C. sapidus

This doesn’t hold a candle to the gorgeous yolky goodness upthread, but it was a rare weekday cooked breakfast – a quick omelet with nahm prik pao, fish sauce, scallions, and feta cheese, with a squeeze of lime juice.

Tonight we made shrimp simmered in caramel sauce (tom kho) and fried rice. Simple and good – Gulf shrimp, sliced onion, caramel sauce, fish sauce, black pepper, and scallions. The shrimp had an interesting texture after simmering in the sauce for 15 minutes – chewy, but not particularly tough. I have read that some Thai seafood dishes seek a similar texture.

Yunnermeier: Firstly, thank you! We had a discussion about gai pad gaprow on this topic, starting in Post #374 (click). Check out HKDave’s recipe in the following post – perhaps that will be more to your liking. Otherwise, I sent a couple of recipes to you via PM. Best of luck finding the gai pad gaprow of your dreams. Your Thai friend sounds like a great resource, why not ask her for advice?

Most of tonight’s dinner was from Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Yueyang velveted (or passed through oil, if you prefer ) fish (liu yu pian); stir-fried greens with black beans and chiles; eternal cucumbers; and jasmine rice. I couldn’t find halibut, so we used flounder, which flaked into fairly small pieces. Consequently this tasted better than it looked, with the crunch of red bell peppers and the lovely flavors of thinly-sliced ginger and garlic, dried shiitake mushrooms, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. We also made stir-fried greens with black beans and chiles. Every time I use fermented black beans, I always vow to use them more often. The recipe called for water spinach stems. I intended to substitute regular spinach but inadvertently grabbed some arrow-shaped leafy things hiding in the spinach section. The recipe is pretty flexible, so the mystery greens tasted delicious.

Prawncrackers: I remember your posting that tea-spiced duck once before. As far as I am concerned, you could post it every night of the week – it looks gorgeous. Tonight we made Thai chicken with holy basil (restaurant menus often list this as “chicken kapow” ), Indonesian-style green beans in coconut milk, and jasmine rice. We harvested about half of our holy basil plant in the dark – I bet it will look pretty lopsided in the morning.

djyee and Robin: Thanks for keeping track of the recipes made on the thread! You can check off a few more dishes - I have made the Nyonya sambal (10), the braised cabbage with dried shrimp (hmm, but apparently not posted on this thread), Rohati’s crisp-fried potatoes with chile and shallot sambal (10), and the Padang fish curry (10). We didn’t make a whole meal from Cradle of Flavor, but Robin’s picture and description upthread inspired us to make the green beans with coconut milk (sambal goreng buncis). Tender green beans bathed in coconut milk and flavored with sliced shallots, garlic, chiles, ginger, ripe tomato, and a touch of palm sugar. We had lots of ginger, so we used that instead of galangal. Lovely flavors, but next time I might use daun salam leaves and let the green beans get a bit mushier.

Jamie Lee: No reason to be embarassed! Tamarind water and shrimp paste turn up in innumerable Thai recipes, but I associate hoisin sauce more with Chinese and Vietnamese cooking. I don’t know much about noodles, but The Cook's Thesaurus: Other Asian Noodles (click) discusses noodle substitutions. Tonight we made spicy chicken with basil (gai pad ga-prow) from Thailand the Beautiful. The spice paste contained garlic, shallots, pickled green peppercorns, and lots of jalapenos and Thai bird chiles. Fish sauce, sugar, and about half of our holy basil plant rounded out the flavors. Served with Indonesian-style green beans in coconut milk and jasmine rice.

Absolutely. I am vicariously enjoying your ability to focus on a particular cuisine, because I lean towards this approach. Fortunately or unfortunately, cooking for family requires a bit more variety. Anyway, Land of Plenty is one of my favorite cookbooks, I hope to learn more about Japanese cooking, and I am very much looking forward to the rest of your foodblog. Is your girlfriend tolerant of the "madness"? Your dinner looks delicious. I love the fact that you cooked an entire Sichuan meal with its full complement of dishes, finishing with a simple soup. I remember reading about this in Ms. Dunlop’s book. For us, cooking a comprehensive meal is usually not an option - I can manage maybe two dishes on weeknights before the howling mob demands to be fed. I can see why you love the place -- access to great raw materials provides such wonderful opportunities. Have you ever suggested particular spices or chiles for the owners to seek out? I also appreciate seeing Montreal through your eyes. We have never visited, but I am quite certain that my middle-school French would be inadequate if we did. Do you speak French?

Yunnermeier: I would love to try your Japanese dishes, even not knowing what they are. Brenda, the boys did better than me, as you will see in a moment. I'll take a big piece of that apple crisp, if you don't mind. Tonight I managed to transform filet mignon into something marginally edible. I marinated the filet in soy sauce, bourbon, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil, and then grilled it medium-rare with a grind of white pepper. I thought the edges were too salty, younger son thought it too peppery, and elder son disliked the taste of bourbon (and I’m OK with that . . .). Mrs. C and the dogs loved it. Note to self: keep it simple, stupid. Sides included stir-fried mushrooms with oyster sauce and garlic; roasted bell peppers in sweet rice vinegar; and eternal cucumbers. The mushrooms turned out particularly well – elder son, a renowned mycophobe, converted to mycophilia.

The boys planned and made dinner tonight (with help from Mrs. C). After a few traumas, one of which required steri-strips, we had beef fillet kebabs with grilled fruits and veggies - mushrooms, red bell peppers, onions, and apples. For dessert, younger son melted dark and light chocolate chips in the microwave, into which we dipped Granny Smith apple slices. Yum. Da boyz done good.

You can mail-order a mortar and pestle from Temple of Thai (click). The bigger the better, to keep stuff from flying around.

This is our first opportunity in a long while to contribute to this most beautiful orgy of runny eggs and pork byproducts. Unused Mexican chorizo and the last of the amazingly flavorful heirloom tomatoes inspired today’s breakfast. The eggs were pasteurized, so I scrambled them very "loose." PercyN: Great (or at least egg-and sausage-obsessed) minds think alike, apparently. Huevos con chorizo, salsa Mexicana, feta cheese, multigrain tortillas

Peter, thanks for the shot of the pea eggplants - they are a bit larger than I had pictured, so I'll have a better chance of recognizing them should they turn up nearby. To find the ultimate reasonably efficient homemade red/green/jungle/panang/etc. curry pastes, I have had great fun recently with mortars and blenders and such. I do need to try the Mae Ploy sachets for comparison. I will be quite sad to see this foodblog end. Bruce, the fresh green peppercorns taste hot like black peppercorns but, funnily enough, greener and sort of pop in your mouth releasing the heat in a clean burst, without the crunchy dry flavour of the balck ones; comparing fresh with pickled, the same difference as fresh vs green chilis....hope that makes sense ← Insomniac, thanks, that's a very clear description and analogy. Ah, well, we will make do with what we have. We did enjoy a somewhat modified Victor Sodsook recipe for red curry with beef and (pickled) green peppercorns.

Peter: I am so enjoying this, and finally found the time to pester you with questions and comments. I share your love of Thai salads. It looks like we use a similar strategy for balancing grownup and kid meals – grill some protein, serve plain for the younger set, and make a spicy-sour-aromatic meat salad for the elders. It’s not fair that you are showing so many luscious and inspiring pictures of Thai food. The boys recently started lobbying for more “normal” dinners, so I’ll probably back off on Thai food for a while. OK, maybe Thai dinners once a week. If you get a chance, could you do a close-up of pea eggplants next to some sort of standard-sized object? I don’t think they are available here, but it is always possible that I have seen them without recognition (kinda like long-leaf coriander, until quite recently). Fresh green peppercorns are another ingredient that I cannot find. How would you compare the taste of fresh vs. pickled, and do you think that pickled would significantly detract from the flavor of a typically complex Thai curry or salad? Your collection of curry pastes jumped out at me during the kitchen tour. Do you make your own, bring back from Thailand, or have a particular brand that you like? Hey, I have Victor Sodsook on my shelf (but I’m not from Thailand, so I have an excuse). Great blog, with gems scattered throughout – I’m glad that you dodged the falling coconuts of your infancy.

Ce’nedra: Thank you! The minced pork fat (1 or 2 tablespoons) probably added a contrasting texture for the minced shrimp, but you could leave it out if you like – the lon is certainly rich enough without it. I will go along with insomniac here – that particular saying, delightful as it is, will not be shared with the boys for at least a decade.

Tracey: Chorizo-stuffed peppers – where do I sign up? Prawncrackers: *cough* And your mum’s address is? Tonight we made shrimp and ginger soup, a lon of minced prawns simmered in coconut cream, jasmine rice, and sliced cukes. Grownups liked, boys not so much. Pictures did not turn out well – if you must see them, click on the Thai Cooking at Home thread.

Ce’nedra: Looks good - how did you make the fish cakes? Tonight we made two dishes from Thai Food. Shrimp and ginger soup (dtom som gung maleng puu, I think) We fried the spice paste – cilantro stems, garlic, shallots, ginger, white peppercorns, and a touch of shrimp paste – in rendered pork fat (trimmings from yesterday’s pork shoulder). The soup had a chicken stock base, richly flavored with tamarind, fish sauce, palm sugar, and shredded ginger, and garnished with scallions, cilantro, and white pepper. Minced prawns simmered in coconut cream (lon gung) We simmered minced pork fat in coconut cream and chicken stock, seasoned with tamarind, palm sugar, and fish sauce, added the minced shrimp, and finished with sliced shallots, red chile, cilantro, and more coconut cream. The rich sweet/sour flavor – with a touch of heat – reminded me of Asia’s eggplant curry from Cradle of Flavor. I liked each dish individually, but in retrospect having two sweet-sour tamarind-based soupy dishes wasn’t the most inspired combination.

No problem - I sent you a PM. Dang, that's beautiful, and you make it look easy. I NEED to try this.

Jumanggy: Thank you! From what I have read, head-on shrimp go bad more quickly, so the heads are often removed for longer shelf life. That imperial shrimp is beautiful - I need to look up Ah Leung’s pictorial. GTO: Thank you for the kind words. I have wondered about the etymology of char siu, so I am curious about the answer. Can any Chinese food-language experts opine? After slicing cucumbers and cooking spaghetti and meatballs for the boys, Mrs. C and I went on a rare date. We strolled through the historic downtown and noshed on whatever looked interesting. At a Cuban place we split a flan and shrimp ceviche with fried plantains. After wandering a bit more, we enjoyed hot toddies, bruschetta with spinach, tomato, and gorgonzola cheese, and a delicious soup of shrimp stock, tomato, and sherry with lobster and grated parmesan. We finished with green salad containing candied walnuts, balsamic vinaigrette, and more gorgonzola cheese. Yes, we started with flan and ended with salad. The lobster soup, ceviche, and platanos were tonight’s favorites. After every date, we always say, “We should do this more often.” And don’t.

Why thank you, Rona, you are too kind. I used Andrea Nguyen’s recipe from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, but I grilled the pork rather than roasting it. I couldn’t find the recipe on the web, so I sent you a PM. And that fig picture is practically indecent. Ce’nedra: Thank you very much! We live in Maryland, but our smallish town is far enough inland that we lack a good fishmonger. One of the local Latino markets carries head-on shrimp (prawns), but we have been disappointed with the freshness. I need to find out what day they have their shrimp delivered and try again.

monavano: Plum, rosemary, and sage sauce sounds delicious! Rob (gfron1): That looks like an amazing meal from start to finish – props to you and your spouse. Ce’nedra: I forgot to mention earlier, but your lemongrass tiger prawns looked particularly delectable. I am jealous that you can get head-on prawns. Younger son requested banh mi for dinner. Actually, he requested “that thing where you hollow out the bread.” Grilled char siu pork: Banh mi with char siu, liver pate, jalapenos, mayonnaise, Maggi sauce, and carrot-daikon pickle. Edited 'cuz I forgot Maggi

Takadi: You may wish to take the time to read slkinsey's excellent eGCI course, Understanding Stovetop Cookware (click). It answers your question in far more detail than I could manage here. Good luck!

To raid unsupervised food, our now-departed Jack Russell terrier mix used to take a running leap onto the dining table, and then scrabble with his claws to avoid sliding off the far end. These surreptitious canine incursions left several rows of paralled gouges on the soft pine tabletop. Combined with the unremovable remnants of various family projects, these dings commemorate the table’s 20-year service as central hub of the household. Not bad for an inexpensive flat-pack table, hauled from Ikea in a subcompact hatchback, and disassembled and moved from apartment to apartment and house to house. When we get a new table, it will not be covered. Sometimes we do break out a tablecloth for parties.

While I made dinner, the boys snacked on mangos and Mrs. C’s delicious guacamole. We also had amazing heirloom tomatoes (German Red?) from the farmer’s market. Mrs. C is not usually a big fan of tomatoes, but we ate those heirlooms like tangy candy. Tonight’s dinner was creamy corn soup with roasted Poblano chiles, chicken, and spicy chorizo . . . . . . and rainbow trout with macadamias, Serrano chiles, and green beans, both from Mexican Everyday. The pan sauce with chiles, lime juice, and cilantro is one of my favorite earthly delights.

Peter: I am so looking forward to tagging along with you and the family this week, although I will miss Scud. From a purely selfish standpoint, the more Thai food the better, of course. And sign me up for any airline that serves red curry beef. When you are in Egypt, how do you satisfy a craving for jungle curry? Can you get Thai ingredients in Egypt, or do you have to pack in enough supplies to last? I am especially curious about fresh produce – can you find, oh, apple eggplants, or do you substitute?