It’s still hot right now, but the smell of roasting chiles and the sight of plump Palisade peaches at roadside stands means that our summer days are dwindling.
That fleeting moment is something that chefs across the state try to capture in their seasonal menus by incorporating both of these Colorado specialties. But they’re not often seen in restaurants that focus on Chinese, Vietnamese or Thai cuisine.
At Taste of Thailand, 2120 S. Broadway, owners Rick and Noy Farrell know that sweetness and heat are two of the bedrocks of Thai cuisine, though, which is why they celebrate every year with a special menu that features Palisade peaches and Pueblo green chiles in classic dishes.
Take the ginger-peach stir fry, a late-summer version of the restaurant’s year-round ginger chicken; it has onion, green bell pepper, a handful of veggies and glorious matchsticks of ginger, sautéed with slices of Palisade peach and a choice of protein. The peaches meld easily with the fragrant, garlicky sauce, creating layers of playful flavors.
The Farrells caught the late-summer green chile wave in the late 1980s while living among Federal Boulevard’s legendary chile stands and soon came up with the idea of tossing them into a pad kra prow, a spicy chicken stir fry with basil. So when they opened Taste of Thailand in 1994 — using recipes and techniques from Noy’s homeland — they put it on the menu.
Although the Farrells used Hatch chiles from New Mexico at the beginning, they later switched to green chiles grown in Colorado, around Pueblo. “It seems to us the Pueblo chiles are a little thicker, a little more meaty, than the Hatch,” Rick said.
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“We cut it in big chunks so you can taste the chile,” Noy added. “We want to get the flavor of the whole chile.”
Like the peaches, green chiles harmonize well with Thai food. The chile basil eggplant dish exemplifies this: One bite could yield a tender chunk of eggplant in a rich, while another might give you a mouthful of velvety green chile — and a little bit of a kick.
The couple also adds some ingredients from their own summer garden, like picked-that-morning Thai basil or cherry tomatoes.
The “Rocky Mountain Thai” menu at Taste of Thailand runs as long as the kitchen can get Palisade peaches and fresh-roasted chiles, usually through September, Rick said, although the peppers often remain on the menu into October. Other dishes include peach prio can, chile peach stir, chile pad kee mao and chile kow pad kra prow.