*** Update 01/01/09 – Wat Thai food court had reopened, on Sundays only.
*** Due to neighborhood complaints about parking the Wat Thai Temple food court has closed.
Fairly stuffed on my Sausages and Papaya Salad, I sat watched the various vendors at work while waiting to see what the Missus would "find". It was also fun to watch what others were eating.
Soon the Missus returned with Her "bounty" including a large Sticky Rice with Mango($5.00):
A huge, perfectly ripe mango with sticky rice flavored with coconut. I hadn't had mango so good since I lived in Hawaii! The Missus told me that she had intended to purchase a small plate, but the Lady working the stall in the ultimate display of up selling, waved a huge mango in front of the Missus telling her; "Biiig one, moah betta, biiig one moah betta!" So how could she resist? I'm not quite sure how these vendors managed to get such perfectly ripe mangoes in the middle of Winter, but I'm sure not complaining! This is a "must eat" item if ever visiting Wat Thai.
Among other items; sticky rice with taro and sweet beans ($1.00):
I didn't get to taste this, but it met with the approval of the Missus.
More sausages, two sour sausages, another grilled sausage, and another "sausage patty":
The sour sausages had grains of rice in them and were sour enough to make me "pucker up", and were somewhat addicting. The other sausages were not as good as the versions I purchase earlier.
A fabulous Fish Curry in banana leaf($3.00):
Tasting like a really good panang curry, this little cup had a layer of shredded cabbage on the bottom, followed by a thin layer of thai basil with coconut milk, followed by the wonderfully moist and tender flaked fish in a red curry sauce. This was all topped off with a chiffonade of kaffir lime leaf. An amazing little dish! This same stall was selling meat from roasted pork shank. When you placed an order the pork meat was removed from the bone; chopped and placed over rice, it looked soooo good! But my arteries sent "no mas" signals to my brain which prevented me from ordering that dish. In what was a slightly humorous moment, the Missus asked the Lady manning the stall if she could purchase the pork bones, which the Lady responded "You have dog, huh?", and proceeded to trim off two shank bones, and placed them in a sack. When the Missus offered to pay; the Gal simply laughed and said "No, no, I give you free, for dog!" So even Sammy and Frankie made out!
On the side directly opposite the food stalls, we could see this Woman, busily moving back and forth. She looked like the busiest Woman in the whole food court; but had no customers! So we walked up as she was packaging two containers of white "disks", that a Young Lady came and "swooped up".
Totally intrigued, and having exactly $3 in tokens left, we decided to order the Kanom Krok. The Lady proceeded to oil the cast iron "pan".
And poured a rice and coconut "batter" into the molds.
And green onions are added if you wish. After cooking for a few minutes, and when the batter is starting to "bubble", a sweeter lighter batter is added to top off the Kanom Krok:
The Lady asked us if we wanted to go and take a "walk" around the Temple, and come back in 10 minutes. But we decided to just wait and had a nice chat with Her.
When the sides of the confection has developed a crust and the middle of the batter is starting to solidify, the Kanom Krok is loosened.
Until it's ready:
And it's packed up and ready to eat:
The way to eat Kanom Krok is to place two half disks together to form a sphere and eat them right away – they're Delici-yoso!!! One quick note, the interior of the Kanom Krok is positively molten. So unless you want to become a candidate for a lip and tongue graft, proceed with caution! (Thanks for the reminder MEalcentric)
When you visit Wat Thai please make sure to take a walk around the Temple grounds, you'll truly feel transported to a whole "different world".
There are so many different things available; you can' t possibly try everything in one trip. We're saving the Fried Banana/Taro/Sweet Potato, and the Soup/Noodle stalls for the next time. Yes, there will be a next time!
Visiting the Wat Thai Temple was such a fun and delici-yoso experience; even the lousy traffic on the 101 and 5 freeways, and the almost 3 hour trip back to San Diego didn't dampen my spirits.
Wat Thai of Los Angeles
8225 Coldwater Canyon Ave
North Hollywood, CA 91605
Weekend Food Court – 8am-6pm Every Weekend!