January 13, 2009
The Sidewalk from Song Kran Almost Makes Me Want to Cook
"I'm going to Song Kran," announced Ed around lunch time. "Does anyone want anything?"
As I slowly swiveled my head to the right to answer Ed, Erin simultaneously glanced towards me from her desk situated diagonally across from mine. Her face broke into a grin just before she guffawed. Because she knew—she knew I was going to say, "YES, GET ME A SIDEWALK." And then I did.
- Did I eat this in 10 minutes? Something like that.
I tore into my container of spiced minced chicken about 10 seconds after Ed returned with the goods. As its meaty fumes wafted around the office, Erin IM-ed me:
"smells soo good
I wish I ordered the walk of side"
And the walk of side wished it was in your belly, Erin.
Oh yeah, what the hell is the Sidewalk? Familiarize yourself by reading Adam's confession of Sidewalk addiction on Serious Eats: New York. I shall gank his description:
Sidewalk is ground chicken with string beans, Thai basil, onion, red bell pepper and chili sauce, served with a fried egg and rice. The vegetables always taste fresh and hover somewhere between sautédom and crunchdom. The egg is over easy, with the yolk running and mixing with the rice and chicken component, giving the dish a slightly richer feel.
The crispy fried egg elevates this dish by 100 imaginary "delicious" points, by the way. It's a nice extra you can alternate with the mouthfuls of chicken. If you're like me, you might think, "Oh, and what do we have here, A FUCKING FRIED EGG, YEEEAAAH!" while excitedly piercing the egg's belly with your fork prongs to unleash a river of rich, bright yellow yolk...
...If you're normal, you'll probably eat it in silence.
Sidewalk is Song Kran's (the closest Thai restaurant to my office) name for Gai Pad Grapow/Krapow as far as I can tell. (A more Thai cuisine-knowledgeable person could help me out here.) And for once in my culinary arts-devoid life, seeing the recipe makes me want to learn how to cook it...so I can make a giant bucket of it and eat it for cheaps. The main reason I don't show up at Song Kran's door every day is because of the Sidewalk's $9 price tag, which is a splurge for lunch (it comes with a nice little salad at least). But since I didn't spend any money on food yesterday, I felt like today was the time to indulge in in brief moment of mouth tingling, chicken bits-based happiness.
Unfortunately, I only have two of the 11 ingredients listed in that recipe. It's also not worth it for me to make a huge batch of any dish since lunch and dinner opportunities outside of my kitchen pop up constantly, causing my refrigerator to be less a place to keep food fresh, more a place where food can rot in a closed environment without stinking up the rest of my apartment. (On that note, if my roommate Chris is reading this, I won't actually leave anything to rot in the fridge. DON'T WORRY!)
I'll have to have a Gai Pad Grapow-making party at some point. Accompanied by a viewing of Robocop. For no good reason.
Address
Song Kran
330 8th Ave
New York, NY 10001
Posted by roboppy at 5:32 PM
Comments (32)
That looks so yummy. It's torture reading your blog here in Los Angeles.
Posted by: Drea at January 13, 2009 6:49 PM [#]
Even though I am nearly 3000 miles away (I live in Modesto, CA) I wish I could have lunch with you.
Posted by: Rose at January 13, 2009 7:34 PM [#]
glad you appreciate the wonder that is ROBOCOP.
Posted by: Kate at January 13, 2009 7:41 PM [#]
I'm going to try this on Thursday. Your photography is excellent!
Posted by: ray at January 13, 2009 10:31 PM [#]
Oxen Cox: I LOOOOVE BIBIMBOP, especially the hot stone bowl kind.
Alex: I've never actually eaten in there, only gotten take out. Maybe I should..actually eat in there some day.
Drea: You must have good Thai food there too I hope? ;_;
Rose: COME OVER HERE, I LOVE FOODING BUDDIIIESS!! Why hasn't teleportation been invented yet?
Kate: Actually...I've never seen it before So I've been advised to watch it. When, I do not know.
Su-Lin: We can learn together. While cooking a gazillion miles apart from each other!
Ray: YAY, I HAVE INFLUENCED YOU! Glad you like the photo. :)
I love all the "photos."
I'm going to try Taim as well as part of my multi-course, multi-restaurant lunch on Thursday. Yeah, it's like that ;)
Posted by: ray at January 13, 2009 11:57 PM [#]
EEEEKH! That's actually kind of pricey for that. MOOO!
Posted by: Jason at January 14, 2009 4:46 PM [#]
I poach an egg in my instant ramen soup and eat most of the noodles and the egg white. Then, with great relish, I spear the remaining yolk with my chopsticks so it oozes and coats the remaining strands of noodle, and bask in the canary yellow glory and slurp zealously. /excessive wingnuttiness.
Here is my insanity, let me show you it.
Egg yolk + carbs = good.
Posted by: SuperChomp at January 14, 2009 8:37 PM [#]
^LOL I eat instant ramen the EXACT same way!
Egg yolk just makes (almost) everything better :)
Posted by: Jane H. at January 14, 2009 10:02 PM [#]
^I eat instant ramen the EXACT same way! Egg yolk
just seems to make any carby dish better :)
Posted by: Jane H. at January 14, 2009 10:05 PM [#]
i beg to differ, a normal person wouldn't eat that in silence...at least not in an ideal world
Posted by: Eric at January 14, 2009 10:31 PM [#]
Ray: I approve of this multi course and restaurant lunch.
Jason: Yeeah, it feels like htat. All the lunch specials...cost the same. Hm. I guess dinner is more expensive then, BOO.
SuperChomp: I've never done that with ramen. :O I like hard boiled eggs better most of the time, but that's a good idea..
Eric: Hmmm well, I'll say making "mmmm nom nom" sounds is in the realm of normal behavior, but speaking full sentences to your food, less so.
Even after a lifetime of watching my mother create perfect, crunchy fried eggs with nice runny yolks... served with some soy sauce and a bowl of fluffy rice, yummmm... I still have yet to accomplish cooking up one of these culinary miracles myself. Oh, the humanity...
- S
Oh Robyn, how you tug at my heart strings (which are conveniently connected to my tummy strings). I grew up on white rice topped with a fried egg, soy sauce, and any salty meat product we could find around the house. I still add a fried egg to almost every rice and ramen dish. My friends find it odd, but I usually slam my fists and end up shouting, "Eggs aren't only for breakfast, DAMN IT!!!" before doing that dramatic move where I look at a mirror and realize the monster that I have become. But I digress.
Anyways, I haven't commented in a long while so I thought I'd drop by and tell you that you're still my fave food blogger ever.
RoboCop: [after shooting perp in groin] Your move, creep.
Posted by: Robocop at January 15, 2009 4:18 PM [#]
"...If you're normal, you'll probably eat it in silence."
Haha...I don't think I ever eat in silence...
Posted by: Kate at January 15, 2009 11:11 PM [#]
Steph: I cooked a fried egg today that looked like a cat attacked it. Definitely do not have my egg frying technique down. CAN YOUR MOM GIVE ME SOME TIPS?
Ace: The heart strings are totally connected to the tummy strings.
I didn't really grow up eating egg with rice and Asian condiments, but I'm getting into that groove now. I grew up eating a lot of egg sandwiches...which is so not the same thing. Booo.
I am honored to be the favorite food blogger of someone who ate the whole KFC FULLY LOADED BOX MEAL!!! Seriously, I can't compete with that.
Robocop: FOR THE LAST TIME, LEAVE ME ALONE.
Edd: For better or worse, Thai places are like the new Chinese take out in NYC. I can think of a couple of places withing walking distance of my office (although I can think of even more Chinese take outs, haha). I'd rather have more good sandwich shops though.. :[
Kate: If I'm alone, I probably chew and slurp too loudly. Or when I'm not alone. Oops.
hey it's emma that chick who emailed you about food in NYC and is in phoenix... i just finished reading your phoenix entries and YUM sounds like you did a good job here lol. i'm surprised you didn't get the sopprasata sandwich at pane though - it's NOMMY delicious. the first time we went they were out of the lamb, since we went like half an hour before they closed. shitty, we were way disappointed. BUT it was holiday season and our free desserts were peppermint-white chocolate covered thin crispy chocolate cookies that were AWESOME
now i want to go back to bianco.... it's been a couple months, haha.
Posted by: emm at January 17, 2009 8:03 PM [#]
Robyn, Howdy! The dish you had eaten is Pad Kra Pow Gai. It is actually very easy to make. You should def try to make it at home. $9 for that is too pricey. Depending on your heat tolerance, you should use Thai's bird eye in the dish. It is extremely good in weather like this. Dreaming that I am in Bangkok now...........
Posted by: reese at January 18, 2009 8:02 PM [#]
Ulla: I hope you go eat it!...or make it yourself. :D
emm: LAMB WAS SOOO GOOD. YOU MUST GO BACK AND GET LAAAMMMBBB!! And it's always time to go back to Bianco.
reese: Yeah, I really ought to make myself a giant pot of this. Arrrgh! Yet all I made tonight was instant ramen. Fail.
This looks excellent and reminds me of getting street food every day in Chiang Mai. Excuse me one moment I'm covered in drool.
Anyway if this is Gai Pad Kha Prao (it sounds like it), it contains Thai Holy Basil (Kha Prao) and not normal Thai Basil (Horapa); it gives a much more peppery and less aniseedy flavour. If you ever do that cooking party make sure you get the real shit, it will be worth it!
Cheers for the great article anyway.
Posted by: Matthew at January 21, 2009 7:24 AM [#]
Jesus H.
Sulineats twittered this and of course I had some come check it out and see what it is and now I want to learn how to make it. Damn it. DAMN.
And whoa... there is another "reese" up there in your comments. WHOA... I so rarely meet another one with this name! Maybe I need to get out more.
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One of my favorite Korean dishes, bi bim bop, implements the yummy fried egg. I agree the yolky-ness adds mucho deliciousness to the dish. I think of covering my boyfriend with egg yolk when I'm mad at him. I think it would curb the anger.
Posted by: Oxen Cox at January 13, 2009 6:25 PM [#]