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and green peppers are the
other vegetables typically
found in drunken noodles.
O’Connor says almost any
home in Thailand has a
small vegetable garden from
which to gather those vital
ingredients.
Offering a completely dif-ferent
flavor profile from Pad
Thai sauce, the Thai Spice
drunken noodle sauce is a
combinaton of soy sauce,
vinegar, oyster sauce, sugar,
salt and pepper, and a hint
of sweet soy sauce. Although
there is a little sweetness in
the sauce, O’Connor says the
drunken noodle is meant to
be spicy.
“Some say the inebriated
can still taste it,” O’Connor
says. “This may be one of the
few dishes you’re able to enjoy
when your senses are numb.”
From northeastern
Thailand, O’Connor says the
fifth basic taste — umami,
or savory — is prevalent in
many Thai dishes. O’Connor
says it is also derived from the
variety of regional cuisines
Thailand is influenced by,
like Chinese, Indian, Laotian,
Malaysian and Vietnamese.
For Solange Thompson,
that mixing of Asian influ-ence
is the principal ideal
behind Indochine, the res-taurant
she and her husband
opened 11 years ago. One
of the vegetarian options
on the menu, the Buddha’s
Feast In a Nest, combines
elements of Vietnamese and
Thai cuisine from one of her
mother’s recipes.
“This dish comes from my
mother (Pan Thi Em). …
She gave up meat and every
lunar month she cooked this,”
Thompson says. “So I thought