French Friday with Dorie
This week's recipe is a simple stir-fry dish with chinese cellophane noodles (I used chinese noodles), dried chinese ear mushrooms (I couldn't find them so I used fresh shiitake mushrooms), shrimp, tomato puree, onion, garlic, a spice mixture consisting of ground ginger, sugar, chinese five spice and a pinch of cayenne. It is supposed to be a fusion dish, but for us it just didn't work. The tomato puree was so thick and tomatoey and overwhelmed the mushrooms and shrimp. I tried to thin it down with some of the pasta water, but it was still too thick. I did like the taste of the spices in it though. The Chinese five spice was good and the heat of the cayenne at the back of the throat was nice. I think with a different sauce this would be a much better recipe.
I only made half of the recipe and there was a little bit leftover that I put in a container in the refrigerator. I had to laugh the next night when I saw John at the kitchen counter with the open container. He was scraping off the tomato puree from the leftovers and sprinkling tabasco sauce on the noodles and few remaining shrimp. He looked quite happy, so I am assuming it tasted better with the tabasco sauce.
See what the rest of the group thought over at French Fridays with Dorie.
You managed to make this dish look incredibly appealing. Your husband story is very amusing.
ReplyDeleteSounds like something Chris would do. The tomatoes really messed this one up for us!
ReplyDeleteWell, it's a very pretty meal, but not what I would expect of a Chinese-inspired dish! This one was so strange. The spices were good, and a little heat is nice! We ate ours with some Asian hot sauce, so maybe your husband did have the right idea!
ReplyDeleteHi Elaine, ha ha I can see your husband scraping off the tomato puree-that's so funny;-) Even with the tomato puree-your dish looks quite good;-)
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend- I see blue skies;-)
Tabasco works all the time. Your dish does look good with the puree, but I really
ReplyDeletedon't see the combination. At least we all tried. Have a great weekend.
Tabasco to the rescue. Did it help?
ReplyDeleteI think we are all in agreement that the tomato puree called for was just way too much! I used way less and thought it turned out quite well. I liked the combination of the spices, thought the garlic was ample, and I like rice noodles anyway, so no problem there. Way to go for trying!
ReplyDeleteI liked the 5 spice too. I liked this dish but used thin tomato passata - perhaps that was the key.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to find someone who actually liked this one. I think the fresh mushrooms definitely made a difference. I used the wood ear mushrooms and they were a bit overwhelming. Yay, Elaine! Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteI agree - with another sauce, I would have enjoyed this. The five spice wsa lovely with the shrimp though.
ReplyDeleteThe 5 Spice was really good. We skipped the tomatoes but, it really was the noodles that killed it for me. Yours look much nicer than the blob we ended up with.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your weekend!
without the puree this would have been a GREAT dish. The fragrance of the spices, onions, and shrimp was heavenly. UNTIL I added the puree....
ReplyDeleteLOL what a great picture you painted!Glad he liked it too! My hubbys choice condiment that goes on everything is sriracha!
ReplyDeleteElaine, respect for preparing this recipe without making any substantial changes to it. I did not dare add all that tomato purée to it and took quite some liberties with this recipe. Your final dish does look very nice and colorful though - in my opinion, shrimps on a bed of Asian noodles are hard to beat. And your story about your husband made me smile.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend!
Hello!
ReplyDeleteI love your blog--thank you so much.
Would you consider parting with your Snow Crystals plates? I remember you featured them in a fall posting!
Many thanks!
I love your photos! The dish looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteLove your story about your husband and the leftovers! I think a lot of people did the same this week. I'm glad I skipped the tomato.
ReplyDeleteYes, that is definitely too much tomato puree. But, if you can imagine that your photos show an Italian-inspired dish served on regular pasta, then your pictures look delicious!
ReplyDeleteYour dish looks delicious. My family believes Tabasco sauce makes everything taste wonderful.
ReplyDeleteAh Tabasco! It does make things taste better. Your photos are great and it certainly looks good!
ReplyDeleteYou and I and John are in sync with this one. I watered down the puree also but, in the end, the heavy tomato influence didn't work at all. In fact, most of us couldn't make this work with our tastebuds, right. I didn't want to toss the shrimp, so, like John, I picked it out of the dish. I ended up making a shrimp totilla wrap and managed to salvage some of the early evening's preparation, ingredients and result. Tabasco? A little squirt is good on anything, isn't it. Love your husband.
ReplyDeleteToo bad this dish was disappointing. John was on to something, though. I love a good, spicy shrimp dish. Glad he was able to salvage a meal!
ReplyDeleteYour photos of the dish look beautiful, Elaine! It's too bad the tomatoes overwhelmed, but the 5 spice sounds good with the shrimp and noodles. I had to laugh, because my husband is so similar--hot sauce will make just about anything better for him as well. :)
ReplyDeleteYour dish looks delicious…too bad it was a disappointment! I skipped the tomato puree after reading everyone’s reviews. I’m glad I did, because even though it wasn’t my favorite, I did enjoy it! Sorry I’m so late…but I was visiting my grandsons for their birthday! Have a great week, Elaine!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you didn't like the dish as is, but at least your husband liked his own variation! It sounds like the tomato sauce didn't work for quite a few people.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the tomato sauce ruined it a bit! Well you will know for next time!
ReplyDeleteStirfry looks wonderful - even though it wasn't your favorite. I love shrimp though - so you've MADE it look delicious - that's part of the grade. :)
ReplyDeleteWell...I am a Frank's girl myself, but I am glad that the Tobacco helped! There is only one way to be sure we like something, so at least you know you tried it!
ReplyDelete