Eating GIN Style

Hey followers,

How are you doing? I hope everyone's doin' great! Anyway, yesterday, I got a big tour group stopped by and ordered foods and there was one order requested that I felt I didn't want to cook. She asked for NO SUGAR at all in her order?? She said she didn't care if the flavor might not taste good, she just hated sugar??...

As a chef, I can not do that 'cause the food needed to balance flavor, so I cooked for her less sugar instead. Hope she would be okay with her food then. Talking about flavor, many people believe that all Thai dishes are "hot and spicy" only. This is not entirely true. There are many dishes which are, of course, but there are also many which are not at all. And these milder dishes are available wherever you eat  and all you have to do is ask to the kitchen to prepare the dish without peppers.. 

Moreover, please do not misunderstand that Thai people uses chop sticks in general because we do not eat with chop sticks except for the noodle, but rather eat with a large spoon and a fork (no knife) Anyway, I believe regarding eating habits, Thai people seems to have a unique way of adapting like things which have origins in other cultures yet over years they have become in Thai lifestyle!! cool!

Chef nOk^

Shopping Asian Market

 Hi all,

Finally, I got a time to update my blog. Anyway, the other day I was working in my tiny kitchen as usual, the big group just walked pass and suddenly said "Damn! Thai again!" oh-o? kiddo, what did you just say?? Okay, I admitted that there are toooooo many Thai in Portland, but please don't be rude and f--in' happy that when you are hungry this you called "damn thing" will fill your stomach savory. Or at least I never say "Sandwich again or Hamburger again?"  and I have become a person who is proud of my roots, and the traditional ways of our culture, especially foods. 

Well anyway, let's talk about our topic today "shopping Asian Market". Cooking spicy Northern Thai food is very easy on the whole, as long as you have some basic ingredients to make the paste used in most dishs; chili, salt, garlic, red shallot onions, and shrimp paste. For example, when you create a Thai soup, if you are using beef then you’d better add more galangal to it, and if it’s a fish soup you better use a lot of lemon grass. For chicken, color the soup with turmeric. And if you would like to get an "broth like" taste, then add some crushed red onions. The rest depends on the chef, but you should be able to make your own delicious dishes following these simple rules, without resorting to MSG !!! (believe me some Thai place still use this thing, so make sure to ask them first)

After you have known what you want to cook, now it's time to hit an Asian Market closed to your house. Here's some tips that would help you getting what you need from the Market.

The basic things for choosing fresh herbs like basil, there are two kind of  basil that Thai Restaurant used, Hot basil and Sweet basil. First you should look for purplish, pointed leaves for hot basil, or rounded, bright green leaves for sweet basil. Another fresh herb is garlic, you should look for bulbs that are still tight, and make sure the cloves aren’t too large. The smaller the cloves, the stronger the taste. The "too large cloves" will easily be overshadowed by the other spices in any Thai paste or sauce.

Next, galangal. Galangal looks almost the same as ginger, except its skin is white (often with a yellowish or reddish hue to it). If you do not see it in this section of the store, look for galangal in the freezer (galangal is usually sold frozen in clear packets). The same goes for fresh turmeric.Lastly, Lemongrass is easy enough to recognize by its long, thin stalks and lemony scent. It will definitely be found in the fresh produce section alongside the vegetables or fresh herbs.

Bye and see you next time (in this picture is called "Rod Dang)

Chef nOk^

The reason why Shan Noodle?

Hi Ginners,

I mean to do this post on the day of daylight saving time that my clocks automatically changed, and it doesn't matter for me that much. Since I always sleep only 6 hours or less! But something always came up and I slacked myself till today :-<  By the way, talking about the latest item from GIN menu, Shan Noodle. I got tons of email asking about this dish. So  basically Shan is the State of Burma that borders Northern Thailand to the South, so Sharing borders withThailand, Burmese cuisine and Northern Thai are inevitably influenced by the spices, seasonings, ingredients, and cooking styles of each others.

There are so many Shan Noodle, but the one I picked is garlic rice noodle in spicy tomato sauce. The reason why?, I happen to notice that tomato is one of the major diet of Americans, so it might hit most people taste (and yep! I am right) :-)

Moreover, lycopene in tomato may lower the risk of heart disease, an age-related illness that can lead to blindness; and lipid oxidation, the damage to normal fat molecules that can cause inflammation and disease. And the big part of lycopene's benefits is in the prevention and treatment of cancers of the lung, prostate, stomach, bladder, cervix, skin, and, especially, prostate!!! (nice)

Finally, from all of above, I hope you will enjoy our new item from now.

c ya again

Chef nOk^

How to juicy Thai BBQ Chicken

 Hey Ginners,

Spring is right around the corner, huh? The very popular Thai dish when the weather is nice and warm would 

be Thai BBQ Chicken! Last Summer, I added it to my regular menu that it went along with purple sticky rice 

and papaya salad. Anyway, the feedback was incredible!, Ginners loved it and asked the secret how to 

make the chicken juicy and tender....so here is some tip....

The best way to help ensure that chicken turns out moist is to brine it first, brining is like a marinade, as it 

keeps food moist and tender. As it sits in the brine,Salt changes the structure of the muscle tissue in 

 the meat that allows chicken to swell and absorb water.  When the chicken absorbs extra moisture, it 

can stand more overcooking before it dries out. And if you don't overcook it at all, it will moist and tender. 

PS. I would recommend coarse kosher salt instead of Sea salt because sea salt is quite expensive 

and just kosher salt itself, it's good enough.

Chef nOk^

First tip from Chef nOk..How to keep limes last and fresh...

Hi Ginners,

Finally, we have our own blog for chatting, suggesting any tips for cooking and so on

Our first tip came from currently I shop fresh products from many markets and whole sale. I happen to see that 

price of limes is getting higher so I wonder if there is a shortage of limes at the moment - that is what is driving 

the price up. Anyway, here is a tip for keeping limes last longer and of course fresh...

Put limes stored in the refrigerator by wrapped loosely in sealed plastic bag, so they are able to 

keep fresh for about 2 weeks long. Or squeezed lime juice in ice cube trays until frozen, storing 

them in plastic bags in the freezer. When you want to use, just take it off and defrosting the juice! 

C ya again on next post :-)