Bangkok Four catering to the Thai-food craze

Greer Wylder

Studies from the National Restaurant Assn. show that Thai food is one

of country’s fastest-growing nontraditional ethnic cuisines.

Thai cuisine has grabbed the attention of Orange County. In the

past few decades more than 70 local Thai restaurants have opened. At

the family-owned Bangkok Four restaurant, you can find Thailand’s

complex cuisine in a prime South Coast Plaza location. The modern,

elegant restaurant features floor-to-ceiling windows, and stark white

and crisp pale blue interiors. At lunch, Bangkok Four caters to a

hurried business crowd; at dinner, the ambience is better suited for

romantic, stress-free dining.

Its sister restaurant, Bangkok Five on Highway 111 in Rancho

Mirage, was rated by Palm Springs Life Magazine as “one of the most

highly recommended restaurants in the desert.” Only Bangkok Four and

Five are extant -- the Taechanarong family closed the first three

restaurants.

Thai cuisine shares Southeast Asian ingredients, cooking methods

and serving practices. It has both Chinese and Indian influences,

with its own twist of culinary individuality. Common regional

ingredients include rice, noodles and curries; similar cooking

methods are deep-frying and stir-frying. And, as with other Asian

cuisines, there are no courses.

There are three principles of Thai cooking: A Thai meal is served

all at once; diners can taste complementary combinations; each dish

and complete meals must have harmony, for both taste and textures.

Rice makes the foundation of the meal, while noodles play a secondary

role. Curries and other spicy dishes flavor cool rice, and since

meats are costly in Thailand, compared to Western expectations

they’re added sparingly. Thais also have Buddhist influences, so they

avoid adding large chunks of meats, favoring smaller shredded pieces

mixed with fresh herbs and spices.

Distinct Thai flavors come from indigenous produce and spices:

tamarind, galangal (Thai ginger), Thai basil, and palm sugar. Coconut

milk, an essential Thai ingredient, mellows flavors, adds interesting

richness and smoothes sauces. Important aromas and flavors come from

fresh lemongrass stalks, sliced and crushed for soups, sauces and

teas, citrus-floral flavored kaffir lime leaves and fiery hot

chilies. Those ingredients enrich the spicy, salty, sour and sweet

dishes.

While many Thai restaurants try fusion dishes, Bangkok Four offers

authentic Thai cuisine. The kitchen will not use MSG, preferring top

ingredients for delicious tastes. And dishes can be regulated for

spicy flavors -- servers will ask for heat preferences on a scale of

one to 10, or offer suggestions for beginners. Aromatic jasmine rice

accompanies dishes.

The most famous starter dishes at Bangkok Four include the coco

shrimp, tempura-style black tiger prawns with shredded coconut and

toasted sesame seeds, served with a spicy ginger sauce ($7.95). And,

Mom’s dumplings -- created by the Taechanarong family’s grandmother

-- are steamed dumplings filled with seasoned shrimp, Shiitake

mushrooms, ginger and served with spicy ginger sauce ($7.95). Thai

sticks are skewers of grilled chicken, beef and pork, topped with

curried peanut sauce ($7.95).

Soup choices include hot and sour shrimp soup (tom yom goong) with

straw mushrooms and lemongrass ($5.75), and a spicy, rich coconut

broth soup (tom kha kai) that has sliced chicken breast, kaffir lime

leaves and mushrooms ($4.95). Six salad selections include som tom, a

light shredded green papaya with crisp green beans, tomatoes, nuts

served with a spicy lime and chili garlic dressing ($4.75) and Thai

salad, a simple green leaf salad, with wedges of egg, peanut dressing

and crisp taro root chips ($5.75).

As with most upscale Thai restaurants, its signature dish includes

the whole catfish (pla duug), prepared crispy on the outside,

juxtaposed by a steamy moist and tender inside ($17.95). The

farm-raised fish comes covered with a Thai chili garlic sauce, mixed

with a combination of cilantro and lemongrass. The crispy duck (ped

op) is marinated, then steamed and finally glazed with a sweet plum

sauce ($16.95).

Its most famous Thai noodles (pad Thai) are stir-fried with

chicken, egg, sprouts and toasted ground peanuts served on the side

($11.95). Thai beer (Singha), a strong malt beer, goes well with

spicy dishes ($3.50). Dessert choices include excellent homemade

coconut ice cream with a fritter banana, green tea or mango ice

cream.

* BEST BITES runs every Friday. Greer Wylder can be reached at

greerwylder@yahoo.com; at 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; or by

fax at (949) 646-4170.