It’s pretty rare for me to not offer a blog post midweek, especially on Workout Wednesday.
Last night, I cooked something so horrible that I didn’t feel like blogging. I couldn’t bear to look at food pictures or post much of anything.
When I was home for Christmas, Beth made me my VERY FIRST pad thai. It was SO delicious! I knew after I ate this amazing dish, I was going to have to come up with a healthy version to make at home.
So, several weeks after Christmas, I finally decided to take a stab at it. I bought all the ingredients, I chopped all the veggies. I got the camera out, planning to document the recipe for you, my dear readers. I was even certain that this might be culinary genius, considering it was my first Thai dish and all. I was pumped!
I boiled the fresh rice noodles, sauteed the chicken, and then began to add the ingredients. Rice vinegar? Check. Garlic sauce? Check?. Then, I went to add this ingredient.
I knew it’s name was named “fish” sauce, and even Beth had said it smelled AWFUL. I just knew that it had great flavor… as a result, I poured a small amount in my saute pan and WHOOSH! The pan was hot and the sauce put off some steam… and I was standing in the middle of a fish sauce steam cloud.
It was at that moment, that I wanted to barf. Seriously. I had to take a deep internal breath not to lose my lunch.
I ended up removing the dish from the heat and just stared sadly at the dish (trying not to breathe in my nose.) Darn that fish sauce!
In the end, the meal hit the trash since I just couldn’t bear to finish making it. I wasn’t even sure I was going to be able to eat dinner that night, but SOMEHOW I managed to eat a Jenny Craig Rising Crust Pizza.
Fish sauce, I’m sorry, but you’re officially banished from my home. While you’re delicious, I just can’t handle your smelliness.
Have you ever tried to cook with Fish Sauce? How do you get past that smell?
nothankstocake
nothankstocake
nothankstocake
nothankstocake
hehe! I hate to laugh but know exactly your experience. I didn’t feel quite as strongly about how terrible it smelled but it is PUNGENT! You should give it another shot though!!! Just not in a fishy cloud
Sick! I hate fish sauce! That’s why I’m afraid of Thai food altogether!!!
Sorry to hear you had to toss the dinner. I would never try anything with the word “fish” so this wouldn’t be a winner for me!!
I usually don’t… but was going out on a limb. I guess you never know until you try…
Oh gosh. A fish sauce steam cloud does NOT sound appetizing! lol Sounds like the fish was was bad, indeed
Fish sauce steam cloud is the WORST! Seriously… I don’t do fish, let alone fish sauce. I was taking a leap. Ugh
Saw your post on fish sauce and it made me feel so much better.
Normally I can cook okay, but my first healthy recipe curry experiment just last night was a disaster. I made cauliflower rice (it’s where you take raw cauliflower and grind it up into rice shape by pulsing it in food processor) and then put a curry sauce with vegetables over it. It turned out awful!
I was feeling very down about this today as I’ve been trying to cook recipes for the week and just feeling sort of healthy cooking fail all over the place. I had to dump it in the trash because it smelt and tasted so bad (the smell was like rotten eggs) and resort to a Lean Cuisine. But perfect timing, your post from last week made me feel suddenly better about the entire thing. Thanks!
We practically had the same kitchen disaster! Stay away from that fish sauce! I was going to try that “rice” at some point. Now, I’m wondering…
Not meant to be used in this way. And fish sauce is fantastic. I add it to bread and tons of other things.
Frying fish sauce is a bad idea. That’s not how it’s mean to be used. REMAIN CALM.
Take a deep breath. and keep cooking. I even add it straight salads now. I love the stuff.
I keep hearing how fantastic it is… and I know it gives great flavor to a lot of dishes I enjoy. Maybe I need to give it another shot…