Restaurant review: Pok Pok Phat Thai in Chinatown, a learning process - new york times chinese restaurant review hot dish

Pok Phat Thai is the first Los Angeles outpost in the United States-Andy Rick
Born chef, built a small Thai gourmet empire in Portland, Oregon. , and New York.
This is a small counter, built in the storefront of Chinatown Mall, where the chicken pho dive Hoan Kiem used to be right below the Chego, even in the first few weeks, one
Ricker is good at adapting to the strong herbal taste of drinking food in northern Thailand
His original Pok in Portland was amazing.
In a way, this is very similar to what Chris yannamo did at the night market.
He plans to open a bigger, more ambitious restaurant on the street within a few months, but Pok Phat Thai only offers takeout noodles or eats them on an oil cloth --
There is a covered picnic table outside the mall.
Ricker's drink has a variety of vinegar, splashing soda (
I like the one made with spicy Chinese celery)
And Thai iced coffee made of cold coffee.
Home brewed Stumptown.
As far as I can tell, vegetable dishes on the specialty plate have never appeared --
The clerk said that there was never a suitable Basil --
But you can stir it with spinach.
If the noodles are not enough, fry them with garlic and fermented soybeans.
The specialty of this restaurant, your aunt Josephine may have an opinion on a Thai food, and is rarely fascinated by foodies.
Most local versions feature sweet sweetness, hard rice noodles, chopped peanuts and bean sprouts.
When you mention this dish, the Thai people tend to tighten their smiles --
For an average American, what a plate of delicious Thai phat might bring about, the question could be as interesting as the aesthetics of a tuna salad sandwich.
When you find a table in Pok Phat Thai, you will find a seasoning tank containing white sugar, dried chile, bird peppers in fish sauce and sliced peppers in vinegar.
You may have seen the same jar in every Thai restaurant you 've been to, and in addition to a spoonful of weird Chile, you 've popped into a bowl of duck noodle soup that you might have overlooked
But when your Thai fist finally came
The food was prepared at what is called manual speed here --
The noodles are soft and warm, seasoned with crispy fried pork skin and splash of tamarind and fried pork fat, but the taste is bland and deliberately so.
The kitchen has finished its work;
It's time for you to do your thing.
You can eat the noodles as they are, maybe you can stir the bean sprouts and the peanuts sprinkled on one side, but you will find this dish --
Size, almost too cumbersome to complete.
Lime wedge spritz puts life into the noodles, a little acidic;
A little baked Chilean ground from the jar adds mellow heat and some color, but the dish still doesn't taste like phat Thai.
If you sprinkle pepper vinegar on the noodles, the taste will be closer to what you want, and if you throw a few drops of Thai fish sauce bravely (
Have you ever smelled anything like this? )
The complex salty flavor and the aroma of the face.
The taste is still not very good.
Although you know you should add some sugar.
Right on the menu.
You resisted for a minute because you know the harm of white sugar and also because you always thought that the main problem with Thai food in the mall was that it was always too sweet.
But you have to add sugar and then some dry Chile.
The noodles explode into cute, like phat Thai, just somehow better, maybe because the noodles are cooked correctly and fried with low heat, instead of starting to bloom with the largest flame and subtle flame of the Rosary fragrance.
The basic phat Thai has become a plate of delicious noodles, probably better than the spicy, tart version of North Hollywood Krua Thai, which is standard so far --bearer in town.
More importantly, you have started to learn how to season and how to balance flavors against the backdrop of Thai food.
Your noodles will be better next time;
They will be better after that.
It's kind of like cooking through recipes, telling you the taste of salt.
It always tastes better the third time.
People who grew up in Thailand may think that this basic lesson is stupid, just like you go to a burger shop in Tokyo and find customers admiring ketchup, mustard and condiments,, we will discuss the brand of cultural relativity later.
For just a dollar or two more, you can try Thai food with strong shrimp, minced pork or both. (
Vegetarian versions are also available. )
Smoked, nice pot.
Wide soft rice noodles fried with eggs, pork and Chinese broccoli phat sii ew, as well as slightly dense kuaytiaw noodles fried with squid and chicken, shrimp or duck slices.
Classic Sea Hawk, crispy rice, Ricker's Bangkok street food-
The flour crepes stirred with eggs, green vegetables and little Prince Edward Island light dishes are delicious, especially with the spicy Thai sriquia sauce.
But the most interesting question about Pok Phat Thai is not so much about what might be available on the slim yellow menu as about your own dining philosophy: as a presumably no.
Thai food lovers, what do you really want from a dish?
How many requirements do you have for the comfort of your surroundings?
Is a bag of peanuts fried with makrut lime really qualified as an appetizer?
If you're in the mood for dessert later, Pioneer's Chinatown Branch
The avant-garde gelateria shovel is just across the street,
You 'd better pick up a panda when you're there
The leaf latte in the coffee. jonathan. gold@latimes.