I was going to have some groceries delivered the next day, so I wanted to use up all the veggies in the fridge, and making soba salad was a good way to do so.
Since I get a lot of fresh herbs in my planters, I often make an “herb” arrangement like this in the kitchen.
I wash them first, so if I need them while cooking I can just use these instead of going out to the balcony.
So it’s pretty to look at but also convenient.
Mise en place.
I still remember mise en place was the first thing I learned in my Culinary Arts class (lol).
The tofu “bacon” is my recent favorite.
I used the pre-fried type of tofu called “atsu-age”.
I cut it into small pieces, marinate, and cook them with high heat in the oven.
They are crispy and packed with umami.
Another major supporting actor in this dish was the mango.
I like using ingredients that are locally sourced as much as I can.
It already looks pretty good.
For the herbs I used mint, parsley, basil (from my planters) plus scallion.
But this time I am adding something else, something special.
This Indonesian garlic peanut is an Umami bomb!
We have a friend here in Bangkok who moved to Bangkok last year from Minnesota, but she is originally from Indonesia.
A while back she gave us this, and we loved it so much that she got us another bag again. 🙂
It’s such a great snack, but you have to be careful because it’s addictive!
I sprinkled these peanuts on the salad (at the same time I was test-tasting it :)).
Then the salad was served with miso dressing.
It was fresh, fruity, minty, garlicy, sweet, tart, crunchy…
It’s a light meal but so satisfying.
This year my husband and I enjoyed two wonderful Christmas meals (previous two posts) ourselves on the 24th and the 25t, but on the 26th we enjoyed Friendsmas dinner at the cafe called Featherstone.
It’s a very popular restaurant, and it’s features on almost all the “must-visit cafes in Bangkok” lists.
I think people like the food, but more than anything people seem to love the decor.
There were a lot of groups of women spending a lot of time taking photos. 🙂
I do agree that it’s decorated with elegance and sophistication, and people are fascinated by its effortless timeless look.
When it comes to the food, they serve western food, such as salad, soup, steak, salmon, burgers, tiramisu…
There are some “vegetarian” options, but vegan items are extremely limited (or maybe none as a lot of dishes seem to be served with cheese even when cheese is not listed in their description on the menu).
This apple walnut salad came with a few slices of cheese, which I don’t worry about.
The salad was very fresh, and we liked it.
A nice portion size, perfect to share, too.
I had ratatouille pasta, one of a few vegan-like dishes I found on the menu.
The description on the menu didn’t say anything about cheese, but I did tell the server that I didn’t want cheese just in case (he simply wrote it down and did not say “this dish doesn’t contain cheese”).
It was very well prepared, and the pasta was perfectly cooked al dente.
Everyone seemed to enjoy their choice of dishes too.
It’s a beautiful restaurant worth checking out.
Definitely Instagram-worthy (lol).
I don’t think I will go back for a meal simply because of few plant-based items, but I am planning to go back for their signature beverage “Sparkling Apothecary”.
Here is the link to the Featherstone website.
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