Fishinnards

Cilantro stems are an inferior (IMHO) substitute for cilantro roots, which are one of the main flavorings in Thai food. They are in most curry pastes, many stir fries and essential for grilled meats. The taste is unique but somewhere between the earthiness of cilantro leaves and the fragrance of coriander seeds. There is some of that taste in the stems, but it's way more concentrated in the roots. Mashed together with garlic and white pepper they add a uniquely Thai flavor to many many dishes. If future wife has eaten Thai food, say a curry, or grilled chicken, she has probably tasted it. I don't think they have the "soapy" flavor of the leaves, but I eat cilantro as a vegetable, so I may not be the best judge of that.

Last night, fish (ocean trout caught by my dad in Florida) cut into chunks and fried with a light coating of tapioca starch with three flavor sauce (ซอสสามรส). Mango salad with crispy fried egg, vegetables and rice.

Monday, laap gai (chicken laap), rice and vegetables Wednesday, rice, blackeyed peas with mushrooms, green beans with garlic and mustard seeds, onion and carrot salad (all courtesy of Madhur Jaffrey) Friday, added chicken cooked with fresh fenugreek greens (methi) to the above leftovers.

Friday I roasted a chicken. I used an Indonesian recipe (from Manado, Sulawesi). Chicken is briefly marinated in lime juice, salt and sugar. A paste of chillies (20 red Thai bird chillies), garlic, ginger and shallots is fried in oil and spread on the chicken. It's usually grilled, but I opted to stay indoors. It was spicy and very tasty. On Saturday we had the roast chicken with egg salad (crispy omelet, green apple, peanuts, shallots, coriander, lime juice, fish sauce, pounded chilles and garlic and palm sugar) with healthy helpings of rice (brown jasmine/ Thai red rice mixture). It looked like this:

I could do Friday the 17th for lunch.

Wednesday, brown jasmine rice/Thai red rice 50/50 mixture with leftover green curry and Thai sweet and sour beef (nuea pad priow wan) Yesterday, made up dish of broccoli, paneer, garlic, ginger, onion, potato, tomato, chicken stock, and East Indian Bottle Masala (from 660 curries), with brown jasmine rice.

There's always McDonald's Namtok rice, sadly it's only in Thailand, but maybe someday... BTW the Lao menu looks great. I'd be down for an outing (Lao hot!). There is also good Thai and Isaan food at the takeout counter in the back of Duangrat Thai grocery, made to order. They share the kitchen with Rabieng. Neam khao tord, soop naw mai, somtom Lao, nam tok, laap, etc.

My wife and I had a wonderful time last night. Here is my wife's report on our blog: The meatblog; Project 2312: a report on a pop-up restaurant you probably won't get to try out.

Sunday, yum sam oo (pomelo salad), tom yum gai, gaeng keow wan gai (green curry with chicken and eggplant). As a bonus, my wife returned from NYC with the camera.

Pomelo salad (yum som oo) (cashews, toasted coconut, fried shallots, raw shallots, poached chicken, coconut cream, tamarind, palm sugar, homemade roasted chili paste, fish sauce) raw napa cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, cilantro, Thai basil. Stir fried bitter melon with egg. Thai red rice.

I like Grace Young's books. There's some recipes on her website.

น้ำพริกเผา nam prik pao, "roasted" chili sauce. I deep fried about a cup each of whole garlic, shallots, and dried red chilies. Ground this to a paste with salt, bonito flakes, salted black beans, fish sauce, palm sugar and tamarind. Now it's simmering in oil smelling very nice. It's usually made with shrimp paste (กะปิ) and dried shrimp instead of black beans and bonito, but since my wife is allergic I can't just buy this in a jar at the store. It's also fun to make.

Fried rice: leftover jasmine rice, some meat from leftover red braised pork, sliced bitter melon, pickled mustard greens, garlic stems, egg, fish sauce, kecap manis, chopped garlic and fresh chillies, stir fried in rendered fat from the red braised pork and coconut oil. Served with raw napa cabbage, cucumber, Thai basil, cilantro, and lime wedges.

Chana Dal (green chillies, garlic, cumin, coriander, tomatoes, turmeric, cilantro), cauliflower and potatoes, green mango salad (onions, lemon, chaat masala), brown jasmine rice.

Olio, on King Street in old town Alexandria. They will let you sample stuff. I should have known someone would beat me to it.

I just saw this trailer for a documentary on the Prestigious Master Sommelier Exam. Looks to be an entertaining film if your into that sort of thing.

Wife and I will be there 8pm Monday.

coriander salad, spicy eggplant, red braised pork ribs, cumin beef (I'm very full right now ) . Happy New Year!

Red braised pork ribs. Blanched ribs and cut them up, caramelized sugar in oil added ribs, shaoxing rice wine, cinnamon, black cardamom, star anise, fennel, dried red chillies, ginger and water. Now it's braising in the oven.

It's worth the effort. I found some pomelos at Harris Teeter in December and made this using a combination of this recipe and Chef McDang's. It was fragrant and delicious, sweet, sour and hot. I found you need to eat it fairly soon after you make it, as it diminishes in quality the longer it sits. Now I want to make this again soon.

Maxim in Rockville had sliced lamb, but that was 2 or 3 years ago (but it looked like it might be a regular item). Bangkok 54 Grocery had fresh Thai basil yesterday.

Sadly, Pho King is no more (or moved to Eden Center). There is Fu Kang on Rhode Island Ave. NE

An extra day off means I get to make curry paste. Green apple salad (apple, lime juice, fish sauce, roasted peanuts, dried chilli, shallots, red onion, cilantro), green curry with chicken and eggplant, pork jerky (from Bangkok 54) with (homemade) nam jim jaew (dipping sauce), greens stir fried with garlic, sweet soy sauce, fish sauce, and crispy chicken skin. Everything is just condiments for mounds of jasmine rice.

Wednesday, Thai egg salad (crispy Thai omelet torn into pieces and mixed with fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar, pounded garlic and bird chillies, a handful of mint leaves, cilantro, sliced shallots, crushed roasted peanuts) with raw vegetables, leftover red curry and jasmine rice. Thursday evening I had to "work" (if you call "playing records for people in a bar" work) so I didn't cook, but I got free drinks and money . Alas, the internet told me Thursday was national curried chicken day! So Friday became curried chicken day observed with murgh rasedar (chicken in fried onion sauce) and carrot and onion salad (and rice), both from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking. Saturday I made a cauliflower and caramelized onion tart and a salad.

Saturday was Achar Murgh (chicken in a pickle style [ground fenugreek and mustard seeds, garlic, ginger and mustard oil] with acorn squash and carrots), gobi aloo (cauliflower and potatoes), chapatis. Sunday (and Monday), Kabocha pumkin curry, pickled mustard greens with egg, pork and tomato dipping sauce, pork rinds, green papaya salad, and jasmine rice. Last night, leftover pickle chicken from sunday, rice and a salad of onion, cucumber, tomato and cilantro with lime juice, olive oil and chaat masala.