Currying My Favor
Empanada Boy and I went to Madison after work on Saturday (yes, we both had to work) to meet his new nephew. Popcorn Princess and Drumstix had their first child on Thursday, and we couldn’t wait to meet him. It was also my first time meeting EB’s new niece who was born a little more than a week earlier to his sister French Vanilla and her husband Beer-Boiled Brat. It was baby city in the Empanada family! I was proud to accompany the younger of the two cousins to his first restaurant. Feeling like some warm, flavorful food, EB, Popcorn Princess, Drumstix and I took him to the family favorite Sa-Bai Thong. EB says this has been one of his favorite Madison restaurants since it opened. And with good reason; this is adventurous, authentic Thai food in a classy, but unassuming, location.
EB, Popcorn and Drumstix started things off with delicious Thai iced coffees enriched with sweetened condensed milk. EB commented on how difficult it was to keep any of his in the glass until the food arrived. But when the food did come, it immediately took center stage. EB and I have been seriously into Asian soups lately. We stuck to that trend, ordering what turned out to be some of the most flavorful and varied soups I’ve tried. My selection (pictured here) was Suki-num. It was a clear broth spiced with the traditional soy-chili Suki sauce. Floating in the broth were translucent mung bean noodles and beautiful slices of celery, bok choy, Napa cabbage and green onion. An egg dropped in and cooked by the hot broth added excellent texture and depth of flavor. I chose shrimp as my other optional protein. Empanada Boy’s Tom Ka soup was made with a chili-spiced coconut milk broth. It had fragrant lemongrass, galanga and cilantro along with earthy sliced mushrooms. He selected calamari to be added to the mix. These marvelously complex soups were the perfect thing on that grey day. Needless to say, EB and I almost finished every last drop.
Sa-Bai Thong is also known for its curries, which Popcorn Princess and Drumstix say they can almost never avoid ordering when they come. PP’s order shown here is called Pa-Naeng. It is a bold red curry mixed with peanut sauce zucchini, peas and pleasantly firm tofu. Chicken and shrimp are also options. Drumstix ordered another vibrant vegetable curry with a creamier texture and the same fluffy tofu.
This was a delicious meal that hit the spot. I felt full in a good way as we paid the bill and picked up my future nephew who had been sleeping in his car seat throughout the meal. I can’t wait to come back to Sa-Bai Thong with him when he can sit, talk and eat this delicious food with the rest of us!
Sa-Bai Thong
6802 Odana Rd.
Madison, WI 53719
608.828.9565
Auntie Pasti said,
November 26, 2007 @ 9:26 pm
I guess the niece and nephew are going to need their own blog-names. You might need to publish a family tree.
Mango Lassie said,
November 26, 2007 @ 11:02 pm
The niece and nephew are a little to young to be given food names because all they eat is mother’s milk at this point. Empanada Boy and I have discussed the idea of a family tree or a list of names before. I’m going to work on something along these lines to be published soon.
Empanada Boy said,
December 3, 2007 @ 12:34 am
If I hadn’t filled up so much on everything else we order I would insisted that we order the mango & sticky dessert that Sa-Bai Thong offers. SO delicious. It’s sweet sticky rice and ripe mango drizzled with coconut milk and topped with roasted sesame seeds. Extremely simple dessert, but there have been few deserts I’ve had, no matter how elaborate, that I’ve liked as much.