Tuckerus Maximus Dorkus (faustian_slip) wrote, @ 2003-07-17 23:34:00

Let's talk about my ability to cook!
My, my, my did I do a great job tonight. So great was my creation that I thought of sharing. So great was my experience eating more of the stuff just now, even cold and from the fridge, that I know I have to share for the benefit all people cool enough to cook for themselves.

I was starving and drooling with desire for spice, heat and zowiness. I headed to the "Oriental" section of the international foods isle of a mega-supermarket called Hanafords, an ok chain scattered throughout New England. My only complaint with the place is that they have no Dr. Pepper clone, at least not at the one nearest me. The closest they have is some sort of cherry pop, which isn't way far from Dr. Pepper, but definitely more fruity than a Dr. Pepper clone should be. Anyway, I saw lots of things I wanted to try but settled on some ingredients from Thailand.

I just ran downstairs to fetch this label because the product is this good: "A Taste of Thai- Peanut Sauce Mix" with excellent web page here. Basically, to make normal Thai peanut sauce (which is great on most edible substances, but especially fettuccini, rice or chicken) you have the peanut side of things and then the coconut side of things. The "Taste of Thai" packet is sized to require 1 can of coconut milk. People, get light coconut milk. After checking the cans out, I was shocked to find that even the light version is almost sickeningly full of saturated fat. I'm no dieter, but sheesh. A can of LIGHT coconut milk, which tastes the same in peanut sauce anyway, at least I think it does, has 28 grams of saturated fat. That's like 5 hotdogs. I don't even want to know what a regular can has.

So, there you are. Mix the peanut-side with the coconut-side and boil it up. Smells great. Makes you feel like a good cook.

Then I added my particulars, which ended up particularly friggin' excellent. While boiling, I added an entire can of stewed tomatoes. It was in the cupboard and I was tired of looking at it, so "plunk" it was plunked. Then, needing to feed my on-the-way-to-invincibility muscles, I added a large, pre-cooked chicken breast that I chopped into bite-sized chunks. Noting the soupiness, I decided to add an entire large-size (6 servings) can of albacore tuna fish. Albacore is the kind that looks a little like chicken; slightly pinkish and almost edible on its own. Almost. Much better for you than the gray sloppy tuna for mercury reasons, which has to do with the size and lifestyle of the species of tuna fish. KERPLUNK! That went in. Simmering now, and stirring. And mushing the large chunks of meat down. Wow it smells good at this point. Wow.

The thing about this "Taste of Thai" brand, in this package anyway, is that it had no spicy heat. So I added some chili sauce. I figured Jalapeno didn't fit the peanut sauciness of this creation. And the chili powder matched the color. But it didn't work- still not hot. So I ended up splattering Tabasco on my servings, which worked very nicely with the other ingredients. Then I added some cleanly cut slivers of ginger- not many. And simmered away which brought things together into thickness.

Once it was stewed and thickened (about 8 minutes on simmering heat) I searched around for something to use as a bed for the sauce and found some fettuccini. It turned out to be the ideal starch here.

After that perfecto first chowing, about 3 hours of sauce refrigeration later, I discovered that when cool, the sauce congeals slightly and is forkable. I forked some into my re-droolified mouth and holy jeez yeah, the stuff was excellent. This will be a regular thing, I can tell.

Yes, it's that good. And yes it is that good.

	faustian_slip 2003-07-18 15:55 (link)
	This just in... my "Taste of Thai Peanut Sauce" creation also makes a great breakfast. Indeed. (Reply to this) (Thread)