Manhattan Thai

Pork on Fire

When I do research to find a new spicy restaurant, Thai comes up the most. It turns out that the best Thai restaurants are located in Queens, so they're a bit of a trek. Unfortunately, my Manhattan friends view Queens as barely more accessible/civilized than Darfur, so tonight we needed a compromise. Enter Rhong-Tiam, a new-ish Thai place in the village. It doesn't have the reputation of Sripraphai, but it does have a dish called Pork on Fire, and that's a game I wanted to play.

The dish consists of pork tips wok sauteed with fine chop lemongrass, fresh garlic and bird eyes chili, crispy kaffir lime leaves, and basil. The first flavor I noticed was the garlic, and something that resembled nuts. I can't be sure what kind of nuts, because very soon the "fire" part of the dish kicked in. And folks, it was legit. Still pretty manageable, but it gains momentum, and it's hard to eat more than a few bites in a row without stopping to eat some rice or stare wistfully at your empty water glass. The waitstaff at Rhong-Tiam was stretched too thin, so luxuries like water refills and all the entrees arriving at once were unavailable. As punishment, I have no choice but to inflict a blistering pun: WRONG-Tiam, get it together!

We also got some Chicken with Green Curry, Drunken Noodle, and Black Pepper Beef. All were tasty, but within the realm of expectations for decent Thai in Manhattan.

Green Curry With Chicken

Drunken Noodle (partially eaten)

Szechuan Gourmet, Round 2

Ma Paul Tofu (for real this time)

3 days after the waitress at Szechuan Garden gave us the training wheels ma paul, I went back a second time. This time we made sure to specify that we want the full-strength stuff. The waiter asked us several time if we were sure. Yes damnit, bring it on! And he did. As you can tell from the picture, it looked pretty much the same except the sauce was a deeper red this time. And once again, the burning sensation in my mouth wasn't overwhelming. It's not as bad as, say, eating a jalapeno pepper.

But I will say one thing, and that is that when you're eating the Ma Paul, everyone at the restaurant will know it. By the time you get through the second bite, the drops of sweat on your forehead will have turned to rivulets running down your cheek. By the time I finished the meal, the tablecloth in front of me was dotted with little wet circles where perspiration had dripped off my chin. My friend and I each had to leave the table to blow our noses, since whatever's in that dish apparently gets your sinuses running as well.

Also, we noticed that if you dig in to the bottom of the dish, the sauce there is spicier and saltier than the stuff at the top. I highly recommend having some from the top and the bottom when you serve yourself.

Once again, the whole meal was fantastic. My friend ordered the wok tossed prawns with szechuan peppercorn & special salt (pictured below). Crispy, juicy, a bit garlicy, and just a tad spicy. Home run.

Wok Tossed Prawns with szechuan peppercorn & special salt

Racial Profiling!

The Ma Paul Tofu

After a bit of googling, I determined that Szechuan Gourmet was the closest nearby restaurant well known for spice. The dish in question is the Chef's Mapaul Tofu with Chili Minced Pork. SG also came highly recommended, since the New York Times reviewed it as one of the best szechuan restaurants in New York:

http://events.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/dining/reviews/23rest.html

As a friend and I walked in, the first thing I noticed was that a majority of the customers were speaking Chinese - an encouraging sign. We ordered the szechuan pork dumplings to start and the Mapaul Tofu, the Wok Tossed Crispy Lamb Filets, and a braised whole bass as main courses. The dumplings were served in a sweet/spicy vinaigrette and were excellent. Next came the guest of honor: the Mapaul. It looked evil - cubes of tofu suspended in a chunky red sauce the color pureed chili peppers. The face sweats started as soon as I smelled it. Pour some over some rice, take a bite and... Hm, that's not so bad? In fact, it's delicious - the tofu added sweetness and slight variation in texture to a sauce that was spicy, savory, and just a little salty.

At one point my friend suggested that maybe they toned down the spiciness for us because they figured we couldn't handle it. I was skeptical. But I had to be sure, so after we finished I asked our waitress if that what we ate was the real deal.

"Ah.." she smiled, "no, I make it a little less spicy for you because the Mapaul very very spicy and didn't think you want that."

"What?? How come you assumed we didn't want the full spiciness?"

"You look like you might be tourist, from Europe I think to myself." Now she has a point, both my friend and I are pale and blonde and look like we might have fallen off a fjord and swam over here. But still, the mapaul heat is the reason I came here! Don't try and protect me from myself! Fortunately, the whole meal was delicious so I wasn't upset.

Nevertheless, there was only one thing to do. I'd have to go back and get it again.

Welcome

My name is Mike, and I've been a spiceaholic for 5 years now. I got started the way most people do, through the gateway sauces. Frank's Red Hot, the stuff in the packets at Taco Bell, a few red pepper flakes on a slice of pizza. Back then I could take it or leave it, I was just a kid experimenting with some new flavors that I thought would help expand my palette. It was a pretty casual interest, at least until the day I first partied with Mr. T.

The problem isn't that once you've spent some time with Mr. T, aka Tabasco, you can't go back. The problem is that you don't want to. You just use more and more, until soon you stash a bottle of it in your desk at work and the first thing you look at on a menu are the items that have a pepper or an asterisk next to the description. In fact, those dishes are exactly what I'm looking for. This blog will chronicle my quest to try the spiciest, most delicious foods New York has to offer.