EGR: Thai it! You'll like it!

You'd better be careful with this recipe- its soooo tasty, you'll want it every week!  The blend of flavors, the crunchy veggies, the crispy omelet, and the piping hot rice make for an amazing combination!  I fell in love with this dish when we were traveling through Thailand and rolled into Surin late one night on a bus.  We sat down at an outdoor restaurant, with elephants rambling peacefully through the streets and had this- omelets and hot sauce over rice.  Amazing!  Back in Bangkok, I practically lived on this dish from street vendors- they would cook it up lightning fast in huge woks over propane tanks, and we'd sit on the busy sidewalks feasting and watching the world go by.  Everything we ate was amazing: quail eggs, rice porridge, fried tapioca root, papaya salad, cabbage & rice stew- if we had stayed any longer, I probably would have eaten up all the food in the country!

Here is our attempt to recreate the feeling of busy Bangkok sidewalks and Surin cafes:

1. Gather up some carrots, green beans, onions, chilies, garlic, and eggs.

 

 2. Find some tamari (gluten-fee soy sauce), lime juice, and sesame seed oil (optional, but tasty and aromatic)

 

 3. Chop everything up!  I remove the seeds and insides from the peppers, so that they don't knock your socks off.  (I snuck some basil leaves in here as well- very yummy in the stir fry, if you can get your hands on some).  It seems like all of my recipes start with "gather up some stuff and chop it up".  Cooking is pretty simple, when you think of it like that!

 

 

4. Beat the eggs two at a time for the omelets.

5. Heat up some canola oil in a big pan or wok over medium heat.

6. Toss the "thick" veggies (the carrots and the beans) into the wok, saute, sprinkle liberally with tamari, and cover so that they steam. 

 

 

7. Now, add the rest of the veggies and sprinkle with lime juice and drizzle with a bit of sesame oil, if you like.  Continue to saute/steam all the veggies together until they reach the ideal crispiness for you.

 

Tah-dah!

 

8. Now, for the omelet!  Yipee!  Heat up a whole bunch of oil over medium heat in a shallow frying pan (don't freak out- you won't be ingesting all that oil!).  The key here is to make sure that the oil really is hot before you poor the egg in.  If it's not hot enough, the egg will still cook and be yummy, but it won't crisp up as nicely.  Once the oil is nice and hot (give it plenty of time!), pour in the eggs, and watch it do its stuff!  It's amazing what an egg can do- they are sooo versatile!  Flip it over a few times until both sides are lightly browned.  Then blot it on paper towels and serve.

Dinner is served!  You should "thai" it- you'll like it!