F L AV O R S O F T H E B E A C H

As the setting sun cast a golden glowleading straight to my neighbor’s elegantMartin’s Point home, Nongkran Daks(Nong) and I appeared at the door armed with Thai cooking ingredients andan enthusiastic spirit. Our hostess wasattracted to the idea of a combinationcooking class and dinner that some localrestaurants offer and thought it would befun to plan a similar event in the privacyand comfort of her own home.

Multi-cultural and multi-lingual,Nong stays close to and delights in herculinary heritage. She grew up in thekitchen and worked in restaurants

30 OUTERBANKSGUIDES.COM

A TASTE OFAUTHENTICThai Cooking

By Anne Snape Parsons

Private LessonA N I G H T W I T H N O N G :

Method

Simmer the shrimp shellsin the 6 cups of water orstock until they turn pink.Strain out and discardshells. Add the lemongrass, coriander roots, andmagrut leaves, return toboil and simmer for awhile to allow the flavorof the spices to infuse thebroth. Add mushroomsand tomato wedges. Addthe shrimp last, cook 3 or4 minutes until shrimp

turns pink. Do not over-cook. Turn off the heat.Stir in the Thai hot sauce,fish sauce, and limejuice. Ladle into as manyas 8 bowls and garnishwith green onion, andcilantro leaves.

Ingredients1/2 lb. raw shrimp, shelled and deveined, shells set aside

6 cups water or chicken stock2 cups fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced1 tomato, sliced into 8 pieces lengthwise2 stalks lemon grass, crushed then cut into 2-inch sections3 magrut leaves, torn into smallpieces3 coriander roots (also known as cilantro), crushed4 tbs. fish sauce5 tbs. fresh lime or lemon juice2 tbs.Thai hot sauce (Nam Prik Pao)1 tsp. salt1 green onion, finely chopped1 sprig cilantro, finely chopped

Tom Yam KungSpicy Shrimp Lemon Grass SoupThis is the most popular dish among newcomers to Thai food. Youmay add sliced fish, squid, and mussels to this hot and sour soup.

Method

Place the meat in the marinade

and refrigerate covered about

4 hours or overnight in the

refrigerator. To make rice powder

from scratch, roast uncooked rice

in a dry pan until golden in color.

Then use a food processor or

coffee grinder to reduce the rice

to a powder. Grill the meat on

a hot fire, until just done, about

5 minutes on each side. In the

meantime combine all the

ingredients for the dipping

sauce and set aside.

To present, slice the steak as

desired and arrange on small

plates with sauce ladled into

individual sauce bowls.

Marinade Ingredients

2 lbs. flank steak

2 tbs. soy sauce

1 tbs. fish sauce

(Nong prefers 3 Crab label brand)

1 tbs. oyster sauce

1 tsp. chopped garlic

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black peppercorn

Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup fish sauce

1/2 cup lime juice

2 tbs. water

1 shallot, peeled, thinly sliced

1 tbs. roasted rice powder

2 tsp. chili powder (or to taste)

1 tbs. each, chopped fresh mint, cilantro

and green onion

Sya Rong Hai

Crying Tiger

Sya means tiger, Rong Hai is crying.

The story goes that this appetizer

was originally very spicy, even tigers

cry trying to eat it.

My Home 08S 25-33 4/11/08 6:25 PM Page 30

during her college years in Bangkokwhere she earned a degree in agricul-tural economics. An incredible cook and dedicated teacher, Nong is serious aboutauthenticity and has a flair for bringingAsian cuisine to life in its entire unadul-terated splendor.

Described by Erin Zimmer of theWashingtonian magazine as a “cookingguru and the Thai Rachel Ray,” Nong isoriginally from Chumphon province insouthern Thailand, where sustainableseafood, fresh vegetables and coconutsare plentiful. Not surprisingly, she revelsin teaching the secrets of authentic Asiancooking, and she planned to impart thatknowledge to the ten friends gatheredtogether for a special evening of learningand dining.

In no time, everyone was engaged inthe prep work in the extensively equipped,gourmet kitchen, intent on doing someserious cooking. Adorned in a variety ofaprons, some brandishing chopping instruments and others coddling their special cutting knives, these young women(a relative term on the Outer Banks)stopped short as they saw the petite Asianwoman with a huge smile on her face.“Ready,” she barked, “okay, let’s start.”

Looking around the kitchen, Nongsaid, “I’ll share some secrets of my

dishes, offer some practical tips, and perhaps relate some stories.” Nong is the author of several Asian cookbooks,the owner of a successful restaurant,Thai Basil, in Chantilly, Virginia, and amember of Slow Food and Les Damesd’Escoffier (a society that accepts onlywomen professionals – including chefs,wine experts, food journalists, pub-licists, cookbook authors and cookingteachers).

If you are lucky enough to take one of

her cooking classes, you will discover thesecrets that make her dishes so appealingand, according to a number of reviewers,“the best Pad Thai this side of Bangkok.”As the cooking lessons got underway,Nong explained, “It is the layering of flavors that make Thai food so alluring.What sets this food apart from othercuisines is the fusion of flavours – spicy,sour, sweet, and salty. The menu tonightholds plenty of pleasures, and afterwards,you can share the sensual appeal of Thaifood with your partners.”

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As Nong passed around the menuwith recipes for Golden Cups (small pas-try shells filled with ground chicken and

vegetables), Lemon Grass Shrimp Soup,Crying Tiger (a Northeastern recipe ofmarinated flank steak with fresh lime-

garlic sauce and toasted rice powder), PadThai Noodles, and Sticky Rice withMangoes. The students were thoughtfuland serious as they read the evening’sscript. One student remarked,“It’s hard toimagine that we can learn to cook all ofthese dishes in one evening,but I’m game.”“Just remember,” Nong replied, “that amajor ingredient in a great dinner party isto bring to the table your appetite, yourfriends, and your conversation.”

As the students spooned the fillinginto the chic little pastry shells, Nong

explained, “My ingredients are as fresh aspossible. For example, it is better to grindspices rather than buy them ground –cheaper too! When I was about eight-years-old, I helped my sister-in-law, acaterer, grind spices for parties and, as auniversity student in Bangkok, I camehome on weekends to cook for friendsand family. I loved to study food andcook for others, especially after I marriedLarry, a Peace Corps volunteer, who laterbecame a Foreign Service officer. Ourtravels took us to Laos, China, Hawaiiand Taiwan.”

In another nod to Thai tradition,Nong said, “I emphasize time-provenmethods in cooking all my dishes.”Whileit was clear that Nong’s passion for Thaifood obviously sets her apart from othersof her ilk, a question was raised,“Remember we live on the Outer Banksand we don’t have access to some Asianingredients, so what do we do?” Nongpointed across the Russian olive hedge to

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my home. “That lady has lemon grassand Thai basil growing in her garden anda large pot with Kaffir Lime leaves onher patio. Other items such as fish sauce,palm sugar, noodles, galangal root,tamarind paste, and so on, you can findat the Asian stores in Virginia Beach andRaleigh, or, you can go online and orderthem.”

She did express a quizical concernthat in Thai cooking, the root of thecilantro plant, when ground is an essen-tial ingredient in many Thai foods, yet itis difficult to find. She uses a mortal andpestle to grind her spices, but said a foodprocessor works well too. The Thai cookwastes nothing. While there are no Asian markets on the Outer Banks,local grocers recognize the growing popularity of Asian inspired meals andare stocking many of the ingredients.

As the party moved into the diningroom, Nong smiled with quiet satisfac-tion as the women supped on the lemongrass soup.The general consensus amongthe guests was that the complexity andflavor was a combination not present inAmericanized Thai food. Nong thendemonstrated how to carve roses fromtomatoes and use them as decorationwith bunches of cilantro for the CryingTiger steak that they had marinated andcooked on the outdoor grill. The aromatransported everyone back to thekitchen.

The next dish, Pad Thai, was greetedwith huge kudos. Nong had earliershown them how to take some tamarindpaste and squeeze it into a cup of water,let it soak, and then put it through asieve, reserving the liquid. This was onedish where Nong used a number of

secret methods she shared with thegroup.Without a doubt, it was voted the“best Pad Thai ever tasted” by the students. Because one of the friends was celebrating her birthday, our hostess had asked for a special dessert.No bazillion caloried cake here! Nongshowed how to pair mango with asweet, sticky rice – a delicious, andhealthy, dessert – presented with a fan ofmango slices and mint arranged aroundthe rice. It was a light dessert and asuperb finish to an enchanted evening.

Anne Snape Parsons is a co-author of the recently released book, KitchenMemories, a legacy of family recipes fromaround the world, which includes a fewOuter Bankers. She met Nongkran Dakswhile she was writing it and now, asfriends, Nong enjoys visiting Anne on theOuter Banks. Teaching private lessons heregives Nong an opportunity to share herknowledge in an intimate social setting.More information about Nongkran Daksand her cookbooks is available atwww.thaibasilchantilly.com. ■

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