 Dec 20th, 2015 Uptown Chicago "Immm Rice & Beyond": A new restaurant opens up in the uptown area, with the unique concept in Khao-Rad-Gaeng (Rice topped with Thai comfort meals/ Rice and Thai comfort meals). One thing I love about Thailand is ข้าวราดแกง /kâao râad gaeng ( Thai-Street-food), and it’s abundance of scrumptious comfort food that is prepared and ready to serve. The customer point to the dishes they want and they will be serve over rice. One common way of enjoying the dining experience is to try Thai street food where the vendors line up on the street as kâao râad gaeng. This is a must for you to try! I remembered when growing up my Grandparents were running a cafeteria shop, and we were one of the most famous kâao râad gaeng in my hometown. I used to be around and saw locals get some good food. Even though on my regular weekends for breakfast my dad used to take my sister and I out to try other kâao râad gaeng shops in my home town. I have to admit I love it, and this is my kind of comfort food. I am proud to say I have had this type of meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This what makes my heartbeat. For a Chicagoan, you don't have to travel 18 hours to Thailand. Now you can make a quick trip to “Immm Rice & Beyond” (4949 N. Broadway, in Uptown) for some real Thai comfort food.
  The partners behind “Immm Rice & Beyond” are Dew Suriyawan, who is a business owner from Spoon Thai, and Noon Tosakulwong, a foodie girl who has a passion for food and wants to present Thai Street Food to Chicago. As you first walk into “Immm Rice & Beyond”, the spectacular art exhibit wall warms you up and gets you ready for some Thai foods. The Chicago skyline and Chicago River are up front, with a man in national formal Thai costume who comes with delicious Thai Comfort foods on his boat ready to serve you. Let me give you a tip of what ข้าวราดแกง /kâao râad gaeng means: ข้าว /kâao/ means “rice.” ราด /râad/ means “to pour over.” แกง /gaeng/ means “curry." ( not just only curry it is including Thai comfort dishes). You shall find a variety of dishes from the North to South regions of Thailand that are ready on the steam table of which patrons pick their own single dish or combination to pour over rice. The menu rotates every day of which some main items will be served every day: Kaɛ̄ng tāi plā (แกงไตปลา), MHOO WHAAN (หมูหวาน), Pāā Lo (พะโล้), Panang Mhoo (พะแนงหมู) and Pad Pak (ผัดผัก). And for the other 5-7 dishes those will be rotating every day. I suggest you check out their menu before and visit on Facebook/immmchicago.   Here are my top dishes from Immm:  - *Pad Phed Pla Dook Krob (ผัดเผ็ดปลาดุกกรอบ / Central Region) is common Thai dish; you can see everywhere in kâao râad gaeng shop. The crispy deep fried Pla Dook ( Clarias is a genus of catfishes steak ) stir-fried with red curry paste, lemongrass, galangal, and fresh kaffir lime leave, topped with crispy Thai basil leaves. *** This order you must try, check their menu daily on FB: Immm Rice & Beyond ****  - Gaɛ̄ng tāi plā (แกงไตปลา / South) is a southern Thai curry dish. The name tāi plā is taken from fermented internal fish organs which give a strong smell, salty and nutty flavors to the curry. This dish is a big hit for the Thai community in Chicago. Everyone has been talking about how great they make as an authentic Gaɛ̄ng tāi plā dish. It’s a thick, spicy mixed vegetable turmeric curry, a sauce made from fish tāi plā, shrimp paste, roasted fish, bamboo shoots, and eggplant.   - *Pāā Lo (พะโล้, 拍滷 / Central Region) is a famous soup from China made of braised pork belly, boil eggs and puff tofu in 5-spice base soup. This dish is a one of a kind dish with 5-spice, light soy sauce, caramelized brown sugar (gives dark brown color to the soup), cilantro, and black pepper giving a unique flavor to the soup base. The sweetness from brown sugar with a nutty flavor from light soy sauce and the pork belly that has been cooking down in its own fat, make this soup a comforting bowl.  - *Mooh Whan ( หมูหวาน / Central Region ) is caramelized pork belly with soy sauce, brown sugar, and black pepper. The saltiness and sweetness meet in the middle with pork flavor; ridiculous good when you serve over the rice.  - Kaeng Kua Sub Pla Rod ( แกงคั่วสัประรส ) is red curry infused with turmeric, mussels, and pineapple. Gaeng Kua / แกงคั่ว is one type of Thai curry which uses a larger amount of turmeric in red curry paste. A popular dish in Thailand prepares this kind of curry with prawn, shrimp or mussel.   - *Kaeng Phed Ped Yang (แกงเผ็ดเป็ดย่าง / Central Region) is red curry with roast duck, tomato, pineapple, lychee, basil leaves, and grapes. This dish is a combination between Thai (red curry) and Chinese (Roast duck).   - Kaeng Om ( แกงอ่อม/ North Region ) is a spice "Lanna" curry with meat, mixed vegetable (dill, bamboo shoot, Thai eggplant ), and without coconut milk base.   - Kaeng som Ma-Ra-Gor Goong ( แกงส้มมะละกอกุ้ง /Central Region ) is a spice and sour soup made of: red curry paste, big amount of turmeric and shrimp (some use roasted white fish to mix with curry paste), raw papaya and shrimps.  - Guai Tiao Ruea (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ/ Boat noodles) is Thai style noodle bowl, rice noodle (pick your own:wild noodle, thin noodle or angle rice noodle), fresh bean sprout, Thai basil leaves, pork or beef stew meat, Chinese pickled cabbage (ตังฉ่าย), meatballs, cilantro, crunchy pan fried garlic bits, light soy sauce, black pepper, and sugar in pork or beef broth. An authentic style is to add fresh pork blood ( 1 tablespoon ) into the boiling broth to create a meat flavor and make it thicker; as you see the broth is not clear that is from the blood.   - Tum Pol La Mai ( ตำผลไม้ ) is a papaya salad style that adds more elements to the dish as grapes, carrot, apple, pineapple instead of papaya.  Keys
Atmosphere: Contemporary cafeteria design. What to eat: Kâao râad gaeng: Pick your own Plate 1 Entree 8$ 2 Entree 9.5 $ 3 Entree 11 $ Order from the kitchen: Guai Tiao Ruea ( ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ/ Boat noodles ) 5$, Khao-Mun-Gai (Hainanese Chicken / ข้าวมันไก่) 9$ and Khao-Mooh-Deng ( BBQ pork and Chinese sausage over rice with 5 spice-Gravy / ข้าวหมูแดง ) 9$ What to drink: Cha-Yen (Thai Ice Tea / ชาเย็น)3$, O-Liang (Thai Ice Coffee/ กาแฟเย็น) 3$, Daily Fountain Selections (Check the menu on Facebook ) 3$ and BYOB Thank you for stopping by and checking out my review. Natty
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‘Tis Citrus Season With "High Vitamin C, Grapefruit, Orange, Mango & Rosemary Smoothie recipe.”2/24/2016  Happy Wednesday Everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's weekend with your loved one(s)! Since the Valentine's weekend might be a sugar rush for so many people. Let's flush the sugar out of the system with this "High Vitamin C Smoothie"; bright red grapefruit, fresh squeezed orange juice and frozen mango are complements with aromatics from fresh Rosemary, which gives you a great jumpstart for the morning. Rosemary balances out the acidity well plus I add some sweetness to the party with liquid stevia. This “High Vitamin C Smoothie” is a great start for someone who is fighting a cold. Let's talk about the Citrus season which is between November to June. There is a variety of citrus fruit selections for you to pick, and my favorite citrus fruits are Tangerines, Ruby Red Grapefruit, and Temple Oranges. I did some more research so I could be able to line up the smoothie plan through this season. And I would like to share this citrus calendar with you, just in case you need it. Here is the citrus fruit calendar: Tangerine - out around NOV to APRIL. Tangelos - out around NOV to DEC. Navel Oranges - out around NOV to DEC. HoneyBells - out around January. Temple Oranges - out around February. Ortaniques - out around MAR thru APR. Valencias - out around MAR thru JUNE. Ruby Red Grapefruit - out around Nov to May. White Grapefruit - out around Nov to May. Crimson Grapefruit -out around Nov to May. Thank you for stopping by and reading my article. XOXo, Natty    Happy Sunday and Happy Valentine's day everyone!
Love in the air especially on this day known as Valentine's day. Everywhere is decorated with roses, chocolates, candy, balloons and sweet pastries including donuts, macarons and cookies. Sharing sweet treats of any sort with a special person in your life is also extended to family, friends even your classmates. I was planning on sharing a Macaron recipe with you guys for this special occasion. The recipe itself is simple and makes these perfect little 2 bite treats. Unfortunately due to some technical difficulties( my oven thermometer is not working perfectly) the result was not exactly what I wanted. So I decided to hold back and put up the recipe only when I have taken care of my oven problems. Please allow me to share this picture of my Heart Shaped Macarons and say Happy Valentine's to all my readers. Thank you for sharing this amazing cooking journey with me over the past year. I hope today that you all are wrapped warmly in love with all the special people and even pets in your life " Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier." -- Mother Teresa Natty  Happy Sunday everyone! A sea of red surrounds us during the month of February as we participate on valentine's day and the celebration of the Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year does not fall on a particular day like other traditional holidays. It changes with the changing Chinese calendar. This year it is celebrated on Monday, February 8, 2016. Traditional celebrations of The Chinese New Year vary widely. Most Chinese families gather to have the meal as an annual reunion. They also pass around " The Red Envelope" between adults and kids which has money in it ( This was my favorite part as a child ). My family always celebrated with a traditional menu including - Stir-fried noodle with bean sprout and chive which symbolizes long life. - meat dishes consisting of chicken, pork and duck - A seafood dish usually with steamed white fish and soy sauce and ginger - Fruit - Sweet dishes: 
It is also traditional to clean your house right before the Chinese New Year. It is indicative of sweeping away illness, bad luck and any ill-fortune. This also prepares the family to welcome the good fortune and good luck that comes with the New Year. It is also Traditional to decorate the front of your house using red paper with the Chinese Symbol ( 新正如意 新年发财: ซินเจียยู่อี่ ซินนี้ฮวดใช้, for a positive fortune. I remember helping my mom sweep around the house the day before Chinese New Year. On the day of the new year we would not clean anything because we believe in keeping the good energy that comes through the house on the first day of the year. I decided to make Shortbread Cookies. This sweet treat in Chinese culture is symbolic of coating you with some sweetness from the sugar and dose of good luck. I added pecans, in Chinese pecans are symbolic of growing like the a bean plant. It sprouts toward the sky, growing high and tall. I decorated the cookies with the Chinese symbol for luck on it. I would like to share all the luck and good fortune with you all in this Chinese New Year.     My hometown of Nakhonsawan: Thailand, has a famous Paknampho Chinese New Year festival (Paknampho Chinese New Year100 : ตรุษจีนนครสวรรค์ 100 ปี สืบสานงานประเพณี แห่เจ้าพ่อ เจ้าแม่ปากน้ำโพ). We have the beautiful lion, dragon, and traditional Chinese dances during the Chinese New year celebration. 
I hope you enjoy the pictures that I have shared with you. Thank you for " The Paknampho Chinese New Year100 : ตรุษจีนนครสวรรค์ 100 ปี สืบสานงานประเพณี แห่เจ้าพ่อ เจ้าแม่ปากน้ำโพ" for the pictures.
Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog. "exchange the luck with one another" Natty |
AuthorHi, I am Natty! And Thank you for stopping by!! I am a foodie girl who has a passion for cooking, exercise and photography. There are so many favorite recipes from my family and friends I have tried throughout my journey that balances out and makes a healthy meal. I would like to take you on a journey to a different pantry around the world to share my favorite stories and recipes. My hope is that they inspire and benefit you. "You love someone, you open yourself up to suffering, that's the sad truth. Maybe they'll break your heart, maybe you'll break their heart and never be able to look at yourself in the same way. Those are the risks. That's the burden.Like wings, they have weight, we feel that weight on our backs, but they are a burden that lifts us. Burdens which allow us" Bones  Don't wait for the perfect moment,take the moment and make it perfect. - Zoey Sayward- Archives
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