Thai Basil Restaurant, Chantilly, VA (Luncheon & Demo)

Thai Basil Restaurant

Chef/Owner:  Nongkran Daks

14511 Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy./Route 50

Chantilly, VA (703-631-8277)


Luncheon/Cooking Demonstration
Sponsored by Les Dames d'Escoffier
Saturday, October 22, 2011

 [The photo on the right is the restaurant's logo.]


Thanks to Les Dames d'Escoffier (DC Chapter), a world-wide philanthropic society of professional women leaders in the fields of food, fine beverage and hospitality, my hubby and I participated in an invitation-only luncheon/cooking demo with Chef Nongkran Daks (herself a member of Les Dames) in her restaurant. Les Dames had kindly invited members of CHoWDC (Culinary Historians of Washington DC). Most of the 20 participants were from Les Dames, while a few were from CHoWDC, or both. [See note at the end of this blog for the links to the websites of both organizations.]

Here's one amazing culinary tidbit:  Chef Nongkran easily beat well-known Food Network Chef Bobby Flay in a Pad Thai Throwdown at her restaurant on March 4, 2009. Congratulations, Chef!!

Chef Nongkran, who hails from Northern Thailand, grew up in the kitchen. At the tender age of 8, she was already mixing and pounding curry ingredients to help a relative who was a caterer, and she has now become a master of authentic Thai cooking--she joked that her curry mixes were the best because of all the tears that she shed all those years. In addition to being the Executive Chef at Thai Basil, she also holds private cooking classes and has written several cookbooks. She readily admits to her age, which is 71, most likely because amazingly she does not look a day over 40. She has an infectious sense of humor, and likes to make fun of herself. (One of the participants surprised the Chef with the "Miss Siam" tiara and sash, which was a nice touch.)




The menu was extensive--3 appetizers, 4 entrees, and 2 desserts. 

The Appetizers

Miang Kham is a Thai version of a mini-"taco" -- laid out on a large piece of broccoli leaf was a small pile of cooked shrimp pieces, roasted coconut, red onion, ginger, dried shrimp, fresh chillies, and roasted peanuts. You had to carefully pick up the whole bit, top it with a savory sauce (which has no less than 10 ingredients!), then eat the whole thing in one bite in order to fully savor all the perfectly mingled flavor. It was delicious. 
 


Golden Cups (Kratong Thong) is a made-from-scratch mini-pastry cup filled with diced chicken breast and vegetables that have been cooked in various herbs and spices. This is a labor-intensive dish -- the pastry cup alone requires a complicated process, and the filling takes time to prepare because of the large number of ingredients in it. Consequently, Chef Nongkran said that this dish was traditionally served mostly at weddings and special occasions.

Then came the Chicken in Pandan Leaves. The chicken pieces are first marinated in herbs and spices, and wrapped in these aromatic leaves, which are commonly used in Southeast Asian cooking to flavor and impart its wonderful aroma to both savory and sweet dishes (pandan is widely used in Philippine cooking). They are then deep-fried, and served with a special sauce. (We were warned not to try and eat the leaves!) Despite the deep-frying, the chicken remained moist and flavorful because it was "cocooned" inside the leaves. 

Chef Nongkran demonstrated how to use the leaves to wrap the chicken pieces:  cut the long-leaf into foot-long pieces; fold it in half, making a loose loop in the middle, with the first leaf-end pointing towards you and the other end pointing to the side; insert a piece of chicken inside the loop, and thread the first leaf-end through the hole in the loop over the chicken. Pull on both ends of the leaf to tighten the wrap. Chef Nongkran said she found it difficult to describe this wrapping procedure for her cookbook, and said that if any one of us could come up with a description that meets her approval, that person will receive a mystery gift made in Thailand. I wonder how many responses she'll get! 

Entrees & a Vegetable Side Dish

Kuay Tiew Pad Thai with Shrimp - This is the winning dish at the throwdown with Bobby Flay. Apparently, Chef Nongkran beat Bobby easily, and someone who saw the contest remarked that as soon as Bobby added soy sauce to his dish, everyone knew he was going to lose -- there is no soy sauce in Chef Nongkran's Pad Thai recipe. Everyone was looking forward to tasting the Pad Thai, and we were not disappointed -- the noodles were so moist and delicious, and suffused with all those exotic Asian flavors.

Crispy Watercress Salad with Shrimp - The  flavors of the fresh watercress, which was thinly coated in a special batter, deep-fried, and drizzled with a tangy sweetish sauce, offered a crispy contrast to the fresh shrimp which were perfectly cooked. Chef Nongkram said they do not offer this on the restaurant's daily menu because cooking the watercress was too labor-intensive, but she loves this dish and only makes it for special occasions like today's luncheon--what a lucky bunch we were!

Northern Thai Pork Curry - Thai curry dishes have a marked difference in flavor and aroma from Indian curries--they are milder and, for people like me who can't handle very spicy food, are less of an assault to the taste buds even when cooked really really hot. The pork pieces were very tender, and the sweetness of the pineapple chunks successfully tempered the spiciness of the dish. The dish was served with steamed white rice.

Chinese Broccoli with Shiitake Mushrooms & Tofu - this vegetable dish uses both the leaves and stems of the broccoli, which are stir-fried in an oyster-sauce-based sauce, with shiitake mushrooms and pre-fried tofu thrown in. It's a simple but fitting accompaniment to the complex entrees.





Desserts

Bananas in a Blanket, Two Ways - This is a very popular dessert or snack food in many Southeast Asian countries. The bananas are drizzled with a sugar/cinnamon mixture, wrapped in eggroll wrappers, then fried to a golden crisp. Here they were served two ways:  drizzled with honey and powdered sugar, and drizzled with melted chocolate and powdered sugar.

Chef Nongkram demonstrated how to prepare the bananas, after which she asked one of the participants to give it a try. The young son of one of the participants was the only brave soul who volunteered, and he did an amazing job.



The Bananas in a Blanket were a delicious way to end the feast -- or so we thought.



The Group Gets a Bonus from the Chef!

Chef Nongkran surprised the group with something that was not on the menu -- the widely popular Thai dessert, Sticky Rice with Mango, which elicited a lot of "oohs" and "aahs" when the plates were delivered to the table. Everyone complained about being too full, but the plates were polished off in no time!

Thank you, Chef Nongkran, for a taste of your delicious, authentic Thai cooking, and thanks also to husband Larry Daks, who made sure the affair ran smoothly.


Click here to visit the website of Les Dames d'Escoffier, and here for the website of CHoWDC, the Culinary Historians of Washington, DC.