Valentine's Day at Arches Thai.

Arches Thai

60 North 100 West
Moab, Utah, 84532

Phone: (435) 355-0533

Website: http://www.ArchesThai.com



Arches Thai is celebrating the beginning of its second year in Moab; what better way to celebrate Valentine's Day at the same time.  Usually this restaurant is closed on Tuesday, but a special exception was made for the holiday of love.  Love there is for the owner, Bella Prucktrakhul, her friendly staff and, most especially, the wonderful Thai cuisine they serve.  Several more tables and chairs have been added to accommodate the reliable locals, and tourists that wander in; artwork of the area adorns the walls.




Unfortunately, we could not dine for dinner, but enjoyed a delicious lunch; our lovely waitress attempted to teach us a few Thai words.  While my husband picked it up immediately, I miserably failed; but then our soup came and I perked up.  A delicate clear broth filled with wide noodles and chopped vegetables; a great starter before the starters, appetizers I mean.








Samosa is a pastry puff with potato, carrot and seasonings; served with cucumber salad.  Thai Toast has a chicken/veggie spread between slices of bread, deep fried and served with cucumber salad.  Amazing and definitely a must have again!

Samosa

Thai Toast

Our main entrees were 3 Taste Chicken; battered and fried chicken pieces with 3 taste sauce, vegetables and rice.  The sauce is a mild heat, sweet and savory all at once; a wild threesome in the mouth.







Lo Mein with Beef is always a treat; perfectly cooked noodles, beef slices so tender that they melt in the mouth; steamed veggies and rice.








Now Bella did warn us to not fill up, dessert was coming; we didn't listen of course.  It was all so good, how could we stop!?!  That included dessert, we finished up all of the Almond Coconut Ice Cream and Tempura Banana.  We absolutely LOVE this dessert!!!  Smooth, creamy ice cream matched with a lightly deep fried banana in tempura batter; sweet, crispy, creamy all eaten together. is such a treat.


Being on a tight budget, we saved a while to be able to enjoy this Valentine's Day lunch; it was worth every penny we spent!  So Congratulations to Arches Thai on the beginning on their second year in Moab; and a toast..Thai of course, to many years to come.

Mary Cokenour

The Mein Idea.

Growing up, if we were in the mood for Chinese food, my mother would open up those blue cans of La Choy Chicken Chow Mein; heat the ingredients and top with the crispy "chow mein" noodles. I didn't like it; mushy and hardly any chicken, but living in a strictly Italian/Croatian neighborhood didn't give easy access to Chinese take out. As I grew older, finding a Chinese take out place or restaurant became easier as neighborhoods changed and developed; but I had a phobia about chow mein and refused to order it. Once, someone I was dining with ordered chow mein; it looked just like the canned stuff I abhorred, but served over white rice and no crispy noodles topping it. Yes, I was a bit nauseated by the sight, so made sure to keep my eyes on my own plate of chicken and broccoli; so much better by the way.

As I moved around and found different places to dine, I became more and more educated on Asian cuisine.  Thai, Japanese, Chinese, or Vietnamese became my first choice whenever asked, but my vote always lost out to American or Italian.  I purchased my first Wok back in 1982 and practiced making recipes as often as possible; I became pretty adept at stir frying.  Chow Mein though still remained my foe.  Moving to Utah, ingredients for Asian dishes, and good Asian restaurants, became almost impossible to find; my mother sent me "care packages" filled to the brim with packets of noodles, spices and bottles of sauces.  A favorite dish was Lo Mein which I posted on this blog a little over a year ago; and I'm reposting due to the nature of this current writing.

Seafood Lo Mein
 

Lo Mein

Ingredients:

1 lb lo mein noodles (thin or flat)

4 Tbsp peanut oil, divided in half
½ cup each thinly sliced bell peppers and onion
¼ cup green onion, cut at an angle
1 ½ cups bite sized pieces chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, scallops, crabmeat (or any combination)
1 cup stock (chicken, beef or vegetable depending on protein used)
6 Tbsp oyster sauce
6 Tbsp dark soy sauce
4 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp each minced ginger and garlic
½ tsp ground white pepper
1 cup straw mushrooms
1 cup bean sprouts

Preparation:

Cook lo mein noodles according to package directions; set aside, but keep warm.

In a large Wok or skillet, heat 2 Tbsp peanut oil; add bell peppers, onion and green onion; sauté till softened.  Remove and set aside.  Add remaining 2 Tbsp peanut oil; sauté protein for 2 minutes before adding 2 Tbsp each of oyster and soy sauces; cook another minute, remove and set aside.

In same Wok or skillet, mix together 4 Tbsp each oyster and soy sauces, cornstarch, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and white pepper.  Bring to a boil and let cook 2 minutes to thicken; add back sautéed vegetables and cooked protein; add mushrooms, sprouts and lo mein noodles.  Mix together thoroughly and let cook together for 3 minutes; tossing frequently to coat and heat through.

Makes 6 servings.

Mary Cokenour

June 6, 2012


What about my Chow Mein phobia that I've been writing about?  Well one day I decided to be brave, order it and see if I could eat it without the gag reflex kicking in.  Surprise, surprise though; the place I was at served it an entirely different way than I'd ever seen before.  It was not mushy vegetables, microscopic shredded chicken swimming in sauce....there were noodles in it, the same type of noodles used in lo mein.  The waiter assured me that this was indeed Chow Mein, so you know I had to research it a bit and find out the why of it all.

Here's the gist of it, those crispy noodles that came with the LaChoy canned stuff were a substitute for real Chow Mein noodles.  Basically they are the same as those used for Lo Mein; however, after boiling them, they are then fried in oil into a solid mass; the remaining ingredients and sauces are cooked together and then poured over the fried noodles.  It's a texture thing really; soft lo mein noodles absorb the sauces more quickly; while fried chow mein noodles are simply coated, yet come apart easily to combine with the other ingredients.

Chicken Chow Mein
 

"Fear is the mind killer", is a classic line from the movie "Dune", and it is such a statement of truth.  In this instance, "Fear was the appetite killer"...key word "was".

Mary Cokenour

Chinese Spaghetti?

Lo Mein is a popular dish in most Chinese restaurants and take outs.  The noodles are made from wheat flour and are similar in shape to an Italian pasta, namely spaghetti.  Lo Mein noodles can also be flat and wide resembling fettuccine pasta.  In Cantonese, lo mein means "stirred noodles", basically cooked in boiling water and then mixed with a sauce.  Chow mein noodles are stir fried, so tend to have a drier, crisp texture to the noodle.

Personally I have never tried making lo mein myself as I thought it was too complicated.  However, my mother had found lo mein noodles (the flat, wide type) in her local supermarket and sent me several packages.  Well I was now committed to making the attempt, as I didn't want to waste the product.   It was also another reason to break out the Wok and try something different.

There are so many recipes online for Lo Mein, balanced between extremely easy to very complicated; some with a few ingredients, some with too many to count.  I basically went with what I know we like to have in our Lo Mein whenever we order it at a Chinese restaurant.  I let my husband and son choose what protein they wanted; chicken, beef, pork or seafood.  They chose shrimp, but happily chimed in "Yes!" when I mentioned I had crab meat and scallops also available; so we combined all three.  I used chicken broth in the sauce, as I didn't have any fish or vegetable stock in the pantry; the taste was not compromised in any way.

While it was good, we all agreed that we would rather have had the noodle that resembled spaghetti.  The flat, wide noodles absorbed too much of the sauce; and were cumbersome to eat, so now we know better for next time.  The vegetables I used balanced well with the seafood, but I will probably add bok choy if using beef, since beef has a more overwhelming flavor than seafood.

All and all, another cooking adventure that I gladly shared with my family.  Enjoy!



Lo Mein

Ingredients:

1 lb lo mein noodles (thin or flat)
4 Tbsp peanut oil, divided in half
½ cup each thinly sliced bell peppers and onion
¼ cup green onion, cut at an angle
1 ½ cups bite sized pieces chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, scallops, crabmeat (or any combination)
1 cup stock (chicken, beef or vegetable depending on protein used)
6 Tbsp oyster sauce
6 Tbsp dark soy sauce
4 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp each minced ginger and garlic
½ tsp ground white pepper
1 cup straw mushrooms
1 cup bean sprouts

Preparation:

Cook lo mein noodles according to package directions; set aside, but keep warm.


In a large Wok or skillet, heat 2 Tbsp peanut oil; add bell peppers, onion and green onion; sauté till softened. Remove and set aside.


Add remaining 2 Tbsp peanut oil; sauté protein for 2 minutes before adding 2 Tbsp each of oyster and soy sauces; cook another minute, remove and set aside.



In same Wok or skillet, mix together 4 Tbsp each oyster and soy sauces, cornstarch, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and white pepper. Bring to a boil and let cook 2 minutes to thicken; add back sautéed vegetables and cooked protein; add mushrooms, sprouts and lo mein noodles. Mix together thoroughly and let cook together for 3 minutes; tossing frequently to coat and heat through.

Makes 6 servings.

Mary Cokenour