Page 4C
East Oregonian
EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE
Saturday, January 21, 2017
A world of wonders in Thailand
By COURTNEY BONNELL
Associated Press
BANGKOK — Trudging
up a lush mountainside to
a remote village, plunging
through a swift-moving river
in the footsteps of elephants
and cruising Bangkok’s
gleaming luxury malls —
with each step, I walked into
different worlds, each one
beautiful, all in Thailand.
Don’t forget glittering
temples,
bustling
night
markets and world-famous
Thai massages to soothe
weary muscles.
BANGKOK
The capital’s malls and
markets are endless, from
Siam Paragon, filled with
designer brands and an
upscale food court, to stands
of cheap goods where souve-
nir-seekers haggle over the
price of utensils, bracelets and
trinkets. After dark, the night
markets come alive, bustling
with shoppers grabbing cheap
sunglasses and shoes while
families and friends enjoy
soups and curries in more
bearable heat.
Bangkok is also famous
for its opulent temples,
including Wat Pho, Temple
of the Reclining Buddha, with
its stair-step monuments to
royalty called chedis, similar
to stupas. The centerpiece is
a massive horizontal Buddha,
its gold girth touching the
temple walls from end to end.
Next door at the white-
walled Grand Palace complex,
black-clad mourners waited
in snaking lines to pay their
respects to King Bhumibol
Adulyadej. The beloved leader
died in October after a 70-year
reign — his image ubiquitous
on billboards and shrines.
The complex also houses
Thailand’s
most
sacred
temple, Wat Phra Kaew,
or Temple of the Emerald
Buddha, with sparkling, gold-
decked buildings. The surprise
was the size of the famed
Buddha figure, carved from
jade and dressed in gold, but
just 26 inches high.
CHIANG MAI
Chiang Mai’s walled old
city houses more famous
temples, including Wat Chedi
Luang. Its towering red brick
is worn to black, its steps have
all but crumbled, but stone
dragons still stand guard.
My
favorite
temple,
moss-covered Wat Pha Lat, is
AP Photo/Courtney Bonnell
In this Dec. 5, 2016 photo, long-tail boats sit near a small beach on Ko Phi Phi Leh, an island off the southwestern
coast of Thailand. The smaller of the Phi Phi Islands is a tourist hotspot for its beautiful water, party atmosphere
and famed Maya Bay, where the movie “The Beach” was filmed.
AP Photo/Courtney Bonnell
AP Photo/Courtney Bonnell
In this Dec. 9, 2016 photo, monks teach schoolchildren
religious incantations at Wat Pho, or the Temple of the
Reclining Buddha, in Bangkok.
In this Nov. 29, 2016 photo, elephants cross a riv-
er at the Elephant Nature Park outside Chiang Mai,
Thailand.
tucked in a forest just outside
Chiang Mai. From the univer-
sity, I got there by hiking
Monks Trail, which is marked
by strips of orange fabric.
Head farther up the mountain
to popular Doi Suthep temple
or hail a songthaew, a shared
taxi.
Hungry after hiking? Hit
the street vendors and restau-
rant options that abound back
in the tourist center: vege-
and I booked an ecotour trek
and overnight home stay in a
village some 4½ hours away
in the Mae Hong Son region.
The Karen ethnic group
lives there, farming rice and
cabbage on vibrant green
hillsides. Our guides cut down
wild passion fruit for us to
sample, pointed out spiders
as big as a hand and chopped
bamboo to whittle into cups.
After reaching the mountain-
tarian-friendly green curried
rice, fried mushrooms and
pad thai, plus plenty of beef
and pork speared on sticks for
meat-eaters. To cool off from
the heat or spice, try fresh-
cranked pomegranate juice or
coconut ice cream.
TREKKING
Chiang Mai is the jump-
ing-off point for trekking,
elephant tours and other
outdoor adventure. A friend
tops near the Myanmar border
and making it to the village,
we used those cups to slug
homemade rice liquor.
We set up a bed of blankets
on the wooden floor and
rested between bags of rice
as our hosts cooked dinner in
a hearth built into the floor.
Sleeping in a home open to
the elements was the only
time I got cold on the trip,
and the only place I skipped
A little beer is a lot of flavor
in these Super Bowl sliders
By SARA MOULTON
Associated Press
Big provisions are required
to watch the big game, and
nothing’s more substantial
than a burger, even in its
mini-form — the slider.
Indeed, if you plan to serve
a variety of dishes for the
Super Bowl, sliders are more
sensible than the full-sized
guys. But they happen to be
a little trickier to cook than
a standard-issue burger. The
slider’s size makes it tough to
put a nice crust on the outside
while ensuring that it doesn’t
overcook on the inside.
These sliders are adapted
from a burger I used to
make at a bar in Ann Arbor,
Michigan, called the Del
Rio — my first job as a cook.
Dubbed the Det Burger, this
marvel was dreamed up before
I landed at the Del Rio by a
cook named Bob Detweiler,
who baptized the creation
after himself. The heart of the
original version was a quarter-
pounder topped by “the Det
mix” — canned mushrooms,
canned olives, grilled onions,
freeze-dried green peppers
and slices of cheese.
But there also was a secret
ingredient: beer. The Det
Burger was steamed in beer.
If it wasn’t quite “the burger
that made Ann Arbor famous,”
it was undeniably a city-wide
favorite.
A generation later, I
assembled the same winning
combo of ingredients —
though in a fresher form
— and then focused on the
cooking process to make sure
that these mini-burgers ended
up both juicy and crusty.
There are a few key points
to preparing Beer-Steamed
Cheese and Mushroom Beef
AP Photo/Matthew Mead
Beer steamed cheese and mushroom beef sliders.
Sliders.
First, the sliders need to be
about 3/4 inch thick, not only
so they don’t overcook, but
also so you can fit all of them
at one time into the skillet.
Second, the skillet needs to
be large, a 12-incher. If you
don’t have a skillet that big,
use two smaller ones and cook
six sliders in each. And third,
whichever skillet you use, the
oil must be heated until it’s
almost smoking. At the start,
you want the burgers to sear,
not steam, which is what will
happen if the pan isn’t hot
enough.
At first, the sliders will
be crowded together in the
skillet, but they’ll shrink down
as they cook, giving off fat
and juices in the process. You
deglaze the pan with beer,
of course, which mingles
intimately with the fat and
juices released by the burgers
to create a delectable pan
sauce.
I recommend spooning
some of this liquid onto
the buns before sliding in
the burgers, but my son
proposes a more extravagant
way to roll: pour the sauce
into ramekins and invite
your guests to dunk their
sliders into it between bites.
Whatever happens onscreen,
you’ll be winning at home.
———
Sara Moulton is host of
public television’s “Sara’s
Weeknight Meals.” She was
executive chef at Gourmet
magazine for nearly 25 years
and spent a decade hosting
several Food Network shows.
a shower, passing up a tub of
chilly water in an outhouse
with a squat toilet.
ELEPHANTS
I wanted to enjoy these
majestic creatures, iconic in
Thailand but often exploited,
in an ethical way. The
Elephant Nature Park allowed
us to travel alongside them,
not on their backs. We kept
them moving through the
jungle by thrusting bananas
and melon into their eagerly
outstretched trunks. It was
surreal and a bit unnerving as
we led four mostly blind and
elderly female elephants on a
muddy, uneven path, trying
to keep our balance while
avoiding their feet. In another
part of the sanctuary, we got a
peek at a baby elephant.
PHI PHI ISLANDS
After trekking, we looked
forward to decompressing on
an otherworldly beach on the
Phi Phi Islands — pronounced
“pee pee.” But rain was falling
as we arrived and promised
not to let up.
Instead of the party-hearty
main town on Ko Phi Phi
Don, the largest island, we
opted for a secluded resort. A
long-tail boat plowed through
choppy waters to get us there,
leaving us windblown and wet
from ocean spray and rain as
we tried to photograph the
green-topped rock rising from
the Andaman Sea.
The weather cooperated
enough the next day for a
group tour to the smaller
island, Koh Phi Phi Leh, and
its hotspot, Maya Bay, which
is breathtaking but overrun
after the movie “The Beach”
made it famous. Even early
in the day, it was tough to find
a spot free of people posing
with selfie sticks.
Nearby, we reveled in an
empty swath of sand framed
by cliffs before winding
through rock formations to the
Blue Lagoon, a green-walled
swimming hole packed with
tourist boats.
After the beaches and long
days in the devout atmosphere
of temples, without blinking,
our nights turned to buying
knockoffs of favorite over-
priced sandals, swigging 70
baht ($2) beer and watching
men in elaborate makeup and
sequined ball gowns perform
a dance in a packed outdoor
market.
That’s Thailand, country of
contrasts.
BEER-STEAMED CHEESE AND
MUSHROOM BEEF SLIDERS
Start to finish: 50 minutes
Makes 12 sliders
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• ½ cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 3 ounces mushrooms (white, cremini or
shiitake), finely chopped
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped pitted green
olives
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped, drained,
canned green chilies
• 3 ounces sliced sharp cheddar cheese,
broken into 12 equal pieces
• 1 ½ pounds ground beef, shaped into 12
sliders, each about ¾ inch thick
• Ground black pepper
• ⅓ cup beer
• 12 slider buns
In a large (at least 12-inch) skillet over
medium, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the
onion and cook until golden, about 8 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the onion to a
bowl. Add another tablespoon of the oil to the
pan, the mushrooms and a hefty pinch of salt.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid the
mushrooms give off has evaporated, about 5
minutes. Transfer the mushrooms to the bowl
with the onion. Reserve the skillet.
Add the olives and chilies to the mushroom
mixture and stir well. Set aside.
Return the skillet to high heat. Add the
remaining tablespoon of oil and wait until it is
almost smoking. Meanwhile, season the sliders
on one side with salt and pepper. When the oil
is hot, add the sliders, seasoned side down (it
will be a little crowded in the pan), and cook
them until they are just browned on the first
side, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle the top side of
each with salt and pepper, turn the sliders over
and cook for another 2 minutes.
While the sliders are browning, top
each slider with a heaping teaspoon of the
mushroom mixture, dividing all of the mixture
among the sliders, then place a piece of cheese
on top of each. Quickly pour the beer into the
pan, all around the sliders, cover the pan and
steam for 2 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let the sliders sit in the
pan for another minute to let the cheese melt
completely. Spoon some of the liquid in the skillet
onto the tops and bottoms of the buns, transfer the
sliders to the buns and serve right away.
Nutrition information per slider: 280
calories; 120 calories from fat (43 percent of
total calories); 13 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans
fats); 45 mg cholesterol; 370 mg sodium; 23 g
carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 3 g sugar; 16 g protein.