R 9. Singapore Thin Rice Noodles

This is actually the second item since I first came up with this idea, however I didn't have the blog idea in mind when starting the first dish so I have no photos. Therefore, I am starting over. So here goes. I'm going to start with a tentative layout that I will try to keep so each post is easy to read and reference. I'll list the obvious ingredients, unbiased dish description, and my opinion of the dish. As I go along I may add elements.

Singapore Thin Rice Noodles

ingredients:

- Thin Rice Noodles

- Yellow Curry

- Shrimp

- Chicken

- Pork

- Carrot

- Yellow Onion

- Bamboo Shoots

- Peas

- Scallions

- Bean Sprouts

- Scrambled Egg

description:

This is one of those, everything, dishes. There are a lot of ingredients. A few presumably stir-fried vegetables, and 3 meats. This particular version isn't very spicy. In general this dish has just a tiny bit of a bite but is never overwhelming in it's heat. It's a good dish if you want a variety of flavors and textures in one dish.

opinion/review:

I've always known this dish as Singapore Mei Fun. It's always been a favorite of mine, there is a little bit of everything. What's new to me here are the bamboo shoots. It's a pleasant addition though as I love the texture of bamboo shoots. I'm used to this dish being slightly spicy, and it is listed with a chili next to it on the menu, however there really isn't much spice here. I'm not complaining though, this dish isn't supposed to be all that hot. The flavor of curry is what matters and it is present. It's a simple yellow curry. The thing I like about this dish is that, despite the long list of ingredients, it isn't heavy. The noodles are light and soak in most of the curry, so it doesn't come off as greasy. The chicken and pork are sliced into very thin pieces, and the shrimps used are the smaller ones so the combination of all three meats works just fine together. Like a good lo mein, this dish is great fresh (hot) and the next day nice and cold. All in all, I think the place on rt. 40 in Catonsville, MD has my vote as being slightly better, but the Spring Garden version is near identical and a great option for those not living near Catonsville.

The Journey Begins

Everyone eats Chinese food. Most people have a few things that they just can't live without, be it Kung Pao, Lo Mein, Orange Chicken, or Curry Shrimp. Most people also seem to only eat about 4 or 5 things from a Chinese Takeout menu. I like to think that I'm not one of those people because my list is more like 10 or 15. Regardless, I can never help but notice that I'm leaving about 95% of any given carryout menu out of the equation. Well, I have decided that the mysterious 95% of that menu has started to really intrigue me. I don't even know what half of the items are despite the fact that I eat Chinese relatively often. Well, I'm tired of this elusive part of the Chinese menu being such a mystery and I decided it was time to do something about it.

I hope that I'm not the only one who shares this immense curiosity as to what all these items are. This is why I've decided to create a blog, I imagine there are a fair bit of people who would love to know what all these items are, and if they are worth trying. Chances are a lot of them are pretty similar, a few vegetables stir fried with some breaded, deep fried, or sauteed meats. Regardless, I need to know. So this is where I begin. I have picked a favorite local Chinese Restaurant, Spring Garden, in Silver Spring, MD to be my location, and I will go through the entire menu. The rules are simple, I can never get the same item twice from here on out. I will photograph each dish in either a bowl or on a plate, and I will write a brief description about my thoughts as well as just a simple, unbiased description of what the dish is. I can go in any order I want, I just can't get a dish more than once, otherwise I'll never make it through. The menu has over 60 items, and currently I probably don't do carryout more than twice a month. I intend to start ordering at least once a week so I can keep adding content to the blog.

I imagine this alone won't create the world's most exciting blog, but I hope as I go along I will develop some ideas to make it a more exciting read. I hope you'll enjoy the ride and please feel free to comment with any suggestions or ideas.

Let the journey begin.