A friend of mine invited me to this new Thai restaurant in our valley that I had been wanting to try, and it didn't disappoint. I ordered the Hot Squid lunch special that came with tender squares of squid stir fried with basil leaves, bell pepper, mushrooms, celery, onion, carrot, and their special hot basil sauce that was dark and rich. You can order it mild, but I got the hot version, of course, and the squid had a whiff of the sea that I really enjoy. Since it was a lunch special, I got it with white rice and sweet and sour Tom Yum soup with chicken. You can also choose brown rice and salad. This hot squid dish had a nice balance of spice and sweet.
Location: Desert Thai, 68718 E Palm Canyon Drive, Cathedral City, California. Date: March 29, 2024.
0 Comments
There really is a red mountain in Thailand, and I suppose this culinary creation comes close to emulating it. I hadn't really seen this dish on Thai menus before, so once I noticed it I had to get it. It was a delicious combination of onion, chili paste, celery, carrot, and cashews on a bed of chopped lettuce. I chose fried tofu as my protein. It was cut a little fancy, and it was almost crispy on the outside and almost juicy inside. The very flavorful dish had crunch from the celery and the cashew nuts, freshness from the chopped lettuce, and it was flavored with a dark sweet and spicy sauce. I was told I could choose mild or medium spice. I chose medium, and it was spicy enough for me to really enjoy it. The curry was served with a mountain of steamed rice which did turn red when I spooned the sauce over it.
Location: Thai House, 246 S Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Date: December 19, 2023. These Thai appetizers were Fried Tofu and Veggie Rolls. The tofu was fried until crispy on the outside, and the pieces were served with sweet and sour sauce that had crunchy peanut bits in it. The Veggie Rolls were the star of this show. They were stuffed with crispy cabbage, wood ear mushroom, and chewy glass noodles. The spring roll wrap was super crunchy. The sauce was a simple sweet and sour. These were Thai street food, and I enjoyed them both and made a meal out of them.
Location: Uncle Chai Thailand Street Food, 69930 Hwy 111, Suite 122, Rancho Mirage, California. Date: July 15, 2023. I chose squid as my protein for this glass noodle dish as the Thai waitress said it was usual to eat this in Thailand with seafood. I ordered it with a spice level they called Thai, and ooh la la! It turned out to be one of the spiciest dishes I've eaten. In spite of that, it was delicious. There were large tender squid rings that smelled and tasted like ocean breeze, bok choy and ong choy (both still crunchy), the noodles were very thin and soft, and there were small pieces of scrambled egg throughout. The flavors were spicy (of course!), savory, and a little sweet and sour. Ong choy, by the way, is a member of the sweet potato family, and its leaves and shoots are a popular vegetable in the tropics.
Location: Uncle Chai Thailand Street Food, 69930 Highway 111, Ste 122, Rancho Mirage, California. Date: January 16, 2023. I came upon this Thai hole-in-the-wall place quite by accident, but when I saw Roasted Duck Curry on the faded menu outside, I ventured in. The inside wasn't much more inviting than the outside, but the boy who seated me was very friendly and so I placed my order. My curry came with tender bamboo shoot slices, red and green bell pepper, and it had a strong flavor of sweet basil which I loved. It was served in a spicy and creamy coconut milk broth. I ordered it medium hot, and it was perfect. The roasted duck strips were, well, ducky, and I enjoyed the flavor. There were also juicy and sweet pineapple pieces but not too many. The dish was a lovely combination of sweet, spicy, and savory. It was served with chewy Thai rice.
Location: Thai House, 246 S Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Date: August 13, 2022. This is Thai street food consisting of a crispy mussel or oyster pancake served with bean sprouts and garnished with green onion. I found the recipe in Vatch's Thai Street Food (Laurel Glen, San Diego, California, 2002). According to Vatch, this is a very popular Thai street food because in Thailand mussels or oysters are cheap. I had the mussel version at Uncle Chai Thailand Street Food, and the mussels were plump and chewy with good seafood flavor. The savory pancake was crispy on both sides and placed on a portion of bean sprouts which added freshness and some crunch. There was some sweet and spicy sauce on the side. I enjoyed this dish with a Leo Lager beer from Thailand. It's light and dry but has more flavor that other Thai beers I've had. It's made with only water, malt, and hops, though I suppose yeast must have been involved in the process.
Location: Uncle Chai Thailand Street Food, 69930 Highway 111, Suite 122, Rancho Mirage, California. Date: June 25, 2022. I love it when pineapple fried rice is served in a half pineapple, and this version was excellent. The protein selection was really nice: there were some large succulent shrimp on top, and chopped up in the rice were egg, chicken, BBQ pork, and Chinese sausage. The rice also contained onion, tomato, snow pea, and, of course, chunks of fresh pineapple. The dish was very savory, but when you got a chunk of pineapple, there was a burst of sweet and tart in the mouth that brightened up all the other flavors. I added some hot sauce and fell in love.
Location: Mu, 309 W State Street, Redlands, California. Date: May 14, 2022. This was a lunch special in an unlikely place. The restaurant was newly reopened, the Four Seasons sign was completely faded, and I thought that maybe this was a cheap American place that might have a decent dish like liver and onions. To my surprise, it turned out to be a Thai restaurant with very fresh food. I ordered the green bean dish with fried tofu. The beans were al dente, fresh and crunchy, and the sauce had a nice floral note from an infusion of kaffir lime leaves. The special included a crispy spring roll stuffed with mostly cabbage, and it came with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. I also got a small bowl of hot and sour soup that came with tofu, thinly sliced bamboo shoots, red pepper, and shredded seaweed. I ate at one of the four tables they had outdoors under a trellis.
Location: Four Seasons, 1423 Miracle Mile, Tucson, Arizona. Date: April 14, 2022. This Thai dish is a combination of seafood, including shrimp, squid, and fish, steamed in a red curry and coconut milk sauce flavored with kaffir lime leaves and thickened with beaten egg. It's served in a tin foil lined mortar. My first taste of it was surprising because it was quite sweet, and my first thought was that I wouldn't order it again or put it on my blog; however, as I got used to the sweetness, I changed my mind. I ordered some hot sauce to use with it, and that made the dish pop. In the end I realized that this was a delicious and healthy protein rich dish, and I will almost certainly order it again. Next time I'll tell them to make it spicier from the get go, and I'm looking forward to it.
Location: Talay, 70065 Highway 111, Ste 1, Rancho Mirage, California. Date: March 26, 2022. This delectable Thai dish is served with battered and fried meat of choice, so today I chose pork (vegetarians can choose tofu). As soon as the dish was placed in front of me, garlic wafted through the air. The batter was light and crunchy; the meat was not over battered. The dish came with red bell pepper pieces and grated carrot. It all sat on top of a thin bed of lettuce. There was a spicy fresh chile condiment on the side. The pork was very tender and not at all dry. I thought there was coconut in the batter but was told that it wasn't the case. There was some crunch from the grated raw carrot as well as from the batter. I chose spice level 4 out of 5 so my dish was predominantly spicy as well as garlicky. This was a dry dish, meaning no discernible sauce, but it was really delicious. I asked on my way out what the secret was, because the dishes at this Thai restaurant are more delicious and more interesting than in other Thai restaurants I've been to in the area, and what I was told was, “We are not afraid to serve real Thai flavors. Other restaurants may tame the flavors.” So that's the secret!
Location: Talay, 70065 Highway 111, Ste 1, Rancho Mirage, California. Date: February 12, 2022. |
AuthorChef Roland has been a legal resident of seven countries and has travelled in over thirty, documenting food along the way. He currently resides in the desert in Southern California. Categories
All
|