When I first met Scott he was not a reader. Oh, he’d read every morning, "magazines," which, quite frankly, were actually catalogues. When he and I were married, my mom got him a copy of Undaunted Courage for Christmas, and my husband, who actively hated both reading and history, was hooked.
This has opened up all sorts of present giving options for me, and he recently read The Omnivore’s Dilemma which I gave him last year for Christmas.
This turns one story into another, which is the story of how, when I first met Scott, I was trying to raise my family vegetarian. This did not go well. The first time Scott cooked for us, he made spaghetti, which, he pointed out, was "almost vegetarian." You know. Except for the MEAT.
Anyway, The Omnivore’s Dilemma got Scott’s attention, insofar as the weird politics that go into food production, and when we talked about giving things up for lent, he was willing to try to go meatless.
This sent me, as all food inventions do, to Philadelphia’s most excellent Asian Food Stores. There’s one I particularly love, on Washington Street, that is in an old abandoned supermarket, of some sort. It reminds me a lot of living in Thailand, and sticking out like a big, ethnic sore thumb. There are tanks and tanks of fish, lobster, and frogs, all the most wonderful cuts of head on meat you can imagine, produce that you can’t find anywhere else, and every spice or ingredient that you need to make any delicious recipe of your choice.
Missing the cuisine of Thailand, as I do, I’ve been having a field day. I’ve made dishes upon dishes of Thai food, and, at the end of the day, all I have to do is throw rice in the rice cooker, and we’ve got a meal. OH! One of the best things at the market is fresh bamboo. And fresh tofu. Like maybe even made on the premises fresh. In a big bucket. With tongs.
Anyway - we’ve been having fun. And in my quest to expose my family to the wonders of Thai Cuisine, I found this terrific foodie blog, with easy to follow instructions (not to mention conversions) and today I made this awesome Thai snack, which I have not had in 25 years. Thai food is known for a perfect balance of (sometimes unusual to the Western Palate) flavors, and when I gave Scott one of these, he said, "Wow, I didn’t expect the scallions, but that was perfect." I didn’t have the mini-pancake pan recommended, so I put a couple of tablespoons of the batter into the bottom of muffin tins, and baked them at 350 for about 10 minutes. So mine weren’t as golden brown on the bottom as the ones here, and I’ll probably have to either look for one of the mini-pancake pans she describes, or something, but the taste is phenomenal, anyway. Yay Appon! and thank you. (The other thing is that the batter is way too thin to just cook like pancakes, if you know what I mean, but my version worked okay.
Best thing? Charlie, who hates EVERYTHING, asked for seconds on the mini flan. I know that scallions in a sweet sounds weird, but Charlie ate it. I’m just saying.
Next, I mean to try to make these, and would have already, if I had thought to buy sticky rice flour and tapioca flour. I’ll probably substitute a very firm tofu for the meat in this one. I’ve been tasting these since I found this recipe, and I’m pretty sure that this particular delight is responsible for at LEAST half of the weight I put on in Thailand.
