"Thai is a pillar cuisine of Los Angeles. The largest Thai population outside of Thailand calls Los Angeles home. The community designation in East Hollywood is the only officially recognized Thai Town in the United States. As with Koreatown and Historic Filipinotown, the neighborhood took root when our country, via the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, welcomed waves of migration from across Asia."
"As with all of the world's great culinary traditions, "Thai cuisine" really means micro-regional cooking styles. In L.A., we can taste the breadths. We can seek out the mulchy, herbaceous pleasures of sai ua from Thailand's northernmost extremes, bordering Laos, noting how the textures of the sausage vary by the hands who make them. Rice is crisped in salads, pounded into noodles, powdered into a seasoning, stir-fried in infinite variations or served plain, sticky or not, as a catchall for prismatic flavors."
"Curries, silken with coconut milk, will change with the color of the chiles in their pastes. Appearances deceive. I did not believe how profoundly capsicums can set a body aflame until I plowed through several bites of kua kling phat tha lung, the hottest dish at Jitlada, during my initiation lunch in 2008. I am long past that milestone, but I'd do it over again that one time."
Los Angeles hosts the largest Thai population outside Thailand and contains the only officially recognized Thai Town in East Hollywood. Thai cuisine consists of micro-regional cooking styles with distinct ingredients, techniques and textures. Diners in Los Angeles can taste northern dishes like sai ua, experience variations in sausage textures, and encounter rice prepared crisped, pounded, powdered, stir-fried, plain or sticky. Curries, enriched with coconut milk, change according to the color of chiles used in their pastes. Extremely spicy dishes such as kua kling phat tha lung deliver intense heat. Wat Thai’s outdoor food court and Thai Town restaurants showcase regional specialties and ongoing culinary possibilities.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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