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April 10-16, 2008
buzz@boulderweekly.com
• The raw dish
A case for a raw-food diet
by Kim Pierce
• Ch-ch-ch-chia!
by Carolyn Poirot
Reliving through noodles
Chy Thai helps solve a culinary conundrum
by Clay Fong
For argument’s sake, let’s say you have a favorite dish from your childhood. Try as you might, you’ve failed to find a passable version of it in local eateries, and personal attempts to recreate in your own kitchen have flopped. The resulting conundrum then becomes whether you resign yourself to a life of eating second-rate interpretations or seek compromise in an altogether different dish that nevertheless possesses the endearing traits of your youthful favorite. One might also argue this conundrum might apply to less weighty matters such as choosing a mate.
Such has been the conundrum with some of the Chinese dishes that were part of my misspent youth. In more than 16 years in Colorado, I have yet to find a suitable plate of chow fun, the wide rice noodle dish celebrated in Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London.” A decent bok tong go, the sweet and slightly sour rice cake and pudding hybrid, has also proven elusive in these environs.
Thoughts of fun noodles and the handheld rice dessert that my dad would pick up for me as a special treat were far from my mind as I entered Boulder’s Chy Thai Cuisine restaurant. Located in a strip mall of recent vintage, the interior of this eatery emulates the swoopy modernism of a Tokyo Joe’s, or as I call it, “Chipotle-san.” However, Chy Thai’s ambitions and quality greatly exceed that of fast-casual establishments.
Consigliere Keith and I began our midweek lunch with the appropriately named $4.95 Royal Rolls appetizer. Resembling pale little cigars, this starter consisted of shrimp (the tail sticks out of one end) rolled up in a delicately fried and greaseless spring roll skin. The crunch of the coating meshed well with the firm and fresh-tasting crustaceans, making for a regally addictive experience.
Keith opted for a selection from the stir-fry menu, an $8.75 platter of chicken stir-fried in garlic and pepper sauce with onion, bell pepper, carrots and broccoli. The most distinctive quality of this dish was the surprisingly subtle flavors of garlic and pepper, which weren’t at all overwhelming. Keith described the mellow qualities of this dish as “exquisite.”
Less mellow was my pungent plate of $8.75 Drunken Noodles with chicken. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised by the level of heat inherent in a dish prepared with copious amounts of chili pepper. Nevertheless, the broad rice noodles had the bit of grease and chewy texture I associate with my favored chow fun. Thai basil, onion and bell pepper stood in for the black bean sauce associated with chow fun, and this fresh-tasting combination was nearly as compelling.
Our meal concluded with a $3.85 dessert of sticky rice and mango. The grains of rice bonded together in a gelatinous mass. Rather than finding these off-putting, I was transported back to the Sunday afternoons where I would enjoy a bok tong go fresh from a Chinatown market. A hint of coconut flavor in the rice, combined with the ripe and sweet mango made for a tropical delight.
This visit to Chy Thai yielded unexpected pleasures and a definitive answer to my culinary conundrum. Experiences with both the Drunken Noodles and the mango sticky rice dessert made me realize it’s better to embrace a new interpretation that captures the original’s spirit rather than a failed attempt at a faithful recreation.
Clay’s obscurity corner
Chinese desserts
In my opinion, dessert is the Achilles’ heel of Chinese cuisine. My appreciation for bok tong go comes more from sentiment than culinary merit, and I have to confess it’s hard for me to wax rhapsodic about other sweets like fried sesame balls, moon festival cakes stuffed with black bean paste, or springy black grass jelly. I can get most enthusiastic about mango puddings and the tiny custard pies known as “don tots,” which translates to “egg tarts.” But given a choice between these desserts and a slice of Breadworks chocolate mousse pie, the pie wins every time.
Chy Thai Cuisine
2720 Canyon Blvd.,
Boulder, 303-440-2903
Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com
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