I was at the small, cozy Asian Supermarket that we drive an hour and half to (the closest one to us!) and waiting in a long line stretching down the curry paste and coconut milk aisle. We had a shopping cart filled to the brim of supplies like bottles of fish sauce, packets of tamarind paste, stacks of coconut milk cans, giant bags of fresh rice noodles, and more, all for my Thai cooking classes, and our every day Thai meals.
“What’s your favorite Thai dish?” I’ll ask my American friends.
“Green curry!” “Massaman curry!” “Red curry!” is usually what I hear. Would you say that too?
I totally get why!
My Thai hairdresser in Austin was trimming my hair as we chatted and dreamed about the Thai food we long for. I said I was craving Som Tum, a spicy Thai papaya salad packed with my favorite Thai flavors: spicy, sweet, sour, savory and umami.
“Baked chicken? You really want that for dinner? But it’s soooo boring!” That’s my first thought anytime my Thai Hubby requests baked chicken for the dinner menu for next week. But he loves it because it’s protein packed and easy to take for his work lunch.
So my goal was to create a Thai baked chicken recipe that was tender, wasn’t boring, still full of flavor and fun.
In response to Asian hate, this is how I hope my Asian-American children will be seen and love about being Asian-American.
I want my Thai-American children to grow up so grateful that they are image-bearers of God who He made Asian-American.
The other night, I asked my Thai Hubby what he wanted for dinner. His one request was, “Anything you can make in one pan!”
Do you have the same problem as me? You get so lost in the wonder of cooking that by the end of the night you’re astonished to see an unwieldy tower of dirty pots and pans you now have to clean up?
You gaze at the traditional wooden banana boats with bright red, blue, and yellow flags tied to their bows, happily bobbing in the turquoise Andaman Sea. The white sand you are walking on is so fine it doesn’t even stick to your feet, but falls off like dust the moment your barefoot lifts off the ground.
Thai Basil is on the left and Holy Basil is on the right.
Last summer, my Thai Hubby and I and our kids walked into a small stall at our local farmer’s market that was packed with any herb seedlings you could imagine that you could grow at home.
We were meandering around, enjoying the warm summer mountain air as our four kids slurped melting watermelon popsicles from a nearby stand, when all of the sudden, my Thai Hubby said, “Look!!” and pointed at a plant with a small handwritten sign that said, “Thai Holy Basil”.
We were wandering the many aisles at Costco, where many happy food stories start. My Thai Hubby had found a bag of mini rainbow peppers, and on the bag was a bright, colorful picture of them being stuffed with yummy goodies. We looked at the adorable mini stuffed peppers, and had a light bulb moment! “Let’s make a Thai version of a stuffed pepper!”
