Thai no tabemono, onegaishimas?

That's translated, Thai food please?

I discovered Thai food in Seattle with ReBekha. I can't quite remember the first time I had it; actually, it might have been with Meghan Young. But ReBekha and I explored more Thai opportunities in the great metropolis. There was this cute little place in Kirkland we went to the day of our JET interviews. It was lovely and I think she got an adorable picture of me looking as though the sconce on the back wall was on top of my head. We would also buy kits from Safeway on our meager college budgets (these were definitely a splurge!), and we would make it at our apartments. My favorite was Pad Thai of course with bean sprouts and cilantro and lime and peanuts. When Rick, Martha, Juliana, Randall, Katrina, Sarah, Julia, Heather, Kody and I did our Shakespeare trip to Ashland, we all went to a Thai restaurant and had curry.

When I was in Tokyo, ReBekha and I had Thai again: curry, cashew chicken, pad thai. It was absolutely amazing. Then when I was at orientation, my presentation partner and I found another good place on the 5th floor of a cramped building in Shinjuku. I went there twice.

So naturally, upon coming home, I was determined to advance my culinary skills in this area. I'm tired of being a boring cook. I'm tired of not being a cook at all. I think cooking should be relatively easy. Honestly, the hardest thing I run into here is finding the proper ingredients. My quest began when I found an inexpensive jar of Thai green curry paste. A friend on FB translated the label on the back and then I went searching for the proper ingredients. I finally found the Asian fish sauce that had alluded me. So I made the curry. It was delicious, but so, so, so spicy. It's the spiciest curry I've ever eaten I think. So I tried re-making it with less curry paste - not so great. I have a couple more tricks up my sleeve, but I think my curry paste might just be irreparably spicy. I might have to shop for a new paste.

I'm not done though. Now that I had the fish sauce, I knew i probably had the proper ingredients for other Thai dishes, so I found a recipe for the cashew chicken. Cashews? Hundred yen store, check. And then I found this massive bag of chili peppers at the discount grocery store. Chili peppers are generally hard to find in Japan, and now I have a bag that could last me 10 years. Oh well. The chicken was too dry, and the dish had several problems, all of which I can remedy the next time I make it. The recipe was pretty simple: cook cashews in a little sesame oil until brown. Set aside. Cook chili peppers for 20 seconds in the oil. Add chicken. Cook until no longer pink, add fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar. Cook. Add cashews and chopped green onions (not sliced, just cut up in about 1 inch lengths). Cook for 2 minutes. Serve over rice. Even though it was dry though, the flavor seemed right on. I'm excited to try it again - with more liquid next time.

So these have been my Thai cooking adventures. After exhausting Thai food, I think I'm going to start experimenting with mediterranean food. I've already tried making hummus. It wasn't a failed attempt, but it could use some definite improvement. I'm hoping to try out the yogurt sauce and find a way to cook beef that will give it that Greek sandwich flavor, even if it's not quite authentic.

Good food makes me happy. ;)