Restaurant Review: Taste of Thai

We're big fans of Thai food.  I have cooked a fair number of Thai dishes, and we're always happy to find a good Thai restaurant.   That being the case, we were pleased by our recent visit to Taste of Thai.  It was our first time there, but it won't be the last.

Taste of Thai is located in the East Village, in the same building that previously housed a restaurant called A Taste of Thailand.  That restaurant was a Des Moines mainstay for more than two decades, but it closed a few years ago.  My hope is that Taste of Thai will have at least as long a tenure as did its predecessor.

The restaurant isn't much to look at from the outside, but the interior decor is quite nice.   "Classy without pretense, with plenty of Thai accents" is a pretty apt summary.

Taste of Thai doesn't serve a great number of dishes, but the ones they do serve represent a pretty good sample of Thai cuisine.   The curries feature the thin gravy that is typical of Thai curries, rather than a thick one as one finds in Indian curries.  Vegetable and seafood dishes are well-represented.  Everything is served attractively. 

We had two appetizers, crab rangoon and chicken satay.  The first was served with a sweet sauce, the second with a peanut sauce and a relish.  Both appetizers were quite good, but I can't say they were a good deal given the price. 

Juli ordered pineapple fried rice with chicken for her entree, while I ordered a red curry with beef and squash.  The entrees were even better than the appetizers, and unlike the appetizers, they were more than worth the price.  The servings were quite generous.  I thought the red curry was particularly good, as the various flavors - hot peppers, lemongrass, galangal - were distinct enough to be noticed while still providing a balanced flavor to the dish.

For dessert, we shared an order of mango sticky rice.  As with the entrees, the dessert was delicious and the portion more than generous.  This was perhaps the best version of this standard Thai delicacy we've ever had.

Really, the only thing we didn't like about our visit to Taste of Thai was the beverage we ordered.  We both ordered ice tea, and what we got wasn't what we expected.   We were served a fragrant tea that probably would have been quite good hot, but as an ice tea it was just wrong. 

Taste of Thai was doing good business when we were there, both restaurant dining and take-out. We hope they continue to do good business, and we plan to do our part to make sure Taste of Thai is a success.

Taste of Thai is located at 215 E. Walnut St.Des Moines, IA 50309.  Their hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch and 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner Mondays through Saturdays.

Caramel Pork with Hot Peppers and Snow Peas

We wanted a quick and tasty lunch on Saturday, something memorable and different, and something that wouldn't be too much hassle to make.   Flipping through some Thai cookbooks, I saw a couple recipes for Caramel Pork.   Thin slices of stir-fried pork coated in a sticky-sweet sauce, served atop jasmine rice and topped with crisp-fried shallots... the basic concept sounded pretty good to me.   However, I wanted something a bit spicier, and I also wanted to have at least some vegetables.   With that in mind, I set about making my own recipe.

We picked up some snow peas at the Saturday AM farmer's market, and we have lots of hot chili peppers of our own.   With those additions, I adjusted a few ingredients to taste and tried out my version of Caramel Pork.

This recipe is definitely a winner.   The pork pieces were nicely browned and coated with the sauce, while the snow peas were lightly crisped due to having cooked first with the pork, then in the sauce.  This gave them an unusual, yet very pleasant, texture and flavor.  Tiny bits of red chilis gave the sweet, sticky sauce a bit of heat, while the crisp-fried shallots added more sweetness and just a touch of bitterness.  I served up the pork with jasmine rice and with fresh tomato wedges, which provided both a bit of tartness and something cool to balance the heat of the pork and sauce.   All in all, this made for a really nice lunch.

This pork dish is unlike anything I've ever had or made before.  We both loved it, and I'll definitely be making it again. 

Caramel Pork with Hot Peppers and Snow Peas

yield = 4 servings

3               tablespoons vegetable oil
3               large shallots, thinly sliced
5               tablespoons (unpacked) brown sugar
2               tablespoons oyster sauce
2               tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1               tablespoon fish sauce
1/2            teaspoon white pepper
6               teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/2         lbs pork, thinly sliced
2-3           fresh red chili peppers, diced
4              ounces snow peas, trimmed

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat and fry the shallots until they are golden brown.   Remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.  Set aside

Increase heat to medium-high.  Stir together brown sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce and white pepper in a small bowl.  Set aside. 

Add garlic, cook 30 seconds, the add pork and chili peppers.  Stir-fry until the pork has started to brown on all sides.  Add the snow peas and stir-fry 1 minute.

Add the brown sugar mixture and continue cooking for until about 5 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened to a thick, sticky texture and coated the pork.

Transfer pork mixture to a serving platter and sprinkle with the fried shallots.  Serve over jasmine rice.

Baby Bok Choy in Coconut Milk

This recipe is one I came up with to serve with the Chicken and Lemongrass Curry I wrote about in the recent past.   I wanted a vegetable to serve with the the main-dish curry, and figured another dish with typical Thai seasonings would go along well with that curry.  There's really not much to it:  Some ginger and garlic are cooked in oil, then coconut milk and some other seasonings are brought to a simmer, after which the bok choy is added to the pot and cooked in the flavored coconut milk, which is then cooked until thickened and used to top the bok choy.

This one wasn't one of Juli's favorites.  She really prefers baby bok choy be mixed in with other ingredients in a stir fry, as opposed to a dish based around the baby bok choy.  I thought it was pretty good, though, and I'm thinking that with some more experimentation, I can probably make it into something that Juli and I will both like.  Meanwhile, it's a neat side dish, and not really very much like anything else I've made to date.   If anyone wants to try it out and provide some feedback, or possibly some ideas how to make it even better, I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Baby Bok Choy in Coconut Milk

yield = 2 servings

12             ounces baby bok choy, leaves separated,
                         cleaned and trimmed
1               teaspoon vegetable oil
1               tablespoon fresh, peeled and grated ginger
1               teaspoon minced garlic
1               cup coconut milk
2               tablespoons freshly-squeezed lime juice
1               tablespoon fish sauce
2               teaspoons granulated sugar

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large sauce pan over medium-high heat.  When the oil is shimmering, add the ginger and garlic and cook until it is fragrant (30-45 seconds).  Add the coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. 

Add the baby bok choy and toss/stir to coat witht he coconut milk mixture.  Cook until the bok choy is tender (4-5 minutes).  Remove the bok choy to a serving bowl or dish and cover to keep warm.

Increase heat to medium-high and cook the coconut milk mixture for a couple more minutes, until it reduces and thickens.  Pour over the baby bok choy and serve.

Chicken and Lemongrass Curry

Today's recipe was inspired by a recipe originally presented in Food & Wine in October 2007.  That recipe had a bit more of a Vietnamese spin to it, but I decided to change things up a bit to reflect more of a Thai flavor mix, most notably by using Thai green curry paste.  

Most of the flavor in this dish is derived from a brief marinade of fish sauce, garlic, salt and the aforementioned green curry paste, and from cooking lemon grass and chopped chili peppers in the hot oil before adding the chicken.   A nice, sweet flavor component is provided by caramelizing some sugar and adding it along with the chicken. These potent ingredients impart a delightfully complex mix of flavors - salty, sweet, savory and a bit sour - to the chicken.   The flavor complexity is particularly impressive when you consider how quickly the dish comes together.  The total time from starting prep to putting the dish on the dinner table was less than 1/2 hour. 

All in all, I was pretty pleased with this one.  It was fast, easy, quite flavorful and very memorable.  I think this recipe is destined to earn a spot on my short list of quick and dependably excellent go-to recipes.

Chicken and Lemongrass Curry

yield = 4 servings

2             tablespoons fish sauce
1             tablespoon Thai green curry paste
2             teaspoons minced garlic
2             tablespoons + 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/4          teaspoon table salt
1 1/2       pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts and/or
                 thighs, chopped into bite-size pieces
1/4          cup + 3 tablespoons water
2             tablespoons canola oil
2             tablespoons lemongrass paste (or 2 stalks,
                  tender inner white parts only, chopped)
2             serrano chilis, seeded and minced
1             large shallot, thinly-sliced
2             teaspoons fresh peeled and minced ginger
               chopped fresh cilantro leaves as garnish (optional)

Combine fish sauce, green curry paste, garlic and 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar and salt in a medium bowl.  Add chicken pieces, stir to coat and set aside.

In a small skillet or saucepan, add remaining two tablespoons sugar to 1 tablespoon water and cook over high heat, stirring often, until the sugar is dissolved.   Continue stirring and cook until a deep amber caramel forms.  Remove from heat and stir in the remaining two tablespoons of water.  Transfer to a small bowl.

Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add the lemongrass, chopped serrano chilis, shallot and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. 

Add the chicken and stir-fry until the chicken is no longer translucent.  Add 1/4 cup water and caramel and cook until the sauce is slightly thickened (another 3-4 minutes or so).  Serve.

Citrus-Basil Chicken with Coconut Rice

Today's featured recipe was inspired by one found at My Gourmet Connection.  The recipe there - Orange-Basil Chicken with Creamy Coconut Rice - looked okay, but I decided to change a few things to bring it more to my taste. Aside from changing the amounts of some ingredients, I felt the dish could only benefit from the addition of a bit of ginger, and I figured Jasmine rice cooked in coconut milk and orange juice would be flavorful enough that I could afford to drop the butter included in the original recipe, thereby cutting out a bit of fat.

The result:  Tender bits of chicken in a spicy-sweet, Thai-seasoned sauce, served atop creamy, slightly sweet rice.  I boosted the amount of lime juice from what was used in the original recipe, and also included some lime zest (the original recipe used only orange zest), and these changes helped give the sauce a more complex citrus flavor than  would have been the case had the flavor mix been more dominated by the orange.  The rice serves nicely to balance out the spiciness of the sauce, but even so, we reduced the amount of sriracha listed in the recipe, as the sauce was too spicy for Juli, and even a bit spicier than I prefer, when we made this dish with two tablespoons of sriracha.

Citrus-Basil Chicken with Coconut Rice

yield = 4 servings

4            tablespoons fish sauce
4            teaspoons cornstarch, divided
1 1/2      pounds boneless, skinless chicken (breasts or thighs),
                 cut into bite-size pieces
2            cups uncooked jasmine rice
2            cans (13.5 ounces) coconut milk
1            cup orange juice + 2/3 cup
1/2         cup water + 1 tablespoon
1/4         teaspoon salt
3            tablespoons freshly-squeezed lime juice
2            tablespoons hoisin sauce
1            tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sriracha (Thai chili) sauce
1            tablespoon fresh, peeled and grated ginger
1            tablespoon lime zest
1            tablespoon lemon zest
2            tablespoons peanut oil
6            green onions, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
1            cup (loosely packed) Thai basil leaves
              strips of lime and orange zest for garnish

Whisk the fish sauce and two teaspoons of the cornstarch together in a medium bowl.  Add the chicken pieces.  Toss to coat and set aside at room temperature.

While the chicken mixture rests, combine the rice, coconut milk, 1 cup of the orange juice, 1/2 cup water and the salt in a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid.  Bring to a rapid simmer over medium-high heat, then cover and reduce heat to low.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender (15-20 minutes). 

After reducing the heat on the rice, combine the remaining 2/3 cup of orange juice, lime juice, hoisin sauce, sriracha, ginger, lime zest and orange zest in a small bowl.  Mix together, then set aside.  Combine the remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl.  Stir to dissolve the cornstarch, then set aside.

Heat the peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add the chicken and stir-fry, stirring frequently, 4-5 minutes.  Add the green onions and stir-fry for an additional minute, then stir in the orange juice-hoisin mixture.

Cook until bubbling, stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook for about 30 seconds or until the sauce thickens.  Remove from heat and stir in the basil leaves.

Fluff the rice and serve the chicken mixture atop the rice.

Red Curry Beef with Eggplant and Mushrooms

Today's recipe is something I tossed together, a Thai-influenced beef and vegetable curry.  It's quick and easy to make, and full of flavor.

A lot of people find eggplant bitter, and sometimes it is, especially larger eggplants.  For this recipe, use a medium-sized one, or two small ones. 

One of the keys to this dish is the trick of cooking the curry paste in the hot oil.   This is a trick common to Indian curries as well as Southeast Asian ones, and it serves both to intensify the flavor of the seasonings and to flavor the oil, so that everything cooked in it is imparted with the flavors. 

I didn't have any Thai basil around when I tossed this together, but if I had, I'd have added a half-cup or so of the Thai basil (a half-cup or so) along with the beef and skipped the cilantro garnish.  If you have access to Thai basil, give that a try.   I think it will make the recipe even better.

Red Curry Beef with Eggplant

yield = 4 servings

3                       tablespoons fish sauce
2                       tablespoons lime juice
2                       teaspoons cornstarch
1                       pound beef sirloin, sliced thin
2                       tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
2                       tablespoons Thai red curry paste
1                       can (14 ounces) coconut milk
1                       tablespoon granulated sugar
8                       ounces button mushrooms, quartered
1                       medium eggplant, peeled and cut into chunks
1                       tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves to garnish (if desired)

Whisk together two tablespoons fish sauce, one tablespoon lime juice and cornstarch in a medium bowl.  Add the sliced beef, toss to coat and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  When the oil is shimmering, stir in the curry paste and cook until fragrant and bubbling, about 1 minute.  Add the beef mixture and stir fry until just browned on all sides.  Remove from the skillet and set aside.

Add the coconut milk, remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce and lime juice and sugar to the skillet.  Heat to a simmer, then add the mushrooms and eggplant and cook for about 10 minutes or until the eggplant is tender and the sauce has thickened.

Return the beef to the plan.  Stir and cook until the beef is heated through.  Remove from heat, garnish with cilantro leaves and serve over jasmine rice.

Honey-Peanut Chicken & Curried Peanut Noodles

I recently made a meal inspired by two Thai-inspired recipes published at one of our favorite blogs, One Favorite Bite.  The recipes in question were Thai-Style Honey Peanut Chicken and Noodles with Curried Peanut Sauce.  Mary and we like a lot of the same sorts of dishes, and based on her excellent track record and on the results I got with my variation of her recipes, I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results if you were to cook up those two recipes as written.   As usual, though, I modified some things, not because I thought the changes would make for a recipe better than hers, but simply to make something a bit more customized to our tastes.  Mostly these consisted of adding some ingredients (fish sauce and Thai basil) to give the dishes more of a distinctly Thai flavor, but I also substituted and changed the amounts of some ingredients.

Both dishes came together quickly and with only minimal fuss.  The Honey-Peanut Chicken is wonderfully flavorful.  Bits of chicken are cooked in a rich, smooth, spicy-sweet sauce made from peanut butter, honey, hot curry powder and sriracha (a Thai hot chili sauce), and peanuts are sprinkled on the finished dish.   

The Curried Peanut Noodles are less spicy than the chicken, but no less flavorful.  Chinese egg noodles are mixed into a delicious sauce made from Thai curry paste, more peanut butter, coconut milk and lime juice.  Some of the flavors are fairly subtle compared to the dominant peanut flavor, but they all add up to a wonderful Thai-spiced side dish.  Mary's recipe calls for flat Chinese egg noodles, but since I didn't have any of those around, I used the lo mein-style noodles I had around.  They worked fine.

Each of these dishes was great on its own terms, and I'll probably make both again some time, but I don't think I'll make them together.  With both dishes having strong peanut flavors, I found the similarity kept each from standing out from the other.  That much peanut flavor isn't a bad thing, mind you, and the dinner was quite good, but I think the noodles would probably go better with a meat or vegetable dish that wasn't based around peanuts, while the bold flavors of the Honey-Peanut Chicken would stand out more if served with plain Jasmine rice, or perhaps coconut rice. 

Honey-Peanut Chicken

yield = 4-5 servings

1/2            cup soy sauce
1/4            cup honey
3               tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2               tablespoons lime juice
1               tablespoon fish sauce
2               teaspoons minced garlic
2               teaspoon Madras (or other hot) curry powder
2               teaspoons sriracha (or other Asian-style hot chili sauce)
2               pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs (or a mix),
                 cut into bite-size pieces
2               tablespoons Thai basil, chopped
1/2            cup roasted, unsalted peanuts

Add soy sauce, honey, peanut butter, lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, curry powder and sriracha to a large skillet.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring often until the mixture is smooth. 

Add the chicken to the skillet, turning it to coat on all sides with the sauce.   Simmer, stirring often, until the chicken is done (4-5 minutes).  Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with Thai basil and peanuts, and serve.

Curried Peanut Noodles

yield = 4-5 servings

1            teaspoon table salt
1            pound dried Chinese egg noodles
3/4         cup coconut milk
1/2         cup crunchy peanut butter
3            tablespoons soy sauce
2            tablespoons fish sauce
1            tablespoon fresh-squeezed lime juice
3            teaspoons ground coriander
3            teaspoons Thai red curry paste
2            teaspoons granulated sugar
              cilantro leaves for garnish

Add 4 quarts of water and 1 teaspoon salt to a large pot and bring to a boil.  When the water is boiling, prepare the noodles per package directions. 

While the noodles are cooking, combine the coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, coriander, curry paste and sugar to small saucepan.  Cook on medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly, until the peanut butter melts and a sauce forms (approximately 3 minutes).

Drain the pasta in a colander, then return it to the pot.  Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss to combine.   Transfer to a serving bowl or platter, garnish with cilantro leaves and serve.

Lemon-Sesame Rice

I needed a rice dish to go with the wonderful Thai Ribs I made recently, preferably something that also had a Thai feel and flavor to it.  Nothing I could find in my cookbooks or online really quite fit the bill, so I made up one of my own. 

My idea was to make some rice that was strong with sesame flavor, due to roasted sesame seeds and a bit of sesame oil, as well as a bit of lemon undercurrent.  I figured I could get the lemony quality I wanted by mixing in some lemon zest and a bit of lemon juice at the end.  Since I wanted a Thai-flavored dish, jasmine rice was a natural, and after some consideration, I decided cooking the rice with some chunks of ginger and sprinkling the finished rice with a bit of cilantro would round out the dish.

This turned out even better than I'd imagined.   The rice was fragrant and delicious, with a strong roasted-sesame presence and an accent of lemon.  It also looked great, and the sesame seeds provided some nice variety in texture as well.

This one's a keeper.  No doubt about that.

Lemon-Sesame Rice

yield = 4 servings

1/4          cup sesame seeds
1 1/2       jasmine rice
1             one-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into thin discs
1             teaspoon Asian (dark) sesame oil
1/4          teaspoon salt
2 1/2       cups water
1             tablespoon lemon zest
1             tablespoon lemon juice
2             tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Spread sesame seeds evenly across bottom of a small, dry skillet.  Dry-roast the sesame seeds on medium-low heat, stirring often, until they have turned golden brown.  Transfer sesame seeds to a small bowl and set aside.

Add rice, ginger, sesame oil, salt and water to a large saucepan over high heat.  Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low, letting the rice simmer until all the water is absorbed.  This should take about 15 minutes.  Stir the rice once, about halfway through that time, to make sure the flavors blend evenly.  Remove from heat.

Remove and dispose of the ginger discs.   Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice and sesame seeds.  Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with cilantro.  Serve and enjoy.

Storage Tip:
When preparing leftovers for later, and especially when preparing to freeze them, use a removable marker to label and date the container.   This might seem like a no-brainer, but we used to not take the couple minutes necessary to add this step, and then often we couldn't tell what was in the various containers when we were looking for something to take for lunch.  Dating the container tells you when something is past it's time.