Let’s cook Thai

Friends have often asked us about Thai cooking. In fact, we have thought about conducting cooking demonstrations on this particular cuisine. But Thai ingredients, mainly spices and unique seasonings, were not available. We tried to convince a Thai-owned hotel to put up a deli in their lobby shop to meet this particular demand as well as to promote the cuisine. We did not succeed. A few days ago, on a friend’s suggestion, we went to Pilar Street in Mandaluyong and found this store called Chefs’ Nook, a haven of Asian foodstuff, including rare spices, root crops, sausages, even chocolates.

First, allow us to tell you more about Thai cuisine. It is based mostly on spices, therefore is rather hot. The most common ingredients are fresh basil leaves (the Asian variety which is either sweet, holy or lemony), chili (made into a variety of curry pastes), galangal ( the fragrant member of the rhizome related to ginger), kaffir lime leaves (for flavor more than texture), coconut milk (always from freshly grated coconut), palm sugar (either hard or soft), cilantro (fresh coriander, which should settle the argument whether these two are different from each other) and, of course, dried noodles (narrow and thin), ideal for dishes like the popular Phad Thai. You’ll be happy to note that all of the above are available at Chefs’ Nook, plus a lot more. Prices range from P50 to over P200, like a pack (500 gms) of Thai sausages which sells at P250. We are also pleased to inform our readers that the two young ladies at the store are very knowledgeable about their products. They give away the recipe for Phad Thai to those who want to cook this specialty.

If you get a Thai cookbook you’ll learn how to make the many kinds of curry pastes, each type suitable for a particular dish, like green which is good for the sourish Tom Yam soup or curried chicken. The Thais prefer freshly home-made curries to the bottled variety. A word of caution–when you cut chili, be sure not to touch your skin, eyes or nose, because it has this volatile oil which can hurt or even burn. Sticky rice with mango is perhaps the best known Thai dessert. Contrary to what we had in mind, we found out that the rice is not boiled with water but steamed, hardly touching water, where the grains are placed in a conical bamboo basket.

An irate frequent shopper at Price Smart in Ortigas found herself subjected to some degrading ritual at the check-out counter recently. Normally members with expired cards are allowed to renew on the spot while settling the cost of goods purchased. This lady was going to use a credit card for both renewal and purchases. But lo and behold, she was told that it is now bank (which bank, she wondered) policy to ask the shopper for a second ID, like a driver’s license. We find this odd, having just used our own credit card at the ShopWise in Alabang with no questions asked. Price Smart claimed they were avoiding fraud. This lady is a respectable member of the community and has gone to the store hundreds of times. Shouldn’t the store have a list of fraudulent card holders rather than subject honest shoppers to such a humiliating experience? Surely, this lady and her friends–and she has many–will no longer shop at any Price Smart outlet.

On a leisurely afternoon, we walked into the San Francisco Coffee outlet on the second level of the Alabang Town Center and were greeted by the most inviting smell of brewing beans that we had to sit down and sample their blend. Hot as the afternoon was, we settled for Ice Caramel Cappuccino, which pleasantly gave us real strong coffee, unaltered by the foamy cream and caramel topping. Our daughter got a chocolate waffle topped with ice cream and whipped cream. Very chewy, great ice cream, very rich.

A friend who always has an appetite for ice cream told us that Haagen Dazs has come out with a new line-up. We have always been a fan of this brand so we will go and try what’s new and tell you all about it.

Meantime, as May could be very hot (unless the rains come and flood the streets once again), let’s think of those cooling drinks, lemonades and other juices from fresh fruits. Incidentally, mangoes at Pelican Farms in BF now sells between P35 to P55 (really big ones from Guimaras) a kilo. Indulge!

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Lydia D. Castillo’s e-mail address: [email protected]