Phad si-iew

During our recent road trip through North America, Zok seems to have gotten back into a habit of eating meat- often.  Either the trip or the fact that he had some dental work done which caused him to attempt ten days of 'soft' food.  A concept that did not want to or could not grasp.

My phad si-iew had tofu but no chicken.

Zok of course - had both chicken and tofu.

We left out the egg-but if you want to add egg, just cook it first-it should come out omelet style, and you can slice it and put it aside and just add it in at the end of your stir-frying

(This recipe is for about 2 people)

250 g or .5 lb of rice noodle thick ones which are about 2 cm or 3/4 inch

1 tbl. peanut oil

1 egg (optional)

250 g of chicken or beef (optional)

250 g (for us about half a block) of firm tofu

30 ml or 1 fl. oz of kecap manis

about a 2 tbl. of soy sauce

about a tbl. of fish sauce (this can always be switched out with any other veg. sauce to add flavor-mushroom being the most common)

150 g or 5 oz of bok-choy, gai larn (chinese broccoli), kale or leafy green of your choice

150 g or 5 oz of broccoli (I like both types in mine)

a dash of ground white pepper

Drain your noodles and set aside

If you are frying your tofu, cut it into desired shape, fry and set aside on something porous (paper towel, designated tea towel)

Heat your wok(s) over high heat, and add in your peanut oil reduce to medium, add your noodles and cook for a couple of minutes

combine all your sauces soy, fish, kecap manis (you can add water if you think the sauce is too thick, I prefer mine thicker)

Add your vegetables and white pepper

Lastly add in your tofu (and egg/meat) and stir fry it all for a couple of minutes

Serve up !

Dried or fresh: First soak them in a large bowl of boiled water (hot) completely covered so you can then separate the noodle strands. Zok likes to soak his for his entire prep. time so about 20 minutes to a .5 hour.

Zok used a second wok, and using the same sauce he cooked his chicken in a second wok, and then just added this into his portion.

Spanish Tortilla

Spanish Tortilla- Zok style

Ingrediants:
Eggs (amount variable)
Herbs/Salt/Pepper to taste
Potatoes (in proportion to the amount of eggs you use)
Vegetable oil

This dish is possibly an excuse to use pottery that we bought in Barcelona where this dish is available at almost every breakfast counter.

This dish is so easy you don't really need a recipe, but it is good to know how your oven and dishes work together.

Zok peels and slices about one small potato per person.

He likes to slice thin ovals and he fries them slightly more for the crispy texture than for a need of cooking them through.

Next he caramelizes an onion, chopped in the same oil after the potatoes come out.  He drains a bit of oil off by setting out the potatoes on paper towels.
He beats the eggs lightly with a whisk, adds in some mixed herbs, depending on what is around, oregano, rosemary, a bit of salt and pepper.  He adds in the onions and potatoes at this time to mix it all up and then pours it into his terracotta dish.  In a bit he has cooked this in a ceramic torte dish, but he likes to have a lid.

He cooks this dish on 175c.
First he cooks it for about 15-20 minutes just open, then another 15-20 with the lid on (you can used tin foil), then take off the lid and give it the once over, if you want it a bit crispier/browner on top then cook a bit more with the lid off, or if the color is fine, but needs a bit more cooking time then cook with the lid on.
Zok says it takes about another 10 minutes, but this all depends on how big your dish is, or by this I mean how many eggs you used.
This is a real easy dish to adjust for last minute, addirtional people as it is easy to add in more eggs and potatoes.
Also this dish is good at all temperatures, which means you can cook it early, or have it around for late night/early morning after snacks.
You see this a lot in Spain, where this dish is out for eating both in the morning and in the afternoon.