TGIF, didn't cook for anyone, ate out twice ...

once or twice a week i do not cook lunch for myself or the the others, and we order in or i pick something up. today i went out to the street vendors and picked up some "khao man gai", khao = rice, man = fat and gai = chicken, basically it is chicken and rice thai style.

the chickens are boiled or steamed in water with very little added, usually just some winter melon, but not much else. the rice is twice cooked in a special preparation making it very tasty and glossy. the chicken is boneless breast meat, smacked with the broad side of a knife and then thinly sliced. the broth is served on the side, and the "nam chin" or sauce, is a "siew", or soya based sauce with chili added. it is not a fiery hot chili, but a mellow tasty one.

one true testament to the popularity and the simplicity and elegance of this dish is how many links i discovered when i was searching for stuff to tie into this article. here are four good reasons why this is such a popular dish:

1. http://www.bangkokrecorder.com/magazine/bangkok-life/cheap-eats---khao-man-gai-487.html
2. http://www.thailandmusings.com/thai-food-recipes/khao-man-gai-thai-chicken-and-rice/
3. http://www.simply-thai.com/thai-food-recipes-khao-man-gai.htm
4. http://importfood.com/recipes/tchickenandrice.html

i picked up mine on pridi soi 3 in the phra khanong district, an awesome street for true thai tastes. phra khanong being a middle or working-class neighborhood has an abundance of good, cheap thai food of every variety. there are a few random vendors during the day, but as the afternoon shifts into evening, they come up and line the street for blocks in 4 directions. 'n' the bes' thang is, they are open until early morning in order to cater to the night workers who drift back into the neighborhood after all the entertainment venues shut down around 2 am.

khao man gai.
usually for just 30 thai baht/$1 usd
this is an order that was made "pee-set", special.
it contains 50% more chicken and double on the broth.
and, the rice is simply "khao suay", steamed, i'm trying to cut down on the fat.
i paid 40 thb/$1.30 usd - right, 30% more cost, yet 50% more food.

we also get off work a tad early on friday's, so after i had enjoyed a few beers with a good friend i was feeling a bit hungry again. so i trapsed on over to sukhumvit soi3/1 and had a bite a sherazade, an egyptian restaurant that i think ranks so high on my list, that none other actually comes close. and that is regardless of cuisine, meal time, service, ambiance, or any other factor you would care to apply. if you told me i could only eat in one restaurant for the rest of my life, it would be sherazade.

tonight i had a fantastically moist bar-b-qued leg of lamb, specifically it was the rear shank or lower leg portion. some perfectly prepared garlicky babaganoush, and a plate of egyptian feta cheese. what sets the cheese apart form other fetas available in bkk is the fact that it has the texture of marscapone, it is not too salty, and it is packed in a uht type paper and wax-coated box. not a tin or plastic. i think that, in and of itself, helps this cheese be all that it can be. i swiped all of the lamb from the bone and the cheese and the 'noush with my fingers and 2 light-as-air chapatis that were made to order.

again, simplicty and elegance, and all for just a little over $12 usd.

sorry, i was in such a rush to eat this delicacy i started before i thought to take the pic.
check out the texture of the cheese.
granted i added a tablespoon of olive oil to it, but still, creeeeeeeee-mee!
note the pocket in the chapati, perfection. nothing beats fresh bread with any meal.

the all important fire.
anything cooked over this pit that burns locally pressed charcoal is dee-lish.
the tikka and kofta are also highly recommended here.

chili, yes, i ruined it with beans ...

well today we had leftovers, and great leftovers they were. actually, i made a massive amount of the chili last week with the intention of freezing for a later time, so technically, not leftovers, production work that i socked away. it was a re-heat.

in the past i have always made chili from scratch, and i have always used ground beef. this time i bought a great piece of heavily marbled (read: fatty) chuck and sliced into small, not too thin, pieces. i also did not have the time or the inclination to go through the whole bean trip, yes i chose to f*ck it up with beans, so i used canned ones. i have recently discovered the s & w chili beans in sauce, and they are great for when you need a short cut, are lazy or just want to try them. they really are good.

so i sautéed 3 large chopped onions, 3 large diced shallots, 2 chopped japanese leeks (white part only) and way too much chopped garlic in olive oil. While the onions and gar were sweating away i got to rummaging around in the frig and i spied a lonely ‘makhuraa-yao’. that’s a thai eggplant that resembles the long skinny purple japanese ones, but these are green. so i diced it up and tossed it into the pot.

then i added the beef slices, again, more than a reasonable person would use, it was close to a kilo of meat. then i cooked it all until the beef was seared and the fat was rendering off nicely. knowing i was using the pre-seasoned s & w beans, and wanting the finished product to be a bit more heavily seasoned, i added some very good chili powder and ground cumin to the pan and let that jive for a few minutes before adding the wet stuff. now why chili is ground and cumin is powdered, i have no fekkin’ idea, but that is the way they are always labeled, go figure. maybe because one is a chili and the other a spice.

after the spices had melted into the beef, veggies and fat i then added three cans of the s & w beans, one can of some local kidney beans (no sauce, just beans and that viscous water that they are packed in) and two cans of chopped up whole tomatoes in juice. now if you are asking, how big are these cans, they are the ones for suzy homemaker, not institutional sized #10s. OK?

once it is all simmering away nicely, i taste, and then i add freshly ground sea salt, and black pepper, fresh chopped oregano, and one fresh bay leaf. cover, and let it simmer away for a few hours.


while that is cookin’ i make some jiffy brand corn bread in the toaster oven - but first i squirt some good honey into the mix before baking it. i also steam some local thai brown rice in the rice steamer, and grate up some cheddar and some pepper jack cheeses for garnish. the jack cheese cost almost as much as the beef did! will someone please get some of that cheese over here that is reasonably priced.

the first time i served it, last week, that was all we had, this time i added the salad greens and tomatoes. i also threw a big spoon of sour cream on top of it all as i love that stuff with most anything that is tex-mex/Mexican/southern what have you.

oh yeah, btw, this served up 10 very large bowls in total.

this menu below is from the texas state line bar-b-que in atlanta, ga,
the guys who impressed upon me that thang 'bout chilli havin' no beanz.

ain't no restaurant
just a good bar-b-que joint.

if it's to be called texas stateline,
why is it in downtown atlanta?

see! it sez, texas style chili
ruin it with beans - no extra charge