That being said, it was a good noodle, hearty and savory, not too greasy, but a good flavor balance. A lot of times I find chow mein can overdo it on the oil, but this was alright, if not terribly impressive. The egg drop soup was also very watery, and I wasn't sold on it. I'm not about to give up my loyalties to China Dragon. Sorry, Jackie Chen.
Today is #WorldPastaDay! Or was it the 17th? Either way. I wanted to celebrate, and decided to veer away from the default Italian I originally thought of, and went Asian with my noodles. Today I'm trying the house special lo mein and a cup of egg drop soup from Jackie Chen Wok in Shaker Square. It was my first time venturing away from China Dragon, a little adventure if you will, to celebrate the holiday!
That being said, it was a good noodle, hearty and savory, not too greasy, but a good flavor balance. A lot of times I find chow mein can overdo it on the oil, but this was alright, if not terribly impressive. The egg drop soup was also very watery, and I wasn't sold on it. I'm not about to give up my loyalties to China Dragon. Sorry, Jackie Chen.
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A home experiment for the night! This is an attempt at my godmother's recipe for goulasch, which I admittedly haven't attempted in a good long while. I'm a big fan of miscellaneous pasta dishes when you're running low on things (today is egg noodles and rainbow rotini), and this batch is made with some chicken (shredded canned kind -- good pantry staple!), a doctored red gravy/spaghetti sauce (I'll never reveal my secrets), sweet corn and diced onions. Garnish with red pepper flakes (if desired) and an Italian blend of cheese (mozza, asiago and... Provolone, I think?). I'm missing my fresh bread and gelato for the ideal, but I'll live. It's simple, hot, filling, and more importantly, CHEAP! And this is definitely one of those recipes that cures nicely the second or third day.
Is it stir fry? Is it noodle soup? YES. The answer is yes. I decided I was going to break in my wok and cooked some ground beef and 'stir fry veggies' tossed in soy sauce, duck sauce, garlic powder, bit of curry paste and brown sugar, and a pop of chili powder. The flavor was good, but I'd seen someone toss these kinds of things in noodles and I... Tried it. I think I used too much broth or something? The noodles were cooked in beef boullion, soy, duck sauce, more brown sugar and chili powder. When they were done, I dumped the soup into the stir and mixed it all up, and I don't know what it is, but it's a very uniquely bastardized Asian dish of some kind, with oolong on the side. Because. I mean, it was perfectly edible, if very questioning of itself.
Growing up, we ate spaghetti A LOT. Like, the red sauce I put in all my pasta is forever engrained in my brain as "spaghetti sauce", even though I've tried to teach it the new trick of "red gravy" to limited success. Even when my dad put it in manicotti, lasagna, what have you, it was always spaghetti sauce. The only other big pasta dish I had was my godmother's goulasch, which she made exclusively with macaroni, and I always make it the same way she did.
Velveeta "shells" with cheese was something introduced to me by a room mate. And when I finally started buying groceries for myself... I wondered at why fun bowtie noodles (as I'd always called them as a kid) and corkscrews were so neglected. Especially when they were the same price! What was the point between angel hair and spaghetti? Were lasagna noodles just for casseroles? Feeling adventurous and rebellious (and really, they're the same price! You aren't going out of your way or anything) I started buying farfalle and rotini (especially when they had the multicoloured ones) for my own sport and amusement. There's nothing quite so fun as being at the end of a paycheck and dropping the last bits of three different kinds of pasta into a bowl. Long snakes of spaghetti dancing with a vegetable garden of rotini and the happy bowtie of farfalle... You forget how sad you are that you're broke and have more fun with your dinner than is absolutely necessary. But that smile is wonderful. What about you? What's your favourite kind of pasta? Can I challenge you to buy an odd noodle next time you go grocery shopping? And don't limit yourself to Italian pastas, either! Get some egg noodles or pancit or rice noodles from the Asian aisle! Discover the joys of udon at your local Japanese restaurant, or try pho for the first time. You'll thank me later!
Today, I splurged a little bit and went to Sweet Tomatoes, which is a buffet-style restaurant (not unlike Ryan's or Golden Corral) but it favors a salad bar (and I do mean a VERY long bar full of various kinds of salads) and a hot bar, with pasta and soups and potatoes.
See, I'm the kind of person that doesn't make ramen straight from the packet. Not really. I mix it with some spices, some shredded leftover holiday ham and turkey, mixed veggies... And a hand-made side salad with iceberg, sliced tomatoes and your choice of dressing. Oh, and you can't forget the croutons. I make college kid cooking into... poor married person cooking. The spice rack is an investment. Almost vegetarian, but not quite.
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Brunch w/ BlakeHalf-boricuan, half-corn fed Indiana hick. Stir in a taste of the southwest and serve in LA, on the rocks. #BrunchWithBlake #FoodPorn #LAFoodie Archives
July 2021
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