We made a loop through the tenderloin this afternoon and checked out the Vietanamese and Thai grocery stores. We were able to find some great ingredients for Thai cooking.
From our Tenderloin grocery store crawl:
KTL Market - 724 Ellis Street (& Larkin); good produce selection, lots of varieties of soy and fish sauces (found Kwong Hung Seng brand black soy sauce), Thai chilis, Thai Holy Basil and fresh noodles
Tuong Phong Market - 628 Ellis Street (& Hyde); good Vietnamese selection
Angor Premiere Grocery - 225 Leavenworth (& Turk); fresh Kaffir lime leaves and Por Kwan Chili Paste with Holy Basil Leaves
The Battambang Market - 339 Eddy (& Leavenworth); sticky rice, Mae Ploy curry pastes
Restaurants that caught our interest and almost caused us to stop shopping:
New Saigon City - 434 Larkin Street; Pho/soups
Saigon Sandwiches - 560 Larkin Street; takeout Vietnamese sandwiches w/ a line of customers at 3:30 PM, smelled great
Cindy’s Cafe - 601 Larkin Street; again Vietnamese sandwiches, but alas, no line
Turtle Tower - 631 Larkin Street; more sandwiches, rice plates, Pho/soups
Vietnam II - 701 Larkin Street; Pho soups
But in the meantime, back to cooking:
Spicy Basil Chicken
1 pound ground chicken
6 cloves minced garlic
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons black soy sauce (Kwong Hung Seng brand)
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 to 2 cups fresh Thai basil leaves without stems
2 small kaffir lime leaves, slivered
5 to 15 minced Thai chilis
white pepper
Heat wok until smoking hot. Add oil. Stir in the garlic - 20 seconds. Add shallots - 30 seconds. Add the chicken, cook completely. Add kaffir lime leaves, chilis and soy sauce - 20 seconds. Add basil leaves, cook until wilted. Season with fish sauce, sprinkle with white pepper.
Sticky Rice
1 cup sweet glutinous rice
Soak for 4 hours. Rinse. Place vegetable steamer in pan, fill base of pan with 1/2 inch water. Place layer of cheesecloth over steamer (optional). Steam rice for 20 minutes. Let rice cool at least 5 minutes.
And if this meal doesn’t work out, back over to the tenderloin for sandwiches!
