Thai--fresh and deorative

Thai food is hot--and not just with chiles.

This spicy cuisine is acquiring new stature as mainstream American chefs experiment with lemongrass, fish sauce, coconut milk and other Thai ingredients. Neighborhood Thai restaurants are vying for the market once dominated by Chinese food. And Americans are fascinated with what they have tasted.

The reasons for their fascination are clear. Thai food is not only fresh and decorative but offers endless layers of flavor--sweet, salty, tangy, sour, chile-hot, spicy, fragrant, herbaceous and smoky among them. Combine these with a rich range of textures--crunchy, crisp, grainy, silky, gelatinous, soft, chewy--and the capacity for variation is greatly compounded.

In Asia, Thai food is spreading with the same vigor once shown by the various cuisines of China. In Singapore, it has surpassed Sichuan dishes in popularity. Malaysia, which borders Thailand, has an ample supply of Thai restaurants and its own unique Thai-Malay cuisine in the northern state of Kelantan.

When India’s first Thai restaurant opened in Bombay last year, customers lined up for seats. That restaurant, in the President Hotel, was followed by another in Bangalore, and a third is set to open in Goa. Curiously, the blossoming of Thai food in India is linked neither to immigration, as in the United States, nor to geographical proximity, as in Malaysia and Singapore, but to an attempt by the Taj hotels, a leading Indian chain, to start a new food trend.

In April, the City of Beverly Hills hosted a salute to Thailand as part of its diamond jubilee celebration. During that event, Thai dishes were added to the menu of the Regent Beverly Wilshire.

And during a cold spring week, Thai cookery made a splashy appearance in what would seem an unlikely location--the Napa Valley. One does not normally think of wine in connection with this heady, often hotly seasoned food. Nevertheless, the Christian Brothers chose to show off its products at a four-day symposium titled “Destination: Bangkok.” The event took place in St. Helena at Greystone Cellars, a 100-year-old stone structure that serves as the Christian Brothers’ visitors center, and at Meadowood resort.

Thai chefs came from Bangkok, London and the Bay Area to teach classes, prepare meals and provide dishes for a lavish opening party. At that event, 450 guests snacked on Thai street fare including bowls of noodles dished up from a boat fitted out like the small craft thatdispense food on the klongs (canals) of Bangkok. Symbolizing the cross-cul-

tural encounter, Brother Timothy, Christian Brothers vice president and cellar master emeritus, fed French bread to an elephant brought to Greystone for the party.

During the next three days, participants buckled down to cooking classes, seminars and lectures interspersed with wine tastings and elaborate dinners. Guest chefs for the dinners were Ken Hom, who based a menu on his recent book, “East Meets West Cuisine,” and Vatcharin Bhumichitr, chef-owner of Chiang Mai, a northern Thai restaurant in London. Bhumichitr’s cookbook, “The Taste of Thailand,” has been published in England and the United States.

Specialists in Thai culture flown in from overseas included William Warren of Bangkok, author of “Thai Style,” a book on Thai house design, and Jennifer Brennan-Sparks, whose “The Original Thai Cookbook” was a pioneer work in the field. Brennan-Sparks taught Thai cooking in the Los Angeles area and now resides in Yokohama.

In charge of the cooking classes were Vorachoon Yuchinda and Narin Chotipanang, chef-owners of the Lemongrass restaurant in Bangkok. With Ken Hom as commentator, Yuchinda and Chotipanang demonstrated such specialties as Chicken with Lemongrass: deep-fried, marinated chicken with an unusual topping of crisply fried sliced lemongrass and green onions combined with peanuts and sugar. In Thai, the dish is called Gai Takrai, gai meaning chicken and takrai lemongrass.

Their version of beef salad is radically different from that usually seen at Thai restaurants in the United States. Instead of roasting the beef, which is the usual method, they simmer it in water or stock and then add the liquid to the salad. Other additions are small, round, green Thai eggplant and nam prik pao, a Thai chile paste that includes soy bean oil, fish sauce, dried shrimp and tamarind paste.

The two chefs produced a vegetable dish with unusual flavor by seasoning slim Oriental eggplant with curry powder, nam prik pao oil and the yolks from salted duck eggs. A dessert of longans in sweetened rice soup, topped with salted coconut milk, was served at the final symposium lunch. It was not part of the curriculum but appears in a video of Chotipanang and Yuchinda demonstrating recipes at their restaurant.

Recipes also follow for a delicate corn and coconut soup from Hom and Bhumichitr’s rendition of Laab, a northeastern minced meat dish.

Thai snacks served at the opening night party included a green papaya salad from Siam Cuisine and a refreshing lemongrass drink from Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine. Both of these restaurants are in Berkeley. Jib Wongsanguan of Sweet Basil serves the drink either hot or cold, over ice. Chai Aksomboon of Siam Cuisine suggests substituting shredded carrot if green papaya is unavailable or replacing a small quantity of the papaya with carrot to make a more colorful dish.

The specialized Thai ingredients called for in these recipes can be found in Thai markets and in stores that stock a variety of Asian ingredients. Filipino markets are another source for green papaya, and Vietnamese markets carry fish sauce and lemongrass. A short list of these markets appears on Page 10.

NARIN’S AND

VORACHOON’S

CHICKEN WITH

LEMONGRASS

(Gai Takrai)

6 stalks lemongrass

8 green onions, thinly sliced lengthwise

1/4 cup fish sauce

1/3 cup sugar

6 chicken thighs, boned

Garnish

4 cups oil

1/4 pineapple, sliced and cut into decorative shapes

Cut off and discard leafy portion of lemongrass stalks. Pound solid portion of stalks to release oils and cut up coarsely. Combine lemongrass, green onions, fish sauce and sugar in bowl. Add chicken thighs and marinate at least 3 hours or overnight in refrigerator.

Prepare Garnish. Drain chicken well. Deep fry in oil 20 to 30 minutes, until done. Drain and slice into bite-sized pieces. Arrange on serving platter and sprinkle with Garnish ingredients. Decorate platter with pineapple. Makes 4 servings.

Garnish

10 stalks lemongrass

12 green onions, thinly sliced crosswise

1 cup oil

1/4 cup chopped roasted unsalted peanuts

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cut off and discard leafy portion of lemongrass stalks. Thinly slice remaining solid portion of stalks crosswise. Heat oil in skillet. Add lemongrass and fry until lightly browned.

Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Add green onions to oil and fry until crisp. Drain on paper towel. Combine lemongrass, green onions, peanuts, sugar and salt.

LEMONGRASS

RESTAURANT’S

BEEF SALAD

WITH EGGPLANT

(Yam Nua Maku An)

1/2 cup water or beef stock

1 cup thinly sliced tender beef

4 small round green Thai eggplants, cut into wedges

2 stalks lemongrass, solid portion only, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons nam prik pao (Thai chile paste)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon Thai chili powder

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 tiny Thai chiles, chopped

20 mint leaves

Bring water to boil in wok. Add beef and simmer until cooked. Remove with slotted spoon and place in salad bowl. Add eggplant to water and cook until slightly softened. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.

Add liquid in wok to beef. Combine lemongrass, lime juice, fish sauce, nam prik pao, sugar and chili powder, add to beef and mix. Add eggplant, shallots and chiles. Just before serving, stir in mint leaves. Makes 4 servings.

Note: Commercial brands of nam prik pao can be extremely hot. For milder flavor, reduce quantity to 1 tablespoon or less. Eliminate chiles, if desired.

EGGPLANT FRIED WITH

CURRY POWDER

(Makua Yao Pad Pong Gari)

5 cloves garlic

4 tiny Thai chiles

1/4 cup oil

1 tablespoon Madras curry powder

2 salted duck egg yolks, crushed

4 Oriental eggplants, quartered lengthwise and cut in 3-inch pieces

1/3 cup oil from nam prik pao (Thai chile paste)

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

2 green onions, cut in 3-inch lengths

2 small mild chiles, quartered lengthwise

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

Pound garlic and Thai chiles together in mortar. Cook mixture in hot oil in skillet 2 minutes. Mix in curry powder and crushed egg yolks. Add eggplant and nam prik pao oil. Fry until tender.

If mixture is too dry, add dash water. Add onion, green onions, quartered chiles, fish sauce and sugar and cook briefly before serving. Makes 4 servings.

Note: Commercial bottled nam prik pao may yield 1 tablespoon or less oil. Add vegetable oil to make 1/3 cup.

KEN HOM’S CREAM OF GINGER SOUP

WITH CORN AND

LEMONGRASS

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup finely chopped yellow onions

2 tablespoons finely chopped lemongrass

2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots

1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger root

Kernels cut from 6 to 8 ears corn

1 quart chicken stock

Salt

Freshly ground white pepper

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup cream

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons Chinese chile bean paste or less to taste

Cilantro leaves

Heat butter in large saucepan. Add onions, lemongrass, shallots and ginger root and cook over low heat 2 minutes. Add corn and cook 1 minute longer. Add chicken stock and bring to simmer. Cook over low heat about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Add milk, cream and sugar.

Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Puree soup in blender in several batches, allowing 2 to 3 minutes blending for each. Return to saucepan and bring to simmer.

To serve, turn into large tureen. Place chile bean paste in center and stir to make swirling pattern. Or serve in individual bowls, adding 1/4 teaspoon or less chile bean paste to each. Garnish with cilantro leaves. Makes about 2 quarts.

VATCHARIN BHUMICHITR’S SPICY

GROUND MEAT

(Laab)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons chicken stock or broth

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1/2 to 1 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 pound skinned boneless chicken breast, minced or ground

2 shallots, chopped

1/2 stalk lemongrass (lower solid portion only), finely sliced

1 kaffir lime leaf, finely sliced

1 tablespoon Browned Rice

1 small green onion, chopped

Lettuce

Cilantro

Combine lemon juice, stock, fish sauce and chili powder in small skillet and heat quickly. Add chicken and cook until meat is opaque and cooked through, stirring briskly.

Add shallots, lemongrass, lime leaf, Browned Rice and green onion and cook few seconds longer. Turn into lettuce-lined dish and garnish with cilantro. Makes 4 servings

Browned Rice

1 tablespoon rice

Cook rice in ungreased skillet until lightly browned, about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Coarsely grind rice in spice grinder or food processor.

THAI CUSINE’S GREEN PAPAYA

SALAD

(Som Tham Mara Gor)

2 teaspoons raw peanuts

2 medium cloves garlic

2 to 4 tiny Thai chiles

1/2 cup large dried shrimp, about 1 1/2 ounces

1/2 cup green beans (cut in 1 1/2-inch lengths)

2 cups shredded green papaya

4 large cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 teaspoon palm sugar

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons lime juice

2 tablespoons fish sauce

Iceberg lettuce or romaine

Place peanuts in skillet and dry roast over medium-low heat until brown, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Do not allow to burn. Turn peanuts into mortar and pound into small pieces. Remove from mortar and set aside.

Place garlic and chiles in cleaned mortar. Pound into tiny pieces. Add dried shrimp and pound until flattened into soft, crumbly pieces. Gradually add green beans and papaya and pound to crush slightly and soften. Add cherry tomatoes and palm sugar. Lightly pound to release some of tomato juices and to dissolve sugar.

Turn ingredients from mortar into bowl. Add lime juice, fish sauce and peanuts and stir to mix. Turn out onto platter lined with lettuce. Makes 4 servings.

Note: Shredded carrot may be substituted for green papaya. Or substitute 2 tablespoons carrot for 2 tablespoons of the papaya to add color to salad.

SWEET BASIL’S LEMONGRASS DRINK

(Nam-Takrai)

1 pound lemongrass stalks

2 quarts water

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon honey

Cut off and discard leafy portion of lemongrass stalks. Pound lower solid portion to bruise and release flavor. Combine water and lemongrass in large saucepan or pot. Bring to boil. Cover and boil 25 minutes.

Strain out lemongrass. Add sugar and honey and stir until blended. Serve hot. Or allow to cool and serve over ice. Makes 8 servings.

RICE AND LONGAN DESSERT

(Khao Nieo Piak Lamyai)

5 cups water

1/2 cup glutinous rice

1 cup canned longans with syrup

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup thick coconut milk

1 teaspoon salt

Bring water to boil in large saucepan. Add rice and cook 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 20 minutes. Add longans with syrup and sugar and mix well.

Cool. Combine coconut milk and salt. Serve rice mixture in individual bowls. Top each with spoonful of salted coconut milk. Makes 5 1/4 cups or 6 to 8 servings.

VATCHARIN BHUMICHITR’S SPICY

GROUND MEAT

(Laab)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons chicken stock or broth

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1/2 to 1 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 pound skinned boneless chicken breast, minced or ground

2 shallots, chopped

1/2 stalk lemongrass (lower solid portion only), finely sliced

1 kaffir lime leaf, finely sliced

1 tablespoon Browned Rice

1 small green onion, chopped

Lettuce

Cilantro

Combine lemon juice, stock, fish sauce and chili powder in small skillet and heat quickly. Add chicken and cook until meat is opaque and cooked through, stirring briskly.

Add shallots, lemongrass, lime leaf, Browned Rice and green onion and cook few seconds longer. Turn into lettuce-lined dish and garnish with cilantro. Makes 4 servings

Browned Rice

1 tablespoon rice

Cook 1 tablespoon rice in ungreased skillet until lightly browned, about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Coarsely grind rice in spice grinder or food processor.

Food Styling by Minnie Bernardino and Donna Deane