Thai-mato Sauce

We've seen this Thai-Italian fusion thing that's gaining momentum (they both use basil, why don't we put them together?!) and we're not convinced. That said, Thai cuisine has tomato-based dishes of its own that you can recreate easily at home with ketchup.Ketchup's the obvious choice when on a budget or a deadline: It happens to be both sweet and sour, so with a little heat kick the stuff makes a perfect coating for gummy rice noodles, soft cauliflower and crunchity green onion stalks. In fact, chances are the spicy noodles at your local Thai place are made with ketchup anyway, so if you whip up a jar of your own, you're already one-upping the Heinz shit.

Spicy Thai Tomato Sauce
3 Tbs. canola oil
1 Tbs. curry paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Thai chiles, chopped
1 small bulb ginger, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1 Tbs. seasoned rice wine vinegar

1. Throw a saucepan on medium heat and add oil. Once hot, toss in the curry paste, garlic, chiles and ginger. Sauté for 5 or so minutes, until aromatic and curry has dissolved.

2. Add the ketchup and vinegar, stirring thoroughly. Heat until ketchup is bubbling on the sides of the pan, then bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

3. Fix a stir-fry of your choosing. Cook rice flat noodles or elbow rice pasta, strain and add to finished veggies. Then stir in spicy ketchup, heat until gooey and serve.

Just as an aside, this sauce can go further than just noodle dishes. If you have particularly good veggies, say farmers market fresh baby bok choy, just steam them for 2-3 minutes, throw them in a pan with some garlic and soy sauce, and serve them with a shot glass of spicy ketchup.