I love pad thai. Well, I love good pad thai. So would the offerings from Backpacker’s Pantry and Food To-Go make me happy? Would they even resemble pad thai?
FOOD TO-GO
Unlike most dehydrated meals, Food To-Go came as a single serving—which makes more sense to me. Also, unlike normal pad thai, the noodles were cut into short pieces to help the rehydration process. No big deal, just different. Food To-Go claimed to contain shrimp.
Food To-Go was very disappointing. It didn’t taste bad, it just didn’t taste like pad thai. Although there were crumbled peanuts, there was no peanut flavor. And the shrimp was invisible. They should either reformulate their recipe or rename it something like Sort of Asian Noodle Thing.
BACKPACKER’S PANTRY
Backpacker’s Pantry had short noodles too, but it also came with packets of peanut butter, lime powder (I didn’t know there was such a thing, other than Jell-O or Kool-Aid) and powdered sriracha. No shrimp or chicken.
Backpacker’s Pantry tasted much better, fairly close to my memory of great pad thai. The peanut butter really helped. Instructions said to add the sriracha to taste and that a whole packet was the rough equivalent to medium at a Thai restaurant. I went with half the packet to be safe. It was just right for me. If I were ever to have some of this again I would probably add some of my canned chicken to the mix.
To aid me in stocking for boondocking would you tell us what canned meats you have found best to carry with you. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMostly chicken, but also turkey, ham, pork, and beef. I haven't experienced much difference between brands except that sometimes the ham is cubed and sometimes it's formed into a single chunk, or sometimes the beef comes with a lot of broth/gravy.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. I have a decent size freezer but remembering to move meats to the refrigerator to thaw out is a weak spot in my life. Ready to eat in a can would be a lot better all to often, I appreciate your reply.
DeleteI've been surprised at how many canned meats I use. I mainly buy chicken, tuna, ham, and salmon. I also buy tiny shrimp but those have to be rinsed carefully because they tend to have bits of shell still in them so I don't eat them as often. If you like potatoes, you might like Idahoan instant potatoes in a cup. I stir one can of meat into one package of potatoes and make a meal of that with fruit on the side. Sometimes I add salad dressing to change the flavors. Quick and easy.
ReplyDeleteI've tried Idahoan a handful of times and there's an underlying taste that's not quite right to me. Sort of papery or wooden, like they add sawdust to it.
Delete