Typically, Thai food is not the first cuisine to come to mind in the winter. But, Thai food is great year round and almost all of the ingredients are just as good in the winter as any other time of the year. In particular, cilantro and scallion grow great on a cool window sill. Limes are at great nearly year round, and garlic still looks nice in the market. If you find using frozen shrimp distasteful, as they are not currently in season, the dish is still great if you skip them.
There are two things I particularly like about this dish. The first is the texture and feeling as you eat it--there is nothing remotely "heavy" about the rice. Every thing has a sort of light and refreshing feel. The slightly salty rice combines with the lightness of egg and the refreshing zing of citrus and freshness of cilantro to bring a really refreshing dish. The second thing is that the flavor profile shows off the classic Thai combination of the four fundamental tastes really well: sweetness of the rice, shrimp, and oyster sauce; salt from soya sauce; sourness from the lime juice, and heat from the Thai chili. Thai food is really the only food culture that consistently hits all four of the fundamental tastes in most dishes--and this simple fried rice brings together a super-complex flavor profile with barely and work any simple ingredients.
And, the best part, from start to finish, the whole recipe can be done in about 20 minutes.
Until tomorrow.
1 comment:
Hi Drew
Your Mom clued me into your new blog.
I love Thai food but would never make it myself.
Will follow regularly.
When are you back in the states?
Andre
Post a Comment