Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for November, 2009

~Sea Thai Restaurant in Wallingford~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Pranee's Restaurant Reviews on November 29, 2009| 4 Comments »

Sea-Thai Pumpkin Curry with Prawn

After three months of busy schedules, Chef Rachel Duboff, my colleague and owner of personal chef services Thyme to Nourish, and I finally had an opportunity to visit our favorite Thai restaurant in Wallingford. It’s called Sea Thai. I have known the owner, Renoo Ramstad, for 18 years, as long as I have lived in Seattle. Many local Thai chefs love Renoo’s Southern Thai cuisine and desserts, and her impeccable attention to fresh ingredients. The restaurant “takes pride in offering the finest homestyle cooking available without going to Thailand.” Both Chef Rachel and I have been long time fans of Sea Thai. 

After looking over the menu, Rachel and I decided that we would each order our favorite dishes and share. To tempt your appetite, I’ve included photos of our dishes on Facebook here for you. 

When the waiter asked how spicy we would like our food, I replied “as the chef recommends what is best for the dish.” Rachel and I love spicy Thai foods, but we wanted the chef to decide which heat level is appropriate for each dish, based on the dish’s personality. 

The first dish we ordered was a tidbit, Miang Kao Tod, a crunchy fried rice and pork. At it turns out, it’s not a fried rice dish at all but almost like a salad and is eaten with a leaf. Americans usually use iceberg lettuce; in Asia, the most common choice is Chapoo (also know as la lot in Vietnam). This is a great starter dish. 

Phad Kee Meo is a drunken noodle dish that features stir-fried fresh rice noodles (chow fun). This dish is almost as popular as Phad Thai. The noodles are usually served with a pork/Chinese kale combo, but Sea Thai’s version has an unusual twist. Instead of pork, it contains seafood with rice stick flake, a type of dried noodle about 2 inches by 2 inches that rolls when it’s fried. The texture is so seductive that I could have the dish all by itself for lunch and dinner. 

Pumpkin Curry with Prawn is a must this time a year. Renoo blends her own curry paste every week for her restaurant. Hers has a very good heat that cools down perfectly with the texture of pumpkin. To serve with the curry, Sea Thai uses Khanom Jean, a fried rice vermicelli noodle. Most restaurants in Seattle have this noodle available by request, as well as steamed sticky rice. 

Sea Thai head chef is Pa Juk, a delightful 69-year old cook who came to the table to greet us. After seeing our sweaty foreheads and red cheeks, she sent us complimentary black sticky rice with custard dessert to cool down our palate. Before leaving Sea Thai, Renoo generously gave me a box of her red curry paste with citrus flavor to bring home. 

I hope you too will visit Sea Thai and sample some of these dishes. Tell Renoo that Pranee sent you, and be sure to let me know what you think about Sea Thai’s food. 

Details 

Sea Thai 

http://seathai.com/ 

2313 North 45th Street
Seattle, WA 98103-6905
(206) 547-1961 

Read Full Post »

~Banh Mi, my way~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Thai Sauce & Condiment Recipe, Thai Snack & Street Food Recipe, tagged , on November 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Pranee's Banh Mi

My obsession for food this week is all about Banh Mi, a lucious Vietnamese baguette sandwich filled with meats, crunchy pickled veggies, herbs, mayo and heat from chilies. It’s the product of the French influence on Vietnamese culture at its tastiest.

As much as I have heard about Banh Mi and sampled it in Seattle Vietnamese sandwich shops, my real love affair with Banh Mi began less than a year ago in the Banh Mi home city of Saigon. I still remember the experience vividly – I was on a mission to find the best Bahn Mi in town. Late at night and by myself, after managing to get lost a few times, I was finally munching my sandwich on the street corner while watching a wave of motorbikes flow by. It was a blissful culinary moment.

I admit to not being much of a sandwich fan – with the exception of a French baguette – but everything about this Vietnamese sandwich and its explosion of flavor was perfect – the aroma of fish sauce and vinegar, the texture of cucumber, carrot and daikon, piles of savory meat and pate on light, crusty bread. I fell in love at first crunch.

Now back home in Seattle, I have made many versions of Bahn Mi, as I continue to create recipes for my Vietnamese cooking classes. By chance, the one I prepared today in my kitchen was the closest in taste to the ones I had in Saigon. And I included my own special ingredient – Washabi mayonnaise. Let’s keep it a secret between us!

Next time, you’re wanting to expand your Vietnamese culinary horizons, search out a Bahn Mi sandwich shop and enjoy.

Banh Mi, unstacked by NY Times

Read Full Post »

~Stir-fried Kabocha Pumpkin with Pork Recipe & Video~

Posted in Pranee's Thai Cooking Videos, Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Main Dish Recipe, Thai Stir-fry Recipe, Thai Vegetarian Recipe, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 8, 2009| 1 Comment »

When I visited my mom in Phuket in March 2009, I  dropped by to see her everyday for her home cooked meal. I didn’t plan to tape this video with Kabocha and pork, but at that moment, I wanted to record her cooking and share it with my students. My mom loves to surprise me with my favorite childhood dish. And she knew best. I love her recipe with shrimp paste but you can omit it and use fish sauce and soy sauce instead to give it a flavorful salty flavor.  Shrimp paste, soy sauce and fish sauce are Thai umami.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami.

Phad Namtao Moo
Stir-fried Kabocha Pumpkin with Pork

This recipe combines pumpkin with pork – and it may not seem like one that appeals to you at first.  Think of it as mashed potato with chicken broth next to pork chop gravy. The Kabocha melts in your mouth with a sweet taste and creamy texture. The shrimp paste leaves a hint of  saltiness to contrast the sweetness of Kabocha, and the fried garlic enhances the flavor. Be adventuresome  and try this as a side dish with steamed jasmine rice and curry dishes.

3 tablespoons canola oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 teaspoons shrimp paste or 2 tablespoons fish sauce
¼ cup minced pork
3 cups Kabocha pumpkin chunks, seeds and skin removed
½ cup water or more as needed

Heat a wok on high heat, pour in canola oil and stir in garlic. When garlic is yellow, stir in shrimp paste and pork and cook until fragrant. Stir in Kabocha and add water to reach the top. Stir well, cover and let it cook until Kabocha is cooked in the center. Test by pressing a fork against Kabocha; it should break easily. You should taste a balance of salty and sweet from Kabocha.

Vegetarian option: omit pork, egg also popular instead of pork

Gluten-Free option: use wheat free soy sauce

© 2009  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen
I Love Thai cooking

Read Full Post »