Monday, May 19, 2008

pretend thai food

shrimp and noodles in spicy coconunt broth

oh, rachel ray. i do love her magazine. easy recipes without the verbal yum-o after every sample. but i'm not sure how authentic this recipe is. the meal was pretty good and the shrimp was nice and flavorful...but the broth was just meh. not bad, but nothing to write home about.


maybe it was my ingredients. i did choose "lite" coconut milk...and before you even have time to think it, yes, that is jarred ginger there. i promise, i'm big on fresh stuff. but the grocery store (you know, the one that doesn't carry plums...) didn't have any. none! the bin for fresh ginger appeared to have been empty for weeks. so i bought this jarred stuff, which was next to where the fresh stuff should have been and i moved on with my life.

also, my friend helen claims that this rooster sauce is in no way authentic to real asian cuisine. this might be true, since i've only seen it in americanized chinese restaurants...but i happen to like it for spiciness. plus, i'm pretty sure that's authentic fish sauce i used and that has to win me some major points.


so on with it. this recipe is from my current rr (june/july 08). it has the most easy, decent sounding recipes in one magazine that i've seen for a while now. page after page, there are things i'm ready to try. i did cut this recipe in half, as it makes for 3 meals, she says.

shrimp and noodles in coconut broth
1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
half 14.5 oz can chicken broth
1/2 tbsp asian fish sauce
1/2 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 tsp ht chili sauce
1/2 tsp fresh lime juice
1 lb raw shrimp, shells & tails removed
1 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
3/4 pasta noodles, cooked

1. bring the coconut milk and broth to a simmer over medium heat
2. stir in fish sauce, garlic, ginger, chili sauce and lime juice, cook for 2 minutes
3. stir in the shrimp and cook until opaque
4. stir in the cilantro and remove from heat
5. serve shrimp and broth over cooked noodles


I wouldn't go all YUM-O on this dish...but it wasn't bad. I just needed more from the broth. i think the full fat coconut milk would have helped and more flavors from the ginger and garlic.

2 comments:

Thomas said...

I'm glad that you managed to move on with your life after the unfresh ginger. The shrimp looked delicious and it, actually, overall looked great. And it looks way better (maybe lower and therefore more dramatic lighting?) than Rachel Ray's does. I'm not a fan of her, but I do like that she makes things easy. And her support of Dunkin' Donuts raises her in my esteem. Significantly.

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