Medium & A Pinch and Other Things that Shouldn't Go Together but Do

Some combinations are sound strange and yet they go together so well.

Potato Chips/French Fries on Deli Sandwiches.

Cheddar Cheese and Apple Pie.

Peanut Butter, Bacon and Bananas.

Salt and Melon.

Pickles and Ice Cream.

Penn and Teller.

(Not sure how that last one got in there!)

Another one of those wonderfully wacky (and incredibly tasty) combinations can be found at Bahn Thai.

Actually Bahn Thai is is a rather wacky, yet wonderful, place itself as it is located in a funky old hotel on the south end of Gville. In fact, due to it's arrangement in the hotel, BT has no windows, instead they have framed old Thai motif printed wrapping paper hanging where windows would be. It's awkward to be sure but the food is so good that no one cares.

I actually chose what would become my favorite item at Bahn Thai based on what sounded like a random combination of things.

Gang Kua w/ Tofu Red curry sauce with coconut milk along with tofu and sweet potato, pineapple, bean thread noodle, snap bean, asparagus and black mushroom.   

Yep, you heard right. Sweet potato AND Pineapple AND Asparagus? Whoa. Of course I had to order it. It was during the ordering process that things got even more wacky, wonderful and combination challenged.

See, Thai and American spice tolerance levels are quite different.  For some reason they forgot to put "Thai Hot" on the Scoville Scale but I'm pretty sure it falls in somewhere around 2,000,000 units. Phew. (and yes, I just made that measurement up, but it sounds reasonable, don't you think?)

Now most Thai restaurants have a "star scale" that you use to order how hot you want it. Five stars is "American Hot" and well, you just order Thai Hot if you are Thai. (my boy bestie is...so I've been this move in action) For reasons unknown to this customer Bahn Thai isn't a fan of the star system. Or at least the star scale was missing on the menu.

When asked by the owner/server how spicy I wanted my Gang Kua I said "two steps down from American Hot, please." She replied "ok, how about medium with a pinch?" "Sure." I innocently replied.

See all the red flakes on the top of my lovely meal? I'm guessing it was the "pinch." Let's just say medium is sufficiently spicy for this gal. However, I discovered the odd sounding combination of flavors actually go together beautifully, and if I killed a few taste buds while savoring the sweet, tangy, green, sour flavor profile so be it.

But next time Bahn Thai, just medium will do it.

Love to all,
~the weird combination loving gal, Jess