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Portland Round Up

Chef Alex Yoder of Portland, OR's Olympic Provisions was born in Portland to a family that loved cooking. He inherited a love of food and the outdoors. He went on to study Sociology at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. While in college, Yoder worked part time at a French restaurant as a dishwasher, prep cook, and waiter. Eventually he dropped out of college and started cooking full time. When he moved back to Portland from Ashland he worked under Chef Kevin Gibson and Sous Chef Elias Cairo at Castagna. Yoder has spent the last decade cooking in restaurants heavily influenced by French, Italian, and Spanish cuisine. He worked as sous chef at Portland's bustling Clyde Common before taking the role of executive chef at Olympic Provisions.

Portland Chef Andy Ricker is the mind behind Pok Pok and Ping. He recently invaded New York with a wing joint, bringing with him from Portland the famous chicken wings that started his first restaurant, Pok Pok. In 2011, he won the James Beard Award for Best Chef Northwest. His meticulous research into traditional Thai dishes has taken him on an exciting journey away from the Thai-for-Americans mainstay here in the USA and we can't wait to join him.



By Portland Round Up

INGREDIENTS:

½ pound green or yellow chilies, roasted and peeled*
3 ounces shallots, roasted whole and peeled
1 ounce garlic, roasted whole and peeled
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon cilantro root, pounded
1 teaspoon Kosher salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

METHOD:
The chilies, shallots and garlic should be well charred, and cooked through. Don't go too crazy with peeling. Seeds and a little bit of peel are OK! Pound the chilies, in mortar with pestle until soft and combined. The paste should be a little bit stringy. Pound the shallots and garlic with the chilies. Season with lime juice, fish sauce, cilantro and salt. Adjust to taste. Should be hot, salty and a little tiny bit sour.

* Use yellow Hungarian wax chilies, or other long, medium hot green chilies

Adapted by StarChefs.com

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Round out the meal: Eat as a condiment with sticky rice and fish or poultry

Beverage Pairing: Water with pandan leaf