La La's Land: August 2011

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

The Panama Project, Bocas del Toro: Part 6

We just got back from Panama and had a blast. Things are moving along and we will video blog about it soon. In the meantime, we wanted to show you the process of getting there, introduce you to Mark Johnson, our real estate agent, show you the islands, the people......

Thanks for watching!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Khoa Soi at Spicy BBQ....finally.

I finally got my los angeles khoa soi fix. Read all about my quest for khoa soi here. Spicy BBQ is the name of the restaurant and it was tiny with about five tables. We skipped right over the first couple of menu pages, pad thais and green curries, and went straight to the Northern Dishes section. There it was, the dish I had come for....Khao Soi or "northern style" noodles. We also ordered bbq pork and a jackfruit dish because, well, why not. Everyone raved about the jackfruit and I have never had it. So I must. The noodles from the north arrived first and I was excited as I squeezed the lime, tossed in the pickled greens and the raw red onion. It was exactly what I hoped for. The noodles were perfect, like they had just been made....the broth spicy with the sweetness of coconut milk, the chicken tender, the crispy noodles on top gave it a great balance of textures.....It's amazing how good the pickled greens and raw onions work with the coconut which works with the curry. It just works. All of it. The perfect bite is everything on that spoon together.
Yum. Yum. Yum. Thank you god and cute little thai woman that made sure I knew how to put everything in and eat it correctly ;) She was awesome. Now if only Judith were here to eat it with me!

The BBQ pork was tender inside with a delicious char on the outside. So gooooood. Perfect compliment was the vinegar, cilantro, fish sauce, chili flaked dipping sauce.
The jackfruit tasted un mistakenly thai. It just had that flavor that you only taste in Thailand. The kaffir lime leaves add to that flavor. Jackfruit looks almost like shredded pork or chicken and it takes on the flavor of all the spices nicely. Add some sticky rice and I was a happy girl.