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Traditionally, Indonesian fried rice, or Nasi Goreng, consists of pre-cooked rice stir-fried with prawn, eggs, tamarind, chili, and coriander. But there are an infinite number of variations to be made by simply adding a dollop of WORLDFOODS Indonesian Fried Rice ‘Nasi Goreng’ Paste, a concentrated medley of herbs and spices that I often throw into the pan with my leftover rice and whatever I have lingering in my kitchen drawers.
Phad Thai
David Dale of Sidney’s Sun Herald daily newspaper recently declared phad thai one of Australia’s favourite take out dinners. As an ambassador for Thai food, this popular noodle dish has taken on the world. It seems like every Thai restaurant in America has it on the menu and packages of instant phad thai are even selling in mainstream supermarkets.
In Thailand, however, phad thai vies with boat noodles and fried rice as the ultimate comfort food. Any food centre or outdoor market inevitably has a phad thai stall which usually sells turnip cake fried phad thai-style and battered oysters as well. The oysters are fried with bean sprouts in a deliciously light, crispy egg batter and served with a healthy dose of sweet, sour and hot Sriracha chilli sauce. But that’s another blog post altogether.
It is a well-known fact that, in economic crises, traditional comfort foods return to popular favour and, in that paradox that can only exist in hard times, commonly found staples like phad thai start to get the glam treatment.
This past Thursday, the sweet and savory aromas of Thanksgiving filled my apartment building. Through my bathroom vent, I can usually smell what the neighbors are cooking. Since the kitchen and bathroom vents in the building are conjoined, it often draws in odd yet strangely alluring scents to the apartment by way of the bathroom. Sometimes it’s waffles, bacon and Pantene Pro-V on Sunday mornings. In the evening it can be a medley of pot roast and spicy Thai curry. But it was Thanksgiving day, and most kitchens in the building were already whirring with activity by early afternoon. The familiar smells of sage, pumpkin, cinnamon, and roast poultry were not only coming in from the bathroom, but had managed to slip into the hallway as well, enveloping me with delicious aromas when I opened the door and walked to and from the elevator.
So, what was happening in my kitchen? Although I mentioned in my previous post that this year’s Thanksgiving was going to be an international affair, my sister Kelly and I have a strong attachment to traditional Thanksgiving dishes. Having to forgo the centerpiece of this holiday only meant that we had to compensate with side dishes. My parents, on the other hand, (who happen to conveniently live next door to us) are just not as attached to this holiday. Instead, they saw this holiday as an opportunity to put their culinary acumen to the test. They visualized a tasting menu with delicate portions and artfully plated miniature bamboo boats. Meanwhile, Kelly and I envisioned big plates piled a mile high with an orgy of food. How was Thanksgiving going to work? After some bickering over what was to be cooked for dinner, the four of us came to a compromise. And here was the result..
Whenever Cedric comes by my apartment, he naturally gravitates up to the roof. Whether it’s for the launch of World to Table, to stargaze with his NASA-grade telescope, or to throw his own French techno and champagne-fueled birthday party, he just knows how to have fun.
Besides his long list of culinary accomplishments, which includes serving as the private chef to the Prime Minister of France and heading the kitchen at the Peacock Alley in the Waldorf=Astoria, he is also an avid globetrotter. No stranger to Asian flavor profiles and ingredients, he has traveled to Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, and Hong Kong on culinary trips.
So, when a box filled with jars of WorldFoods sauce arrived at my doorstep, I pulled out the tabletop grills, set up the tables upstairs and gave Cedric a call. A rooftop cooking session was in order!
Typically when I make Spaghetti Alla Marinara, it usually involves roughly chopped tomatoes, garlic, random vegetables from the produce drawer, and a handful of Barilla pasta —all thrown together in two pots and ready to eat in 20 minutes. When my friend Josh suggested that we make spaghetti for dinner, I had no idea I was in for an authentically lengthy Italian experience.
Sometimes life takes over and you have to compromise. I’d planned a big meal to celebrate the birthdays of two of my favourite women friends. Inspired by a wine tasting featuring Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, I wanted to introduce my friends in Asia to She-Crab Soup. I thought the two would go together perfectly.
Hello World (to-Table fans). My name is Kelly, and I’m writing to you from my home away from home, Poughkeepsie, NY. My real home is actually in an apartment with my sister Veronica, creator of this blog. But I currently live with three friends in a house near Vassar College, where I am a student.
That’s enough about me. What about FOOD? Like my sister, I have acquired quite a refined palate, which is a blessing and a curse, as the dining hall that “nourished” me for four semesters is not cutting it anymore. Good-bye meal plan and hello kitchen!
Meet Nat: globetrotting citizen of the world, seeker of delicious foods and our newest contributor to World to Table. He’ll be sharing with you his travels, his recipes, and his unbridled love for food. — Veronica
My name is Nat, short for Natayada, and I’m from Thailand by way of America. I was born in Bangkok and have lived in Europe and Africa, but now go back and forth between east and west.
My obsession with food came early. One of my first memories is of being in a kitchen in Paris as my mother and grandmother were debating how to make Thai dish taste right with the limited ingredients we could find.
If you can’t tell from my previous posts, I have a thing for combining salty with sweet. It was only recently that I was introduced to the classic Cuban combination of guava and cheese, a delicious marriage of white, creamy cheese and sweet, sticky guava paste, typically found tucked away in the buttery folds of flaky pastries.
While I was in Los Angeles last month, my friends Stephanie and Ashley brought me to Porto’s Bakery, a Cuban-style bakery in Glendale. Going to Porto’s requires patience, usually a 10-15 minute wait on line before actually reaching the ordering counter. I wasn’t in the mood for any ordinary pastry. When it came time for me to order, I looked past the fruit tarts, eclairs, and cookies, and finally found what I was looking for: disguised as a normal Apple Strudel, the thick red paste and crumbly curds of cheese peeking out from the sides revealed its true identity–a Guava and Cheese Strudel. Biting into the strudel, the pastry crumbled into crisp, delicate flakes. After the first few bites, I reached the filling–a thick guava paste with a slight gritty texture, like drinking a can of Kern’s Guava Nectar but in paste-form, which paired so perfectly with a mildly salty and creamy cheese.
Guava and Cheese Strudel at Porto’s Bakery
When it comes to cooking (and eating), I am a big fan of the one-pot meal. From my mother’s “famous” tomato ox-tail stew to made-from-scratch chicken soup, there’s something about throwing a bunch of fresh ingredients into a pot, stirring them around, and inhaling that steady flow of aromatic steam that is extremely satisfying. It’s how I imagined cooking would be when I used to play house with my sister, and as I’ve grown older, I’ve discovered the joy of only cleaning one pot after dinner.
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