The food and drink forum blog thread.

[RAGER]

After the last couple weekends of bad eating what with pizza, burgers fries, fried chicken and such, it's time to get back to some Thai cooking.

This becoming one of my go to's. Laap laab, larb, whatever you want to call it. Simply minced chicken pork or beef just cooked until done in a small amount of water and fish sauce. The method is call "ruan". Roll the R. Toasted chili, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, sawtooth, mint, shallots. Served at room temp with all manner of fresh crunchy greens and veg and sticky rice. Thai spicy. It's a fav.

Eventually I'll sneak an authentic version in past the wife. Chicken (gai or kai will have livers hearts and gizzards) , pork (muu or moo) will have kidney, liver and blood) and beef (neua will have minced loin, liver and tongue )

[Lumpy]

Funky organ meat flavors are hard to miss. I don't like them either. I love larb moo and som tum and khao niaow (sticky rice).

Have you been to Thailand? You should go. Prices are down from when I went, I think because of the political unrest (I don't know the current political situation but I saw plane tickets for like $500, almost half of what I paid like 6 years ago).

[RAGER]

Haven't been but it's on my list. Gotta dump a bunch of money into the house this next year but maybe in a couple years we'll go.

[Lumpy]

I'm gonna guess it's a cheaper vacation than Hawaii.

[RAGER]

For sure but this year is already booked and paid for.

[RAGER]

Pok Pok again. Laap muang, sai ua, som tam, and khao niao   

[mortlock]

Thai correct?? i need to find a thai place near me. rager google the places in rochester and let me know which one looks best to you. ill report back.

[Lumpy]

I looked real quick - it's hard to tell what's up based on a website. I don't trust Yelp, especially for Thai food, a lot of people have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to Thai food ("they brought all the food out at the same time"-  but they're supposed to do that).

Saks (or Khong - same owners?) might be good, but I think every restaurant in the world has hits and misses, good at some things and not good at others. You should find a place that looks good to you and give it a try.

Order something from every category, and share everything (I would definitely suggest a salad of some type, and a soup maybe). Soup, salad, one entree if it looks big enough, sticky rice (eat that with the salad, you dip it in the marinade). Sticky rice isn't always necessary. Get regular rice with your entree, not sticky.

Noodles are more of a lunch thing or drunk food, but if you want noodles then get noodles. It's not a rule. Like having a hamburger for dinner, but it's more popular to order that at lunch. But nothing wrong with that.

Don't order everything super spicy, it's supposed to be a balance of flavors. If your old lady doesn't like spicy, ask for chili peppers on the side and add it yourself. On a scale of 1 to 5 "hot peppers" don't order a 5, I would ask for 2, 3 or 4. I don't think many people do that even in Thailand, unless they are like hot pepper nuts (same as here, most people don't want their food insanely hot). I personally like the salads to be the most spicy, not mild, like a 3 or 4.  And the entrees to be slightly less spicy.

0 Peppers: waste of time (unless it's not even supposed to have peppers)
1 Pepper: barely noticeable, but not totally boring.
2 Peppers: "spicy" according to average Americans
3: Definitely hot but still enjoyable, this is the sweet spot for me. I usually get 2's and 3's, and I don't make everything the same hotness.
4: on the border of too hot. Tastes good, but you might ask yourself if the next bite is worth it. Too hot for most people.
5: For heat freaks only, "this guy is insane, LOL" etc.

At some places they literally add "3 peppers", at other places it's just an estimate of hotness. So don't get mad at me if your "3" wasn't hot enough. Ask for chili peppers on the side.

You want to eat a little bit of everything at the same time (not in the same bite). In the West we eat the salad, then the soup, then the entree. In Thailand you have a little of this, a little of that.

Share everything, try different places. You probably have to eat average or even bad Thai food to recognize good Thai food when you get it. Figure out what you like. I personally don't like Chicken Larb, which a lot of places offer (I like pork larb, I think chicken larb is boring)

Mango and sticky rice is a good desert (it might not sound that good. Rice?). Especially good after eating spicy food. The rice is cooked with coconut milk and it's sweet and cool. If the mango is ripe, together it's really good.

I went to Thailand and ate a lot of good food, but there was average and below-average food there too. If you don't like the restaurant, try ordering different stuff, or try a different restaurant. Ask your server for suggestions if it seems like a good idea, tell them you want authentic Thai food. It's possible you'll get hosed anyway.

[Lumpy]

Sorry if that was over the top.

[Lumpy]

Still editing, LOL

[mortlock]

i have more questions than answers at this point.

[Lumpy]

I think you should just go, and freestyle it. Take pics and report back.

[RAGER]

Lumpy I wish you could try my laap gai. It's def not boring.


Morty I got nothing. I looked at a bunch in your area and they all look like bullshit. Same thing over and over and what's with the broccoli in every other dish? 

Here's a documentary about Pok Pok owner Andy Ricker.  He's an OCD weirdo and that's why the food is so authentic. I remember our bands played together a couple times in the early nineties. /degreesofseparation

[Lumpy]

What was the name of his band? (What was the name of your band?)

I think both Pok Pok locations in NY are closed now, but he's planning on opening something else maybe... I remember reading something like that.

[RAGER]

Pok Pok Vegas in the same area as Lardo which has the best dirty fries ever besides their super killer sandwiches.

Believe me neither of our bands were noteworthy so unless you're from here you wouldn't recognize them and probably not even if you were.

[RAGER]

Anywho. Prepped these sour pork chops again which we'll have one week from today grilled low and slow.



Cooking in the pot right now is Jin hoom neua. Pics later. I'm gonna serve noodles on the side.

[mortlock]

Morty I got nothing. I looked at a bunch in your area and they all look like bullshit. Same thing over and over and what's with the broccoli in every other dish? 

thats what i was thinking but i needed an expert opinion. rochester should stick with garbage plates. 
No broc in garbage plates.

[Lumpy]

Even watered down Thai food is still really good. Basil chicken, green curry chicken, chicken soup with coconut milk, fresh spring rolls, drunken noodles, you can get that at any Thai restaurant and it's all really good.

[Lumpy]

Order all that (show my post to your waitress) and report back.

Oh yeah, get a Thai iced coffee too. And papaya salad.

If you want something spicy, ask for "pod prik" with whatever meat you want (pork pod prik, etc). That's spicy stir-fry.

[Lumpy]

If this was Italian food we would be talking about veal carpaccio with shaved fennel, and Rager would be complaining that nobody makes authentic cuisine from Tuscany. Meanwhile, lasagne is Italian food which you can find anywhere and enjoy. Just because your local restaurant doesn't serve veal carpaccio doesn't mean it sucks.

[mortlock]

i personally never eat at restaurants that dont serve veal carpaccio.

[Lumpy]

Lasagne is hella good bro.


Some of the food Rager makes - sour sausages for example - I don't think you would be into it.

[Lumpy]

This is average Thai food at most Thai restaurants. You never ate this food? The food Rager talks about is regional, "Issaan" food which is from like out in the boonies, the Issaan region. You can't find Issaan food everywhere in America, probably only in certain bigger cities. The average Thai restaurant serves the Thai "royal" cuisine, which you can get everywhere. It's great! (Unless they fuck it up)

Tom Ka Kai - chicken coconut soup



Chicken Satay with peanut sauce



Green Curry Chicken (needs side order of white rice)



Drunken Noodles with shrimp



Pad Prik Chicken (hot)



Thai iced coffee and Thai iced tea (they are sweet)

[Lumpy]

Issaan food isn't even that common in Bangkok.

In New York City there are probably 200 Thai restaurants, and maybe 6 of them serve Issaan food.

[Lumpy]

Redacted