Chinese food in America has a reputation for being a wildly different and lesser version than that found in China itself, and to an extent, that’s true. However, I feel Thai food has it even worse. Where Chinese food is Americanized with stronger flavors and more familiar textures that can still result in a good meal, Thai food is only a ghost of itself. The dishes are the same, but they are blander and less colorful. I didn’t realize this until I ate at Jitlada.
Not a lot to say about this one except… Wow… Wait a minute… Damn, that’s like… really good. Creamy… Not too sweet… Damn…
Okay, this is just strips of beef? Alright, let’s see here. Um… Mmm… Oh… Wait… This is just strips of beef? Holy crap. So tender… So flavorful with the umami meat and the sweet glaze and the spicy sauce and the bitter cilantro… Oh wow…
Okay, I’m already fumbling over myself to describe this food and the happiness it is bringing me. It’s challenging all of my existing assumptions, and I haven’t even gotten to the curries.
The jungle curry is a spicy house curry. I like house specialties as well as spicy curry and oxtail, so this piques my interest. Praise the spice gods that I only get it medium because wow… It’s spicy. But it’s a good spicy that is thick and tingly. The burn enhances the rich flavors. The oily texture saturates your tongue, and the meat is tender and satisfying. The vegetables are crisp and colorful. It’s a bold and bright mixture.
But seriously, even if you like spicy, be careful with this one. Medium is… very hot. I can only imagine the pain of their Spicy Dynamite Challenge.
Here’s where I start to fumble over my words again. Fried rice. I love fried rice. Wait, but the rice is seared a bit for some crunch… And the pork pieces… They’re not tiny bacon bits in a sea of rice… They’re massive hunks of fatty, crisped pig… And, oh my… The spices and the fattiness and the starch… All mixed together… Oh hold up. I can pour some of that spicy curry on top. And now I’m eating spicy pork and oxtail curry fried rice… WHAT IS HAPPENING? MY MOUTH FEELS SO GOOD…
At this point, I am at peace with everything in existence, and my brain can barely process what is happening. I sit there and stare at the final dish. It looks back at me with sad eyes. “How can I, yellow curry, be as good as all that other food you just ate?” I have no answer since most of the yellow curries I’ve had were nothing more than a bland potato soup.
[slurp]
Yep, this is yellow curry. Oh but… There’s something else there… There’s a flavor. It’s strong and nutty. But how is this possible? Oh… Oh my… I can’t…
[slurp] [slurp] [slurp]
I sit there for a moment and let all of these recent events wash over me. And then I realize I can pour the yellow curry on the fried rice…
I’ll never look at Thai food the same way again. Thanks, Jitlada.
Jitlada Restaurant. 5233 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027.