🦀 The Ugliest-But-Tastiest Thai Dish
And come see me in SF!!!
Sawaddee ka 🙏🏼
First, I have an event in San Francisco on Sat. July 22. Come say hi! Details at the bottom of this email. Now, on to today’s business.
The latest recipe is one that I wanted to share many, many years ago, but didn’t. Why not? I remember how it went down vividly: I made it, plated it, and immediately thought…there is NO way I’m posting this on YouTube.
It looked horrendous.
Back then, YouTube cooking thumbnails were all about beautifully plated food, and I just did not see how I could entice anyone with the curdly, yellow mush in front of me. I gave up immediately.
But the dish kept getting requested, mostly by people who went to Thailand and experienced its amazing and unique flavours. Eventually I decided that this classic dish deserves a video regardless of how it looks. Thankfully I also figured out how to pretty it up with garnishes.
So here it is: curry crab stir fry or poo pad pong garee. Poo means crab, but because that’s a terrible name in English, you will see people spell it as pu, bu, bpoo, bpu and all sorts of creative combination to avoid the most straightforward spelling that is poo.
It is one of the best seafood dishes Thailand has to offer, and a must-try if you find yourself in Thailand. No plans to go to Thailand? Lucky for you it is very easy to make at home, the cooking literally takes 3 minutes, and the video shows it in real time, uncut!
*If crab is too pricey, you can try the shrimp version which is not as common in Thailand, but still good. Modification details are provided in the written recipe.
Enjoy!
San Francisco Book Event at Omnivore Books
Come meet me at my last event for Sabai! This will be a casual talk and a Q&A in an intimate setting, followed by a book signing. You can also order a copy of the book and get it signed at the event!
Where: Omnivore Books on Food, this is the cutest little cookbook store, and I used to spend hours here when I lived in SF. If you love cookbooks you will love this place.
When: Sat. July 22nd. 3-4pm
It’s free and there is no need to RSVP, just come! Hope to see you there!
Do you ever make this with the crab in the shell?
This dish has some similarities to Cangrejo Reventado, a Peruvian crab dish I wrote about a few months ago. I noted that it has some similarities to some curries I had when I visited Thailand. It was definitely hard to make it photogenic!