Nong’s Noodz

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Wasn’t the eclipse amazing!? The media had made it out to be this epic traffic disaster, which it ended up being not so bad, not any worse than our usual PDX traffic! Work was crazy this weekend, however, I think the solar eclipse made everyone crave our food! Lines started outside before we even opened and didn’t stop! Aside from my usual cooking tasks, I also help bottle our signature sauce. We have to wait till we close one night a week to prepare and hand pour over 300 bottles!
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The bottled sauce makes it easy to prepare Khao man gai at home if you aren’t local, but I have found that it is amazingly versatile for other applications as well. I recently used it in perhaps, the best cold noodle dish ever! The sauce already has the perfect balance of acid, heat, sweetness, and salt, so it can serve as a short cut to making amazing dressings or even to use as a marinade.

Chef Nolan prepping bottles
Nolan prepping bottles

From peeling the ginger to putting on caps there is no part of our sauce process that doesn’t have the human touch, it isn’t an easy process, but the final result makes it well worth the effort and is a labor of love from start to finish, there aren’t too many products available that can really give you a similar experience to what you would have physically in the restaurant, and I am very proud to be a part of it.

Chef Nong, Rigo, and Gerrado sealing and transporting bottles for labelling
Nong, Rigo, and Gerrado sealing and transporting bottles for labelling

Nong has been bottling her famous sauce for three years and bottles are available in many stores in several states and online through the website. As you can tell from the photo above there is a very good chance that Nong herself helped to bottle the sauce you buy! Large batches of carefully prepared, temped, and authentic sauce are cooked in a large free standing stock pot, we have to maintain a certain temperature to ensure the best product arrives ready for you to eat.

Peter pouring bottles, sometimes we have races to see who can finish faster and be the most accurate...he always wins!
Peter pouring bottles

To make your own “Nong’s Noodz” you will need:
8 oz of noodles, I used dried wheat ramen noodles but you can choose your own adventure (rice noodles, zucchini noodles, even dried spaghetti would be great). Just make sure to cook them al dente and cool them.
1/4 cup Nong’s Khao Man Gai Sauce
1.5 Tbsp Tahini
1 Tbsp water
1 cup veggies of choice, I used pea pods and shredded carrots but I bet jicama would be great as well!
I also added Japanese “Schichimi togarashi” pepper sprinkled on top and bit of fried garlic, both are great but optional.
Blend the tahini, Nong’s sauce, and water together until emulsified. Pour emulsion over cold noodles and top with veggies of choice, garnish with herbs or anything you like!
Dead simple. Noodz to build a dream on and did I mention they are vegan?! A little bit of love from the Nong’s crew in Portland, Oregon! Happy Cooking!

#noodzporn
#noodzporn

V. Tacos and the Special sauce

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Let’s just skip over the election shall we? Yeah had enough of that on Ye olde’ Facebook feed. But just to not be without a bit of snark….today I made tacos! VEGAN TACOS! I gotta try and preach some plant based love, I feel like anyway I can take the edge off the heat of the world I should. I’m an omnivore, I am not trying to say different, but there is really no reason I shouldn’t be focusing on plant based recipes….really good ones, I think that its the way the world has to go to sustain life. I have kids, and “footprint” guilt, I want them to be better than me…so I need to do what I can by making plant based eating a normal option for dinner at least 50% of the time. Continue reading “V. Tacos and the Special sauce”

September Degustabox and working on my own custom web site!!

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I feel like I haven’t posted in forever! Life has been busy to say the least, but for the most part I can’t complain. For the first time in 9 years I have alone time during the day, Ari is acclimating to kindergarten, and Ava is owning the fourth grade. I’ve gone back to working a few extra days during the week, which almost makes me feel like a functioning member of society….almost. Continue reading “September Degustabox and working on my own custom web site!!”

Korean style Tofu Stew

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Kimchi and tofu are a match made in culinary heaven. Both ingredients have haters for sure but those who appreciate the flavors of both will love this vegan recipe. Once you have everything for this soup on hand, it takes all of about 10 minutes to make. I found Wilbrine’s vegan kimchi and I originally didn’t even know it didn’t contain dried shrimp or fish sauce as most varieties do, it is fresh, delicious, and crazy good for you! I find these innovative new vegan products to really be outstanding and as an omnivore, a reason to eat plant based more often, which benefits everyone. Continue reading “Korean style Tofu Stew”

Chinese chicken salad revisted

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Nineties food nostalgia is all the rage right now, and my recipe today is a play on one of my favorite salads that was quintessentially 90’s. Originally invented by Wolfgang Puck at Spago as an entree salad for Beverly Hill elites in the mid 80’s, it quickly spread like wild fire to every corner of our country. To this day most every chain restaurant and hotel room service menu has a version, and every home cook has their own version of this crowd pleasing mash up of Chinese flavors. I have had many versions, and I really haven’t met one I didn’t like (I am embarrassed to say I ate the Wendy’s version weekly as a teenager). Continue reading “Chinese chicken salad revisted”

Greek Hasselback Potato bake

Greek Hasselback Potatoes
As much as I try to venture into other cuisine, I always go back to Greek food. Growing up in a American Greek restaurant/lounge family has left its mark on every facet of who I am. I honestly never wanted to be a cook, seeing the ever so NOT glamorous side of it, I always wanted to be something else, something people notice, respect, someone special. In other words, for a long time I tried to be something I wasn’t. Pleasing others is such a hollow endeavor, most the time they only notice when you don’t do something they want, and what you realize is the folks who are worth it, like you even when there isn’t something in it for them, or when you are wearing your ugly night gown eating cheetos on the couch, watching netflix, relationships shouldn’t be a constant task of following rules or keeping your opinions to yourself to inflate someone’s delusion….if you have those types of relationships, romantic or platonic….run….like the wind! When I gave into my purpose, I finally started to find who the hell I am. Continue reading “Greek Hasselback Potato bake”