embrace thai thai

Happy Hannukah! I wish I could post a picture of my hannukah bling. Yes, I said bling, even though HC declared a moratorium on the term after her mom used it. I had a nice hannukah dinner the other night, and man, are potato latkes good or what? People should eat them all the time for breakfast, not just on holidays. Here's an awesome recipe, they're really easy (except for the frying, which is kind of a pain):

1 lb potatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil
Accompaniments: sour cream and applesauce
PreparationPreheat oven to 250°F.
Peel potatoes and coarsely grate by hand, transferring to a large bowl of cold water as grated. Soak potatoes 1 to 2 minutes after last batch is added to water, then drain well in a colander.
Spread grated potatoes and onion on a kitchen towel and roll up jelly-roll style. Twist towel tightly to wring out as much liquid as possible. Transfer potato mixture to a bowl and stir in egg and salt.
Heat 1/4 cup oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches of 4 latkes, spoon 2 tablespoons potato mixture per latke into skillet, spreading into 3-inch rounds with a fork. Reduce heat to moderate and cook until undersides are browned, about 5 minutes. Turn latkes over and cook until undersides are browned, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to paper towels to drain and season with salt. Add more oil to skillet as needed. Keep latkes warm on a wire rack set in a shallow baking pan in oven.

the key is the wringing out with the towel, you have to get all the water out. wring out the onions, too. and keep the heat up pretty high, but try not to let the oil smoke.

I need to reiterate, if you haven't been to Thai Thai Express in Pacific Rim plaza on stockton blvd, you really need to go! Unless your go to dish is pineapple fried rice and you're not into branching out. Their pad thai is really good if that's your dish. The other day we got the Thai Thai tom yum, and it has beef liver in it, along with other meats. The beef liver was ground and seasoned and it was so good! Not scary at all. They also often have pork giblets in their soups, which just seem like regular pork and shouldn't keep you from ordering the dishes. I love their papaya salad so much. They put salted crab, dried shrimp, and roasted peanuts in it.