Drunken Noodles
I know there is a propensity to add a boozy element to a dish and call it “drunken”, but drunken noodles, which to my knowledge is the original “drunken” dish, contains no alcohol. Rumor has it the dish received the drunken moniker due to the need to wash it down with a cold beer to tame the heat in it. A second theory is because it is a great for soaking up booze after a night of heavy drinking.
Many recipes for drunken noodles call for cherry tomatoes, which I loathe. Instead I added red bell peppers for some color and texture. Snow peas and bok choy were also added for some earthiness. Chicken is used in my version, but you could easily substitute tofu, seitan, or tempeh for a vegetarian version. If you leave out the eggs also, it can be vegan.
Oyster Sauce
Drunken noodles include oyster sauce for some sweet caramel notes and fish sauce for some funky flavor. Oyster sauce is made by reducing oyster juice with sugar and soy sauce to produce a thick sweet syrup. All real oyster sauces are inherently not kosher, as kosher prohibits eating any seafaring creatures that do not not have fins and scales. Of course if you don’t keep kosher then then don’t worry about it, and use off the shelf oyster sauce.
There are are some kosher mock oyster sauces out there, but they can be hard to find. I ended up making my own. I did use dried oyster mushrooms in my version to give the sauce a boost of umami, and to allow be to preserve the “oyster” alias. The recipe for my mock oyster sauce is below, but you could always substitute hoisin sauce if need be.
Fish Sauce
Fish sauce is made simply by packing small fish such as anchovies in salt, letting them ferment, and then squeezing the liquid from the fish. While kosher fish sauce is available, there is a prohibition in the world of kosher from mixing fish with terrestrial meats (such as beef, lamb, or goat) or poultry (such as chicken, duck, or turkey). As I used chicken in my recipe, real fish sauce was out. So I made a mock fish sauce without any actual fish. You can make a kosher pescaterian version of this dish using tofu instead of chicken and definitely use fish sauce . Again, if kosher is not something you worry about, then mix all the chicken and fish you want.
I used several fermented and salty products to mimic fish sauce’s funky flavor. The recipe for my faux fish sauce is below. You can substitute (fish free if you want to keep it kosher) Worcestershire sauce for the fish sauce in a pinch.
Sriracha
I did attempt to make my own sriracha sauce, but just could not get a good balance between flavor and heat. I will probably get back to it sometime in the future, but for now I used sriracha straight out of the bottle.
Recipes
Drunken Noodles
Despite the name this recipe does not have any alcohol in it. As best I can tell, it is called drunken noodles either because all of the spice in the recipe encourages you to drink to tame the heat, or possibly because it is a great dish to soak up the booze after a long night of drinking.
- 1/2 cup "Fish" Sauce (Recipe Below) On subsitute (fish free) Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup "Oyster" Sauce (Recipe Below) Or substitute hoisin
- 1/4 cup Sriracha
- Vegetable Oil Enough to cover the bottom of the pan
- 4 Thai Chilies Sliced thin and stems discarded
- 4 Cloves Garlic Finely minced
- 2 tbsp Fresh Ginger Finely minced
- 2 Cups Chicken Breast or Tofu Cut in to 1/4" thick slices
- 2 Large Eggs Do not beat the eggs
- 1 Medium Red Onion Peeled, ends removed, and sliced in 1/8 inch slices from root to top
- 1 Red Bell Pepper Sliced into thin strips
- 1 Cup Snow Peas or Snap Pea Pods
- 1 Cup Baby Bok Choy Sliced thin
- 5 oz Medium Width Rice Noodles Cooked according to the packages directions
- 4 Leaves Thai Basil Cut in to thin strips (AKA chiffonade)
- 2 Scallions Sliced thin
- 1 Wok or High-Sided Saute Pan
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Prepare sauce by combining the oyster sauce, fish sauce, and sriracha in a sauce pan over low heat. Stir until thoroughly combined.
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Add enough oil to cover the bottom of your wok or high sided saute pan and place over high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, and Thai chilies and cook stirring constantly until the garlic starts to brown.
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Add the eggs to the pan whole and as as lightly stir to break the yolks. As they eggs begin to set add the chicken or tofu. Continue to stir vigorously until the chicken or tofu begins to brown.
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Add in the onion, red bell pepper, pea pods, and baby bok choy, and continue to stir vigorously until the onions start to become translucent.
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Add cooked noodles making sure they contact the pan and begin to brown.
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Add the sauce and stir until it is all all absorbed.
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Remove from the pan and garnish with the scallions and Thai basil
“Fish” Sauce
Fish sauce is a sauce used to add a little funk to a dish. Fish sauce is usually made by fermenting small fish such as anchovies in salt and then pressing out the liquid from it. While kosher fish sauce is available, I chose to make my own vegan fish sauce as many people who eat strictly kosher do not mix fish with meat or fowl. To create the requisite funk I used a quartet of fermented products, some of which can be hard to find. For that reason, even though I usually shy away from recommending specific brands, I make an exception here. I ended up buying much of what I needed at Whole Foods, but most they can of course be found on Amazon.com.
- 1 tbsp Red Miso
- 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
- 1/2 cup Rice Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Umeboshi Plum Paste
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Add all the ingredients to a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until all the solids are dissolved.
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“Oyster” Sauce
Oyster sauce is a thick sweet brown sauce that will add some caramel notes to any dish. It is usually made by reducing the liquid from oysters, I use oyster mushrooms to preserve the moniker and give the dish an umami boost.
- 1/4 cup Sweet Soy Sauce For Rice Kikkoman makes a kosher one
- 1/4 cup Mirin (Sweet Asian Cooking Wine) Eden makes a kosher one
- 1/4 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
- 1/4 cup Dried Oyster Mushrooms Ground or chopped fine
- 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/4 cup Sweet Soy Glaze Kikkoman makes a kosher one
- 1 tbsp Corn Starch
- 1 tbsp Cold Water
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Add all the ingredients except the corn starch and water to a small sauce pot over low heat,stirring constantly.
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Mix the corn starch and water in a separate bowl to form a slurry. Once the sauce begins to bubble stir in the corn starch slurry and cook until the sauce is thickened and remove from heat.
This recipe contains affiliate links. We at MYV earn a small commission if you purchase an item through one of those links, which allows us to continue bringing you great tasting food.
Just this past August, my grandma Janie, moved out of her house, after living there for 55 years. The house in Miami where I’d been going to visit a few times a year since I was only a few weeks old. The house where my sisters and I spent every Thanksgiving for the last 15 years or so, complete with drinking wine, eating fresh fish, swimming, working on the New York Times’ crossword puzzles while laying out by the pool, and of course, eating yummy food (always). The house that smells like humidity, nostalgia and a hint of chlorine wafting in from the patio.
I did find one of my favorite Chicago based pickled products there. One of the stores there carries 
seemed like a fairly typical kosher vegetarian Indian restaurant, not unlike 
There is a very large Sephardic Jewish community in Seattle. The main Sephardic synagogue, 
Sausage and Pepper: A Chicago classic featuring Romanian’s Italian Sausage with grilled green and red bell peppers and onions
It’s official. The temperature is dropping and the leaves are slowly turning their bright orange – but how do you know fall is REALLY here? Well, of course, the aroma of pumpkin spice lattes filling the air like a thick cloud! Pumpkin spice lovers, rejoice!
The weather begins to cool off this time of year, which also coincides with the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. On Sukkot, the tradition is to build a temporary dwelling outside (usually a hut without heat or insulation), know as a sukkah. Many people eat all of their meals in the sukkah and some have the custom to sleep in the sukkah as well. This is when I often turn to hearty, long-cooked dishes. These stick your ribs, soul warming dishes are some of my favorite comfort foods. I have very fond memories of sitting in my parents sukkah on a chilly fall night and warming my bones with things like mushroom barley soup, roasted root vegetables (AKA tzimmis), and stuffed cabbage. This time of year is particularly special for me as my lunar birthday falls out during sukkot, and my mother always tried to make some of my favorite dishes.
Menu
Happy Tuesday! Hope ya’ll had a great Labor Day weekend! And what was I up to on the stormy last-official-summer day? Well since Rosh Hashanah starts this upcoming Sunday night, I thought I’d get my bake on! On today’s menu – ginger maple apple chips and gluten-free honey muffins! Even though I’m not eating many apples these days (too high in sugar and carbs for me), fear not because this recipe would be amazing with blueberries or strawberries!
Don’t Forget the Giveaway
The TP-03 is an instant read style thermometer that runs $11.79 on Amazon. It seems fairly accurate and only a hair slower when compared to my Thermowroks Thermopen that sells for of six times as much. It is fairly easy to use, with a button to pop out the probe and an on/off button on the front, and a button to switch between Fahrenheit and Celsius on the back. Included in the package was a battery, which is always nice.
The 
Well folks, it’s been a few weeks since Daniel and I tackled our first ever #Meatyourvegetables pop-up food event and the Indian food was a HUGE success and a big hit overall!
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