Fried Rice

Courtesy of Kelly

I'm changing this to be written as I made it. The original recipe link is at the bottom though.

Ingredients
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 C onion, chopped
2 cups cooked rice, cold
3/4 C carrots, shredded or grated
2 tablespoons soy sauce
black pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped ham

Directions
In a small bowl, beat egg with water. Pam spray a large skillet over medium low heat. Add egg and leave flat for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from skillet and cut into shreds.
Heat oil in same skillet; add onion and saute until soft (Kelly note: I always cook onion with garlic salt). Then add rice, carrots, soy sauce, pepper and ham. Stir fry together for about 5 minutes, then stir in egg. Serve hot.

2 notes
1. The ham I used was very finely diced, so you may want to add more ham if you use bigger pieces
2. I cooked the rice while I chopped the onion, cooked the egg, etc. You can't put the rice in warm (don't know why) but I rinsed my rice in cold water a couple times to get it cold which worked fine. That way you won't have to make the rice far ahead of time.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chinese-Chicken-Fried-Rice-II/Detail.aspx

Tamarind Paste

Courtesy of the BBC.

We couldn't find tamarind paste (= pulp) anywhere, so we made some.

1. Purchase a some tamarind. Looks like a shrink-wrapped brick of prunes.
2. Break the tamarind brick into pieces.
3. Pour boiling water over the pieces. Use as little as needed to cover the tamarind.
4. Leave over night if you have time.
5. Pour the tamarind over a strainer with a bowl underneath.
6. Mash the tamarind against the edges of the strainer for force the pulp through.
7. The stuff that comes through the strainer, into the bowl is the paste.
8. A lot of pulp will stick to the bottom of the strainer, so be sure to scrape it off before throwing out the fiber and seeds.

Pad Thai

Courtesy of The New York Times.
Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

• 4 ounces fettuccine-width rice stick noodles
• 1/4 cup peanut oil
• 2 to 4 tablespoons tamarind paste
• 1/4 cup fish sauce (nam pla)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 eggs
• 1 small head Napa cabbage, shredded (about 4 cups)
• 1 cup mung bean sprouts
• 1/2 pound peeled shrimp, pressed tofu or a combination
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 limes, quartered.

1. Put noodles in a large bowl and add boiling water to cover. Let sit until noodles are just tender; check every 5 minutes or so to make sure they do not get too soft. Drain, drizzle with one tablespoon peanut oil to keep from sticking and set aside. Meanwhile, put tamarind paste, fish sauce, honey and vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and bring just to a simmer. Stir in red pepper flakes and set aside.
2. Put remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; when oil shimmers, add scallions and garlic and cook for about a minute. Add eggs to pan; once they begin to set, scramble them until just done. Add cabbage and bean sprouts and continue to cook until cabbage begins to wilt, then add shrimp or tofu (or both).
3. When shrimp begin to turn pink and tofu begins to brown, add drained noodles to pan along with sauce. Toss everything together to coat with tamarind sauce and combine well. When noodles are warmed through, serve, sprinkling each dish with peanuts and garnishing with cilantro and lime wedges.