Use Your Noodle


Pad Thai is a prominent offering in Siamese restaurants, no matter whether it’s served up in the dining room, or if it’s delivered. With good reason, of course. Juicy chicken is sliced thinly and is woven among chewy rice noodles. The combination is drenched in a luscious sauce exuberant with Southeast Asian flavors, including tangy… Continue reading Use Your Noodle

Do a Double Dip


Seriously, in this case it’s not rude. In fact, when making Birria Tacos, tortillas are dipped in adobo just before they’re griddle-seared to crispness. Later, each guest is supplied with an individual cup of adobo, meant for dunking each taco as desired, thus amplifying the flavor even more. All in due time, though before we… Continue reading Do a Double Dip

“Something Wicked This Way Comes”


What is that?  A witch’s kettle of Thai green curry, perhaps, pieces of zucchini mysteriously bobbing to the surface.  How about pairing it with rice, blacker than midnight, and pulsing with cubed squash, colors of the spooky season?  This is a pairing Martha Stewart imagines and features on her website. (*1)  In keeping with the… Continue reading “Something Wicked This Way Comes”

They Gave You Some Sauce, Right?


An important point, because Jaew dipping sauce is vital to vaulting Thai Grilled Pork Skewers (Moo Ping) past excellent all the way to legendary.  Already, the thinly sliced meat ribboned onto skewers allows the flavorful marinade to permeate every square millimeter.  Then, dunking it in the jaew after grilling enacts some new kind of magic. … Continue reading They Gave You Some Sauce, Right?

Malabar Coast


On India’s southwestern coast, the sun bejewels a sea washing tropical shores fragrant with flowering spices.  Can somewhere as lavishly endowed with vibrant vistas, aromas and colors produce anything other than an exuberant cuisine?  Definitely, the state of Kerala does, and one of its favorite creations, Chemmeen Moilee, Curried Shrimp and Coconut Soup, headlines today.… Continue reading Malabar Coast

Bacon’s Many Uses


Then there’s Task #386, Setting Smoothly Rich Background Music for Chicken Dishes.    Though today’s entry, Adobo Aromatic Chicken, is a Filipino poultry preparation, bacon infuses the chicken with its signature buttery smokiness when its fat is used to pan sear the bird initially.  After that, bacon itself makes an appearance just before serving, when… Continue reading Bacon’s Many Uses

Treasure Beyond Gold and Jewels


Indeed, Persian cookery engages not just the eyes and nose, but it captivates the taste buds as well, unfolding flavors that subtly hint at the delights that await.  The visuals, though, beguile, and make the first pass at seduction. Persians call the pilaf Javaher Polow, or Jeweled Rice, and fittingly so.  Saffron sets the rice… Continue reading Treasure Beyond Gold and Jewels

It’s All in the Sauce


When Cambodians make Chicken Samlá Curry they put everything into the soupy basting sauce – lemongrass, ginger, lime zest, garlic, coconut milk…everything.  Even the chicken itself luxuriates in the impossibly fragrant mixtures, absorbing all manner of wonderful tastes. One thing this “curry” doesn’t have, though, is curry itself.  The name is assigned to any number… Continue reading It’s All in the Sauce