But actually it’s a problem. When I was on sabbatical I spent months learning how to cook a variety of noodle dishes so that a) I could start saving some money cause it was getting out of hand and b) because, if for some reason a couple restaurants were to go out of business my happiness would be in serious jeopardy (so I figured I should take control of my life and get it sorted).
My pad Thai is alright, my ramen is fine, My yakisoba is getting there, rice balls, all that is great. I’ve also managed to make a sort of hybrid spicy peanut garlic thing that works pretty great most of the time, although it resembles none of the dishes it was inspired by. The lack of Asian grocery stores in this city means I was only able to get chilli oil in the last week on a trip in to Vancouver (and it’s changed everything!) but there is one dish that eludes my abilities: DAN DAN NOODLES!
Every time I feel like I find a recipe I can do, it doesn’t taste like Dan Dan. It tastes like glorified itchiban. Every time I find a recipe that looks like it will taste right, it requires so much stuff I can’t purchase locally (or don’t know where to purchase locally) that I get frustrated and it sends me into the spiral of obsessing about noodles. It’s an actual problem. Maybe not in the grand scope of existence, but it certainly is annoying. I mean, okay. It’s not a problem, but it is an obsession!
GO GO MACH ROCKET SHEEP! 