patrickamory

Just ate for the third time at Jitlada on Sunset Blvd in LA. Hands down the best Thai restaurant I've ever eaten at. They key is the southern menu on the final two pages. We had morning glory salad with shrimp, a dry pumpkin of curry with lamb (uber spicy), green curry of chicken with flat egg noodles, pork crying tiger, and a whole crispy fish with mango salad on top (terrifyingly spicy). ABSOLUTELy superb. (Edit: I realize this does not fit the Thai Cooking at Home thread - but I've been obsessing over the fact that my amateur Thai home cooking blows away every Thai restaurant in NYC, including the recently opened branch of Lotus of Siam, so it's an eye-opener to see what the real expert Thai chefs can actually do.)

Hi Bruce, It's actually "heavenly beef," neua sawarn, directly below it on the same page. I put it in the oven at just below 200 until it seemed dry enough. Edit: the crying tiger uses supermarket pork rinds, crumbled over it at the very end!

Oh - another suggestion. Lunch only and weekdays only. Sweetings. It's in the City, has been around since the 1780s or so, has counter seating only, and the best seafood I've had in my life (maybe except for Tsukiji market in Tokyo). Incredible fresh turbot, potted shrimp, oysters (get the Isle of Mersea oysters from their own farm there) - everything absolutely first rate. Drink beer to accompany out of hallmarked silver pint cups from the 18th century, or wines from an excellent selection of Chablis, aligoté, Pouilly-Fouisse, and more. Very much a stockbroker crowd - but this is a one-of-a-kind joint, well worth visiting.

OK OK! You twisted my arm Bruce! Here are some dishes I've made recently: Jungle curry of chicken. The recipe is from David Thompson. Once you've made the paste, it is one of the easiest Thai curries - because you fry it in oil rather than coconut cream. Vegetables are Thai eggplant (apple eggplant) and snake beans. Sticky rice. I recently got a sticky rice steamer basket and am bowled over by how easy it is to make. In general I prefer jasmine rice, for its ability to soak up the sauce, but if I remember to soak the sticky rice overnight, it's literally 15 minutes to make this. I love the little serving baskets too, as do guests. Shrimp paste nahm prik. This is my first successful nahm prik - the first in the relishes section in Thompson. I tried the second one (the tamarind relish) once and it had virtually no takers. This is just as unappetizing looking, but it was rapidly demolished. Raw apple eggplants and snake beans for dipping. Chicken larb. Not much to say here, probably the most popular eG Thai dish! Seur rong hai or crying tiger, a truly explosive and unusual dish that everyone loves. This is based on Soo-mei Yu's recipe. I highly, highly recommend it. The basic paste is an old-fashioned Thai mixture of green peppercorns, white peppercorns, coriander root and coriander seeds with salt, and is very versatile and can be used for many recipes. Deep fried dried beef. A David Thompson recipe from the street food section of Thai Food. The beef sticks (round) marinate in a paste and then sun-dry (or in my case, oven-dry) for a day and then get deep-fried. They are as delectable as they look.

I'll second St. John's (the one by Smithfield Market), and I really recommend eating in the main restaurant. Fergus Henderson pioneered simple, nose-to-tail cookery with the finest English ingredients, and there's really nowhere else in the world like it. Definitely superior to anything Gordon Ramsay has done, in my opinion.

Fantastic video. You have great tossing technique!

George Dickel No. 8. This is a super-smooth Tennessee whiskey. I've already killed half the bottle!

Foods of India/Sinha trading; it's right next door. My recollection is that it is also less expensive than Kalustyan's, though it also smaller. Certainly, between the two of them, there is very little you won't be able to get. I'll second this. I shop at both all the time (I live a few blocks away). Foods of India - directly adjacent to Kalustyan's on the right - is your go-to for anything Indian. The spices are often fresher, and the prices can literally be 50% of Kalustyan's. They don't have much that isn't Indian - some Mexican chiles etc. - so for anything Thai, Persian etc. I tend to buy at Kalustyan's. Also compare their prices on rice, ghee, chiles etc. - a fraction of Kalustyan's. Don't get me wrong, I love the big K, and it's a much easier and more comfortable shopping experience (the spices are alphabetized for one thing), but Foods of India has a lot to offer, both in freshness and price.

rarerollingobject - that duck looks insane. Where is the recipe from?

Will definitely be fine. Shoes not sneakers maybe. But not a huge deal.

You may dress as you wish at The Wolseley, but you'll probably be most comfortable in what the British like to call "smart casual."

Dakki - I don't see how we're making you look lame when you post pictures of such succulent looking tripe tacos. That looks absolutely fantastic. Emily - seared veal chop and then a sauce from the pan drippings (I usually use vermouth) is one of my favorite things on earth. Veal is unholy expensive here in NYC unfortunately... two 1.5" chops would probably set me back over $40.

This is David Thompson's curry of boneless pork shin with green peppercorns. A highly unusual recipe from a memorial book, at first he thought there was an ingredient missing - "it shouldn't work." However it does work, and is extraordinarily delicious. Two hours of pounding paste last night, then an hour and half of heating, cracking, scooping, chunking and double-milking coconut this morning. Boneless pork shin is not easy to find in NYC, so I substituted pork shoulder on the advice of my butcher - the braise in coconut milk and lemongrass offshoots takes some time, so allow plenty of time for your guests (I kept them satiated with a shrimp paste relish, also from Thompson, with raw apple eggplants and snake beans). I didn't have fresh peppercorns, alas, or holy basil (substituted Thai basil, not at all the same) - but this turned out oily, fragrant and unbelievably delicious. It's all gone, so I guess it worked.... huge amount of effort, and no leftover paste, but definitely worth it. It's in the "Menus" section of Thai food, where a lot of great dishes are hidden.

I think John Thorne's piece on Moody's (in Serious Pig) is one of the most perceptive articles on regional foods ever. I had very ... particular beans and pies there.

My first congee! Very exciting. Boiled 2/3 cup washed jasmine rice in 9X water with a chunk of ginger and 1 1/2 tsp salt for 90 minutes; added slivered ginger, green peppercorns, steamed eggs and sriracha. Unfortunately did not have chicken stock to hand - next time. This was still very satisfying.

They have their place... but rarely with French or Italian food. It's kind of like drinking dessert.

Spaghetti with sausage sauce from the River Cafe Cookbook. These photos do not give a sense of just how rich this is - caramelized Italian pork sausage meat, caramelized red onion, red wine, nutmeg, cream and reggiano. It reminds me more of beef bourgignon than bolognese - it's at least halfway to France, and takes nearly 2 hours to make.

St. John The Wolseley J Sheekey Sweetings (lunch only) The Painted Heron

Sous-vide goose? Over roast goose?

I always eat the skin. Heaven, even in a chicken that's been simmered in a bladder.

I only have coffee in the morning. That's all I can face. I don't get hungry until at least an hour after I wake up. Occasionally I eat a bagel at my desk, but usually lunch is the first meal of the day for me on weekdays. I love eating breakfast on weekends, but it's usually at "brunch" times - 1 or 2 PM at the earliest, having woken between noon and 1.

Yellow (Thai-Indian style) curry of chicken tonight, from David Thompson. I'd previously tried Victor Sodsook's recipe and it did not come out right. This was fantastic, though it took a full two days. The chicken had to be marinated in coconut cream, garlic and ginger overnight; the potatoes needed to steep in water for hours; the coconuts had to be cracked, grated and milked; the paste had to be pounded. Totally worth it. No Madras curry powder or similar pre-packaged ingredients here (as in Sodsook's version, and I think even in Su-mei Yoo's). The "Indian" element comes purely from fresh chopped turmeric, roasted ground coriander seeds (a Thai spice as well), and a little bit of grated nutmeg. Those are deep-fried shallots on top.

Further to the above, a couple of pictures of the coconut cream in the skillet, and then the cream starting to crack... this cream cracked extremely fast, it was about 3-4 minutes. I've had it take 15-20.

Frst of all, to those who doubt: I think you absolutely need to use coconut cream, not just coconut oil, for any Thai curry that calls for it (some call for simple frying in oil - some for boiling). It's the combination of the oil and the milk solids that gives it that incredible silky texture. I don't think you can ever properly "crack" canned coconut cream. I've tried. Really, this is your best bet...:

2008 Gevrey-Chambertin A.C. Vieilles Vignes (Roy Marc) Savory & James Fino