London, Part II

Onward with the tour!

On the top of my list of food I HAD to have while in London was Fish and Chips.  Although A Salt & Battery in Greenwich Village is good, it was just missing something...British.  I'm not sure how to explain it but I think I've been spoiled ever since Jeanie Weanie took me to the local Chip Shop in Newcastle and introduced me to the best seafood I've ever had, let alone Fish and Chips.  And the fact that no one in America seems to understand what mushy peas are is also insanely frustrating.  So being my best friend, she researched Chip Shops around London to take me and came up with...

The Golden Hind

The Golden Hind, which has this incredible ambiance.  It is this old school posh neighborhood Chip Shop in Marylebone that is renowned for having amazingly fresh seafood.  I also loved that the shop has a board that shows all the previous owners and their ethnicities.  We got some classic fried cod, fish cakes, chips and of course, mushy peas for me!  The cod and fish cakes were a bit fishy but Jeanie Weanie didn't really taste it so I chalk it up to me always getting extra sensitive when I'm travelling.  Either way, the batter was great.  Just thick enough to have a great crunch but thin enough to gently envelop the cod instead of drowning it.   The chips were good as well but what really made my day were the mushy peas.  Simple I know but there is something awesome about getting something that simple right.  And don't you love the little condiment bowls?

Traffic Jam in a Jam Shop next to The Golden Hind.  HILARIOUS!

The next day Jeanie Weanie took me to one of the food meccas of London, Borough Market, their version of our Smorgasburg, although I'm sure Borough Market has been there forever and our Brooklyn Smorgasburg is still relatively new.  Anyways, we were on the hunt for more less traditional fare as we more than gorged ourselves on the Fish and Chips so I opted for Cafe Brood's famous Paella.

Cafe Brood's Paella Pan.  Delicioso, no?

Cafe Brood's Paella with Catalan Stew

The Paella was a tad under seasoned for my taste and the Catalan Stew refused to blow my mind as others have promised but the stew and the paella together in one bite was indeed delicioso.  Since the paella wasn't as flavorful as expected, the acidity and brightness of the stew really rounded out the rice without covering up the wonderful brininess of the seafood.  The real disappointment was the actual meatballs in the Catalan Stew, which I felt was too dry despite being cooked in the stew, and did not contribute much to the flavors of the dish as a whole.

Game Sandwich from The Guildable Manor.  YUM!

Jeanie Weanie felt like a nice sandwich so she popped over to the next stall and got a wonderful Game Sandwich from the Guildable Manor.  The sausage is made of wild boar and venison and combined with the cabbage, this sandwich is SPECTACULAR.  I love me some well made sandwiches and they did GOOD.  The sausage was grilled perfectly, baguette soft, cabbage tangy and crunchy and with their homemade sauce, this sandwich was easily one of the best offerings at the market.  Next time I think I'll go for their lamb sandwich.

My last night in London I had planned to go over to the Mandarin Kitchen to visit my uncle who runs the restaurant and to have their absolutely delectable Lobster Noodles as my last meal before I leave.  Funny sentiment since if I had to choose a last meal in life, this would be it.  These noodles are that good.  Thai dignitaries regularly stop by and the last time I was there the Thai prime minister was 2 tables away.  Now despite my strong feelings for this dish, I can tell you right now I still believe I am underselling it to you.  The heft of the noodle perfectly handles the gooey sauce and holds its own with the lobster, whose essence has gleefully penetrated the noodles and the absolutely delicious out of this world sauce.  ARG!  I am drooling everywhere just thinking about it!  But alas, it was not meant to be.  My uncle received word too late of my presence in London and we just missed each other.  Until my next trip then, my darling darling lobster noodles!

Heaven. (Courtesy of Christina About Town)

If you are in London I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend you stop by--no, MAKE SURE you get these wonderful noodles.  They are worth every pence and trust me, this dish isn't cheap.  Although I didn't get to go, I found some photos from the blog Christina About Town, who echoed my sentiments about this absolutely SPECTACULAR dish.

Yum.

Kai Jeaw Moo Sub (ไข่เจียวหมูสับ)/Thai Egg Omelet with Ground Pork

Kai Jeaw Moo Sub (ไข่เจียวหมูสับ) or Thai Egg Omelet with Ground Pork.
Humble but absolutely delicious!

I'm really homesick.

With my mom still in Asia along with my little sister and my first year of law school starting, needless to say, I need a lot of comfort, especially since I just got back from Bangkok.  This concept of being homesick has always been a bit weird for me since I always felt like I had two homes when I was growing up: Bangkok, where I was raised until I was 9, and New York, where I moved to and consider the place where most of my growing up actually happened.  Of course, the family still went back to Thailand every summer and that is probably why I feel I developed this kind of dual life where I end up being homesick ALL the time; if not for Bangkok then for New York and vice versa.    Each life has it's own pace, it's own family and friends and especially it's own flavor.

It is this flavor that I have missed most.  The last two summers before this one I was unable to travel back for the annual migration back to Bangkok with the family since I got a job and apparently when you get a real job you can't just take off for a month to Asia.  Who knew?!  Certainly not my father who was baffled by this concept.  So since I quit my job to start law school this summer, I was able, in the span of 1 1/2 weeks, to experience some the flavors that I have been missing for the last 3 years.

Now that I am back, I've had intense withdrawal and have been wanting to cook some thai food but with the start of law school, renovating my bathroom, seeing my friends to deliver their requested presents and dealing with my terrible jet lag, I just haven't had time.  Not surprisingly when I told my mom, she asked why I couldn't just make Kai Jeaw?  Silly Darin, of course!  This thai omelet is probably the simplest thing to make and is the default comfort food for all Thai's across the globe.  Good thing my mom went through it with me before she left.  I can never get it as fluffy as her.

Perfect!  Homesickness cured!...Okay, maybe not cured, but it certainly helped!

- Darin

~~~~

"FRIED EGGS WITH GROUND PORK"  This is a very normal dish for Thai people.  Even if you are royal family or you are village people you love this dish and you get to eat it!  This is the dish that go with Thai SRIRACHA sauce or you may make you own NUM PRIK PLA sauce(Fish Sauce with Chili),  big plate of hot rice, then either you are using the best porcelain utensil or gold or using plastic utensil, it doesn't matter.

When my son was in college, this dish made him famous.  It is not a normal scrambled eggs but this KAI JAEW MOO SUB.  And he made it for all his Korean friends and of course, they loved it with SRIRACHA sauce.

When we went to visit grandpa in a very local village in China, which has no restaurant, we had to eat like a villager and grandpa told us that the best thing is to eat KAI JAEW MOO SUB.   Rice is hot and the dish is hot, at least is germ proof because everything is well done.
When we got sick and stay home.  We can make KAI JAEW MOO SUB together with CONGEE.
Now you will be asking what is CONGEE, right?  That will be our next project.  Please follow us for more when I get back! 

- Daisy

~~~~

Kai Jeaw Moo Sub (ไข่เจียวหมูสับ)

Thai Egg Omelet with Ground Pork

3 Eggs

1/8 lb Ground Pork

1 tbs Oyster Sauce

1/2 tbs White Soy Sauce (although regular will substitute just fine)

Good big pinch of ground white pepper (although regular will substitute just fine) 

Vegetable Oil

1) Oil your pan (it should cover the bottom of your pan by 1/4 inch) and turn the heat up to med-high.  You need this pan sizzling hot to make the eggs puff up.

2) Combine all the ingredients minus the oil and whisk with a fork like crazy (Fyi, the real masters use chopsticks for this.  Watching my Mom and Grandma do it is absolutely CRAZY!).  We are aiming for an insanely fluffy omelet so incorporating air is key. 

3) Check to make sure the pan is HOT, like you can only hold you hand over it for a couple of seconds hot.  Pour the eggs in and stand back, it gets a bit violent.  An apron is highly recommended for this one.

4) Once the egg is cooked through on the bottom and the top is only still a bit runny, slide your spatula under the egg, slowly drag it out a bit and flip.  Don't worry if this takes a couple of attempts.  Let the omelet cook for another minute.

5) Serve with a big heap of rice and lots of sriracha.  Make sure the sriracha is made in Thailand or my mom will hunt you down.  Seriously.

Makes one omelet.

London, Part I

I really don't understand any of this grumbling about how the English have terrible food.  Honestly, when I was studying abroad in London during the Winter/Spring of 2009, I was in food heaven.

Bangers and Mash? Pies? Fish and Chips? Victoria Sponge Cake? Mushy Peas?  Scones and Clotted Cream?  AMAZING!

Seriously, what in the world are the haters jabbering about?  I mean, I can kind of understand that argument 75 years ago, but now?  HELLZ NO!  Especially if you've taken a look at any of Jamie Oliver's or Nigella Lawson's cookbooks, I can't see how you can still say the English have terrible food.  But that is besides the point.  As much as I love traditional British fare, for this post I will (with the help of my best and oldest friend, Jeanie Weanie) reverse the misguided belief by showing you what else is offered in Merry Ol' London, especially some great ethnic food, perfect timing really with the London 2012 Olympics!

The first stop: Burger & Lobster, where they serve nothing but--yep, you guessed it--burgers and lobsters!  Okay, there are actually three things on the non-existent menu (and I say non-existent because there is really no physical menu): burgers, whole lobsters steamed or grilled and the lobster roll.  Since Jeanie Weanie went straight for the grilled lobster, I elected to try the lobster roll.  I have pretty high standards for a lobster roll since I used to live near Luke's Lobsters in the East Village and they have the whole seafood roll thing down to a science.

Steamed Lobster, Bloody Mary and Lobster Roll at Burger & Lobster!

The lobster roll that I got from Burger & Lobster was good.  Not great, but good.  My problem was that it was just too big and there was just too much butter, which made the entire experience a bit overwhelming, but the lobster was fresh--you could really taste it.  The fries were awesome though, and I'm a sucker for good fries.  Jeanie Weanie's grilled lobster was great since the lobster was fresh and the parsley butter sauce the lobster came with was OUT OF THIS WORLD.  Yea, it's just parsley, garlic, and melted butter, but I have a feeling if I tried to recreate it at home, it would still not be as good as how Burger & Lobster made it.  We, of course, washed the entire thing down with bloody marys that were the perfect drink for our seafood feast.  And I say feast because after neither of us could really walk without waddling--that's how much food they gave us.  It was £20 for each entree, which is a bit pricey, I'll admit, but it was absolutely worth it for what we got.

The second stop: Aladin, supposedly the best curry place on Brick Lane...but that claim has been made by ALL the curry houses on Brick Lane so it's to be taken with a grain of salt but this place was good.  Certainly better than all the Indian places I've tried in New York (sorry guys).  I absolutely fell in love with Indian food when I was studying abroad in London in 2009 and just haven't found anywhere in New York that could really compare.  Yes, I know all the Indian food I had in London is completely Anglocized but that doesn't really bother me one bit since it is DELICIOUS.

Our Indian feast at Aladin: Garlic Nan, Balti Lamb Kurma, Rice Pilau and Balti Chicken Tikka Bhuna

Jeanie Weanie and I went a little nuts with the ordering since we were both starving by the time we got to Brick Lane but you only live 9 times right?  Oh wait, that's a cat.  Nevermind.  Anyways, we started with papadoms and onion bhaji which were both good but pretty standard fare at all Indian places.  As much as they both tasted great, we were a tad distracted as we were really excited for our curries, Chicken Tikka Bhuna and Lamb Korma (or Kurma), made extra special as our waiter recommended we get both Balti-style.  Balti, according to the folks at Aladin, is "a unique concept of Kashmiri cuisine.  ..[where] traditional dishes are prepared and presented to the customer in a cast iron dish with natural spices and herbs."  Basically they are saying what is already awesome is kicked up another awesome notch (enough awesomeness for you in one sentence?).  We also ordered garlic nan and pilau rice and to be honest, what really rocked my socks was the pilau rice.  I'm not sure how well you can see in the picture but the pilau has sprinkles of different colored rice (red, yellow, green) that , combined with its incredible flavor (garlicky, soft, a bit sweet, a bit salty) just elevated it to one of my favorite side dishes EVER.  The curry itself was good as well but a bit one-dimensional for me, which is surprising since curry is usually a party of flavors in your mouth.  I actually preferred the fire red Balti Chicken Tikka Bhuna over the Balti Lamb Korma, which I felt was just overwhelmingly sweet, hiding much of the other wonderful spices that goes into the dish.   Either way, these two were the best Indian curries I've had easily in the past year so it nonetheless lifted my spirits.

Please check back for London Part II where I go to get some Fish and Chips and visit Borough Market for some awesome Paella!

Yum Pla Krob (ยําปลากรอบ)/Thai Crispy Fish Salad

Yum Pla Krob (ยําปลากรอบ) with all the fixins'

My grandma came to visit us this spring and before she left to go back to Bangkok, she made me her speciality dish, Yum Pla Krob (ยําปลากรอบ)!

Namprik Pao (น้ำพริกเผา) or Chilli Paste in Soybean Oil

Yum (ยํา) is a sort of Thai salad/marianade which consists of lime, palm sugar, fish sauce, thai chili, shallot and mint.  Yum can be made with almost any kind of meat with beef being the most popular.  My mom used to make a cuttlefish version which was always awesome, but the best is undoubtedly my grandma's yum with these crispy teeny tiny fish which is also extra special due to the addition of Namprik Pao (น้ำพริกเผา) or Chilli Paste in Soybean Oil.  We don't even attempt to make it without her, it's just not the same.  I'm not actually sure what kind of fish these are.  My mom says they might be anchovies but judging from the face she made, I really don't think she was confident in our classification either but they are delicious just the same.

Grandma makes this for me whenever she comes to visit us in New York, which has been more and more infrequent due to her age so I'm so happy to get this down now.

- Darin

~~~~

The little tiny fishies.

"Pla Lek Pla Noi"  Small dried anchovies has so many kinds.  If you go go to the Asian Supermarket you will find it from so many countries, too.  Try to find the Thai anchovies that has already fried or baked will even better.  But not the snack and already flavored kind. But if you cannot find it, it is fine to use from any country as long as it is small, almost like thread.  Use a fine coriander to rinse under running water and put in a paper towel to dry.  Change to another paper towel and put in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Heat a wok with a little of oil, keep stirring until it turns brown and crispy.

These "Pla Lek Pla Noi" usually I buy in Thailand when we visit any provinces near the sea.  And the beach usually the seafood is nice and they will have all kind of dried seafood for sale and of course, sweets.  Brings back my childhood again.  Certainly they are part of my children's memories too.

Every year,summertime is the time that I will take them back to visit Thailand.  And this year before we leave with my mom, my older daughter found out that we still have some little anchovies from Thailand.  She was so happy.  Grandma was the one who introduced her to them the first time.  I didn't make it for her because I leave it to grandma to make it for her someday.  It so easy and has no cooking, no sweating.  After finishing the dish my mom is always so proud that she is still can do something for her grandchildren to love.  Like many old people she suffers from loneliness and feel she is an old and useless lady.  I hope this trip has proved to her that that isn't the case. 

- Daisy

~~~~

Yum Pla Grob (ยําปลากรอบ)
Thai Crispy Fish Salad

For theYum:

1/3 cup Crispy Tiny Sea Fish
1 tbs Namprick Pao

2 tsp Fish Sauce

2 tsp Tamarind Paste

1/2 Lime

1 tbs Palm Sugar

The Fixins':
1/2 Shallot (Sliced)

1/4 cup Mint  (You can leave them whole)

1 Thai Chili (Sliced)
Toasted Peanuts (Optional)
Romaine Lettuce or Cabbage

1) You can either do it the harder/traditional way that my mom specified above with the wok or do what my grandma did which was throw the fish in an 350F oven for 10 minutes or until crispy.
2) While the fish is in the oven, make the yum by combining the Namprik Pao, fish sauce, tamarind paste, lime and palm sugar.  Taste and adjust to your liking.  Sprinkle with peanuts.
3) Get the fixins' ready
4) Add the now crispy fish into the yum sauce you made earlier and mix.  Taste and adjust again accordingly.
5) Assemble!  Break off a bite-size piece of lettuce or cabbage, spoon in some of the yum, top with a bit of shallot, mint and chili (only for the brave).  Stuff the entire thing into your mouth and enjoy the salty, sweet, tart, spicy and crunchiness of Yum Pla Grob (ยําปลากรอบ)!

The finished product.  The reason it is out of focus is because my mom took it.  Way to go Mom