This post is brought to you by excitement at the level that is so unreasonable it’s awkward. I just made these wings less than a couple of hours ago. The kitchen and my clothes still smell like them as I’m sitting here, writing.
(Whispering, because the wings are within earshot) These wings would have been much better grilled, in my opinion. But where I am, the weather is not yet warm enough to grill outside. So I went for the next best option: baking. Continue Reading →
James Beard Award-winning journalist Mike Sula has been writing for the Chicago Reader for 20 years, covering various topics in various formats and styles from short blog posts to long-form features. One of the city’s most respected restaurant reviewers, Sula scours the nooks and crannies of Chicagoland in search of stories to tell you. Sure, he has a reputation for both being difficult to impress and being very capable of vividly articulating why certain things don’t impress him. But if you have followed his work for several years, you will know that Sula is actually impressed with a lot of things.
Sula is also a writer whom I deeply admire. He has always been generous with his help and advice whenever I, a relatively new writer, ask him for it. I have always felt grateful for that. And I would like to dedicate this post to him.
But, first, I asked Sula a few questions. Continue Reading →
I’ve been wanting to start a series of photo-based posts featuring dishes, or samples of family meal ensembles, that you can create from Simple Thai Food (which I’m sure my long-time readers have a copy of). I hadn’t had a chance to do so until now.
Debuting the series is one of my top favorites in the entire repertoire of what the Thais refer to as “one-plate meals”: khao na kai (also informally spelled khao na gai).
This is one of the old-fashioned Thai-Chinese dishes that are very well known among those who are deeply familiar with Bangkok. My generation grew up eating this; our parents and grandparents loved it so much that even though they had to herd their kids and grandkids into the car and drive to specific restaurants on the other side of the city for good versions of it, they never hesitated (I know, because I was one of those kids).
Not all comfort foods are easy to make as, to be ‘comfort,’ they often require long, slow cooking. Not this one where the active cooking time is less than 15 minutes. The ingredient list is pretty darned short as well. It’s one of those things that seem so ordinary that some people probably look at and go, ‘What’s the big deal?’But looks can be deceiving.
A simple recipe for it can be found on page 146 of Simple Thai Food. Feel free to top it with a crispy fried egg (page 194) and/or add some dried, sweet Chinese sausage (lap cheong), sliced and seared crisp, as done by one old Bangkok-based restaurant.
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Introducing THE EPESTLE
Bury Me in Nam Phrik: Mike Sula’s Exploration of Thai Relishes (Plus Salted Soybean-Pork Rind Relish Recipe)
Food and Cooking in Thai TV Dramas, Love Destiny, 17th Century Siam, and Crispy Noodle-Wrapped Pork Dumplings
A Simple Thai Dipping Sauce
Northern Thai Rice Noodle Soup with Pork Ribs, Dried Cotton Flowers, and Tomatoes (Khanom Jin Nam Ngiao)
How to Prepare Rice Vermicelli (Khanom Jin) from Dried Noodles
How to Prepare Pomelos for Thai Pomelo Salad
