Pad Thai ( Flavors of Thailand)

I've been making Pad Thai now and then for about four years now but havent made it for almost a year. And last week my husband was craving for it but dont have all the ingredients.

And so yesterday, after picking up my son from his preschool we went and bought all the ingredients and take note, I could find all the ingredients in our local grocery store. It is a bit pricey but I dont need to drive a long way to Duarte to go to the asian grocery store. And with the gas price being in a peak mode, going there for a few things only is not worth it. I would normally go there for a week or 2 weeks worth of grocery.

My husband and I prefer Japanese food among other asian cuisine with an exception ofcourse when it comes to filipino food, but when someone told us about this Thai restaurant in Forrest Hills in NY, we went and tried it. My husband tried it for the first time and ever since then he was hooked. I've had it before when I was still lin the bay area. Different asian cuisine are offered from many of the local restaurant as well as cuisine from other countries. And so my family and I or my friends and I tend to do some food adventure. We get to taste different cuisine from asia or from around the world as if learning their culture too through their food.

Well back to Pad Thai, we found a Thai restaurant locally, it is good but not the same as the one in NY. And since my husband love it so much I went ahead and did some Pad Thai recipe expedition. Found one good recipe and ever since then I've used it and result no left over all the time.

And so Pad Thai was prepared on "our meza" or table for dinner last nite. My son, wont have it for now. And so he had some saved Miso Salmon from the other day.

So for Pad thai, I need to have egg, been sprouts, rice noodles, scallions or green onions, Pad thai sauce, chopped peanuts, lime,cilantro optional, chicken, tofu optional too and shredded carrots optional.

Soak noodle for 30 min in hot top water, In a pan, pan fried the chicken, set aside, tofu stir fry it and set aside, beaten egg cooked scrambled put back all the chicken,tofu and then add the drained rice noodles. Need to stir-fry it for about 3-5 min. Add the scallions, peanuts and Pad Thai sauce. Stir fry for about 2-3 min. Stir in the bean sprouts last and serve hot with lime and cilantro for garnish.

Easy to prepare and its like bringing new flavor right in to your "meza" or table. And so last nite was flavors of thailand hmmm for tonite..... till next post.

Puto (Steamed White Cake)

Puto or steamed white cake is my son's all time favorite. He made this batch of puto. He mixed all the ingredient,whisked it, poured it in the muffin pans that I've put butter on. And he arranged the puto on a plate as you could see in the picture. The only thing I did were, supervised him while mixing all the ingredients and I'm the one who put the mixture in the muffin pan in the steaming hot steamer. And ofcourse I took it out also from the steamer. He wont let me help him at all with the mixing and the whisking. He said "Mommy, I'm big already, I'll do it and mom I need more milk!" hahaha...hmm and he is only 4 years old. I guess he is the chef and I am his assistant. Oh well ever since he was just turning two years old, making puto is our bonding time together. Even before he loves mixing,stirring,whisking and eating the puto batter. I keep telling him wait till its cooked. He'll say yes but when I turned my back just for a few seconds guess what he did? Yup and I could still see the evidence a drip of it on his chin. I guess it shows only how much he loves puto.

And so today after watching his favorite show Curious George and Clifford the Red Big Dog, asked him to turn off the tv and guess what he said "one more show mom Dragon Tales". So I asked him which one do you want to do, make your puto with mommy or watch Dragon tales? He replied with much gusto "make puto". And he immediately turned off the tv.

So we've gathered all the ingredients from our pantry, flour,water or milk, sugar,butter,baking power. He mixed all ingredients,poured in the muffin pan and I put it in the steamer for 30 mins. To check if its done, surface whould be shiny and it bounces back when you pressed it. When done, brush surface with butter. And voila...home made puto prepared on "our meza" made by a four year old.

All in all, he ate three in one sitting. Spreading butter while the puto is warm. And after 2 hours, he asked me again if he could have more. So the day is not over yet, he ate 4 already. We have made 12 and I think he'll finish most of it. So better save some for his dad.