A Fresh Taste Of Thailand

You wouldn’t guess it by looking at her petite frame, but Benjamas Hall loves to eat.

When she’s not munching on her own tasty creations at The Thai Kitchen, she and her husband, Paul, frequent area restaurants. (When their daughters get to pick, the Halls go to Red Robin.)

“We like to try all the different tastes and look at the way people decorate,” she said.

It was because she loved to eat that she asked her mother to teach her how to cook when she was growing up in Bangkok. And when she and Paul opened their restaurant in 1990, she made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t compromise her traditional Thai recipes.

“I wanted to cook my own way. I don’t want to deep-fry everything like Chinese restaurants,” she said.

Her approach, however, doesn’t necessarily jibe with the way restaurant customers want their chow. Benjamas does dishes one at a time, from scratch, so “I can make sure each one of them is as good as I can do. Cooking takes time. This is not fast food.”

And she’s the sole cook in the kitchen.

And she’s the sole cook in the kitchen.

Still, there are plenty of diners who have learned to be patient. Or, at least, to phone ahead.

“We have lots of people who come from Liberty Lake, and they call their orders in or they wouldn’t have time for lunch,” Paul said.

Another time-consuming Thai tradition the Halls have maintained is daily marketing. “You have to use very fresh ingredients to have it taste the best,” Benjamas said.

The Thai foods familiar to diners in this country mostly come from Bangkok, the Halls said. In the north of Thailand, people eat more sticky rice and pork, not much curry. And in the South, most dishes are ultrahot.

Contrary to common perception, not all Thai cooking is red-hot. Restaurants use a star system, so diners can control the heat by ordering from one-star (mild) to five-star (hot).

Pad Thai, the national noodle dish, is a fairly mild snack food, served from stands on every street corner in Thailand. But everyone has his own special sauce formula.

At The Thai Kitchen, they serve pad Thai with a side of velvety, slightly sweet peanut sauce.

“In America, everyone loves peanut sauce, but some people, especially the skinny ladies, they don’t want it,” said Paul. “They say it taste good without it.”

Benjamas said she’s flattered when her loyal customers try to recreate her dishes at home.

“One lady said she knows that it takes 15 minutes to get her squid, so she cooked it at home that long,” she said.

That calamari probably had the texture of old Bruno Maglis at that point.

For stir-fries, Benjamas offers this suggestion: Get the wok really hot. And cook meat quickly, only until it’s done.

When making one of the five curries on the menu, Benjamas said she has to be attentive, stirring constantly, so the flavors of the curry paste melds with the coconut milk.

Even fiery curries can be tamed to appeal to the most tender palate. When people want it mild, Benjamas says, she also cuts the coconut milk with a little half-and-half so the flavor of the curry still comes through.

“I don’t want them to taste just the coconut milk,” she said.

Still, some like it hot.

“There’s one customer who comes in and orders 20 stars,” said Paul. “I say ‘Sir, how do you feel in the morning?’ He feels fine.”

Shrimp Noodle Salad

Benjamas Hall’s refreshing, tangy “pasta” salad is a good introduction to some of the milder flavors of Thai cuisine. You can add more heat by increasing the amount of dried red pepper used.

4 ounces (1/2 package) medium-size rice noodles (available at Asian markets)

1 tablespoon salted turnip (available in jars at Asian markets)

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

4 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla, available at Asian markets or in some larger supermarkets)

1 clove garlic, chopped and browned in 2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons finely chopped peanuts

Dried red pepper flakes, to taste

1/2 pound prawns, peeled and deveined

1/3 cup iceberg lettuce, shredded

1/2 cup bean sprouts

2 green onions, chopped

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Soak rice noodles in cool water for 1-1/2 hours and drain.

Combine the salted turnip, sugar, lemon juice, fish sauce, garlic oil, chopped peanuts and red pepper flakes. Mix well.

Add the rice noodles to boiling water and cook for 1 minute; drain. Boil prawns for 1 minute and drain.

Divide lettuce and bean sprouts between 2 serving plates and arrange noodles on top. Place the prawns on the noodles and pour sauce mixture over the top. Garnish with chopped green onion and cilantro.

Yield: 2 servings.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: Chef du Jour is a monthly feature of IN Food that profiles area chefs and provides one of their recipes for readers to try at home.