The New Intimacy

#EdenCooks - Pad Thai and a Singapore Sling - Monday, Jan 21, 8pm EST

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Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
I actually intentionally gave my blender away because I hate cleaning up after I use it so I never use it... but then I got another one. But I learned I can clean it by "blending" water after (at least that gets all the gunk so it can go in ... more
*as a gift, I got another one.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Lildrummrgurl7 Lildrummrgurl7
Quote:
Originally posted by Ansley
Oh that sucks. I think I used mine once. It sits near the crock pot. They're both very lonely.
I couldn't imagine it! My crockpot and blender are used so often they're rarely clean.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Bleu Bleu
Oh fish sauce...you make stuff taste better but you smell like decaying ocean! I make quick work to get it into the dish and not have it sitting out so long.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
So next month cocktail talk comes first
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Bleu
Oh fish sauce...you make stuff taste better but you smell like decaying ocean! I make quick work to get it into the dish and not have it sitting out so long.
Do you cook Thai food a lot, then? Because me too. I prefer using it in the summer so I can have all my windows open
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova

Once your sauce is ready, you just have to prepare the other ingredients. In wok cooking, it's important to add everything at just the right time. So don't add anything to the wok until you're all ready.
Chop your scallions and garlic.

Peel your shrimp or cut your chicken. (If you're using heads-on shrimp, leave the heads on, but pick off the carapace and the legs.)

Have your eggs and oil handy.
Soak your rice noodles. (This gets a full explanation because it's tricky.)

Chop your green onions and cilantro.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Bleu Bleu
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Do you cook Thai food a lot, then? Because me too. I prefer using it in the summer so I can have all my windows open
I have recently gotten into Thai food so the cooking event is perfect! Usually use it to make some Japanese recipes but it's a rarity in the dishes I make. Nice to have a bottle around, though. I love making asian food~
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Bleu
I have recently gotten into Thai food so the cooking event is perfect! Usually use it to make some Japanese recipes but it's a rarity in the dishes I make. Nice to have a bottle around, though. I love making asian food~
I love my Golden Mountain sauce too, I actually often use it in place of soy sauce.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova

Rice noodles---if anybody has Asian heritage they will probably laugh at me for thinking that this is so hard. But the rice noodles behave so differently from the wheat noodles I grew up cooking... so I will spell it all out for you so you can avoid the mistakes I made when I was first learning.
You do not need to boil rice noodles. You only need to fill a big bowl with the hottest water from your tap. Set the noodles in it. Mix them around with your hands---the first time, you won't have any give. After about 15 minutes, you can at least 'stir' them a little... but give it about 25 minutes of soaking and they will swirl around in your hands. Be careful not to let them get too mushy, because having a big blob of starch dissolve in your wok is no fun.
Has anybody else worked with rice noodles? Any extra explanations?

01/21/2013
Contributor: Ansley Ansley
Are there different types of cilantro? I know I hate the cilantro in Mexican food, tastes like soap to me. Is there like a Thai cilantro?
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Ansley
Are there different types of cilantro? I know I hate the cilantro in Mexican food, tastes like soap to me. Is there like a Thai cilantro?
Aw, bummer. No, it is the same one---and some people have taste bud genetics where it tastes like soap You should just garnish with peanuts and a lime wedge then, I would have used peanuts but my friend was allergic.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova

All right, once everything's ready (and when your noodles are ready, strain them!), pour some oil in your wok and get it heating. Once it sizzles when you flick some water from your fingertips into the pan, throw down your garlic and scallions.

Once they get nice and translucent, throw down your shrimp (or chicken). The shrimp will start turning pink---once it has nearly all turned pink, scoot everything over to one side. (If you don't have a wok, set it in a separate bowl off the heat until the eggs are cooked.)


01/21/2013
Contributor: Bleu Bleu
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
I love my Golden Mountain sauce too, I actually often use it in place of soy sauce.
I forget mine exists sometimes but I plan on making this sometime this week so I will give it some love!

Are rice noodles expensive? I've never had to buy them.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Ansley Ansley
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Aw, bummer. No, it is the same one---and some people have taste bud genetics where it tastes like soap You should just garnish with peanuts and a lime wedge then, I would have used peanuts but my friend was allergic.
Bummer indeed. I'd heard about the genetic thing before. That's so bizarre.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Bleu
I forget mine exists sometimes but I plan on making this sometime this week so I will give it some love!

Are rice noodles expensive? I've never had to buy them.
Nope, I got a package that fed six people for $1.39 at an Asian market. They're not much more expensive (still under $3) at a regular grocery store.
01/21/2013
Contributor: SneakersAndPearls SneakersAndPearls
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Aw, bummer. No, it is the same one---and some people have taste bud genetics where it tastes like soap You should just garnish with peanuts and a lime wedge then, I would have used peanuts but my friend was allergic.
I won't go anywhere near cilantro. It just tastes...UGH.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by SneakersAndPearls
I won't go anywhere near cilantro. It just tastes...UGH.
Poor souls, you and Stormy. I hope there are other flavors that you guys enjoy more to make up for it.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Bleu Bleu
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Nope, I got a package that fed six people for $1.39 at an Asian market. They're not much more expensive (still under $3) at a regular grocery store.
I live right across the street from an asian store! I buy a majority of my shrimp from there


So much hate for cilantro! It's one of my favorite herbs next to parsley and basil.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Lildrummrgurl7 Lildrummrgurl7
Quote:
Originally posted by SneakersAndPearls
I won't go anywhere near cilantro. It just tastes...UGH.
I feel like the odd one out. I love cilantro!
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova

Throw down the eggs, one at a time. If you are serving your pad thai to a group, let somebody else crack the eggs while you scramble them.


Now add the noodles and sauce, a handful and a pour at a time. Once your pad thai has the right amount of sauce, add the green onions.

01/21/2013
Contributor: SneakersAndPearls SneakersAndPearls
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Poor souls, you and Stormy. I hope there are other flavors that you guys enjoy more to make up for it.
I am a-ok with all other herbs. I just omit it when I have a recipe that calls for it, or use it sparingly.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova

Plate up your pad thai and garnish it with cilantro! Usually people add some chopped peanuts here too, but one of my friends has a peanut allergy so we skipped it. Serve a lime wedge in case people want to add a little more sourness to their plate.

Eat up! That is, assuming someone was making the Singapore Slings in the background... so let's learn those now so you can delegate it during your Pad Thai party.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Bleu Bleu
Sounds like a great recipe to do with friends!
01/21/2013
Contributor: SneakersAndPearls SneakersAndPearls
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova

Plate up your pad thai and garnish it with cilantro! Usually people add some chopped peanuts here too, but one of my friends has a peanut allergy so we skipped it. Serve a lime wedge in case people want to add a little more sourness to their ... more
I have this overwhelming craving for shrimp right now, and the seafood market is closed.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Bleu
Sounds like a great recipe to do with friends!
Yes, this is a meal I always invite people over for. Or when I know someone is driving in from far away, I'll have the sauce ready in advance, and you can make plate one at a time in the wok when people arrive. We just had to host a funeral lately and this was what I made as everybody came to stay for the weekend, because you can't plan people's arrivals around a pot roast. But when you can just throw down noodles, and shrimp from the fridge... it's easy to fed each person a hot meal right on time.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by SneakersAndPearls
I have this overwhelming craving for shrimp right now, and the seafood market is closed.
Noooooo D:
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova

Because of cost constraints (hey, I only work 39 hours a week, December is expensive! ) we took a simplified approach to the Singapore Sling. The published recipe, from the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, is this:
30ml Gin
15 ml Cherry Brandy
120 ml Pineapple Juice
15 ml Lime Juice
7.5 ml Cointreau
7.5 ml Dom Benedictine
10 ml Grenadine
A Dash of Angostura Bitters
Garnish with a slice of Pineapple and Cherry
but some reading turned up the fact that blended whole pineapple was probably in the original recipe. (The published version was recreated after the original recipe was lost.) So since I love pineapple, I went with that. And I skipped grenadine because cherry liqueur already has a cherry flavoring, and I skipped the bitters because the Benedictine already has herb notes. Cointreau was omitted basically because of cost, but you know what orange liqueur tastes like, and what a dash of it would add.
01/21/2013
Contributor: Lildrummrgurl7 Lildrummrgurl7
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova

Because of cost constraints (hey, I only work 39 hours a week, December is expensive! ) we took a simplified approach to the Singapore Sling. The published recipe, from the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, is this:
30ml Gin ... more
That sounds so good!
01/21/2013
Contributor: Bleu Bleu
"Only work 39 hours a week" ha...
01/21/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Bleu
"Only work 39 hours a week" ha...
Which means I gotta foot my own health insurance bill and all of that... I should get myself a real job sometime soon!


The first step is to chop up the pineapple. Use a nice knife to give it some flat surfaces. Then cut off the skin. Cut it into chunks that will fit into your blender.

Our pineapple wouldn't blend right away, so we added the gin early so the blender blades could get some purchase on the pineapple flesh.

It was neat to see how the pinapple separated while waiting after being blended---in most bars, if you order a Singapore Sling, they will add a bunch of Sprite or other carbonated beverage to make you feel like you have pineapple pulp.

01/21/2013