One of the best meals I had in Thailand was in a mid price restaurant in Bangkok near the Democracy Monument near the infamous Kao San Road. Had it not for the manager of the hotel I was staying I would never know about it. That day I set out to take a long trek to another restaurant which I read about when in the US. It would involve taking the river boat and then the sky train that requires switching a train line. I was delighted when the manager told me there is a restaurant of similar quality withing walking distance.
democracy monument - some fraction of the red shirts were staging a rally that day
I found out as in some Asian countries often Thai restaurants in tourist districts have 2 menus - one for locals in Thai and one for the tourist in English. At best the one in English would have fewer selections. Worst is the prices are higher than the one in Thai. While I was given the English one I asked to see also the one in Thai not because I was suspicious of the higher prices. I just want to be able to choose from the full Thai menu instead of the dumbed down English one.
My hunch was right. The Thai menu has 14 more choices. In it is this curry crab not found in the English menu.
it was my last day in Bangkok so I ordered 3 dishes out of the Thai menu instead of the English menu
Of the three dishes I ordered one was a stir fried vegetable which I had never seen before, the second dish is a seafood spicy and hot soup with coconut milk, and the third is a curry crab. Each one was a winner. The serving are enough for at least 2 person to share. I had never seen a dish with such generous amount of fresh crab meat. There must be at least 1/3 lb of it. Normally I avoid eating any dish that is prepared with crab meat because most restaurants just procure the less than fresh meat. Not here. The crab was so sweet (umami sweet) like I just pulled them out of a freshly cooked live crab.
Here in Oregon the season for dungeness crab just open this past week. This means very meaty crab at very good price at my Asian fish monger. I made a few meals of Thai curry crab.
i had to clean a live crab myself
Here are the photos of some ingredients. Not all are shown however.
some chinese celery
it is more fragrant than the Western celery - we treasure the leaves
ginger, shallot onion, and galangal
thai chili peppers
thai basils
kaffer lime leaves and lime are the key ingredients
i stocked up some coconut milk as i found out many manufacturers are watering down the product to maintain profit due to record low coconut harvest because many coconut palm plantations were devastated by pests. i stocked up one batch of a brand that I have found to be not watered down.
here are 3 different brands of Thai coconut milk; the left most one is very watery while the middle one is very creamy; because of this experience I realize I need to stock up the good batch before the next shipment
this can is not good at all; it has a sickly artificial coconut fragrance that you often find in cheap processed food; the over-the-top unnatural fragrance ruins the dish - never buy this again
When in Thailand I often saw these strange looking food processor. I didn't know what they are. After pondered for a moment I realized they are coconut decorimg machine one use to grate the creamy flesh inside the matured coconut for pressing. These are just for home or small restaurants.
close up of the grating head
the mussels and clams are for the spicy and sour soup dish
this Friday I cooked a similar meal with my neighbor over for dinner
close up of the curry crab - there is enough for 4 people
don't let the mild looking color of the soup fool you - just 3 Thai chili peppers and it is firey hot
the seasoning was spot on so the condiment set didn't get use
here is a more sensible serving for one
the curry crab is very rich so it is best eaten with a bowl of plain jasmine rice
here is another crab i harvested the meat for used in a number of dishes
to me thai cuisine is often fusion and improvisation; it does not mean anything goes
in this soup i added some black fungus for texture
recently i bought a 5 lb bag; it is enough to last a life time
it expends 5 fold when re-hydrated
i use some crab meat to make another version of spicy and sour seafood soup; you can also see the bits of black fungus
for fun i set up the table service like in a restaurant in Thailand - in retrospect a bottle of Thai beer would be a nice compliment; yes the bowls are melamine and the spoon and fork are Thai
i also came across the mystery vegetable i had in Bangkok. however i have been unsuccessful in finding the English name
i took the liberty to add some chinese sausage slices - simply stir fried with garlic and dash of fish sauce
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