Pim's Profile
Recipe for Nam Kao Tod like at Lotus of Siam?
The crispy rice patties recipe on my blog (thanks for the link alkapal) is a different preparation than the one used at Lotus of Siam.
To make crispy rice in individual grains like at Lotus of Siam, you can do two things. One is buy dried rice cakes from a Chinese market near you, fry a few rice cakes in very hot oil, then break up the cakes into individual grains (or small clumps) of rice. You can make your own by first cooking the rice. Cooked jasmine rice will do, but steamed glutenous rice will be better. Scatter cooked grains of rice on a cookie sheet and let dry overnight on the counter (or in your oven at the lowest setting for a couple hours). When the grains are thoroughly dried and hardened, fry them in hot oil until brown and puffy.
@ The Dairy Queen, in Thailand we use shallots, red onions are used in Thai restaurants in the US as a substitute for the more expensive shallots.
cheers,
Pim
REAL thai food
Like many have recommended before I got here, you'll find plenty of delicious Thai food at Sriprapai. You won't, however, find fried cobra bones or cuttlefish in its ink. That's because those dishes came from Thailand of your imagination, and not the one I (and the cooks at Sriprapai) came from. I'm not saying things like cobra bones were never eaten in Thailand--I'm sure a starving jungle man may have done it once or twice, but that hardly qualifies them as an indicator of authenticity.
Also, not all Thai food is spicy. Just because a Thai dish isn't spicy doesn't mean it's authentic, just as adding a fistful of chili peppers into a random dish doesn't make it "authentically Thai".
Town Hall / Salt House / Incanto / Zuni Cafe?
I second Robert's suggestion of the private room at Incanto.
Honey vinegar (vinaigre de miel)?
I don't think I've seen it around here eiher. I guess you could mix in a bit of honey to make your own. You do have to be careful though, since Vinaigre de Miel is milder than regular vinegar. I'd use something mild, even Verjus if you can find them, or perhaps dilute the vinegar a little bit before adding the honey.
I'd also use flowery honey rather than woody or pine-y honey.
Good Pho in the Tenderloin?
I like Turtle Tower a lot, especially the wider and softer rice noodle that they use there. A nice departure from the thin rice noodle that's the standard here.
San Bruno Thai Temple Not Up To Berkeley's (Admittedly Not That High) Standard
The food at the temple in San Bruno -though not spectacular by any means- is vastly superior to the stuff at Berkeley Thai temple. More things are made fresh at San Bruno, while most items are pre-made and transported to the temple at Berkeley.
Frankly, that crazy scene there is not compelling to me in the least, and there were a lot more non-Thais at the Berkeley temple every time I was there, whereas the San Bruno scene are mostly Thais.
As for the question of eating meat and Buddism, there are many schools of Buddhism which allow the eating of meat, even some schools of Buddhism in China allow meat eating.
ISO "nam" Thai's pork sausage...
I've seen them at May Wah on Clement on occasion.
best Bay Area olive oil?
Well, I don't mean under-ripe in the demeaning sense. I just think that it's a stylistic choice that the producers make. Olive oils from California that I've tasted have that assertively green, grassy, and peppery flavors that seem to be the fashion here.
David reminded me today that we've also bought Late Harvest Mission oil from Sciabica which we like a lot. It's a bit lower in acidity than other local oil and has a complex and round quality that is very much reminiscent of the Catalan style olive oil.
I agree with you that new oil has a vivacity that's certainly unmistakable, and that quality, unfortunately, fades over time.
best Bay Area olive oil?
It appears to me to be not only the quality of 'new' oil, but also a stylistic preference of Olive Oil producers in this area. The style is after the fashionable Tuscan oil, which comes from the pressing of slightly under-ripe olives to get the green, grassy, peppery and -I might even add- somewhat acrid taste that the current fashion prefers.
Sciabica at the Ferry Plaza farmers market occasionally has a single varietal bottling of Picholine olive oil -though I haven't got it for some time now so they might not have it anymore- which has the more buttery and round -but not bland or mild- flavor that I prefer. They don't grow any Picholine themselves, that's what I understand, but buy the fruits from other farmers, which is why they don't always carry the Picholine oil.
What's Quince like?
Quince is wonderful. Is it expensive? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely, considering the exquisite quality of the ingredients and the great care that goes into the cooking of them.
The only reason I don't go there more often is because I rarely get my act together early enough to get a table when I want one.
I am almost afraid to ask
L'Arpège is not a vegetarian restaurant. That's a common misunderstanding. They certainly do a lot with vegetables but they also freely use non-vegetarian stocks and sauces: those made with German Speck ham, for example.
$500 per head will barely cover one person, by the way.
