Ingredients Seafood Shrimp Shrimp Toast 5.0 (1) 1 Review In this Night + Market dish by Kris Yenbamroong, blending fresh shrimp with pork fat creates a juicy, tender paste to spread on springy milk bread. Pork fat, from the back or belly (not rendered, like lard), can be easily chopped after freezing until quite firm, about 20 minutes. By Kris Yenbamroong Kris Yenbamroong Restaurant: Night + Market (Read a review) and Night + Market Song Location: West Hollywood, CA Why He's Amazing: Because he created a terrific, innovative pork-centric Thai street food spot adjacent to his parents' well-respected but aging Thai restaurant on Sunset Boulevard. Culinary School: Self-taught Background: Talésai (/sites/default/files/est Hollywood) Quintessential Dish: Pork toro: grilled fatty hog collar with jaew northeastern chile dip Night + Market's Philosophy: "I love my family's restaurant [Talésai] but people come in and do the stereotypical L.A. thing and ask for modifications [to the dishes they order]. Night + Market food is uncompromising, unmessed with." Food Style: "In Thai, it's called aharn glam lao, which roughly translates to 'food to facilitate drinking' or 'booze food.' That's at the heart of what we do. We make food for drunkards." Alternative Career: Yenbamroong studied film at New York University. DIY Ethic: "We make our sausage completely by hand, on the premises. For the first few months, we used a Chinese soup spoon to stuff them because we didn't have a stuffer." A Family Timeline 1982The year Kris Yenbamroong was born, his family opened L.A.'s first ambitious Thai restaurant, Talésai. His grandmother Vilai was the chef. "It was the '80s, and we were 10 doors down from Geffen Records," says Yenbamroong. "The waitresses wore black leather skirts, and Madonna came in with Warren Beatty. Mick Jagger came in, too. My grandma was on the cover of the Los Angeles Times Magazine with Thomas Keller." 2011Fast-forward three decades: Yenbamroong tried updating Talésai by serving unfamiliar Northern Thai dishes, but longtime customers resisted the change. So he decided to open Night + Market, where he could experiment. At his second spot, Night + Market Song, his powerful, spicy dishes include Bangkok Mall Pasta with Thai bird chile and lots of peppercorns. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on March 15, 2021 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Total Time: 45 mins Servings: 10 Ingredients 1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro roots or stems (from 2 bunches), plus cilantro leaves for garnish 6 medium garlic cloves, roughly chopped 1 teaspoon ground white pepper ¾ teaspoon kosher salt 12 ounces peeled and deveined raw medium shrimp 10 ounces pork fat, chilled and finely chopped (about 2 cups) 2 ½ teaspoons Thai seasoning sauce (such as Golden Mountain) 1 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar 15 (4- x 3 1/2- x 1/3-inch) Japanese milk bread or white bread slices, crusts removed, each slice cut diagonally into 2 triangles Neutral oil (such as grapeseed, peanut, or vegetable oil), for frying Mayonnaise (such as Kewpie), sriracha chile sauce, and fresh pea shoots, for serving Directions Process cilantro, garlic, white pepper, and salt in a food processor until finely chopped, about 15 seconds, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Add shrimp and pork fat. Process until mixture forms a smooth paste, about 2 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Stir in seasoning sauce and sugar. Spread 3/4 ounce (about 1 heaping tablespoon) shrimp mixture on each bread triangle in an even layer. Pour oil to a depth of 1/8 inch in a large skillet; heat over medium-high until shimmering. Working with 8 to 10 bread triangles at a time, fry bread, shrimp side down, until shrimp side is golden brown and shrimp is cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully flip, and cook until bread is golden brown, 15 to 30 seconds. Transfer shrimp toasts to a wire rack set over a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Repeat process with remaining bread triangles and shrimp mixture. Top shrimp toasts with mayonnaise and sriracha. Garnish with cilantro leaves and pea shoots. Serve hot. Aubrie Pick Wine Rich, aromatic skin-contact white: 2018 Matassa Cuvée Marguerite. Rate it Print