Fat-thai: SGV's premier Thai cuisine resource

A couples of months back I did a feature review on some papaya salad (som tam) that thai restaurant, Cha-Da, serves up daily.

Well today you’re in for a different kind of treat with my exclusive interview with Sindy. We discuss topics like juggling life between Thailand and the US, a day in the life of operating a successful business and thai food of course.

F-T: Where are you from?
S: Thailand, Bangkok
F-T: How old are you
S: 35
F-T: How’d you get started at Cha-DA
S: Its my uncle’s project and business he started years ago.
F-T: How’s it like traveling from Bangkok to California, what do you miss?
S: I’ve been doing the 14-plus hour trip for about 5 years now. It isn’t too bad. I miss most is my friends and family. Los Angeles is spaced out too much and its boring here at night. Night is my only free time.
F-T: Do you enjoy being a server?
S: I do it all actually. Depending if we’re busy or understaffed, i’ll even go back and cook. Today I cooked most of the time.
F-T: How tiring is it working at Cha-Da.
S: Very, I’m helping out here at my uncles business. We have another Cha-Da in Pasadena. I travel from Pasadena to West Covina often. I even cook California rolls and Sushi at the Pasadena locations. I’m expert level! I work daiy 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

F-T: What’s your favorite Thai dish?
S: (Long pause) I think pat-see-ew pork. Pork goes well with that long flat noodle. It’s my favorite.

F-T: Who makes the best pad-see-eww pork?
S: Well my chefs of course. They original form Thailand working in the US with workers visas. That’s what gives our place that authentic touch.

F-T: What’s the special ingredient that makes your pad-thai so juicy and special.

S: Unlike other places, we source only the freshest tamarind. Its flash frozen from thailand and sold in cubes. If you don’t get the freshest ingredients, the base for the pad-thai sauce will be fishy or oily; sometimes even dry. If you see pad-thai noodles in other places that bleed off a lot of oil, that’s a clear indicator that they skip fresh tamarind.

F-T: What’s your best seller here:
S: Not thai related but Boba Milk tea.

F-T: Is Thai food the best tasting food out there?
S: Yes (Jokingly) Actually, Italian, if prepared right, is the absolute best.

F-T: Thanks for the interview, do you have any closing comments.
S: Come checkout our lunch deals at Cha-Da restaurant!

Hey Guys,

I’ll admit that here at fat-thai, I haven’t had Thai food in about a week, some sort of record for me. But I always need my Thai fix. enter the The Last life in the Universe, the Sundance award winning film by Thai writer/director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang.

The film revolves around two protagonist Kenji and Noi who both are strange and depressed. Both have suffered family tragedies and because of fate or luck the events has brought them together.

The foreign film explores loneliness, OCD and suicidal thoughts, but in a non-glamorizing sorta way; nor is the film a documentary on suicide. It simply uses these less-talked-about issued to develop the main characters. I don’t know why but I really get Kenji and Noi. The film also does a good way to show how strange circumstances could lead incompatible people together to explore each other; but this isn’t a chick flick.

I’m fascinated by Japanese and Thai cultures and this film is notable because it changes between Thai, Japanese and English. It also gives insight into a bit of Bangkok lifestyle.

The film can be seen for free on the website that rhymes with flu-tube. Notice how many times Kenji says Kap.

In Thai you have two very commonly used expressions Kap (for men) Ka (for ladies).

You’ll almost always use these words at the end of greeting or requests from others when you’re being polite.

For instance you can say:

Sa Wat Dii Kap. (How are you?)

Sabai Dii Ka (I’m good thanks)

Or

Yu Tii Nai Kap (Where you from)

Tii Nai Rian Mt. SAC  (I Study at Mt. Sac.) Rian means to study. 

You can almost always recognize thai language by the ending of Ka or Kap with a falling down accent and stress sounds. 

I head on over to CPK because I was craving their Gorgonzola Salad Pizza thing. I saw thing because it’s not really a traditional pizza. You know the pizza with read sauce, copious amounts of fresh mozzarella and toppings. This pizza is more like a crispy pita bread with with Gorgonzoala and thinly sliced pears, yes pears, as in the fruit.

When I first had this salad a couple of years back, I didn’t like it but now, out of nowhere, I got this intense craving for it. What’s going on right?

The taste of this pizza salad is powerful. Think blue cheese mixed it with some arugula. You know the flavor is bold. I keep thinking it would taste better with caramelized onions and some fresh spinach. When I order it again i’ll pair it with a chardonnay or a pale ale beer to reall contrast the full spectrum of savory but not salty things.

I again ordered the starter egg rolls, this time trying the mediterranean roll and just wow. Thinly sliced mushrooms served over a slightly fermented marinara sauce. It was such a good pairing. I put some of that red sauce on Gorgonzola pizza and made it into a more traditional styled pizza. 

5/5 —outstanding salad pizza thing. 

I figured I should change it up a bit here on fat-thai and what welcome departure from thai is food from “the south”

Last year I visited New Orleans and I had my first taste of real crawfish; this memorial  day I went to The Shack, a Louisiana styled shrimp and crawfish restaurant, on the corner of Nogales and Colima Rd. It’s in this dumpy Asian shopping center hidden in the back.

The service was a bit slow but unlike, The Boiling Crab, you don’t have to wait ridiculous hours just to sit.

I orders a pound of jumpo spicy shrimp for $8.99 and it really hit the spot. The clear plastic bag was oozing with delicious secret house sauce that I feel consisted mainly of garlic, garlic salt, lime juice, chili paste, black pepper and some sort of red oil paste that I often see in spicy ramen soups.

The shrimp was served at its peak of freshness and hotness, i sat them down on the white mat to let some cool. 

I also ordered a side of corn on the cobb that came inside the clear plastic bag, marinated and all. I also accompanied this with a order of sweet potato fries

The corn and sweet potato paired well with the shrimp as it helped reduce the spice flavors with its sweet then salty more mild seasoning. Overall the food nicely paired up and was a welcome step away from Thai. 4/5

Minus one star because the spicy sauce had a lot of oil in it. But overall it was a good experience. 

I have yet to see Thais do a take on creole food. I wonder what it would taste like. It’d be probably side vendor beef balls or chicken skewers sans the peanut sauce. Steamed and marinated with cajun/crawfish recipe. It might actually rock.

My very first try at a papaya salad. It’s much harder than it seams. It’s labor intensive. Anyhow, you’ll need: A green papaya, limes or lemons, salt, fish sauce, 1 tomato, 4 garlic cloves, red chilies (from my garden), peeler shredder; 

First: Cut that papaya in half hamburger style, then cut each half  into 4 pieces. You’ll have 8 papaya slices.

second: Start Peeling then put the juice of 4 juicy lemons in a deep bowl. Place the papaya in the juice  with 1 table spoon of salt. This salt/lemon juice will get rid of all that yucky white papaya juice.

third: prep three red chilies, slice em down the middle try to leave the seed pods in. Finely mince 3 cloves of galric. Add two table spoons of salt. Throw all of this into another deep bowl. Smash it all using a wooden mallet. It will become a red paste. 

fourth: Shred that papaya using a special shredder or you could shred it with a food processor of grater.

fifth: put shredded papaya in container with the red chili paste, Smash it all together with a mallet.

sixth: add juice of a big lemon and three table spoon of fish sauce.

seventh: Add some tomato wedges. You’re set. Pretty tarty and spicy right? But good for a hot day at the pool. 

Fat in Thai is pronounced Oooo-wen as in like “ooooh you’re so in trouble” So I quess my blog thai translation is ooohwen-thai. 

Well I have to apologize tumblr because i’m about to dilute my fat-thai theme. You see this blog is about my life. And although thai-food and eating in general make up like 99.9 percent of my life, I do love cars.

I’m at a cross roads in my life. Last Thursday I had the pleasure of driving my mom and brother’s family to LAX at 6 a.m. I was so hungry that I couldn’t sleep and so at 5:00 a.m. I made my way to Mc. Donalds from a breakfast deluxe. I went in my 350z sports car.

Something about that morning marine layer, that empty road, the sound of a baritone and perfectly balanced v6 engine. The sights, the sounds, the gear lever in my hand. It was a visceral wake-you-up adulterous experience.  But you i’m about to go to law school for three years. That means three years of busy work. My Nissan 350z deserves more driving time and attention to detail. I’m really thinking about selling it.

I have a buyer in Las Vegas, Surprisingly, the car has kept almost 50% is value after over 7 years. I know it still looks the part but the internal combustion engine is a dinosaur. I want a sports car with more mpg and that same raw feel.

Should I sell it and wait until hybrids become more sporty? After driving a Camry hybrid, with its lack luster performance, I’m not satisfied. But then again i’m busy most of the time. But there always exist the wee a.m. hours where I could have the road to myself. A road I use to travel through the Golden Gate bridge making my way back from many late nights back during my college days. The morning always exists. The morning is always mine.

So During my outing with grandma at CPK, I ordered a passion fruit mojito. It was alright. I give it a (2/5) So for the real mothers day I knew I could best CPK’s passion fruit mojito. My mojito would have a real zing of mint. The freshest of ingredients, the best rum, and the right taste. Not too watered down or strong—something totally drinkable like a not-to-sweet tropical juice. Somewhere between an ice tea and juice.

It was hot Mothers Day and we had a bbq at my house of about 20 people. My Mom and my bro’s mom in law were the guest of honor. Except the thing was although everyone was physically present under our nice shade canopy and eating carne asada, the party hadn’t official start. That is until I arrived. Ipod Boom Box and fresh mint, limes, rum, club soda, and Kern’s passion fruit in arms, I had to get this party started right.

Note my i’ve never seen my mom drink ever. lemme repeat for emphasis. I’ve never seen mom drink EVER. I know she’s not a puritan, nor is she a Amish. Hell even they drink sometimes. So with that in mind what follows means a lot.

I served up a KILLER mojito. Mom and every other mom at the bbq wanted more pitchers of my passion fruit mojito. Several booze runs and pitchers later, the party was at 100% party-metric volume. It was a fan favorite to say the least.

With the help of a former Bay Area bartender we were in the kitchen lab using only our palate. Here’s the recipe:

1) One Bottle of Malibu White Passion Fruit Rum 750ml $10.99

2) But two lbs of juicy limes                                    $1.00

3) Buy Whatever sparkling soda you prefer.                 $1.00

4) Bushel of Fresh Mint                                             $2.00

5) Welch’s Passion Fruit Juice                                    $2.00

Pour the entire bottle of Malibu  into a 64ounce pitcher,

Pour 3 cups of passion juice in there

Cut 10 limes in 1/4 slices and spray all the juice in the pitcher 

Finely Mince the mint without stems

pour 4 ounce of pitch blend into bowl of mince mint, then knead it or use a mallet to get all the mint juice out. Pour all mint back into pitcher.

Now use a deep spoon to taste it. It’ll probably need a few more limes, possibly another cup of welch’s. You’re frame of reference believe it or not should be the taste of 7up. Except here, it’ll drink sweet like 7up soda but it’ll be a more floral sweetness to it. So so like sweet. Not watered down soda and not too strong alcohol flavor. The limes gives it that 7up like zing while the welchs and rum give it a lingering coconut taste in your mouth. And of course you’ll have little green mints everywhere that you just drink for that extra zing.

You get to fine tune the drink maybe you like more fruit juice or perhaps you prefer more lime. But at this point you fine tune it to your party’s style.

Add a cup of club soda if its too sweet.

The party is about to begin and you’re the buzz. Enjoy. 

Friday May, 11, I took my grandma to California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) for a early Mothers day dinner. I hadn’t been there in ages, probably 3 years. I think mainly because CPK flies under my radar most of the time and for most of the people I hang out with, we all prefer a more authentic Asian food.

The thing is I used to think CPK wasn’t particularly good at any one thing. Its sort of a place I used to despise because it I felt it was just one notch above Panda Express; you know, “Americanized Chinese Food” or Asian fusion that is a disservice to the more authentic restaurants. 

CPK if you’re reading things, I apologize. I was wrong. The Place is called CALIFORNIA Pizza Kitchen. The name of our golden state is right smack dab in the name of their entire business. So then, the food must be a juggernaut of flavors or mainly since its California after all, wouldn’t the flavors come from Mexican and Asian cuisine? You know combine Latinos and Asians are the majority in Calif. 

How exactly could you take a traditional dish and make it Cali style? We’ll to my surprise CPK seems to think that you can take Spring Rolls or Egg Rolls, a stable in SE Asian culture, and do it the Cali Way.

Fresh Flour Tortillas rolled up and served crunchy with a Peanut Thai style chicken, spring onion, cilartro and some flame grilled corn inside. Gone are the traditional deep fried rice paper, the cold shrimp, bean sprouts and leafy greens. This Appetizer is served with both a side of guacamole and peanut sauce, so depending on the dip, you could get an asian or mexican taste. Talk about Cali-diversity.

I love this dish, it came out fast, fresh and hot. The tastes are 99% authentic for a 1% entry. By which I mean, you’ll get most of the Thai experience but the “egg roll” is more palatable for say my 74-year-old grandma. My grandma who sticks to her Salvadoran food and roots. Which leads me to another point, Asian fusion has a purpose and that is to slowly introduce bold flavors to risk adverse people who love their ketchup n french fries.

CPK Thai Chicken Flour Tortilla Rolls 5/5.

Man CPK has improved so much since my law firm had its waiter on wheels service. 

Upon entering a thai restaurant you could say how many people are in your party. It is the Number followed by the word Kon. Kon means perons.

So for example if its three people in your party you’d say

“Sam Kon”. That means 3 persons.

The numbers are as follows 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.

nung, Song, Sam, Sii, Haa, Hok, Jet, Paet, Gao, Sip.

Nestled up two flights of narrow stairs is Nariya Thai, a staple among Thai joints in  a place filled with Thai restaurants. That place is Sunet Blvd; colloquially known has “Thai Town.” Nariya Thai is on the Corner of W. Sunset and N. Gower St.  on the second level of a two-story plaza. 

I originally came to Nariya Thai in the middle of 2011. After waiting in a long line for Roscoe’s’ Chicken N’ Waffles, i grew tired and walked down the street to Nariya Thai; my savior.

Well last night Nariya Thai was able to save the night yet again. I took my mom to see this play called Pedro Infante y La Suegra Triunfante by the Bilingual Foundation in Downtown, except the organizers must have canceled it without notice to the public. Because when I got to the theater it was dead silent. I thought I was going crazy, but I kept the news paper article that verified the Date/Time address. It was disappointing but maybe just maybe, If I took mom for some Thai I could redeem myself.

Enter Nariya Thai. The ambiance is dark and very modern-chic even though it wouldn’t seem like it form the outside. Attached to the restaurant is a heated and covered patio where resident musicians cover the latest top 40 hits including some catchy Thai artist. Talk about variety. 

My Favorite dish during my dinner at Nariya Thai was the Rad Na. Rad Na is long flat white noodles served with a savory brown gravy, Chinese broccoli, and thinly sliced beef. The noodles and sauce were spot on. The meat fresh and veggies almost raw. 4/5

I ordered Tom Yum Kung—a spicy and lemon grass infused little number that always wakes me up. It had a bunch of mushrooms and some rather pointy blue ginger slices that I had to watch out for. It took me a while to like Tom Yum and I feel Nariya’s was true to the soup. If anything it was a bit too sour. 3/5 Because I’ve had better Tom Yum at Uncle Tim’s Thai in West Covina.

The Papaya Salad was forgettable. It had a not-so-fresh taste to the papaya meat. Papaya is suppose to be cut then served immediately. If it isn’t, what I have found is that the fish sauce will settle into the sliced papaya and give it and overly fishy-sweet flavor. Papaya is best fresh and very tarty. The salad was served with raw jumbo shrimp filleted down the middle which even I wasn’t fond of. Most shrimp served with papaya salad is dehydrated and crunchy or grilled. (1/5)

I Think I had bad luck at ordering, If i order more conventional Thai-food like pad thai or pad see ew, I’m sure i’d rate this place a lot higher. 

I give Nariya a 3/5 but partly its my own fault for going off the old beaten road when ordering. I think the live music, location and ambiance when paired with some typical Thai offering would boost this place to a 5/5.

04-29-12 — I paid my wonderful cousin Nicolette or “Nico” and decided to do a mini review away from thai food again. Yolo’s is a newer bar/Mexican restaurant inside the PH closest to the Miracle Mile Shops. Nico was my server and bartender and she did a wonderful job—cousin relation aside.

Being a self proclaimed Mexican establishment, I ordered their ceviche and tortilla soup. Something crisp and light, you know something to make the tummy happy after a “couple” of beers.

The ceviche was like none I have ever tried before. It was refreshingly crisp and lighter side, it even had tangerine wedges to give it a sweet tang. It was truly unique in that it wasn’t the typical pucker-your-lips lime base sauce. It was also based out of shrimp and not crab meat. It was adorned with freshly made tortilla chips. 

I love spice and after some chalula, the ceviche tasted better, but i didn’t put too much spicy sauce. I really wanted to appreciate the rather simple crisp fruity flavors of the take on what is traditional Mexican bar food. My stomach wasn’t the strongest this Sunday morning, and coupled with the soup—the duo was the exact non offending pick-me-up I needed. 4/5.

The soup had a really authentic gritty mouth feel. Almost like you can feel the actual spices in your mouth. A really unique experience that is really good. Something I’ve only had in authentic Mexican cuisine. The soup, like the ceviche was also like nothing I’ve ever tried before. Most tortilla soups are overly creamy or just way to watered down. This soup hit the spot. It even had a little bit of spicy kick towards the end.

5/5