Thai Red Curry with Shrimp and Vegetables at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Thai Red Curry with Shrimp and Vegetables at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Diners can order Thai red curry with just vegetables, chicken, beef, or shrimp and rice at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California. I love shrimp for many reasons and ordered it to go with the organic Salinas Valley vegetables in this spicy but not hot dish. 

I like Thai curries like the one I ordered, because they start out with fresh, strong “aromatics” – onions, garlic and fresh ginger that are stir-fried. Homemade curry paste made from sweet red peppers is added in with shrimp marinated in fish sauce – Thai nam pla, followed by vegetables. Coconut milk is added as the last ingredient to complete the curry. 

At Ginger Thai, this dish called Pad Prik King in Thai, is made with 3-inch strips of Chinese long beans, carrots cut in medallion shapes, and strips of red bell pepper. The vegetables were soft but not mushy and retained their shape. The long beans were crunchy in the center. The shrimp were large with a piquant, briny flavor and beautiful orange color. Everything combined in this curry to make every bite delicious. The curry sauce disappeared with every bite of rice. For flavor, this dish can compete European seafood dishes. 

For nutrients, this dish has several winning ingredients. Shrimp contains both selenium and iodine, which keep the thymus gland working in good order. Carrots, long beans, and red bell pepper have Vitamin A, which is good for the eyes. Red peppers and green long beans contain Vitamin C, an antioxidant, which helps protect the body from cancer. The Thais, like the Chinese, also view vitamin-rich food as medicine. 

Red curry with shrimp and vegetables, pad prik king, delivers great flavor loaded with nutrients at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Thai Red Curry with Pumpkin and Artichoke Hearts at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Thai Red Curry with Pumpkin and Artichoke Hearts at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

One of the benefits of living in Salinas, California is that it is easy to eat organic produce in any cuisine, especially Thai dishes at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California on South Main Street. 

I love pumpkin and artichoke hearts and ordered these in a Thai red curry to go with jasmine rice. Both vegetables in this dish were simmered with the red curry to become silken. 

The red curry usually is made with coconut milk, ginger and garlic paste, lime leaves, Thai basil, brown sugar, and red chile peppers according to the BBC Good Food website. 

Ginger Thai allows you to choose the spice level in your dish. There are 4 levels with level 4 being numbing. I choose level 3 for my meals, because I like the tingling sensation that goes with the flavor. Level 3 I think is still too hot for people who like mild food. If you love the flavor of pumpkin, the milder spice levels might be more to your liking.  

At all spice levels, the red curry has Vitamin A and Vitamin C. The orange pumpkin has Vitamin A. Artichokes have Vitamin K. This great tasting dish obviously has a lot of vitamin power, too. 

Diners looking to vary their vegetable routine might be interested in Thai red curry with pumpkin and artichoke hearts at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California on South Main Street. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Vegetable Green Curry at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Vegetable Green Curry at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

There is shrimp paste in the vegetable green curry at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California, which gives it a delicious salty and sweet flavor along with many vitamins. 

I consulted True Thai by Victor Sodsook to find out what goes into this perky green curry and loved everything, which includes the following: 

-coriander seed 

-shrimp paste 

-anise seed 

-peppercorns 

-minced Kaffir lime peel 

-cilantro stems 

-lemon grass 

-Siamese ginger

 -garlic 

-1/2 cup green chiles 

-lettuce 

To make the curry, you dry roast the spices first and then grind them in a food processor. The herbs are then pounded in a mortar and pestle and added to the dry spices in the food processor. 

Next, the garlic and shallots are crushed in the mortar and pestle and then added to the food processor. The shrimp paste and green chiles come next and are added to the food processor and whizzed. 

The lettuce leaves go in last to be processed, giving the curry its moist texture. 

Ginger Thai serves its warmed green curry with stir-fried eggplant chunks, zucchini slices, bell pepper squares, and peppery Thai basil for a pungent, spicy meal that is good at any time of day. 

The meal comes with rice so you can soak up every last bit of the delicious curry. Ginger Thai lets you choose the spice level you would like; they have four options. I like the third level, which is spicy. 

The vegetables in the green curry are soft-bodied and soak up oil in the stir-frying process. I like the silken texture the vegetables have, but if you prefer firmer textured vegetables, you might want to try the yellow curry, which comes with potatoes and carrots.

For a huge vitamin boost, I highly recommend the green curry with eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, and basil at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California that really highlight the produce grown in the Salinas Valley in addition to tasting great. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and creator of the games Sommelier, Camembert, Vienna, and Senf

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Glowing Satay Chicken at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Satay Chicken at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

I tried a delicious Bangkok street food called satay chicken at Ginger Thai in Salinas, California and thought I could make a meal out of double order of this appetizer with a side of jasmine rice and a salad. 

According to the cookbook True Thai by Victor Sodsook, skewers of flattened chicken breast get a full curry treatment to become these delicious appetizers with equally delicious dipping sauces. 

The chicken is first marinated in coconut milk, brown sugar, nam pla fish sauce, coriander seed, and panang curry made with red chiles, coriander seed, shrimp paste, kaffir lime slices, cilantro, ginger, garlic, and shallots. 

When satay chicken is ready to be cooked, it is threaded on skewers and then broiled or grilled. 

The satay chicken comes with two piquant sauces for dipping: 

-curried peanut satay sauce 

-spicy cucumber relish 

The curried peanut satay sauce is made with unsweetened coconut milk, peanut butter, brown sugar, nam pla fish sauce, and massaman curry made with chiles, cardamom, cumin, shrimp paste, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, lemongrass, ginger, shallots, and garlic. 

That pretty spicy sauce is a counterpoint to the spicy and hot cucumber relish made with white vinegar, brown sugar, cucumber, Thai chiles, crushed peanuts, and cilantro. 

All of the delicious curries that go into making satay chicken give it a lemon yellow glow and luxurious albeit easily gobbled taste. 

I love having satay chicken and Ginger Thai Restaurant close to home in Salinas, California. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and creator of the games Sommelier, Camembert, Vienna, and Carnitas

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Light Lunch Thailand by Ruth Paget

Light Lunch Thailand by Ruth Paget 

I first time I tried Thai cuisine was at Thai 55th in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago when I was a student at the University of Chicago. I absolutely loved satay chicken kebabs with spicy curry dips, stir-fried noodle dishes, and red or green curries over rice. The food was exotically tropical with sleet falling outside and my feet warming up in my snow boots inside. 

The following 5 dishes are a great introduction to Thai cuisine. You can now buy green and red curry paste online, which makes many of the book’s recipes a cinch to make.

p.18 – Satay Chicken Skewers 

-For marinated chicken: 

-chicken strips 

-coriander 

-turmeric 

-cumin 

-coconut cream 

 -dipping sauce 

 -red curry paste 

-peanuts 

-coconut milk 

-tamarind sauce 

p.64 – Hakka-style Fried Noodles 

-pork fillet 

-reconstituted dried squid 

-egg noodles 

-light soy sauce 

-dark soy sauce 

-garlic chives 

-bean sprouts 

p.68 – Stir-Fried Minced Pork with Chilies and Basil 

-Thai chilies 

-basil 

-garlic 

-minced pork 

-oyster sauce 

-light soy sauce 

-eggs 

p.236 – Deep-Fried Fish with Turmeric 

-white fish 

-garlic 

-turmeric 

-coriander roots 

p.244 – Chicken Braised in Rice with Turmeric and Spices 

-chicken legs 

-curry powder 

-turmeric 

-coriander 

-cumin -cinnamon 

-evaporated milk 

-jasmine rice 

-shallots 

In addition to these recipes from Thailand: From the Source published by Lonely Planet, youtube has many videos about Thai food by Mark Wiens. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Celebrating Beauty at a Thai Loy Krathong Festival with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget and Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Celebrating Beauty at a Thai Loy Krathong Festival with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget and Savvy Mom Ruth Paget 

When I read about the Thai Loy Krathong Festival in the newspaper, I convinced my family to go by noting they would have traditional dancers, an orchestra, and good food.

Loy Krathong usually falls in November and celebrates the goddess of water named Phra Mae Kongka according to the brochure handed out at the festival, which was held at the Filipino American Community Club in Marina, California.

The brochure further stated that Loy Krathong began in the thirteenth century during the Kingdom of Sukothai.  Queen Nang Noppamas, who may be a mythical character, made a boat with candles and incense in it and floated it down river to honor Phra Mae Kongka.

Beauty contests are run during Loy Krathong to honor Queen Nang Noppamas and one was held for a junior king and queen at the Loy Krathong Festival we attended.  All the children were dressed in traditional Thai costumes, and the girls had their hair done up in buns to resemble crowns.  I knew the deciding factor for the winners would be something like who had helped the most at the festival.

My family participated at the festival as audience members and diners.  My husband Laurent, daughter Florence, and I admired the Thai dancers.  There was a small orchestra set up with Thai xylophones called ranads.  Ranads have 21 or 22 bars and get their vibrating sound from a boat-shaped resonator.  Unlike Western resonators, Thai musicians play ranads with two mallets. 

We watched the entertainment as we sipped Thai iced tea made of strong, sugary tea with condensed milk over ice.  I bought fried plantains for my family and a dish called palo, which was a pork stew with boiled eggs that had been flavored with cinnamon and star anise.  It had a wonderful aroma and tasted good, too.

We sat with an American man whose wife was Thai.  He was the chief winemaker at one of Carmel Valley’s best wineries.  He had studied at the University of Bordeaux and had fun speaking in French with us.  He invited us to a Christmas wreath-making party at the winery with a barbecue and cellar tour.  We heartily accepted.

You never can tell what will happen at a Loy Krathong Festival or any other festival for that matter.  Festivals are truly a fun way for communities to learn about each other.

By Ruth Paget - Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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