So I was at Xiao Bao CHS the other day w/ @cinetrix, and she had a banger Thai fried chicken w/ green papaya salad entree. You can't get food like that in the 864, but I like eating food like that. If you have read this blog, you have read the story of quixotic efforts to recreate various dishes that go more or less well. In general, the common denominator for those efforts is a lot of work, ingredient fuss, and some stress.
For whatever reason - probably b/c I did not have a recipe to follow, I was much looser in my approach. I have been into chicken thighs, so I got some of those, boned them, but left the skin on, chopped into pieces and marinated w fish sauce and garlic -- which was a streamlined version of the approach for the Pok Pok wings.
I did not have the stuff called for for the dusting, but I used 50/50 rice flour and KAF bread flour, with some salt and pepper and red pepper. I fried a little lower and slower than usual, pulled them out and let them sit, then put them all in a wok w a mix of sweet soy, rice vinegar, sambal, and maple syrup, and tossed over heat until the liquid was gone.
Meanwhile my fake grreen papaya salad was daikon julienned w/ a mandoline, hit w/ the Chang 3parts sugar 1 part salt mix, drained and tossed w some rice vinegar, a squeeze of Meyer lemon, and chopped flesh of one mango.
I made rice in the rice cooker.
Was I magically transported back to Charleston? No. Was it pretty fucking good for dinner, and to take to school for lunch? Yes. It's a reminder that sometimes a few key ideas can get you pretty far, even if you don't have exactly the pantry of a Thai restaurant.
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