The Chef’s Table – ‘Some Like it Hot’ at Thai Ploy Restaurant
I’m a big fan of Thai food. While living in Seattle, I found a certain comfort in always being just a few steps away from the sweet, savory and fresh flavors found in the city’s countless Thai restaurants. Now that I’m a full-time Walla Walla resident, you can probably guess how I feel to have, once again, a choice of Thai cafés in my own backyard. Who says you can’t have it all?
Behind the walls of its unassuming brick facade, Thai Ploy restaurant consistently serves a variety of traditional Thai dishes in a large, colorful dining room adorned with rich wood paneling and traditional Thai artwork. From exotic soups, salads and noodle dishes to spicy curry and seafood entrees, Thai Ploy’s menu conveniently bridges the nearly 8,000-mile divide between Walla Walla and Bangkok.
Song Suriyo and Ploy Noisri
Owned by Ploy Noisri, with manager Song Suriyo busily overseeing the front, back and sides of the house, Thai Ploy is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. Take-out orders and medium- sized caterings are gladly accepted by phone.
Between afternoon and evening rushes, Suriyo sat down with me to talk Thai food, foreign spices and good old lady luck.
LIFESTYLES: Are you originally from Thailand?
SURIYO: Yes, I’m from Bangkok. I lived there for a really long time. Actually, almost everyone who works here is from Thailand.
LIFESTYLES: Do you get back to Bangkok very often?
SURIYO: Yes. We still have a house there, and I go back to visit family and friends about once a year. Some of our family comes to visit us here too, which is nice.
LIFESTYLES: Is Thai Ploy’s menu pretty traditional, or is this the “American version” of Thai food?
SURIYO: No, it’s very traditional, but we do have to adjust the spice a little bit (grinning).
LIFESTYLES: What do you mean?
SURIYO: We have to make things a little less spicy than we would in Thailand. Back home, they want to make you sweat, but here we received feedback from customers that some dishes were too hot, so we adjusted the recipes. We try to make each dish as spicy (or not spicy) as they want it.
LIFESTYLES: It’s on the star system, right? With one star being the mildest and five stars being extra hot?
SURIYO: We actually do one to four stars … but if you want five stars, we can definitely do that, too.
LIFESTYLES: What about seven? Can I get seven stars?
SURIYO: (Laughing) If you want seven stars, we’ll probably just give you the extra spice to add in yourself. We don’t want you throwing food away because it’s too hot to eat.
Red curry with chicken
LIFESTYLES: Good thinking. So what’s behind all that heat?
SURIYO: Here, I’ll show you (retrieves a large tray of spices and herbs from the kitchen). We use chili powder, fish sauce with fresh chili peppers and several types of curry pastes.
LIFESTYLES: Looks like you use a lot of herbs too.
SURIYO: Right. We use fresh cilantro, sweet basil, tamarind, ginger, galangal …
LIFESTYLES: What is galangal?
SURIYO: It’s a larger ginger root, and it’s a little sweeter and spicier than regular ginger. It’s a main ingredient for most Thai dishes.
LIFESTYLES: What’s your most popular dish?
SURIYO: Almost every table orders the Restaurant Pad Thai and some type of curry.
LIFESTYLES: What’s your favorite dish on the menu?
SURIYO: I like a lot of spice. The basil beef is probably my favorite.
LIFESTYLES: Best dessert on the menu?
SURIYO: (Pauses to consider) I like the sticky rice with mango. It’s a very traditional Thai dessert and the mango is really sweet.
LIFESTYLES: What kinds of foods do you enjoy when you’re not at the restaurant?
SURIYO: Well, I eat Thai food almost every day. But I do eat a lot of American food, too. I’m here so much that sometimes I just want something different, you know?
LIFESTYLES: Like a hamburger and fries?
SURIYO: (Laughs) Yeah. Sometimes.
LIFESTYLES: Before I go, I have to ask about that shrine with the three little statues … (Smiles) Well, those are lucky ladies from different parts of Thailand. We give them offerings of rice, fruit and grape juice.
LIFESTYLES: Have they brought you any luck?
SURIYO: Oh, yes. A lot of luck … A lot.
Thai Ploy 311 S. Ninth Ave. Walla Walla, WA 99362-2718 509-525-0971 Hours: Open seven days a week Sun – Thurs. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 5-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 5-10 p.m.JOE GURRIERE is a freelance writer and marketing consultant living in Walla Walla. He can be contacted at joe@clearpathpr.com.
