Thai Winner on Food Network's 'Chopped'!

Sawatdee, krup! How the heck are you? Got time for a coffee and a virtual treat? Of course you do. Hey..Nong was watching "Chopped' on the Food Channel last night and she called me to say that one of the contestants was Thai. We watched the Thai lady (also named Nong) create several dishes that were very imaginative and impressed the judges and, believe me, they are not that easy to impress. She beat out all the others to win the competition and a $10,000 US cheque.

Nong Poonsakwattana is from Thailand where her family was poor. Her mom taught her how to cook from a very young age and she worked in her mom’s restaurant. So when she went over to America, she worked very hard and saved up her money to open her own food cart. She now runs a successful food cart in Portland, Oregon where food trucks abound and the competition for the lunch trade is fierce!

 
Quality, quality, quality! That is what Nong is all about. She is a passionate and a determined woman. She basically only serves one dish, chicken and rice (khao man gai). (One-dish food carts abound in Thailand). Her dish may be simple, but she does not scrimp on using the best ingredients nor does she take any shortcuts to make her dish. Nong stays true to her Thai roots and keeps her dish authentic. It’s pretty bold to open a food cart with only one dish, so you know it has to be pretty darn good.

Khao man gai is one of my favourite eat-out lunches and she is right...it is always served with a little bowl of soup. Some of us have been known to ladle a little soup onto the chicken and rice for added flavour.  And the sauce is so tasty that I could sit and eat just that with a little rice.

I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Yum!

Good luck, Nong in Portland. My own Nong here in Cornwall, ON, is a great cook as well!

See ya, eh!

Bob