noodles until they become toasted and brown, but not burned. Once noodles are fully toasted pour water over them (be careful, as this will splatter), stir in tumeric, and bring to a boil. Cook until the noodles are al dente, then drain and give a quick rinse of cold water while still in the colander.

As the noodles are cooking, heat the remaining oil or ghee in a large saucepan on medium. Once hot, add the mustard seeds. Cook the seeds in the oil until they begin to pop, then add the garam masala. Stir constantly for 10-15 seconds, then add the curry leaves (be careful, this will also splatter!) and cook for 5-10 more seconds then add all the veggies and a TBSP of water. Stir well, reduce to medium-low, and cover, opening this to stir the veggies every minute or two. Add another TBSP of water if the veggies and spices start to stick.

Once veggies are tender but not mushy, stir in the pasts (you might have to use the Dutch oven you cooked the noodles in, if the saucepan is too small for everything). Stir in lemon juice and salt. Cook for a couple minutes until everything is well heated and mixed together. Adjust lemon and salt to desired taste, stir in cashews, and serve immediately.

Burmese coconut noodles from Shan state

We just got home last week after 6 months of travel! It feels amazing to sleep in our own bed again!  We spent time in some remarkable spots in the western US, southern Mexico and Thailand. But the most memorable adventure we took was the 2+ weeks we spent in Myanmar. 

Myanmar (aka Burma) isn't as well known as some of its neighbors for food. Indeed, it kind of gets a bad reputation for greasy, bland noodles and little else. While we found this to often be the case in the south, the northeastern state of Shan had some of the most outstanding cuisine I've had anywhere. Shan is at a culinary crossroads with heavy influences from neighboring China and Southeast Asia, plus some uniquely local twists. The Shan food was so good, we each packed on a couple extra pounds during our travels. And it was worth every extra mile I now have to run to burn it all off!

This recipe is my attempt to capture the essence of Shan cuisine--a balance of fishiness, spice, and tang all served over a heap of noodles with a ton of simple garnishes. If you're looking for something unique, satisfying, and straightforward to make, this is your dish. 

Note that strict vegetarians or vegans won't want to forego the fish sauce altogether, as it is essential to achieve the right flavor and balance. You can find a lot of recipes for vegan fish sauce online, mostly involving a combination of soy sauce, dried seaweed, and dehydrated mushrooms. I suggest going with one of those.

Prep time: 3 cocktails

Noodles:

2 cups chopped shallots

2 stalks lemongrass

1/4 cup peanut oil, divided

1 block of extra firm tofu, chopped into 3/4 - 1" cubes

1/4 cup chickpea flour (sometimes called besan--it is sold in bulk at natural grocers and in Indian markets)

1/2 tsp turmeric

1" piece of ginger, minced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 14-ounce can coconut milk

2 TBSP fish sauce

1-2 tsp fermented soybean paste (available at any Asian grocer)

1 TBSP tamarind concentrate

1 tsp sugar

8 ounces dried noodles

Salt to taste (I usually need about 1/2 tsp)

Garnishes:

Minced cilantro

Lime wedges

Roasted peanuts, chopped coarsely

2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced into thin wheels

Shredded red or Napa cabbage

Red chili flakes

Start by prepping your shallots. Once you've got the 2 cups chopped, you want to get them very finely minced. You can do this by hand, but it's faster to toss it all in the food processor and pulse until it is a fine mince, but not so well processed that it starts to become a slurry. Set aside.

Now, peel outer layer from each lemongrass stalk. Then, using a sharp serrated knife, remove the tough 1-2 bottom inches and the top third of the stalks. Then chop your usable remaining lemongrass into 1/2-inch segments. Transfer to a mortar and grind it until you just have lemongrass fibers. Set aside.

In a large, heavy frying pan, heat 2 TBSP of the peanut oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add tofu cubes and saute until they become a nice dark golden-brown. This takes about 10-20 minutes, depending on the moisture content of the tofu. You'll need to stir almost constantly to prevent the tofu from sticking and you will also need to be careful not to break the tofu. Add a bit of extra oil if it all cooks off and tofu is sticking. Once fully cooked, transfer the tofu to a plate and set aside.

While you're working on the tofu, you can also toast the chickpea flour. Put it in a dry frying over medium-low to medium heat. Stirring almost constantly, dry-fry the flour until it turns a light brown. Then remove from heat, whisk in 1/2 cup water and set aside.

Once your tofu and chickpea flour are done, you can start to prepare your noodles.

As the noodles do their thing, you can assemble the sauce. Start by heating the remaining 2 TBSP peanut oil in a large pan or wok over medium heat. Once hot, add the turmeric and saute a few seconds. Then add the shallots and saute until they soften and become translucent, about 4 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and saute another 1-2 minutes. now, add coconut milk, fish sauce, soybean paste, tamarind concentrate, sugar, tofu, pulverized lemongrass, and chickpea paste. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered about 5 minutes or until you have reached the consistency of a thick cream sauce or gravy. Adjust salt and other flavorings as needed until you have a perfect balance.

Serve over noodles with all the garnishes!

Porkless Dandan Mian

Dandan noodles are Schezuanese street noodles that are rich, spicy, and filling. Definitely my latest culinary obsession! The name comes from the stick called a dan dan that vendors walk down the street with carried over the shoulder. From the end of the stick hangs a pair of baskets: one with the noodles and the other with the sauce.  Though there's no stick involved here, there's enough big, amazing, rich Schezuan flavor here to make you think that you've magically been transported to Chengdu if you take a bite and close your eyes. I'm especially proud of the tofu/mushroom pork substitute in this recipe that will literally fool any carnivore you serve this dish to. If anybody bitches to you that they think tofu is gross, feed them this dish and tell them to shut the hell up!

Normally served fiery hot, my recipe is a bit more tame, but you can dial up the heat with chili flakes when you serve it (like I do!). Anything in the ingredient list that you don't already have in the pantry can be acquired at any Asian grocer and most ingredients will even be at a standard supermarket.

Prep time: 3 cocktails

Noodles:
8 ounces dry noodles

Tofu/mushroom "pork":

1 package extra firm tofu
2 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP fish sauce
2 TBSP brown sugar
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 TBSP Sambal Oelek (NOT Siracha--Sambal Oelek is much better!)
2 1/2 TBSP Chinese black vinegar (Chinkiang vinegar) - available at any Asian grocer
6 TBSP hong you (Szechuan chili oil), recipe here, divided
~12 shiitake or crimini mushrooms, washed
3 scallions, chopped
8 cloves garlic
1 TBSP ginger, grated

Broth:
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock, store-bought or homemade
2 TBSP mirin cooking wine
1-2 TBSP oyster sauce
1-2 TBSP soy sauce
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

Toppings:
2 tsp Schezuan peppercorns
Bean sprouts or steamed bok choi (optional)
Red chili flakes or the red chilies from the bottom of your Hong You (Szechuan chili oil)
3 scallions, chopped

Drain and rinse the block of tofu. Wrap it in a dish towel and place a weighted plate on top to press out excess moisture, at least 30 minutes. This step is critical if you want the right "pork" consistency for your tofu.

As tofu is getting pressed, make the broth by combining all the broth ingredients except the sesame oil in food processor and process until combined. Transfer to a pan on the stovetop, add toasted sesame oil, and keep warm it up to serving temperature and maintain at that temperature until you're ready to serve.

Prep the noodles according to their directions, rinse and set aside.

Place a small, dry frying pan on the stovetop and heat on medium heat. Add the Schezuan peppercorns and toast until they darken a little bit and become s bit smoky and fragrant. Transfer to a spice grinder and process into a powder. Set aside.

Now make the tofu/mushroom pork:
In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar, toasted sesame oil, vinegar, and Sambal Oelek. Set aside. After the tofu has been pressed for at least 30 minutes, crumble it up by hand into fairly small crumbles. Place a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add 3 TBSP hong you. Once the oil shimmers, add the crumbled tofu. Continue to stir and break up the tofu with a metal spatula until it is lightly browned and a bit crisped--but not totally fried! Remove from heat and transfer tofu to a plate. Now, take a food processor and pulse the mushrooms until the pieces are no larger than about 1/4" -- about 8 good pulses. Put the frying pan from the tofu right back on that medium-high burner and add the other 3 TBSP hong you. Then add the mushrooms. Saute until they turn a deeper brown, shrink down to about half of their original volume, and break down into a semi-paste. Then add the 3 TBSP scallions, garlic, and ginger. Saute another 1-2 minutes. Now incorporate the soy and fish sauce combination you made at the beginning of this step, as well as the tofu that you've set aside. Stir just until everything has been incorporated and remove from heat.

Now dish up by laying a bed of noodles in the bottom of the bowl. Add bean sprouts, tofu/mushroom pork, and ladle broth over the top. Garnish with a pinch of Schezuan peppercorn powder and as much red chili flakes or the red chilies from the bottom of your hong you as you can handle!! EAT! 

Pad Thai: Kind of Like the Steve Buscemi of Food

Much like the casting of a Coen Brothers movie, you'd think Pad Thai is just an ensemble of weird shit. But, just as any good Coen Brothers film can combine the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Steve Buscemi, and John Goodman with surprising synergy, this dish combines ingredients like tamarind, vinegar, shrimp paste, and eggs to create an unexpectedly delightful meal. It's so good, it'll make you want to move to Fargo.

The stuff like shrimp paste, tamarind paste, palm sugar, fish sauce, and rice noodles can be found at any Asian grocer or most large supermarkets. And you can always veganify this by substituting 3-4 TBSP soy sauce for the shrimp paste and fish sauce. But keep in mind that many of these ingredients can vary a lot in intensity by brand, so the amounts below should only be a rough guide. You'll need to adjust as you go, based on flavor and personal preference.

Prep time: 2 cocktails.

1 batch Incredible Jerk Tofu (but replace first 5 ingredients with 1-2 TBSP Siracha)

2 TBSP tamarind paste

8 ounces wide (fettuccine-size) Asian rice noodles

3 TBSP fish sauce

1-2 tsp shrimp paste

3 TBSP sugar

1 TBSP rice vinegar

3-6 Thai chilies, sliced into thin wheels

3 TBSP peanut oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch scallions, chopped

2 eggs, scrambled together

A handful of peanuts, chopped up a bit

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 lime, sliced into wedges

3 cups bean sprouts

Prepare tofu according to the hyperlinked recipe (with adaption) and set in the refrigerator to cool. 

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Combine 3/4 cup of that water in a bowl with the tamarind paste. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool. After 10 minutes, with a fork, break up the tamarind completely. You'll have some big pulpee bits and maybe some seeds. Remove these with your hands or, if you want to be cleaner, pass it all through a mesh strainer and discard the solids.

After you've removed the boiling water for the tamarind, remove the pot from the heat and immediately add the noodles. Let the noodles sit for 10 minutes, then drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together fish sauce, shrimp paste, palm sugar, rice vinegar, and chilies. Set aside.

In a wok, heat the oil on medium-high heat. When it's hot, add garlic and 2/3 of the scallions. Saute 3-4 minutes. Then scoot them off to the side and add the egg to the cleared area. Once the egg sets, scramble it up with a spatula. When egg is just tender-done, add the noodles, tamarind juice, and fish sauce mixture. Stir well. Once everything is incorporated, add tofu, peanuts, and cilantro. Stir it all up again. Then stir in the bean sprouts and remaining scallions. Remove from heat and serve with lime wedges, additional peanuts, and Siracha all as optional garnishes. And a Thai beer! 

Thai Peanut Stir Fry

New to Thai food? Intimidated on how to get all the sweet, salty, spicy, and sour flavors to meld? Have no fear... This recipe kicks more ass than Chuck Norris. You'll be pro at (quasi authentic) Thai food in no time!

Prep time: 2 cocktails

1 block of firm Tofu, chopped into 1" cubes
3 TBSP peanut oil
2 cups chopped veggies that are good to stir fry (broccoli, cabbage, bell peppers, and bok choi are all good options)
5 cloves garlic, minced
2-inch segment ginger, grated finely with microplane or finest side of cheese grater
1 TBSP soy sauce
1/2 cucumber sliced into thin wheels
1 underripe tomato, sliced into 6-8 wedges
A handful of Thai basil leaves, torn up roughly
Several handfuls of prepared rice noodles or a couple cups of prepared rice
Double batch spicy Thai peanut sauce
Optional garnishes: chopped peanuts, lime slices, cilantro leaves, chopped Thai chilies

Preheat oven to 350. Arrange tofu cubes to a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray so they aren't touching. Bake until the cubes get nice and crispy golden, but not totally dried out, about 30 minutes depending on the water content. You'll want to flip them with a tongs halfway through.

When the tofu is done, heat the oil in a wok over medium high heat. Throw in your chopped veggies (NOT INCLUDING the tomato or cucumber), plus the garlic, and ginger. Stir fry for 3-6 minutes, or until veggies begin to get a little tender. Add tofu, soy sauce, cucumber, tomato, and and basil leaves stir fry another 90 seconds or so.

Serve the stir-fried veggies on top of the noodles or rice and cover with the peanut sauce. Add garnishes and eat more heartily than Chuck Norris at a the Badass Buffet.

Drunken Noodles

The origins of drunken noodles are no longer known. Some people believe that these noodles got their name because they are so spicy that they're impossible to eat without drinking a shitload of beer during the meal. Others contend that the combination of ingredients is so strange that the name came about because only a drunkard would have thrown these things all together. Either way, the combination of sweet, spicy, and salty is deliciously balanced in this classic!


As with the other Thai recipes, some of these ingredients (such as fish sauce, the rice noodles, and Thai peppers) seem pretty exotic, but can all be found at a good Asian grocer. Keycap manis is a type of sweetened, fermented soy sauce. Also, remember Thai and Italian basil are very different. Stick with Thai basil ONLY.

Prep time: 2 cocktails

1/2 of a 14-ounce package wide, flat rice noodles
3 TBSP fish sauce
½ cup keycap manis
2 TBSP soy sauce
1 TBSP cornstarch
1 tsp sugar
3 TBSP vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
10 Thai chilies, chopped into 1/8‖ thick wheels
1 pound package extra firm tofu, cut into ¾-inch cubes
1-2 cups sliced, mixed vegetables (optional) (you can use tomatoes, carrots, bell pepper, cabbage, zucchini, broccoli, etc.)
½ cup Thai basil leaves, tear biggest ones in half
A handful of peanuts
1 cup bean sprouts
1-2 limes, cut into wedges

Put the noodles into boiling water. Cook until still fairly al dente. Remove, strain, then plunge into an ice bath. After a few minutes in the ice bath, you can re-strain and set aside.

While noodles are cooking, combine fish sauce, keycap manis, soy sauce, cornstarch, and sugar in small bowl. Whisk very well and set aside.

Heat oil in wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once wok is hot, add garlic and chilies. Stirring a couple times, sauté for about 45-60 seconds (but don‘t let garlic brown). Then add sauce mixture and tofu. Stir frequently for 3-4 minutes.

Add noodles and vegetables and cook another 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir in Thai basil and peanuts and continue stirring frequently another minute or so. Remove from heat and serve hot with bean sprouts on top and squeeze a few lime wedges over the whole mess.

Sweet and Spicy Indonesian Tempeh and Noodles

I made this last night for a dinner party here at the Lazy S Ranch. It pleased vegans, meat eaters, spice lovers, and spice haters alike. And prep time was less than an hour.

This recipe calls for keycap manis—a type of sweetened soy sauce used extensively in Indonesian cooking. Keycap is available at any Asian grocer and is well worth having on hand—it is absolutely my favorite all-purpose condiment.

Like many other recipes I've posted, feel free to add anything you think would sound good. I’ve added bean sprouts and cilantro to the finished product, stirred all-natural peanut butter into the sauce, and even served this dish with a fried egg on top. Yum!

Prep time: 2 cocktails

1/3 cup keycap manis
3 TBSP Siracha
1 TBSP brown rice vinegar
2 TBSP soy sauce
1/3 tsp white pepper
¼ cup peanut oil
8 ounce-package tempeh, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1.5-inch piece ginger, minced
¼ cup shallot, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large handfuls precooked and chilled noodles (rice noodles or vermicelli)
1 big handful chopped veggies (broccoli, carrot, bell pepper, and cabbage all work well)
2 scallions, green parts only, chopped into wheels

First, lightly steam or sauté the veggies. Don’t overdo it; they should still have a bit of crispness, as you'll cook them again more in a minute. Set aside.

Now prep the sauce by combining keycap manis, Siracha, vinegar, Braggs, and white pepper in a small bowl. Whisk well and set aside.

In a wok or large frying pan, heat the peanut oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add tempeh and sauté until it turns golden brown, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside on paper towels, pat off excess oil.

In same pan that you cooked the tempeh, heat a bit of oil and add shallot. Cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Then add ginger and garlic. Reduce to medium heat and continue to sauté a couple minutes, stirring often.

Now stir in sauce, vegetables, and noodles. Continue to cook, stirring very frequently until the sauce gets all bubbly and the veggies and pasta are nice and hot. If necessary, adjust keycap manis, soy sauce, vinegar and/or Siracha so you get a nice salty/sweet/spicy/tangy balance. Stir in tempeh and remove from heat. Serve with a sprinkle of scallion on top.