Currently viewing the tag: "sticky rice"
Sripraphai in Woodside, Queens could be the best Thai food in New York City. And I’ve eaten a lot of Thai food through the years. At Sri Pra Phai, named after the owner, you’ll find Thais dining in, as well as countless other ethnicities within the melting pot that hugs Roosevelt avenue. You’ll find a huge menu with colorful pictures with descriptions in Thai and English containing a full selection of authentic Thai dishes. This isn’t fusion; this isn’t cookie-cutter, lunch special 1-2-3 Thai. It’s the real deal.
Besides authenticity, they have a full vegetarian menu. And after an all day trip to the American Museum of Natural History with a hundred kids, I needed a huge dinner. Luckily my friend lives in the area and supplemented the delicious meal with in depth analysis on the Kubrick/Illuminati conspiracy theory. For an appetizer I got the fried shredded tarot and peanut with a sweet chili dipping sauce. The little birds nest-looking fried delights were wonderful.
For an entree, a medley of heat, sweetness and salty: a spicy shredded papaya, utterly divine coconut rice and a pile of sauteed mushrooms-accompanied by that succulently sweet chili sauce. It was a well balanced plate and perfect for the diner who plans to order dessert. The papaya salad was sinus-clearing hot at “medium spice.” 
Time for dessert. My favorite: kow dom mat! Though they had a slew of coconut milk sweet bites just like I ate for weeks in Thailand, I knew it was the banana staple that I had to have. 
Remember that cooked banana turns pink! How pretty.
Next time I’ll go just for dessert and buy everything vegan. This place (with a location on Long Island in Williston Park) is certainly worth the trip off the beaten path.
I can’t stop eating it. Mango and sticky rice. I love it. I think I need to do a search for the best–and really, when I say the best I mean the biggest portion. I really have never had a bad batch. Even after this to-go mango & sticky rice sat in its foil container for quite some time, resulting in gummy sticky rice, it was still delicious! This batch was from Pagoda Thai by my apartment and eaten at the foot of the East River in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
When I read that Bushwick Pita Palace, a neighborhood falafel joint, had burritos and Daiya on their menu, I knew I would soon succumb to delivery. On a sweltering summer day in Brooklyn I gave them a ring, pleased as punch with their friendly disposition. I ordered their super veggie burrito which, thankfully did not have squash or broccoli in it. Just the basics: rice, bean, guacamole, cheese, sour cream, fresh tomato and some shreds of Romaine. I ordered a side of their super-hot green salsa to meet the minimum. Beyond the burrito, Bushwick Pita Palace is great. $3 falafels, fast and friendly. I recommend them highly. Unlike the pretentious, hipster-owned, bad-attituded $7 falafel of Yummus Hummus.
Ah, I miss Boneshakers. Now that they closed their space on Kingsland and combined with their bakery Champs, I miss the full sandwich menu. I miss a fresh-made S.a.g. on-demand. When I stopped by recently they had some wrapped up in the bakery showcase made in the morning. They nuked it for me and I devoured it, but it was not the same. Maybe it’s because I can bake pretty amazing cupcakes and cookies myself that I miss the sandwiches so…
After exhaustive veggie burger reporting, I named Tiny’s Giant Sandwich Shop on the Lower East Side as having one of the best in the city. It’s good! But I’ve had much better in other cities. New York, why can’t you have a fabulous all-around vegan veggie burger that I don’t have to worry about eating? And why can’t your servers know if it is vegan? And that brioche buns have egg and butter in it? Is that too much to ask?
Calexico has a food truck at D.U.M.B.O.’s waterfront. Like most carts, the selection is not as robust. Hitting their restaurant in Greenpoint a few months back (see here), we dined on grilled chile-lime tofu, watercress, jicama, etc. But vegan options are limited to bean tacos here. A nice bite but a little uninspired. Sure, authenticity is key in a meat-heavy cuisine, I understand. But Mexican’s highlight of fresh, flavorful vegetables and sauces is the raw material for a truly spectacular veggie burrito. I will gladly act as vegan consultant to any restaurant wanting to appease this hungry mass of eaters! Seriously!
but, this time, I was a little scared to. The NY Time’s article on how it’s the new “anti-Hamptons”–the boardwalk being the “new Bedford Avenue”–seemed to promise a mob of hipsters… and local backlash of the influx threatened an old fashioned culture clash, ripe with all the associated generalizations. Diehipster.com‘s rant on how the Rockaway locals hate the new swarm of hipsters had a comment strand that clumped vegetarians with the dreaded H-word. As a vegetarian excited about checking out the new concessions at the beach, as a seemingly young and definitely tattooed girl traveling with a man with a beard who is prone to Slacker-like verbal pontifications, I had cinematic visions of an encounter with violence as a group of locals mistake that fact that they just noticed me with the idea that I am part of the new mass of beach-goers.
But I was pleasantly relieved to have a great day at the beach. There were locals and there were hipsters; there were families of all types. Everyone enjoying the gorgeous day, everyone considerate of their space and noise level and everyone, all walks, enjoying the tasty new concessions. Plenty of choices, plenty of tastes. Not much to complain about at all.
Just a taste of the new Rockaway concessions.
Rockaway Taco is fresh, flavorful Mexican-inspired food. Their boardwalk location offers an abridged menu of delicious finger foods but, sadly, no tofu taco. {For more info and pictures of that tofu taco, check out the post I did on them last summer and their mothership location on Beach 95th.} I opted for the bean tostada with guacamole. So darn good.
First, Babycakes was on the L.E.S… then it branched to Los Angeles… then Disney World in Orlando, FL… then Rockaway Beach. And now it’s also available in the Legends Suite at Yankees Stadium. This Babycakes location has a variety of rotating sweet treats. On my visit I saw: chocolate-covered frozen Mounds-like treats, waffles, frozen brownies, mini-donuts and ice cream. I went for the 3 mini-donuts for $3.00.
Ode to the Elephants makes the dream a reality: Thai on the beach on this hemisphere. Vegan offerings are slim but they’ve got mango and sticky rice. Oh, how I love thee. I gobbled up this $6 with lightening speed. It was one of the best I’ve had in the States because of that drizzle of super-sweet coconut cream draped on top.
What a great addition to the beach. If there is an upside to gentrification, it’s a variety of healthier and delicious food options all can enjoy. Extended latent adolescence marked by Neon green Ray Ban acts of rebellion and a craving for attention or not, I’m going to enjoy the good eats in Rockaway. Lord knows the hipsters have filled up Williamsburg with a ton of meat-heavy “New American” restaurants with intense one-word names that have nothing for me. But let’s clear up the confusion, hip-types at Rockaway is not a new thing, contrary to the NY Times reporting. In fact, the NY Times reporting something is a sure-fire indication that said-tidbit is not new. Remember the Ramones song? That came out in 1977. The onslaught of superficial image-obsessed young people goes hand-in-hand with the degrading values reinforced by the Idiocracy of popular culture. There’s putrid run-off rearing everywhere. It’s unfortunate that real New Yorkers who have been kept safe by the mighty Empire, the shiny red apple, face this truth now too. And I sound like my Dad.
Remember, faithful reader, my obsession with Kow Dom Mat, the local dessert I lived off of for two months in Thailand? Save for Sookk on Manhattan’s West Side, I have basked in memories of the street delicacy since then. Surface perusal of Asian bakeries in and about New York’s Chinatown were fruitless and, well, geared towards Chinese confections. But there was one lead I hadn’t pursued in my quest–a website bookmarked in subfolder “To Go & Eat”: Bangkok Center Grocery–a website that had been past on by a roommate-hopeful in my last search over a year ago. I was full of optimism as I set out for Canal Street in the sweltering heat.
Bangkok Center Grocery is located on Mosco street, a narrow little curve connecting Mott and Mulberry streets. Inside I was met with part confused-part amused glances from patrons and store employees, just like it had been in my Thailand travels. Unfazed, I was immediately mesmerized y the hum of the refrigerators. I knew I was onto something. I saw right away the bright, gelatinous confections I had once loved in Thailand! {See here and here and here} I think I started talking to myself and my nose was certainly on the glass when a young Thai women walked towards me, delighted in my delight. I conjured up my best Thai to ask for my beloved Kow Dom Mat. With an immediate spark of understanding, she hurried me to the freezer where there lay Kow Dom Mat–in banana and in tarot. I immediately began babbling on about how I loved them.
Here they are. Four big, frozen Kow Dom Mats or “Frozen Banana Dumpling”, exported by Sethachon or “Food Hut” and distributed in the states by the Maryland-based Eastland Food Corporation. For four big ones, I paid $4.00, far better than Sookk’s $6.00 for one.
Two babies wrapped up tight in banana leaf pose for a picture for a minute in the microwave.
The glistening coconut milk creeps from the folds of banana leaf as my first sits waiting on a doily. I broke out the fancy plate for this occasion.
Unwrapped. Remember the steamed banana turns pink… and those little black beans add some texture. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into the sweetened coconut milk infused sticky rice.
Exactly how I remember it. Taste sure holds onto memories.
Perfect. Now I have a place to satisfy my Kow Dom Mat needs.
Along with the Kow Dom Mat, I just had to pick up some other sweet treats. These simple, sugar-laden Thai desserts use minimal ingredients and are all about the coconut. The green Kanom Chan is made of the highly-glutinous Chan flour (tapioca starch and sweet potato flour), coconut cream and sugar. These beauties are locally made in the Bronx by “O Thai Dessert”. $3
These are almost exact replicas of ones I ate in Sukhothai.
I also picked up “Cassava Dessert” made from cassava (tapioca), shredded coconut and sugar. These I bought because they reminded me of the coconut dreams pictured here my host Urai whipped up for me when I stayed in Bangsai. Here is Urai with some of the kids I met while I was there, from some Canadian guy’s Flickr photostream.
What a wonderful discovery! I will be returning to Bangkok Center Grocery real soon. And someday, back to Thailand to attend their Vegetarian Food Festival… but until then…
Mango and sticky rice. There are certain foods that, once before you, are bittersweet to begin to eat. That’s because every bite makes the end nearer; every taste, though supremely satisfying, is marked with a tinge of anxiety. Soon it will no longer be present on my plate. Soon I will have eaten it all. So I eat slowly, barely breaking the glutinous mass. {Pictured: my dessert at Hicksville, Long Island’s Jaiya, an authentic Thai eatery with superb lighting for food photography}
V-Spot brunch in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Sweet Fruit Empanadas of banana and strawberry with some sausage. Yummy but could have used an accompaniment… compote, cream, etc
Mango and sticky rice at Long Tan in Park Slope, again. Bless that towering cylinder of coconut milk sweetened sticky rice. 
If I was being executed I’d want my final meal to be Pad See Ew, my go-to Thai dish. This is from Thai Sky in Park Slope. This was pretty standard delivery… which is fine with me.
Spring rolls from Thai Sky. It’s fried and it’s good. I’d ask for these in my last meal too.
Have you eaten a $9.00 pretzel before? Radegast Biergarten in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has some real good authentic German softies. Order one for yourself so you don’t have to fight over who gets the knots, nobs and super-thick branches.
Beer and pretzels and wood. Astoria’s frat boy-filled beer gardens have nothing on Radegast. Plus their service is killer, even in the face of drunken cheapo squabbling.
Tomorrow is the first day of school. So tonight I had lots of anxious energy to burn. I had to get in the kitchen and bask in a fragrant medley of like 40% of my spice rack… freshly-ground coriander, a heavy twist of the garlic mill, best buddies in dying my utensils yellow: turmeric and cumin, ground ginger, allspice, ground mustard, paprika, cayenne pepper and your standards: salt and pepper. Ok- more like, I’d been jonesing for a tofu curry for weeks and I had no curry powder nor curry paste.
I’ve made plenty of curries before but this one was probably the best. I grated a bunch of fresh ginger root, used a cup of vanilla soy yogurt along with 3/4 cup of coconut milk for super-duper creaminess and didn’t include too many watery vegetables. I served myself a small helping of bright white sticky rice and the fabulous creamy curry and packed the rest away for the Rosh Hashanah break.
That helped a bit.
Unwound helps too.
I ♥ kao nio ma muang
Long Tan, Park Slope, Brooklyn
Siam Lotus, Bay Shore, Long Island
Lily Thai, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Nine D, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
I love Thai food.
That’s no secret to friends and loved ones. But now that I no longer have a favorite neighborhood Thai spot… (I speak of the end of my 5-year relationship with Lily Thai who refuses to stock a mushroom-based sauce for vegan substitution of their fish sauce, which I had been ingesting for years in my favorite dish naively safe in the assumption that the “sweet soy sauce” listed in the menu description was, indeed, a sweet soy sauce and not the oyster sauce noted in other menu descriptions. I never asked and I should have: my fault. But because of my underlying resentment in my eating fish, their unclear menu and their refusal to accomodate for vegan diners, I now must go elsewhere.)… I traveled back to my work place neighborhood of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn to dine at {brace your self for the proclamation of greatness} thee best Thai place in Brooklyn: Nine D.
I first dined at Nine D after a long schedule of parent-teacher conferences but only nibbled on an appetizer. Since then I have returned often for their amazing lunch special which offers a lunche entree and three appetizers! Given the current hot, hot heat of the big bad city, lunch cravings are for cold, fresh, crisp and flavorful. Their mango salad, shredded mango with red onion, scallion, cashew nuts, avocado dressing with sweet lime sauce and a generous sprig of fresh mint, is delectable. It wakes up the mouth and feels good to eat. 
Continuing on the fresh theme, we had the summer rolls, the standard rice paper-wrapped veggies and herbs but done right and with two yummy dipping sauces. 
For an entree, the Seitan Spices, every flavor I love about Thai food tossed perfectly on delicious crisp, ground peanut sprinkled seitan: lemongrass, lime, basil and onion.
Thai desserts are so often vegan-friendly and summer is mango’s season! So we couldn’t say no to mango and sticky rice. Personally I prefer a white glutinous rice but this beautiful black coconut milk-sweetened rice was a wonderful match with the bright ripe mango.
Ok, that is probably the silliest blog title I ever published.
Here is a epicure rundown:
Kate’s Joint‘s vegan French toast. Desperately in need of a pad of Earth Balance… if only the waitress could be found.
Oatmeal raisin cookies from my vegan kitchen.
Sura Thai Kitchen‘s pad see ew and virgin rolls. This place replaced Ayurveda Cafe as my in-between work and class dinner spot.
Pagoda Thai Restaurant is a recent Graham Avenue addition in my neighborhood. Though I was disappointed with their pad see ew, their mango and sticky rice was fargin‘ delicious. Lily Thai is where my heart is, however, with the best dumplings in Brooklyn.
Can someone tell Organic Grill to upgrade their Follow Your Heart cheese to Chicago Soydairy Teese? They used to have a really awesome vegan cheddar that was kinda liquidy but perfect in their tofu omelet but then they made the switch to Follow Your Heart. Teese, please?
Pardon my excessive superlatives but Boneshakers makes the best vegan sandwiches in New York City. There, I said it. They also make their own baked goods. Pictured here is the Hill Bomber burger with Teese. Not pictured here is my drool, which coats their menu chalk boards.
Oatmeal raisin cookies from my vegan kitchen.
Sura Thai Kitchen‘s pad see ew and virgin rolls. This place replaced Ayurveda Cafe as my in-between work and class dinner spot.
Pagoda Thai Restaurant is a recent Graham Avenue addition in my neighborhood. Though I was disappointed with their pad see ew, their mango and sticky rice was fargin‘ delicious. Lily Thai is where my heart is, however, with the best dumplings in Brooklyn.
Can someone tell Organic Grill to upgrade their Follow Your Heart cheese to Chicago Soydairy Teese? They used to have a really awesome vegan cheddar that was kinda liquidy but perfect in their tofu omelet but then they made the switch to Follow Your Heart. Teese, please?
Pardon my excessive superlatives but Boneshakers makes the best vegan sandwiches in New York City. There, I said it. They also make their own baked goods. Pictured here is the Hill Bomber burger with Teese. Not pictured here is my drool, which coats their menu chalk boards.
Bliss is a Williamsburg staple. But I am hardly ever there. They have great, hearty and balanced food. Here is their vegan breakfast burrito with chili, vegan sour cream and pico de gallo. Perfecto!
CandyPenny is off to Japan for some roaming and vegan reporting! In light of this exciting adventure, friends and I bid farewell with a Asian-themed party.
I was excited to have a go at a Thai-inspired dessert for the occasion: sweet sticky rice! In fact, since my time in Thailand I had imagined turning the whole world on to the salty sweet pleasure of coconut-sweetened sticky rice. Many a hungry day was spent perusing markets for kao nio ma muang (mango with sticky rice) and kow dom mat (sticky rice encased banana). Obtaining ingredients here in the states required a bit of running around. But after my experience in making kow dom mat from scratch in a rural Thai village, shredding coconuts barefoot on the kitchen floor, I was thankful for the convenience of canned coconut milk.
Sweet & sticky: mmmm.
1) Prepare the sticky rice:
You can buy “sticky rice” from an Asian market or gourmet grocer. Cover 1 cup of the rice with cold water and soak overnight. “This is very important!” I remember my guide at the Thai Farm Cooking School exclaiming. Afterwards, rinse the rice till the water runs clear. Then repeat the rinsing. Steam the rice in cheesecloth in a bamboo steamer for 25 minutes or so until rice is very soft.
2) Prepare sweetened coconut milkWhile rice is steaming, pour a cup of coconut milk in a saucepan. Add 3 TB of sugar and 1/2 tsp salt. Turn on low heat and stir to a boil.
3) Combine coconut milk and cooked sticky rice
Add cooked rice into boiling coconut milk and mix well. Allow to cool. Do not refrigerate!
6) Add-insI cut up some ripe mango and banana to throw into the mix. So good. Finish your dessert off with a sprinkling of sesame seeds. 
Other delectables included: vegetarian duck from Lily Thai, soy bean and broccoli pilaf and cucumber and seaweed salad.
Farewell CandyPenny!!
Vegan Reporting By Location
