I met an evil Jungle Prince a few weeks ago, and lived to tell about it.
Nope, this is no character out of a Disney movie, it's a menu item from Thaifoon restaurant, which opened a few weeks ago at The Gateway. Thaifoon's executive chef, Garrett Cho, said he got his "Evil Jungle Prince" from a well-known dish from a popular restaurant in Hawaii. Cho grew up in Hawaii and began his career cooking at many of the islands' resorts.
So what's in Evil Jungle Prince? Chicken or shrimp that's stir-fried with long green beans and mushrooms in a green curry sauce. Its partner in crime, Evil Jungle Princess, is similar but has a peanut-chili red curry sauce.
Cho's culinary career also took him to Seattle and Arizona. After living in areas with fairly constant climates, Cho commented on the "dynamic" weather he's experienced while overseeing the kitchen during the Salt Lake opening. (Snow one minute, sunshine the next, then a downpour of rain. . . .) I was thinking that "dynamic" is an apt description of his menu, too, with items like "Shrimp Explosion" and "Firecracker Chicken."
Thai food seems to be the Next Big Thing in Utah, with restaurants like Thai Siam, Monsoon and Lemon Grass opening in the past year. Once a cuisine becomes popular, you can bet a chain restaurant will soon follow. But despite the name, Thaifoon's menu isn't devoted only to Thai cuisine, it uses dishes from all over Asia — Japan, Singapore, Vietnam and regions of China, and so on.
Cho showed me the kitchen, commenting, "We use coconut milk the same way that French restaurants use cream." Coconut milk is the base for many sauces, as well as the creamy Coconut Mushroom Soup (Tom Kha Gai).
Cho, who will move on after he's satisfied the restaurant is running smoothly, shared the soup recipe with us. I realize it's often frustrating to try making recipes from a restaurant, because they can be time-consuming and call for ingredients you don't have in the pantry. If it's an ethnic dish, you'll often have to go to a specialty market to find some of the ingredients. (That's why we go out and enjoy them in restaurants, instead of cooking them at home!) But, I liken it to the Martha Stewart phenomenon: You may not ever take the time and effort to actually do it, but it's still interesting to know how it's done.
Sorry, there's no Evil Jungle Prince recipe here. You'll have to go meet one of your own.
COCONUT MUSHROOM SOUP (TOM KHA GAI)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup thinly sliced shallot
3/4 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced lemon grass
2 teaspoons green curry paste (or to taste)
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped galangal (similar to gingerroot)
1 teaspoon sambal oelek (or to taste)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2-3 Kaffir lime leaves, torn in half
3 cups coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups skinless boneless chicken breast, diced
2 cups canned straw mushrooms, rinsed and drained
1 cup roma tomato, cored and diced
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons roughly chopped Thai basil
Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots, garlic, lemon grass, green curry paste and galangal and sweat (cook over low heat) until shallots are tender. Do not brown. Add the sambal oelek, chicken broth, fish sauce, sugar, lime leaves and coconut milk. Bring to a slow simmer and let cook 10 minutes. Strain soup broth through a large holed strainer, pressing out juices from the galangal pieces. Cool and refrigerate until needed.
To serve: Re-heat soup base to a simmer. Add chicken meat, mushrooms, tomatoes and lime juice. Bring soup back to a simmer. Ladle in serving bowls. Garnish with chopped cilantro and basil. — Thaifoon.