Tuesday, October 16, 2012

With a smile | Seafood Kare-Kare Noodles (Seafood Noodles in Peanut Sauce)


On the last day of my 10 day catering gig, she came and gave me a tight hug and said: Thank you!

The truth is I should be the one to thank her.  I wanted to tell her how grateful I am to see the strength of a woman facing pressing issues and her being positive a midst a difficult situation.  Her dainty look, well kept hair and light make up,  even her infectious laugh will never reveal her story.  I saw her at church with her family, I saw her wake up in the early morning on a weekend to attend a 5k run.  I saw her with her children, always with a smile.  Such is the strength I've seen. 

I was commissioned by her friends to cook for her and her family.  For ten days, I found myself chopping, stirring pots, running around an unfamiliar kitchen, but I was extremely inspired.  I can't believe how much joy I had cooking. 

And yes, I am most grateful for being part of a group of friends stepping in to help a friend in need.  And the song "that's what friends are for" played over and over in my head, while I cooked.  I thought I was in my zone.

Seafood Kare-Kare Noodles (Seafood in Peanut Sauce Pasta)
This was one of the recipes I developed especially for the family.  I took the familiar flavors of a traditional dish (Kare Kare) and tossed them with unfamiliar bedding.  


Ingredients:

1/2 package rice stick noodles (you could also use linguine )
2 tbsp annatto oil (if you don't have the annatto oil, use cooking oil and add annatto powder as you saute)
1 package of seafood
1/2 block of firm tofu, cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
4 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp peanut butter

1/2 c crushed peanuts
4 cups of shrimp stock (boil shrimp heads. Extract its flavor by pressing the heads)
cornstarch dispersed in water



Procedure:

Soak the noodles in a pan filled with water.  Leave it for 30 minutes.  If you are using linguine, please prepare it according to package instructions.

Sear the seafood on a pan.  Using the same pan saute the garlic, onions and seafood with annatto oil. Sprinkle 1/2 a teaspoon of pepper. Stir fry for about 5 minutes. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce and sugar.  Add peanut butter. Stir in tofu. Transfer half of the cooked seafood on a plate. Set aside. (the idea is not to overcook the seafood)  

Using the same pan add shrimp stock.  Let it boil. To thicken the sauce pour the cornstarch mixture. Add the noodles (do not add the water wherein the noodles were soaked in).  Cook until al dente.  Add the remaining seafood topping and give it a quick stir.  Drizzle the sesame oil.  Stir for another minute or two.  Season with fish sauce. Sprinkle  crushed peanuts.




25 comments:

  1. I have this tug in my heart reading your post, and realizing now that your trip was the culmination of friends giving to a friend. You lovingly preparing each meal and providing nourishment to the family, WOW.

    Of course, your amazing spin on this seafood kare kare is to die for!!! Kudos, Ading Malou. So very proud of you. <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think this is one of the more rewarding cooking stint i've had. yes it's really heartwarming and I'm fortunate to do it for them
      Malou

      Delete
  2. I love such pasta with seafood! Always tastes great ! :) Though I usually make italian seafood sauce, I should try this

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The peanut sauce add an interesting touch that i hope you will be able to try. Thanks amiga!
      malou

      Delete
  3. Another spin Malou. You are very creative. You are inspired because the task is something very inspiring.

    Helena

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a great honor to do so and I'm so grateful.

      Delete
  4. wow! this looks and sounds fabulous! yum! thank you for this recipe.
    I am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the blog love. sure I'll go check right back.
      Malou

      Delete
  5. looks like palabok NFF, does it taste similarly? This is a really daring recipe, would love to try tasting it first from your expert hands! hehehe! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. no it doesn't taste like palabok. it's more of a thai inspired noodles. Will cook this when we get together. Thanks for the blog love.
      Malou

      Delete
  6. What a lovely story and a great seafood noodles recipe! Can't wait to try this. You just made me hungry for dinner and it's only midday! Thanks for the kind blog visit & nice support you always shower me with. All the best, Malou!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So did you have it for dinner? hihi I hope you could try it one of these days. Thanks again. I'll be there checking your blog too for you... no worries!
      Malou

      Delete
  7. Oh super delish. So nice of you - didn't realize that's what you were doing. I like this twist on kare kare into a dleicious noodle dish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you like the twist that I made. But yeah that's what I did in Orlando and I loved every bit of it.

      Have a great week!
      malou

      Delete
  8. Hi Malou! I am so happy that you stopped by my little blog and introduced yourself and equally happy that you are back in "The Lou". I look forward to following your great blog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Elizabeth! Thanks for following me over here at my blog. I am so thrilled to have a food lover friend from the Lou. Take care,
      Malou

      Delete
  9. Hi Malou, now that you finally got my msg. on twitter, I hope the word verification is gone now so I can comment!
    Your blog isn't the only one that I have this problem with the word verification. Don't know why it's blocking me, but hopefully it's all resolved now!

    I loved reading your heartwarming post about your 10 day cooking stint; so rewarding and such a blessing for the family to have you cook for them with all your creative dishes, including the Kare-kare noodles with seafood, tofu and peanut sauce. My kind of dish, so colorful and delicious:)

    The only thing that concerns me is the soaking of the linguine (just can't imagine soaking the linguine)...on the other hand, the rice noodles YES!
    Take care my dear friend! xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Elisabeth,
      Finally you're in! SO happy to finally see you here. Thank you also for bringing up the linguine part. The soaking is only for the rice noodles. I should edit that part totally to avoid confusion. Thanks mi amiga.
      xo,
      Malou

      Delete
  10. Oh Malou, I think I could eat this peanut sauce on a piece of old rubber tire. Yum!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You made me LOL'ed so much Maureen. Have a great weekend.

      Delete
  11. Kare Kare na oxtail is one of my fav dishes so you can tell that I'm real excited about your post! Love what you've done here, I can taste it already!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Adian. I hope you will like the seafood instead of the oxtail too.

      Delete
  12. these noodles look great and love that you were able to help your friend in a time of need

    ReplyDelete
  13. Such a nice thing of you to do! And I'm sure your food was much appreciated - heck, I'm getting starved just looking at this great dish! Really nice flavors, and a great way to use rice stick. Good stuff - thanks.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by and oh I would be thrilled even more if you could leave a comment... :) Cheers!

Share this thru:

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...