This spicy stir-fry of sataw1 and shrimp is one of the most well-known dishes from the South of Thailand. Warning: this is not for the faint of heart. It is hot. It is bitter. It has a unique pungent, um, smell. Without a doubt, sataw is an acquired taste.
These buns slice like cake. So rich. So buttery. So delicious. They can handle thick juicy burgers or grilled whole chicken breasts and all the condiments without falling apart on you so easily. This is the recipe that deserves a place in your bread repertoire. After all, you're not looking at any old sandwich buns; these buns are made out of Nancy Silverton's brioche dough - the same dough with which she created the famous brioche tart, also known as the brioche tart that made Julia Child cry.
Imagine a bowl of soft and fluffy Jasmine rice. Perfectly cooked. Unadorned. Not piping hot; just a tad warmer than room temperature. Imagine a Thai omelet, a round of soft and fluffy eggy layers, hot and puffy off the wok, with its edges crispy and light as clouds over the rice. Then imagine a blessed anointing of Thai Sriracha** on top of it all ... My heartbeats are audible as I'm typing this.
Thai fried sweet potato balls (or 'donut holes' if it suits your fancy) - another one in the GFB-inspired series of fried goods. Please note that the light sprinkling of powdered sugar is my own heathen touch which you would never see done to this old-fashioned snack in the motherland. My fellow Thais, please accept my apology for this sacrilege. For those readers who are related to me, please don't leave chastising messages on my voicemail.
Before you let out a blood-curdling scream and start throwing your shoes at me, please be informed that the pairing of chocolate and bacon is nothing new. In fact, this is one of my fun reverse-engineering projects based on an existing chocolate product, which I used to buy. Since I do not buy that product any longer (don't ask why, because I won't tell), I thought I would make my own.
As it turns out, I like mine better, much better. I've taken an extra step of candying the bacon which has proven to be worth the effort. The candied bacon bits permeating the dark chocolate rounds remind me of crunchy bits of nougat found in a famous chocolate bar. The only difference is that these "nougat bits" are smoky and a bit salty. When paired with chocolate, the duo demonstrates a sublime coexistence of sweet and salty that's just impossible to resist.
For a lighter, crispier version, check out this post.When I was in grade school, my grandfather (whose birthday is coming up - Happy Birthday, Khun Ta!) and I had our weekly ritual. The two of us would walk to the nearest newsstand, about a block away from our house, to buy the weekend edition of the Bangkok Post.
Back then, the main section included an English crossword puzzle for advanced English speakers (Grandpa) and a small insert featured a dumbed-down crossword puzzle for novice English learners (me). We would then spend the rest of the afternoon working on our respective puzzles, talking, and snacking. Some very meaningful and loving conversations were had during those moments which I always fondly remember.
It's the use of raw corn in this salad that makes it special; pairing the raw corn with smoky cheese makes it even more so. For those who have not experienced the joy of raw corn, I'd like to encourage you to give it a try. Fresh raw corn, especially at its peak in the summer, is phenomenal.
I do like boiled or grilled corn on the cob, but if given the choice of cooked or raw corn, I choose the latter without having to think. To me, raw corn is more delicious and has better overall texture. Each kernel is like a plump and taut sac begging my all-too-willing teeth to free the refreshingly sweet nectar from its prison of skin. Cooked corn is good too, but in a different way; its sweetness is more on the milky/starchy side whereas raw corn tastes almost ... fruity.
Interestingly enough, the day I made this fried rice was the day Time magazine published this report. For those who don't want to follow the link to the article, here's my synopsis. An Israeli scholar, Rachel Elior, has proposed that, contrary to popular belief, the Qumran documents, aka the Dead Sea Scrolls, weren't authored or copied by a religious group called the Essenes.
According to Elior, both internal and external evidence points to the fact that the Essenes never existed. And since it's inconvenient at best and impossible at worst for someone to write something unless they, well, exist, some theorists maintain that the group, famous for their ascetic lifestyle and extensive rules governing their bathroom rituals, could not have been responsible for the production of the Qumran documents.
Beet. Quinoa. I know.
This salad tastes much better than I thought it would. Yeah, it surprised me too.
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