One of our favorite places to eat in Annapolis is a restaurant named Lemon Grass. All their food is excellent.
What is amazing to me is the size of the restaurant. It is very small with a few tables inside and a few tables outside. In the summer we usually don't have any problems getting a seat but come winter..you better be prepared for a wait and it's a packed wait. There is maybe a 4X6 foot spot when you first walk in to wait.
I love it because it's a great chance to meet new people. The tables are very close together and you may even get a chance to say hello to more new friends…LOL
My favorite dish is the fried duck. I can't for the life of me figure out how they get the duck slices so crispy. I have been asked by several friends what I think their secret is and I can't find anything that would give a hint as to what they do. I know of a friend who knows the owners and even he can't get the "recipe"…LOL
While my mom and sister were in town a few months ago we took them to Lemon Grass. They had to agree the food was excellent. My sister always orders this one dish named Pad Woon Sen. She asked me to come close to reproducing it for her so that she could make it at home.
It wasn't too hard to make because this is a dish that we make a lot, not ever realizing it had a fancy name.
I use a simple sauce of three ingredients. This sauce I use on most of my asian noodle dishes. I know that some recipes will call for hoisin sauce or plum sauce. I personally find these sauces to be too sweet. I want to taste the noodles, veggie and meat more than the sweet sauces used by some.
Another new favorite I have discovered is Pork Belly. When we go into our Asian market, they sell it by the pounds. I could never figure out what it was used for, until now.
I bought some and did some researching in trying to figure out how I prepared the meat. I found that you cook it similar to a pork chop. I will tell you how I prepare the pork belly below in the recipe. You can always use chicken or beef in this recipe. I just enjoy pork belly, way too much!!! LOL
I think this recipe fits right into our Simply Gourmet way of eating. We use wheat free noodles, lots of veggies, a little bit of meat and a few sauces. It's fresh, beautiful and sure to be enjoyed by the whole family.
This recipe was featured over at Amee's Savory Dish for her Fit and Fabulous Friday feature. You can see the other links here.
Recipe: Cellophane (Glass) Noodle Stir Fry
1/2 pound of pork belly, prepared…see below
1 small head of green cabbage, diced into 1x1 inch squares
1/2 red onion, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 packages of cellophane noodles, prepared according to package
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of fish sauce (use this sparingly at first)
peanuts to garnish
Cilantro to garnish
NOTE: There are other things that can be added to the recipe: scrambled eggs, mushrooms, bean sprouts, shrimp, chicken, etc.
To prepare the pork belly I use a cast iron pan. Preheat oven to 350. Score the pork belly across the top of the fatty side every inch. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in pan and add pork belly. I cook the pork belly until crispy on all sides. Place cast iron pan with seared pork belly into oven to finish cooking. Cook for 15 minutes until it is no longer pink on the inside. This is the amount of time it should take you to prepare the noodles and veggies.
Prepare your noodles according to the package.
In a saute pan, add sesame oil. Add your veggies and saute until they are cooked to your liking. We like our veggies to be al dente, still a little bite to them.
Drain your noodles and add them to the veggies.
Add the dark soy sauce, soy sauce and fish sauce.
Remove pork belly from the stove and slice into bit size pieces, add them to the veggie and noodles.
The noodles can be pretty hard to stir into the dish because they are so long. I will take a fork and pull the noodles up and cut them with a pair of kitchen scissors. It makes the dish easier to serve and to eat.
I like to add peanuts and cilantro to my Thai dishes, but it's up to you and your guest.
For cooking pictures, see below:
Pork Belly, cut and ready to add to the noodles and veggies. |
Veggies before they are sauteed. |
Veggies and Pork Belly awaiting the noodles. |
Noodles. |
Noodles, veggies and pork belly with sauce. YUM |