Friday, July 11, 2008

All Thai'ed up

I've been feeling quite poorly this week, and whenever I'm ill I crave hot, spicy food to clear those sinuses. I have been pretty impressed with the standard of Southeast Asian food in Sydney, but this week Nav & Bing (hi guys!) pointed me to a little gem.


Spice I Am on Wentworth Ave is, as Nav described it to me, a "hole in the wall" - in the middle of the backpackers' district near Central Station, on a road full of motorbike shops. Every single guidebook raves about its very authentic Thai food, and I definitely satisfied my craving. To start, a green papaya salad:




I have a small obsession with papaya salads, which equals my obsession with pho, and this was probably one of the best I've ever eaten. It was very spicy, with a good balance from the sour lime juice, crunchy peanuts, and salty dried shrimp. Zingy is the only way to describe it, and thank goodness I inherited some of my mum's immunity to chilli.

I had a tough choice for main, and settled for their signature Crispy Pork Belly (called something like Prim Prik Pork, which sounds rude).

This was basically belly pork smothered in curry paste and deep/stir fried with kaffir lime leaves, chilli, and green beans. It's a little too crunchy in places (and therefore a bit overcooked), but what a fab idea. The beans also perfectly set off the fattiness of the pork. There was way too much food so I took it home, and it is great finger food if you leave it on your kitchen counter and nibble a bit every time you walk past :D

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