The fact that I’ve been happily making this beef curry noodle dish the same way for years would lead one to think that it would have been one of the first recipes to be published here. I’m sorry I’d hidden this from you for three years, but it’s only because I was afraid you cool kids would make fun of me. First of all, it’s made in a slow cooker, not a much more sophisticated pressure cooker or a Thomas Keller-approved sous vide machine. Then we also have the issue of namelessness: this dish doesn’t have a name. Even Holly Golightly’s cat has a name. This thing? Nope. Not even “Noodles.”
The truth is that this dish started out as a failure. Initially, it was supposed to be a streamlined version of Khao Soi (northern Thai curry noodles), but failed to deliver (too many ingredients short). Then, in an attempt to save the cook’s face, it was quickly re-purposed as a streamlined version of Kuai Tiao Kaeng (aka Kuai Tiao Khaek), but, still being too many ingredients short, that didn’t go so well either despite the addition of soft- or medium-boiled eggs to increase the visual resemblance. [In case you’re wondering about the ingredient issue, I guess I should tell you also that this dish was born in an era of students’ poverty. My first slow cooker was purchased from a garage sale in a very dingy residential area. I went there, paid $2 for it, grabbed the thing, and ran like heck.] Continue Reading →
