Posts Tagged ‘broccoli’

Thai Kitchen disappointment: not enough heat!


2010
07.08

As a Thai food enthusiast, I have been checking out the wares of the grocery stores near my house every time Celebrity Intern and I venture forth on a food-gathering mission, hoping that some kind of spicy green chili paste will magically appear. While at Randalls the other day, joy of joys! We spotted a jar of Thai Kitchen’s Green Curry 10-Minute Simmer Sauce, and snatched it up. The ingredients looked right, and I told Celebrity Intern that I was sure I had tried their concentrated Green Curry Paste before and it had been just the right level of spiciness.

After sautéing up some chicken, letting it simmer in the simmer sauce for the allotted time, and having steamed some broccoli and cauliflower to complete the meal, I served it up with some fancy looking sprigs of cilantro on top:

A disappointment, brought to you by Thai Kitchen's Green Chili Simmer Sauce

Looks tasty, right? Well, it would’ve been, except for the fact that Thai Kitchen’s Green Curry 10-Minute Simmer Sauce is apparently totally lacking in green chili! WTF?! Although green chili is one of the ingredients listed on the bottle (under “green curry paste,” it is the primary ingredient), it tasted to us like there was nothing spicy in the jar at all. I don’t think I even tasted any garlic or lemongrass, so I fired off an email to Thai Kitchen inquiring therein.

The result? NADA. It’s been two weeks and not even a “thank you for your comments!” email in return. Therefore, I must strongly advise Thai-lovers out there to avoid this product. It is bland in the extreme and, frankly, we would have had a better tasting sauce if we’d just made a brown gravy to pour over our chicken.

In the meantime, we will keep on searching for the Thai spice mixtures of our dreams. Stay tuned when we finally hit up an Asian grocery!

Got any suggestions for products we can find locally that will kick our Thai meals up a notch? Any recommendations for spicy green chili would be greatly appreciated!

Greening Austin Daily


2010
02.23

Hey Shoestringers! I just found out about an awesome new blog called Greening Austin Daily, which is offering tips and tricks to Austinites looking for fun and practical ways to go green. They’ve recently posted about everything from “It’s My Park Day” (coming up on March 6), my new fave Torchy’s Tacos, and the actual launch (at long last!) of the CapMetro rail line—which is apparently going to be free to riders during its first week of service next month.

Definitely add this blog to your hit list, as it’s chock full of information on how to get groovy and get your green on right here in Austin, and it’s not at all preachy or warrior-vegan in its approach. Bloggers and BFFs Katherine and Carsi even bust out their tasty recipes every Tuesday, like the Double Broccoli Quinoa that I’ve got to try with the rest of the quinoa I’ve got squirrelled away in my cupboard. Broccoli + avocado = winner in my book.

Got any other awesome Austin blogs you’d like to share with the Shoestring Austin crew? Get in touch and we’ll swap links!