Shrimp curry with noodles.

So these kelp noodles have turned out to be trickier than I originally thought. For starters, they have this faint smell that I really dislike. Once they're all sauced up, you can't tell, but when I'm cleaning and cooking them, the smell affects me like I'm pregnant, and I want nothing to do with them. Bummer. But again, it's really faint.


Second, they have a really bizarre texture that can be cooked off, but though I have prepared some 5 or 6 batches now, I still can't figure out how I get it right when I do! At first I doused them in oil and cooked them with a bunch of other stuff and no problem. So I thought it was the liquid. So I boiled them in water first the next time. Didn't work. No matter how long I boiled, they still kept they're crunchy, rubbery texture. Even tried adding a bunch of oil and nothing, that is, until I added the sauce. So the next time I cooked them in the sauce, which really didn't work. So now I cook them in water first (with some oil) and then drain and cook in sauce. Works fine, but I am not sure if there are steps I could be eliminating or should be adding.


On to the shrimp curry...


I found a Thai curry paste at the grocery store that doesn't have any sweetener (yay!), and basically you just add it to coconut milk which I always have on hand now since I use it a lot in my cooking. So for this dish I add the coconut milk and paste to the noodles, mix around, add whatever vegetables I want (here I've been adding frozen, whole spinach, and canned, roasted tomatoes), plus whatever cooked meat I want (in this case shrimp). Some xylitol for sweetness, which I could skip if I'd cooked some onions down in the pot first. Then season as needed, add a little turmeric for color, and it's done! For added crunch and freshness I add julienned cucumbers, zucchini, or toss some bean sprouts on top. Some sort of chopped nuts would be good too.


It's pretty good, though a little bitter. Is it the paste? The noodles? I don't know! The second time I added some lemon juice to counteract the bitterness, which worked, but then my dish was sour which is not very 'curry'. But both times I made this, the leftovers were way tastier, though also mushier.


So, these noodles aren't exactly simple to work with. I guess I have to just keep experimenting, because it's great to have noodles again!


By the way, they also do fine with pasta sauce and cheese, maybe some sausage. Mmmmmm...