Pulled this way and that for dinner

Image by avlxyz via Flickr

A great Thai salad is made with long, pasta-like strands of green papaya.

When Saturday rolls around, we start asking each other where we want to go for our one dinner out each week.

This past Saturday, I had just read a mouth-watering article online about restaurants that serve chewy, hand-pulled Chinese noodles in soups and stir-fries, but I really didn't feel like driving into Manhattan. Then, I remembered that Lotus Cafe in Hackensack served hand-made noodles.

I also recalled the Cuban seafood restaurant we saw on Bergenline Avenue in West New York, and how much we wanted to try it. Again, that would take some driving.

When the discussion came up, I suggested we go to Lotus Cafe for noodles, but my 13-year-old son said he didn't want Chinese food. He had been wanting to return to our favorite Thai restaurant, Wondee's in Hackensack. In the interest of not arguing, I gave in.

We had a wonderful meal, of course. We ordered our usual: steamed shrimp & pork dumplings for my son and wife; wonton soup with roasted pork for my son, and spicy shrimp with lemon juice and button mushrooms for me and my wife.

We also ordered som thum -- a crunchy, green-papaya salad with lemon juice, green beans, tomato and ground peanuts and shrimp. 

Our entree was pla ma now -- a whole sea bass covered with minced chili peppers and garlic, and swimming in a spicy broth I love to spoon over steamed rice ($15.95). Wondee's has some of the lowest prices on fresh whole fish.

It was a great meal, as usual, and we took home a big can of shrimp chips from Thailand and one of the homemade desserts -- a coconut-milk custard -- from the display in the simply decorated dining room. Our total bill before the tip was $61.85, including the take-out items.

I called Lotus Cafe this morning and was told it no longer has someone to make noodles in-house, though I've found the noodle dishes there still taste terrific. 

So, I'm planning to hit a couple of those hand-pulled noodle places in the city on Sunday, when you don't have to feed the meters and can park just about anywhere.

Here is the link to The New York Times article on hand-made noodles, missing the usual list of addresses and telephone numbers (use Google to get that information):

The Long Pull of Noodle Making

Wondee's Fine Thai Food & Noodles, 296 Main St.; 
Hackensack; 201-883-1700. BYO. Parking in rear.

Lotus Cafe, 450 Hackensack Ave., Hackensack, 
in the Home Depot Shopping Center; 201-488-7070. BYO.

We take the meatless pledge at Wondee's

One of the many meatless dishes at Wondee's in Hackensack.

Arrayed before us at Wondee's in Hackensack last night were bowls of wonton soup with pork, a wonderfully crispy duck-and-fruit salad and red pork cooked two ways with bok choy.

We've been wanting to cut down on how much meat we eat -- chicken, pork, beef and our favorite, Australian lamb -- and this meat-heavy Thai meal seemed like the right time to pledge to do it. My wife and son had ordered the wonton, but I chose a tofu soup.

Along with the duck salad, I also ordered grilled tofu with a peanut sauce and a small salad. The waitress noted Wondee's vegetarian menu offers a tofu version of the duck salad, which we choose often. We also could always have the crunchy green-papaya salad.

We agreed that starting today, we would eat only meatless meals, but we wouldn't give up heart-healthy seafood. (We ate three fish dinners last week, and my breakfast usually is canned fish salad, sardines or smoked wild salmon.) Eggs also are allowed. My weight is getting out of hand, and I hope eliminating animal fats will help me lose some.

On Saturday afternoon, I bought two pounds of wild-caught shrimp at Fairway Market in Paramus for our dinner tonight. But we are out of chicken, lamb and beef, though we do have two opened packages of Applegate Farm preservative- and drug-free sliced ham and turkey my wife takes to school in sandwiches.

This morning, I had two eggs with Aleppo red pepper -- fried sunny side up in extra-virgin olive oil -- and served them over Colombian corn cakes with cheese (arepas) that I picked up at Hackensack Market. Stewed Korean tofu (H Mart) and a quartered tomato with za'atar thyme mixture were on the side.

For Monday night, we have a vegetarian dinner imported from India in the cupboard (from Target's new store in Paramus) that we've enjoyed many times. Tuesday? We'll see. Maybe I can find those terrific haddock fillets at Costco that we fried up last week.

Wondee's Fine Thai Food & Noodles, 
296 Main St., 201-883-1700;  parking in rear
http://www.wondeenj.com/