The barren trees, gray skies and frigid weather of winter can leave you pining for an escape to the tropics.
While a getaway might not be possible, you can bring the flavors of the tropics to your kitchen.
For ideas on how to beat the winter blues with fruity flavors, bright colors and bold spice, we turned to three metro Atlanta restaurants: Dat Fire Jerk Chicken, 26 Thai Kitchen and Bar, and Belle & Lily’s Caribbean Brunch House.
A Thai-style papaya salad, known as som tum, is the antidote to boring lettuce. Shredded green papaya and carrots come alive when combined with Thai chiles, garlic, palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and tamarind pulp. Tukta Chadwell, executive chef at 26 Thai, usually doesn’t measure the ingredients for this vibrant dressing, and she suggests adjusting it until you hit the right balance of sweet, spicy, salty and sour.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Meanwhile, fire up the wok to make 26 Thai’s pineapple boat. A medley of stir-fried, crispy chicken, veggies and pineapple is all the more celebratory when presented in a hollowed pineapple that is striking as a serving vessel with the crown left intact.
Dat Fire Jerk Chicken chef and co-owner Jay John reaches for mango to make the jerk-style shrimp on the restaurant’s catering menu. Appropriately, his recipe is called irie mango shrimp — irie being a term in Jamaican culture that means something is pleasing.
Those irie tropical flavors can fill your glass, as well.
Sorrel, a beverage made from hibiscus flowers, is a traditional Caribbean holiday drink, but it’s a year-round star at Belle & Lily’s. Co-owner Tasha Cyril, a longtime bartender before turning restaurateur, combines sorrel with bubbles for a delicious change-of-pace mimosa.
“At this point, it would be the only mimosa I would drink,” she said. “I feel like everything else is just orange or peach — just regular.”
And, there’s nothing regular about the hibiscus gin and tonic created by Brian Seo, general manager at 26 Thai’s Midtown location and the brains behind its craft cocktail program. The gorgeous ruby color and cranberry-tart flavor of hibiscus shines in a Japanese Roku gin infusion. The process takes as little as an hour, and will leave you with a bottle you can enjoy any time you need a sip of color.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
RECIPES
Thai-Style Papaya Salad (Som Tum)
This recipe from 26 Thai Kitchen & Bar is enough for one large serving or two side-salad portions. It can be scaled up easily.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Pineapple Boat
For this dish, the shell of a pineapple with the crown left intact is used as a colorful serving vessel. The recipe involves making a sauce, battering and frying chicken, and boiling vegetables before everything comes together quickly in a wok, so be sure to have your ingredients measured and ready before you start cooking.
When demonstrating how to prepare the dish, 26 Thai’s Tukta Chadwell pointed out various modifications for preparation at home. Instead of cooking the chicken in a deep fryer, as is done at the restaurant, Chadwell said it can be fried in a heavy-bottomed pan (the method used in this recipe) or an air fryer. Also, instead of using cashews as a garnish, they can be added to the stir-fry, along with the chicken and vegetables, so they are coated in the pineapple sauce.
At 26 Thai, the dish is served with garlic-ginger fried rice. However, Chadwell suggested plain jasmine rice is a good substitute in a home kitchen.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Irie Mango Shrimp
Seafood lovers who enjoy spice and tropical flavors will enjoy this jerk-style mango shrimp recipe from Dat Fire Jerk Chicken chef Jay John, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Simone Kirlew.
“It gives a nice blend of sweet, and is spicy enough to add that special kick to your meal,” Kirlew said.
The couple suggested serving it alongside white or yellow rice, or even a leaf salad. “It goes great on top of fresh butter lettuce,” John said, adding, “savory shrimp can go on top of anything.”
Using low heat ensures the shrimp does not overcook and the mango sauce does not scorch. “It’s still going to be a fast process,” John said of this recipe, which comes together in minutes once the seafood has marinated.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Hibiscus Gin and Tonic
The winter cocktail menu that Brian Seo developed for the 26 Thai in Midtown features numerous infused spirits, including a hibiscus-infused gin. At the restaurant, Seo flames a rosemary sprig for additional aromatics.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Hibiscus Mimosa
This mimosa recipe from Belle & Lily co-owner Tasha Cyril starts with sorrel, a tea brewed from dried hibiscus flowers and spices. Sorrel also can be served cold over ice, or even spiked with a couple of ounces of rum or port.
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