Currently viewing the tag: "thai"
The one challenge of living on Long Island once again is the availability of vegan options. There has not been much progress since I went vegan here 16 years ago. Though this fact helps me save discretionary funds I would freely give away at restaurants and pushes me back into the kitchen, it takes a bit longer to decide where to spend a special night out. Luckily there is an authentic Thai restaurant in Williston Park: SriPraPhai.
If the name rings a bell, maybe it’s from my visit to their Woodside location in October 2011. SriPraPhai is what I would describe as “the real deal,” the most accurate match to the street food and dishes I savored during my months in Thailand. I love that they have a location on Long Island, though it seems quite random. In a way it contributes to their authenticity. It’s not glamorous, Thai fusion on overly-sized white plates. It’s not a concept. It’s just great Thai food.
For an appetizer, we had to have something deep-fried. Deep-frying adds deliciousness, I’ll freely admit. We threw around the idea of ordering the “Stuffed Golden Bag,” just because it sounds funny. But we decided on the scallion dumpling, a simple deep-fried scallion and dough. It arrived glistening and tasted delicious.
Their vegetarian menu is a few pages and descriptions are simple translation. With an open mind ready to explore new bites, I decided on the exact same entree I ordered on my Woodside visit. A food blogging no no! But I know exactly what got me so excited: the coconut rice. If the whole plate was a pile of their coconut rice, I’d be happy. However, a pile of wettish mushroom disc shared the stage. The mushrooms didn’t have much flavor, so the pile remained intact. The papaya salad was outstanding, the perfect mix of sweet, salty and crunchy.
For dessert, the sweet treat I was obsessed with in Thailand: kow dom mat.
Sweet coconut sticky rice and a steamed banana… fantastic as ever.
After dinner we headed to Baci Gelato, a popular spot that offers a selection of dairy-free gelato. Creamy, delicious soy-based and coconut-based options–oh yeah! The whole case here was vegan-friendly.
I chose mango and coconut scoops, topped with a mini sugar cone. It felt like summer spooning that little bitty spoon in my mouth and enjoying this cold treat. Too bad it was a brisk, unseasonably cold spring evening.
With the green budding trees and the singing bird mornings, summer’s coming. And I’m ready!
V & T Supermarket in Hempstead, Long Island is a place I can spend hours in. It is a huge Asian grocery store with long aisles of interesting food items–noodles, sauces, sweets, a frozen section, and… canned goodies. I visited V & T with a clear mission in mind: get some neat looking cans with the following predominant colors: green, yellow, pink, orange, red, and blue. These will be the pencil holders for my classroom tables come back to school. But before I can say “Mangosteens, there is a book left out on your table.” or “Johnny, please collect Jackfruit’s essays on the binary language of moisture vaporaters,” I need to seal and laquer them, preparing them for hopefully many years of 4th grade abuse. And before that–I needed to eat their innards. 
Starting with mangosteen. I accidentally bought 2 cans of these beautiful fruits. Knowing that the texture of this tropical fruit would be a bit mush-like as it has been swimming in sugary syrup since its trip from Thailand, I wanted to make sure I paired it with some other textures. Inspired by a very simple recipe for mangosteen salsa that incorporated all fresh ingredients, as well as ingredients to balance the sweetness, I made a salsa that hit all the right notes: sweet, bitter, and a whole lot of heat from 2 diced jalapeno. The mangosteens are sweet and delicious right out of the can. I saved the sugary syrup for a future popsicle creation. Mangosteen have received some buzz in the health food word. Their rinds (pericaps) contain powerful antioxidants called xanthones, that have been used in traditional medicines for years. But recent buzz here in the States stems from some studies that showed xanthones to have anti-cancer effects. Like other naturally occurring antioxidants with buzz (pomegranate, goji, acai, etc), of course next comes a slew of health products.
Next up, jackfruit. I first had this fibrous yellow wonder in Thailand (see post here); it is a sweet tropical fruit with a very interesting texture. Though sweet, I once had an amazing jackfruit chalupa at (post here) a place called Fud, a very memorable vegan eatery in Kansas City. I wanted to try to make a savory dish with my can of jackfruit. With guidance from Clean Green Simple‘s beautiful blog, I began by soaking my jackfruit in water to shrug off that sugary syrup.
It took some time to cook up the jackfruit. What goes in bright yellow… 
eventually becomes a fibrous brown, resembling pulled meat. Truly fascinating. And very delicious.
Behold! My jackfruit carnitas! Topped with the mangosteen salsa and some fresh tomato and avocado… and paired with grilled, local corn. What a delicious meal. I nibbled on so much of the jackfruit while it cooked that I could barely finish. 
Hard to believe such a gorgeous meal started in a can.
Next up in my can project, I am thinking mangosteen and lychee popsicles. Stay tuned…
xo, V.V.
More on cans:
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.
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.
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}
If I blogged even 1/4 of the times I’ve eaten Thai, my blog would explode. I eat it at least twice a week. So much do I love Thai food that I am often half-way through a dish before realizing my camera is right there next to me. That I could have captured the glistening sweet drizzle on my saturated spring roll… the shreds of tarot and bean sprout… the sloppy broad noodle drenched in sweet soy sauce… is a regret lost by the next bite. So, though I rarely blog about it, Thai is one of the cornerstones of my food life. Of course I also feel less inclined to blog about Thai food here in the States because I blogged daily from Thailand for two months. Taking advantage of the favorable exchange rate, I feasted like a princess on sought after “Jai” food in countless eateries and bit off more than I could chew on the regular at the street markets. I may have blogged enough Thai to last several lifetimes, but… here I go, blogging about more Thai.
After catching a glimpse of Sookk‘s dessert menu, I recruited my pal CP for another tasty Tuesday expedition. Why would we treck all the way to 102nd street and Broadway? I’ll tell you why: kow dom mat. Kow dom mat was my obsession when I was in Thailand. And I have never seen it on any menu here. (Maybe because it’s referred to as Kao-Thom-Mud, like on Sookk’s menu?) Anyway, we made it all the way up to the Upper West Side and battled the posh spot’s lukewarm service for a taste of the authentic Thai sweet treat. Here are the details:
Dumplings are a must. Always. Sookk’s veggie dumplings (or Green Leaf dumplings) were delicious, stuffed with hearty vegetables. The thin skin of the Thai dumpling makes them my favorite kind of all the Asian cuisines, however tears and holes and a flood of hot water is always a risk. A big plus is a Thai joint that garnishes with dried garlic. Bring on the heat.
Two days in to an already hectic week, CP and I split the Detox drink for two. It had sake, other tasty things and, obviously, lychees. It was potent.
I ordered the Tamarind Dish with a nice firm tofu. It had great flavor and texture: sweet tamarind-chili sauce with sweet peppers, crispy broccoli, scallions and cilantro. Very good but a bit tofu-centric. I wanted more crisp veggies to balance out the huge, firm chunks of tofu.
There is the kow dom mat! Sweetened sticky rice encased banana wrapped in banana leaf. By the time it was served, the lights in the restaurant were dim, draining the photo of some life. But this sweet thing was absolutely amazing. The taste, like nothing I’ve had before or after my brief obsession, transformed me. It was magical. I may soon have to return…
My dear friend Artsparrow knows her medium. As a food lover, an illustrator, aspiring photographer and all around artist, she knows color equates emotion, the visual evidence of a feeling. Gathering with her near and dear, we celebrated her birthday at Nahm Thai Kitchen in Park Slope, Brooklyn with vibrant, colorful and tasty Thai cuisine.
The amazing Vegetarian Combo appetizer had so much to choose from: summer rolls, pan-fried veggie dumplings, fried tofu and chive pancake (one of my favorite bites of street food when I was in Thailand).
Of course the steamed veggie dumpling, my cryptonite, was also on the table… and spring rolls in the background.
Since I was sick and congested, I need a dish that would break through my compromised senses. The sweet sauce from my sweet & sour did the trick.
On a spring day that brought us hail, snow, snow again and huge thrashes of thunder, Artsparrow’s dutiful man brought the cupcakes! Yes we were all surprised when our friendly servers brought out the plate of CowGirl‘s cupcakes… a gesture that raised TimX‘s stocks sky high.
Andrea Sparacio, queen of the zombies, with her cupcakes.
In the year 2010, more than any other, the camera was angled down, capturing flicks of food. Sure, there are people on the other side of the table. Had the camera lifted its head, it’d see. But for a gal who sorts time through food, the vibrant color of shared meals and food creations encompass it all. The who, the when, the why and the what. It’s like anti-ana pride [gross]. It’s vegan. It’s foodie-ness. It’s 2010: the year in food.
January. Three Brothers, Long Island’s Italian restaurant with the trailblazing all-vegan menu, was a wonderful addition to the mix, especially in Long Island where “all-vegan” is far a few between and where I would spend most of my weekends during the year. Most notable is their vegan mozzarella sticks, as the price would hint to. My first trip there they were about half the price they are now.
February. Pawtucket, Rhode Island’s Garden Grille’s wonderful prix-fixe Valentine’s Day meal was one of the best meals of the year. Memorable was the entree: Red palm ravioli trio–house-dried tomato with arugula fennel pesto, trumpet mushrooms with rosemary cashew cheese and braised cannellini with spinach served with roasted asparagus, pink vodka sauce and fresh basil. Providence had some great vegan eats and several others that were closed for the holiday.
March. By March I had gotten into the swing of using my breadmaker, a Christmas gift from several months earlier. With the purchase of a proper serrated knife, I cut a slew of interesting loafs during 2010. Unfortunately my uneven slicing skills and ton of stale leftovers had use dwindle by the end of 2010. I’m going to work on this however. Anyone interested in a bread share? I lost the only interested party to the hands of bread-focused freeganism during 2010.
April. The year of the Monday Thai lunch special. With the plethora of amazing lunch special deals in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, temptation they name was lunch. I suppose a 8$ a week Thai habit is an okay addiction compared to what others struggle with. Coming in first place to the area Thai deals is Nine D on Court street, followed by Em Thai Kitchen on Smith street. Pictured here is Em’s Pad Thai with veggie dumplings and spring rolls.
May. I made bagels from scratch! This was quite exciting, especially because I could load ‘em up with garlic millings. Thanks to Vegan Brunch, I entered into this bread undertaking fearlessly. Though I don’t foresee whipping up bagel batches on the reg., there is something empowering about making a delicious bagel from scratch… like “look what I can do”, hey hey hey.
June. In looking back at 2010, I’d be a doof not to mention the dedicated vegan grill at the Electrician‘s house. Proof that a long-time vegan and a grill-master omnivore can live in harmony. Though I ate across the table from steak, sausage and real hamburgers [Oh my!], my criticism was preemptively silenced by a respect and accommodation of my personal dietary choices. Pictured here: A waco Tofurky Italian sausage roasting with some veggies.
July. CandyPenny and I blazed a vegan trail across the Great Plains this summer, hitting tons of special eateries. One of the most memorable was Kansas City’s Fud and their jackfruit chalupa. I’ve eaten a ton of vegan food across this great nation and this chalupa stands up tall as one of the most flavorful, fresh and delicious bites. This piece of constructed bliss would make it to my top 10 of all time.
August. If you have patience and a tub of Earth Balance, you too can create huge, obscenely decadent and scrumptious cinnamon buns. I made this big batch for the Real Deal Vegan Brunch [here], a spectacular display of veganization, if I do say so myself. Besides these hot buns there was danishes, scones and egg sandwiches. But back to the buns, a big bun at a cinnamon bun chain will inject you with about 800 calories. This bun I am sure is no more than 799.
September. Boneshakers, the vegan-friendly coffee shop and cafe that hosted foodie friends to many delicious bites through out 2010, opened up Champs Family Bakery this past year, growing their vegan family in my neighborhood. Their brunch is my favorite in the entire 5 boroughs of New York City. Pictured here is their Tofu Benny, a delectable well-balanced morning choice with the most convincing hollandaise sauce I’ve ever tried.
October. Garden Cafe in Woodstock is one of my favorite restaurants. Everything that is set in front of me is close to perfect. They know how to season, to accompany, to garnish, to cook. Even the simplest of sandwiches, like the tofu mango one pictured here I ate during my upstate birthday roadtrip, are absolutely fantastic. Garden Grill is a must-visit at least a couple of times a year. I am hoping 2011 will have me stopping by on an overnight camping trip.
November. Deep. Fried. Twinkies. And you thought that the state fair was one-up on veganism with their battered and deep-fried delights. Nope. With a simple batter, an eclair pan and pastry bag, deep fried vegan twinkies became a reality in November during Deep Fryday. This opens up a world of deep-frying opportunities. I am thinking: rice krispy treats, chocolate chip cookies and Brussels sprouts.
December. In 2010 I veganized some classic tasty treats: tiramisu and creme brulee. Both tries were successful checks off my veganization list. For 2011 I hope to make a satisfying vegan version of the Scooter Pie, my absolute favorite kid snack. But back to the creme brulee for this December milestone, although I got the process down for creating this dessert [water bath and butane torch] I’d like to experiment with a more yummy custard. But c’mon the welded caramel crackling sizzle of sugar pushes this dessert into the 2010 Year In Food.
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.
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.
Vegan Reporting By Location
