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by Ron
Bechtol
10/2/2003
Thai
restaurants are popping up like straw mushrooms these days,
and the Medical Center area - broadly defined for these
purposes - is fast becoming a hotbed of phat vun sen and yum
nahm tok. Not to mention tom yum goong.
The
latest addition to the lineup, open about four months now, is
Jasmin Thai, a squeaky-clean establishment in a standard strip
center on Medical Drive between I-10 and Fredericksburg. (The
owners may be new here, but they had experience some years ago
at the old Bangkok on Highway 90.) The menu is relatively
simple, but it does offer some dishes not altogether standard
Siamese, among them, the green papaya salad. Available in a
"sweet" version with peanuts or in a more challenging
rendition with dried shrimp - one- or two-pepper spicy option
- the crisp, crunchy papaya is always a revelation, and the
insistent shrimp (yes, they are a little, er, fishy) add an
exotic tang to the total taste. Tomato and shredded carrot
complete the picture, totally cleansing your
palate.
Almost
as refreshingly clean are the summer rolls. Although some
versions in town have more delicately translucent rice
wrappers, these are more generously endowed with serious
shrimp, and the thin noodles and shredded vegetables are fresh
and appealing. The peanut sauce lacks subtlety as an
accompaniment (maybe it's the thick texture that seems
inappropriate), but those with a taste for Thai fish sauce
augmented with chiles may want to try that sizzler as a
drizzler; it definitely perks up the
proceedings.
A
couple of visits to Jasmin produced the observation that the
cuisine, at least as sampled, doesn't depend as heavily on the
sharp, citrusy flavors of lemon grass, kaffir lime leaf, and
galangal root we may be used to; it has, instead, a mellower,
sweeter cast. The gong keowan, a green curry with chicken or
beef, first signaled this shift. Served in a large bowl, the
curry had the appearance of a New England seafood chowder:
white and soupy with chicken breast, bamboo shoots, and green
beans bobbing about like lifeboats from a Thai Titanic.
Coconut milk was the main matrix, and its mellow flavor was a
good foundation for something more; the curry aspect was too
subtle for this taster, so I added more of the chile-spiked
fish sauce. A battery of add-ins automatically comes with the
Jasmin noodle soup, a cultural microcosm in a
bowl.
"In
Thailand, we would usually put in only one main ingredient,"
confided the hostess/owner, "but here ... " Here we expect
more, she was implying, and we get it, too. Shrimp, squid,
beef, chicken, mussels ... you name it, it's probably there.
And the result, surprisingly, is not a Thai Tower of Babel;
the flavors add up to one of the richest and most rewarding
soups I've had in a long time. Of course, there is the usual
unruly tangle of rice noodles to deal with - as well as the
plate of bean sprouts, cilantro, and shredded lettuce to
harvest - but the broth would have been exceptional without
added mulch, and the extra condiments (a classy, first-run
style fish sauce, peanuts, dried chiles, and even coarse
sugar) only enhanced already full flavors. Mellow, remember,
especially with the added sugar.
You
don't really need an appetizer with this super-scale soup, but
the tord mun, or Thai fish cakes, are sufficiently distinctive
should the urge arise. Hints of ginger infuse the patties -
just slightly chewy as is usually the case - and the
accompanying sliced cucumbers with sweetened vinegar and
toasted peanut provide pleasant
contrast.
The
most luxurious item on Jasmin's menu is the crab claws, and
they come two ways: with yellow curry or in an
uncharacteristic butter sauce. It took some prodding, but our
hostess finally admitted a preference for the yellow curry -
or at least she thought we would prefer it. Given their form
(the claw tips provide a perfect handle), this dish would also
make a great shared appetizer. As a main dish, it requires
work, even though the meat is already exposed. In either case,
the flavor of curry powder comes through, along with perhaps a
little dried shrimp and, again, a certain sweetness. Scallion
and, unusually, sliced celery (the Thais prefer a version that
is mostly leaf, we were told after inquiry) add their
influence as well. We liked it.
We also
liked the phat pick, a plate of tender, modestly spicy pork in
a great gravy. Sometimes gravy is all you really want, and
this was another of Jasmin's homey, satisfying plates.
However, it lacked that often-exciting contrast of citrus
against sharp, relying instead on bell pepper and onion to
round out the flavors. Again, great
gravy.
House-made
coconut ice cream is the staple dessert at Jasmin. Served, as
is tradition, with crumbled peanut, ours also came with a
cashew topknot; if you're sharing a bowl of the creamy
concoction you will have to figure out who gets it. The
seasonal mango with sticky rice, on the other hand, almost
begged to be shared; there was an entire, massive mango
(sliced) alongside the rice. The contrast between this
brilliantly colored and exquisitely perfumed fruit and its
almost vegetable-like, but equally rewarding, green form
couldn't have been more telling. There are lessons to be
learned here, and I don't mean just culinary ones.
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