Restaurant Review
02 Aug 2007

Sala Thai – San Diego

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1 Comment

July 13, 2007
Cuisine: Thai

6161 El Cajon Blvd Ste A
San Diego, CA 92115

Phone: 619-229-9050
Website: none

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Pad See Oew – Stir fried rice noodles, broccoli, egg, and soy sauce ($7.95)

Pad Thai – Stir fried narrow rice noodles with tofu, bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, egg, and Thai seasonings ($7.95)

Mango with Sweet Sticky Rice ($3.95)

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My family is afraid of three things:

  1. Communism
  2. Getting fat
  3. Thai pirates

The first two fears are somewhat self-explanatory, but the third needs some insight. Pirates steal and rape. And even though Thai pirates stole and raped the Vietnamese people a good long while ago, some family members still hold a grudge. In fact, my late Aunt Van refused to eat Thai food due to her distaste for pirates (pun intended). Luckily, there isn’t any beef between pirates and my mom, so we go out for Thai food whenever my mom is too tired to cook.

Sala Thai is one of our favorite spots because of their reasonable prices and good location. As per usual, I ordered Pad Thai with tofu. What can I say? I know what I like! Sala’s Pad Thai was far sweeter than Pad Thais I’ve enjoyed in the past, but not overly so. The sweetness was delicate and welcomed. The thin rice noodles were just as I like, al dente.

My mom ordered a noodle dish called Pad See Oew for her entrée. This dish is very similar to chow fun due to the shape of the noodles and soy sauce seasoning. She liked it well enough, but similar to me, Pad Thai is her fave.

For dessert we shared some mango with sticky rice. The rice was warm and drenched in a creamy coconut milk. The sweet and tart flavors of the mango and coconut was a perfect ending to our meal.

Sala Thai on Urbanspoon

Recipe
30 Jul 2007

Cháo Chả – Porridge with Braised Pork Sausage

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This simple porridge with braised sausage is commonly eaten for breakfast in Vietnamese households.

For chao (porridge)

  • 1 cup Jasmine rice
  • 3 ½ cups water

For cha kho (braised pork sausage)

  • ½ dong cha lua
  • 1 shallot or ¼ onion
  • Vegetable oil
  • 2 ½ tablespoons nouc mam
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • ¾ tablespoon salt
  • Black pepper
  • Water

Make chao

Bring rice and water to a boil. Lower heat to medium and cook until the porridge is of the desired consistency. Cook longer for a thicker porridge.

Make cha kho

Dice cha into bite sized pieces and set aside. Slice shallots thinly and sauté until golden brown in a bit of vegetable oil. Add cha, nouc mam, sugar, salt, pepper, and a dash of water to the shallots over medium heat. Cook until all liquid has been absorbed. Serve with hot chao.

Recipe
30 Jul 2007

Bánh Giò – Minced Pork and Rice Dumplings

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Banh Gio is a savory breakfast food traditionally wrapped in leaves or aluminum foil, steamed, and eaten with nouc mam (fish sauce). My grandmother updated her banh gio recipe to exclude steaming and include microwaving after listening to a Vietnamese radio program where this shortcut was introduced.

For pork filling (gio)

  • ½ pound ground pork
  • 1/8 pound dried Wood Ear mushrooms
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ tablespoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons nouc mam

For banh

  • 1 cup corn starch
  • 3 cups cold water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Prepare pork filling

If using dried mushrooms, reconstitute in warm water until softened. Slice mushrooms into thin, small pieces and set aside. Sauté ground pork in a saucepan over medium heat and season with salt, pepper, and nouc mam. Add mushrooms to pork and cook until pork is well-done and all liquid has been absorbed.

Prepare banh

In a different saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, salt, and vegetable oil over medium/high heat. Constantly stir the mixture until thickened (approximately 10 minutes) and remove from heat. When you take it off the heat, the banh should be white and able to hold stiff peaks.

Assembling and cooking banh gio

Fill 1/3 of a microwave-safe bowl with the banh mixture, followed by a layer of pork, and another layer of banh. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave for 2.5 minutes. Repeat for the remainder of the banh and pork filling. Serve with nouc mam either in the bowl as is or inverted as pictured above.

Makes 4 servings.