Spice Up Your Meals: Asian Cuisine’s Hot & Spicy Magic (4/7)

from the region to create the elegant funky ambiance while specializing in the unique regional cuisines of Vietnam, China, Thailand and Japan. Born in Nam Buri, Bangkok, Thailand, Victor Sodsook learned the intricacies of Thai cuisine at his mother's side as she cooked for the Royal Family of Thailand. It was here in this suburb by the river where Sodsook feel in love with cooking especially with durian, the fruit this region on Thailand is famous for. Among other stints, Chef Sodsook was the owner of the wildly popular Siamese Princess restaurant in from its opening in 1976 until it closed 1998. Celebrity regulars including Madonna, Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Richard Gere, John Cusack and Jody Foster to name a few, dined there regularly. Sodsook has also authored two wonderful cookbooks, True Thai: The Modern Art of Thai Cooking and I Love Thai Food. Sodsook was first Thai chef to receive 3 stars by the California Writers Association. Chef Sodsook has made his culinary mark in Boston’s Pho Republique with his Signature Food: Candied Garlic Spare Ribs, and award winning Crispy Tuna Springrolls. The restaurant’s Signature Drinks - Mango Margarita and Emerald Dragon Martini –puts the accent on fun and adventure. Sodsook has added inspired items to the menu at Pho Republique such as bangkok street chicken satay with peanut sauce and cucumber moon sauce; hot and sour soup; “skirts on fire” – grilled skirt steak; Royal curry (red or green) and a delicious array of house made dumplings which have been instant pleasers. Most of Pho Republique’s recipes are kept secret to the public. But we can share one of their favorites: Pho Republique’s Red Thai Chile Braised Beef Pot Roast Ingredients 3 1/2 lb beef chuck 6 quarts cold water 3 cups red wine 2 cups dark soy sauce 1 cup light soy sauce 2 cups sugar 12 garlic cloves, crush 1 cup sliced ginger 8 scallions, chopped 4 dried red Thai chiles 1 teaspoon sesame oil 10 whole star anise 4 cinnamon sticks ? orange peal, dried 4 fresh Thai chili peppers Directions 1. Place all ingredients (except beef) in stockpot and bring to boil. 2. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes to allow flavors to infuse. 3. Add beef and braise gently for @ 1 hour 45 minutes, or until meat is very soft. Skim stock regularly with ladle. 4. Option: add sliced carrots and potatoes after one hour. 5. Sprinkle finished dish with fresh diced Thai chili peppers. About Indian Pickles Devi Restaurant’s famous cookbook author (Indian Home Cooking)and Executive Chef Suvir Saran, along with cookbook co-author Stephanie Lyness have offered some thoughts on Indian Pickles: “In America, we think of pickles as a kind of a relish, or side dish – a cured vegetable that adds a sour or tart note to the meal. We pickle a variety of different vegetables but, for whatever the differences, pickles all have a recognizably “pickled” taste. Indian pickles use many of the same ingredients – salt, vinegar, coriander, mustard seeds, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves and ginger – but they present some of the most diverse and exotic tastes and textures imaginable. They are fiery hot, sour, pungent, fragrant, sweet- and- sour, and tart. They are crisp, silky and chewy. Flavors may be fresh, the taste of each spice distinct, or married and intensified by months or even years of aging as the textures of the ingredients melt and soften. While Indians eat some pickles (such as the Mixed Vegetable Pickle which is shared with you in this article) in relatively large quantities, the pickles are often too intensely flavored to be eaten that way; they’re used in tiny amounts as a spice or condiment to enliven a dish. Indians also use pickles in a way that Americans never do, that is, medicinally, to cure an ailment.