I’ve been meaning to try Thai Basil for years and have never been yet. Now I must go. Thank you.
Where is it? This one in Sacramento?
The best Thai I’ve had. I suspect the one in Roseville may have changed hands. Haven’t been to the one on J St. for years but it used to be excellent.
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I’m only familiar with the one in J street. I understand the main chef is a bit of a sac city Thai icon. I do need to try it.
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I haven’t found this in local Asian markets (yet) aside from dried powdered. Is that even close to a substitute in recipes? I imagine that, like powdered lemongrass, it isn’t 
. FWIW I just bought some. Is galangal “paste” from Amazon for $12 worth it?
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Better to just use ginger.
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It’s usually in the freezer section when I’ve found it (and usually at a market that has enough Thai and Vietnamese groceries vs. mostly Chinese or mostly Korean). (I use ginger when I don’t have it, but I’ve never seen it in Thai beef salad, only garlic. Still, ginger never hurt anything in my book!)
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I really like preserved ginger in Asian salads and I have developed a method for quickly making your own (that is if you don’t care about the red color). Just put a couple of 1 inch thick pieces of peeled ginger in a cup of water and bring to a boil in the microwave. Drain, and repeat. At this point it should be easy to coarsely mince. Then put the mince in a half cup of water with a half cup of sugar (and maybe some rice vinegar if you want it a bit tangier), and again microwave to a boil. Let it cool while you prep your other ingredients and it will be ready when cool.
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from what I gather it is the galangal Christina has trouble getting, not ginger.
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I got that… was just offering up a nicely textured substitute that works well in salads. You could also cut back on the sugar and add cayenne or a variety of roasted pepper purees (and maybe some citrus zest) with the water to add the extra kick that galangal has. But I really like that ginger in my Asian salads so I offered up my method.
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Or perhaps Amazon?
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I purchased galangal at an Asian market. It was difficult to use. Very hard to mince. Need to learn more about it I guess. Paste sounds like an improvement.
Finest setting on a box grater, will finely shave it.
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How about a microplane?
If you have one , def.
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Thai beef salad is one of my favorite things to make for a party. I stock up on london broil when they are on sale and use that. Sous vide the london broil to 130s, and then sear the crap out of it in a grill then slice as thin as possible.
Sauce is fish sauce sugar, ginger garlic msg, lime zest/juice and chopped chili.
When I’m feeling fancy I’ll make some toasted rice powder but not always.
Toppings are some combination of any type(s) of lettuce, cilantro, basil, mint, cucumber, onion scallion shallot tomato.
It’s always a huge hit at parties.
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I think it’s hanger steak.
We could do a restaurant meet up with you, lectroid, Gooster, and any other sacramento region HOs some day.
