Jok Khreung Nai (Rice porridge with pork meatballs, liver, and egg) Jok khreung nai is a classic Thai breakfast of hearty rice porridge featuring ground pork and liver, topped with ginger, scallion, cilantro, fried rice noodles, and Chinese-style doughnut.ġ. Jok khreung nai is a classic Thai breakfast of hearty rice porridge featuring ground pork and liver, topped with ginger, scallion, cilantro, fried rice noodles, and Chinese-style doughnut. However, when asked to name her favorite bites, Chef Moi didn’t hesitate to single out some dishes she finds especially meaningful - and which she’d love for you to try. There’s much to love on Zaab Zaab Talay’s menu, from the legendary duck larb ped Udon “borrowed” from the Elmhurst location, to a whole branzino steamed in an irresistible garlicky lime broth, to half a dozen renditions of somtum, the fiery Isan shredded papaya salad. “And I’m so happy Americans are finally starting to really like them.” “It has so many fresh, spicy, bold, herbal flavors,” she says. And while she feels the city needs even more authentic Thai restaurants, she’s delighted by Isan cuisine’s new fandom. It’s all different now, Chef Moi admits, with a satisfied smile. But here, it was often the men who looked for work first, which is how Thai male chefs often got the attention, while women had to work that much harder to get recognition.” So, we cooked too much pad thai.” She goes on, “What’s more is that women were really appreciated in the kitchens of Thailand for their special touch, their stir-frying and sautéing skills in the wok. expecting to prepare our traditional flavors, but the restaurants’ owners, they stopped us, saying Americans can’t take Thai spice and heat. “Me and other Thai chefs, we came to the U.S. As Chef Moi recalls, when she first arrived, there just weren’t a lot of Thai restaurants, period, and certainly no real Thai cooking. Thai food in New York has come a long way since 1998. “Besides being an incredible cook,” enthuses Wei, “our Chef Moi is a generous soul who supports community charities, like Heart of Dinner and Rethink Food.” “And we were like, ‘Wow, we must give her her own restaurant,’” says Chunton. “One day she cooked Isan seafood dishes for us,” Wei recalls. In 1998, looking for more opportunities, she came to New York, and almost immediately got a job at a Manhattan Asian fusion place, moving on through different Thai kitchens in town until eventually joining Chunton and Pei’s group of restaurants, which included Tiger Prawn and Eat Gai. When she was 24, Chef Moi got married and followed her husband to Bangkok, where she ran a popular steamtable restaurant serving curries and rice (a populist genre of establishments known as raan khao kaeng). “Yeah, we literally have to pull her away to other kitchen stations!” Chunton chuckles. ![]() Wok cooking over live fire is extremely difficult and it taught me a lot about Thai techniques,” she explains, adding gleefully that she’s still completely in love with her wok. ![]() At home we steamed fish and sautéed and stir-fried seafood in a wok over charcoal since we didn’t have gas. “We lived in the countryside by the beach,” she goes on, as Chunton translates from Thai, “and I learned to cook by watching my mom and my dad. “I’m of Isan descent, but I grew up in Rayong, down on the Gulf of Thailand’s East coast, where everyone fished and incredible seafood was everywhere,” says the 65-year old chef. With fiery Isan dishes like her crave-worthy grilled catfish larb, plus new adventurous brunch offerings, Chef Moi is putting her personal stamp on the menu and clearly enjoying the turned-up spotlight. ‘Being a Woman Has Made Me More Innovative’: Alex Raij on the Gender Gap in the Restaurant Industry.Pig and Khao Chef Leah Cohen’s Favorite Date Night Spots.Meet Saori Kawano, the Woman Who Introduced America’s Chefs to Japanese Knives.The Resy Guide to the Women-Owned Restaurants of New York.
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