Sauce adds zing to Thai restaurant’s dishes

Never trust a townie with any information about Leeward Oahu. I referred a couple of friends who live in Makiki to one of my favorite restaurants, Thai Lao in Pearl City and Kapolei. Next thing you know I’m getting a text … from Waimalu: “You were right! Orchid Thai is great!”

Well, they hadn’t driven far enough, and they got one key word correct, “Thai.” But all’s well anytime I can end up looking like a genius and discover another place to eat.

Shortly afterward another townie lamented to me, “Where have all the good Thai restaurants gone?” And my directions were the same: “Go west.”

My friends were particularly enraptured by one dish at Orchid Thai, spicy shrimp at $13.95 for eight pieces to $16.95 for a dozen. This is not for everyone because the shrimp in this Thai classic is served in its raw, gray form.

Because of hazards associated with raw shellfish, I’d recommend this only to people in perfect health. In this Southeast Asian version of ceviche, the shrimp is bathed in a potent blend of lime juice, fish sauce, garlic and fiery chilies.

This sauce alone provides good reason to visit this restaurant.

If you fear the raw shrimp, you can get the same sauce with a dish of spicy fish fillets ($12.95), but the experience is not the same because the deep-fried coating on the fish functions as a sauce blocker.

I had an epiphany when I added some of the last of the sauce to a dish of garlic curry with pork ($10.95). What had been a delicious but mild coconut milk curry, topped with a spoonful of fried garlic, turned into another, more vibrant, complex creature, with the sourness of the sauce adding a bright zing, bringing the dish closer to its counterparts in the mother country. I’ve never had that experience in Honolulu before, and while I’ve said I prefer Hawaii’s more savory interpretation of Thai food to cuisine as served in Bangkok, in this moment I changed my mind.

I also splashed the sauce on the restaurant’s crunchy fried chicken ($10.95), which normally comes with the Thai standard sweet-sour dipping sauce. People who should stay away from the spicy garlic sauce are those who cannot stomach chili peppers and fish sauce. It is pretty intense.

More evidence of sour is in the Thai ginger soup ($9.95 vegetarian; $10.95 chicken, beef, pork or tofu; $12.95 shrimp, calamari or seafood mix). It’s a beautiful hot-sour blend of coconut milk with kaffir lime and lemongrass accents, with tomatoes and fleshy straw mushrooms.

Venturing away from the usual spring ($7.95) or summer rolls ($7.95), I opted to try something different, a Laotian-style sausage ($8.95) made from pork and sour sticky rice that gives it a drier, nutty and grainy texture, which makes it seem less fatty than a typical sausage, which is fine with me.

Instead of the usual pad Thai ($9.95 to $12.95 based on protein options), I opted for thicker look funn noodles. This only emphasized the sweet-sour nature of the pad Thai sauce, which reminded me why I’m not a fan of this staple. Next time I’ll try the curry pad Thai ($9.95 to $12.95).

I also enjoy the lemony-herbal flavors of larb ($10.95), but this time ordered num tok ($10.95), which is essentially the same salad made with sliced beef instead of ground beef. The sliced beef took more chewing, so next time I’ll go back to the larb, with its quicker payoff.

Their evil curry ($9.95 to $12.95) is not so evil in its use of chilies, but also perks up with the addition of the garlic sauce.

Standing on its own is an excellent dish of sauteed eggplant ($9.95 to $12.95) tossed with basil.

I’m OK with the standard Thai desserts of tapioca and sticky rice, but I don’t crave them, so a dessert of banana-filled mochi topped with vanilla ice cream ($4.99) was a welcome treat.

Don’t get lost heading over.

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.