You’ve probably seen Thai Kitchen-brand ingredients in the supermarket.  This company looks like it’s made a killing off of various thai sauces, ingredients and instant food products.

Their latest offering?  Instant Pad Thai.  Now, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like pad thai, so I was actually pretty eager to try this out.

Each package looks like a big version of one of those to-go chinese containers, with colorful Thai Kitchen printing on the outside.  I got mine at costco - a six pack costs about $10.

The box includes dried noodles, a garnish package, a sauce package, peanuts, and a fork.  To prepare, you dump all the ingredients into the package, fill water up to a water line that is conveniently marked on the box, and microwave for four minutes.

I tried it out, and it really kind of works like a cup-o-noodle soup with less water.  After microwaving, you need to mix the noodles a bit to get the sauce evenly distributed.

Overall, it works OK.  My first try, the noodles came out a bit underdone and required more microwaving.  I think it takes a bit of fine tuning based on how powerful your microwave is.  It’s also hard to mix the noodles up with the plastic fork.  The fork is just not strong enough to mix the noodles effectively.

As for taste - it’s OK for an instant meal.  You don’t get the fresh flavor of a restaurant dish for sure, and the flavor didn’t get as infused into the noodles as I would like.  It also lacks protein - some chicken or shrimp would be nice - although probably difficult to make instantly.

As you can see, there are not a whole bunch of noodles in there.  That was a bit disappointing - especially because the box is so big.

But all in all, it’s a decent instant dish, and it’s a lot healthier than cup-o-noodles.  It made a good snack, and was quick to prepare as advertised.  It’s also very convenient - the only ingredient not included is water.  Great for say, a snack at work or a late nite snack, but not big enough to count as a full meal.

We are all defined by who we love, who loves us, and those loves that are lost.  Tupac had Kato, Dre had Tyrie and I have Crock-P.  We had a lot of good times together.  Many a bowl was shared with her in low and slow style. 

Sadly, after making a stupendous meal of Osso Bucco from a recipe carefully gleaned off of Slashfood.  

While cleaning I noticed these:

 and these: 

I’ll just have the memories of good times to stay with me.  I’ll miss you.

I found a great Wiki-how article on how to make bread in your average rice cooker.  The directions seem simple enough:  flour, salt, milk, yeast, sugar and butter.  You combine the ingredients, allow it to rise twice, then cook it for about an hour each side.  Look interesting?  Read the article!

Hmm I wonder if you can make some sourdough in there, I can’t see why not.

  Earlier this week I just purchased some of Trader Joe’s Strawberry Kefir drink.  The taste is similar to yogurt and the consistency is like a melted milkshake.  The health benefits of drinking Kefir is widely known and often quoted.  I like drinking it because it tastes good and I like the idea of getting some extra protein without having to cook something.  On a side note, Kefir is supposedly easier to digest than milk for people that have lactose intolerance issues.  I personally can’t consume milk of any kind and I don’t have any problems with Trader Joe’s Kefir.  If you like yogurt I’d give it a try, I’m definitely going to buy this one again.  I have a pretty good suspicion that Japa will like this one too.

You can also make your own Kefir buy purchasing the starter culture and leaving your milk out on the counter.  I’d rather buy mine than worry about leaving the milk out too long.

Kefir making bloggers:

The fermented milk wonder drink

Also this blogger that makes Kefir for her um, dogs…pretty normal…

Kefir Rocks!

News.com.au has a decent article on yellow fin tuna.  It contains recipies for sushi, which are soso, and an interesting thai tuna fish cake - that’s a new one.  check it out here.

After my trip to Tokyo Fish Market, I went right to work on my beloved Ahi Poke (pronounced po kay).  Poke is one dish from hawaii that is almost always poorly reproduced in the mainland (i.e. continental U.S.).  You see a variety of so-called pokes at japanese and fusion restaurants, nearly all of which are bastardized amalgams of siracha, sesame oil, green onions and kaiware.

No, poke in the mainland lacks authenticity.  Even from hawaiian restaurants like Hukilau, Poke takes the shoyu variety, a mix of onions, oil and shoyu, which is not bad, but still not ideal.

What I crave is the ahi limu style of poke - thick chunks of tuna lightly coated with oil, garlic and kukui, accompanied by the crunchy texture of ogo (seaweed).  Problem is, when was the last time you saw Kukui nut or ogo in the mainland?

But as my previous post mentioned, Tokyo Fish Market has it.  And that is why Tokyo Fish Market is the best in the bay..

I started with a pound of yellow fin tuna.  At $16.99 per pound this cut was a steal - I even got the bloodline and skin removed.  You’ll notice the deep red color of the tuna and a minimum of stringy fat running through the grain.

Tokyo Fish Market also packages their fish well.  Each piece is wrapped in paper, then plastic, then paper again.  This helps to suck unwanted moisture away from the fish, keeping it juicy and preserving freshness.

To prepare the ahi, you basically cut it into small cubes.  You want the cubes to be maybe a half inch in length/width/height - and as uniform as you can get them.  Pull out any fatty tendons you find as well. 

The other ingredients include garlic, green onions, kukui nut, shoyu, macadamia nut oil, chili oil, sesame oil, sesame seeds, lemon, and ogo.

 To begin, I chop the green onions and fry the garlic.  I like the garlic fried because it gives it a nice toasty flavor and the crunchy texture of fried garlic contrasts well with the soft fish.  After the garlic is fried I chop it into small granules.

I mix the garlic and kukui nut with the fish.  In this case, the Kukui nut is a prepared variety from Amy’s Fish Market in Hawaii.  It is also mixed with salt.  I mixed enough garlic  and kukui to loosely coat the tuna - taste as you go, especially since the kukui has salt.  Also, if you are not able to find kukui nuts, you can always use macadamia nuts.

Next, I mix the oils.  I use mostly sesame oil, with some macadamia nut oil, and some chili oil for spiciness.  Again, use oil to taste - no measurements here.  Just keep mixing and be sure not to flood your ahi with oil, thereby making an oil inundated mess.  Keep it nice and dry, not overpowering the flavor of the fish.

 After the oils, I add the green onion, ogo and some ground sesame.  As you can see the ogo (above) is kind of bunched up since it is prefrozen.  First thaw it out, then squeeze out the extra liquid, then cut it into quarter to half inch pieces.  When you put it in the poke, try to spread it out so it doesn’t get bunched up. 

Finally, add shoyu (soy sauce) to taste.  Add it slowly, since you already have a lot of salt with the kukui nut, and the salty ocean flavored ogo.  I also like to squeeze in a little lemon to get some acid in the mix. 

The end result is pictured above.  The frozen ogo is not as picturesque as fresh ogo - the fresh stuff is colorful, and holds its shape rather than appearing limp and brownish like the frozen ogo I used.

But it tasted great!  I’m not big on measurements, so really, I just suggest to add ingredients by taste.  There is a lot of trial and error, and that’s really part of the fun!