The Dish: Kalaya's James Beard Award winner, Nok Suntaronon, shares recipe from new cookbook

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- James Beard Award winner, Nok Suntaronon, invited Action News into her home kitchen to make a recipe from her brand new cookbook: "Kalaya's Southern Thai Kitchen."

"This book has been four years in making, from the start to finish," said Nok, who is the chef and owner of Kalaya in Philadelphia's Fishtown neighborhood.

For this edition of The Dish, she shows us how to make her Panang Gai (Chicken). It's a dish she grew up making at home in Trang, Thailand, with her mother.

"Panang curry has always been very special for me because it's quite fast and it's easy," Nok says. "It's super fragrant."

When you enter her space, she has one rule: "You can call me Nok. Don't call me chef. I'm not a chef. I'm a cook."

Cooking professionally is a passion the former flight attendant was inspired to try while on a flight to Philadelphia with her husband.

She was watching the film "Julie & Julia," about legendary chef Julia Child.

"I said, 'Yeah. This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to cooking school.'"

When she opened Kalaya in South Philly in 2019, Nok named it after her mom.

"She is cool," Nok says with a smile. "I wanted to tell people how amazing she is."

Thanks to word of mouth, Nok's little passion project caught on.

"I thought, people will find me," she laughs. "They will follow the smell. The curry is very powerful. They know where we are."

That's for sure. Kalaya was such a hit that in 2022, she expanded to a massive new location in Fishtown.

"Anytime I look at the full dining room with happy people, it's just like, 'Wow, I really did this,'" she says. "I have this. This is my this is my work. This is my mother's name. This is Trang in the middle of Fishtown. This is my food from a small village, and these people are enjoying it."

Nok's cookbook is the first ever written by a Southern Thai woman.

She says she kept it real.

"People didn't know the whole story," she says. "They didn't know my struggle. It takes a very strong team to make me."

This calling came to her in her early 40s. It was a reinvention of life and purpose.

"I wanted to make it happen for myself," she says. "Any time in life if you want to pursue your dream, especially for women, just get up and do it."

Panang Gai: Southern-style chicken curry

"This is my great-grandmother's chicken curry recipe, and it's one of the most beloved dishes I cook. My family has loved it for generations," Nok said. "In Trang, we serve this as a summer lunch. The combination of shrimp paste, lime leaf, coconut cream, basil, black pepper, and the herby mellowness from lemongrass, galangal, and turmeric in the Kalaya curry paste make this dish essential Southern comfort food. Southern-style chicken curry is perfectly balanced between creamy, sweet, and spicy flavors. The coconut milk and coconut cream make the curry extremely decadent, so you don't need to eat a lot to feel full. You will never think of chicken curry as 'basic' again. Bring on the luxury!"

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 to 1/3 cup curry paste

• 1 tablespoon shrimp paste

• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar

• 1.5 cups coconut cream

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes

• 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk

• 6 tablespoons fish sauce

• 1.5 to 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper

• 1 large bunch basil, leaves picked and soaked in cold water, stems discarded

• 7 makrut lime leaves, 5 torn, 2 leaves cut into chiffonade for garnish

• 2 red long hot chilies, thinly sliced

TECHNIQUE:

- In a large pot or Dutch oven, combine the curry paste, shrimp paste, 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar, and 3/4 cup of the coconut cream.

- Set the pot over medium-low heat and cook, breaking up the shrimp paste and whisking frequently until the curry sauce is fragrant and bubbling, and the shrimp paste is fully dissolved ( about 4 to 7 minutes).

- Cook this mixture low and slow so you don't burn the curry and shrimp pastes.

- Add the chicken, increase the heat to high, and stir with a wooden spoon until all the chicken pieces are coated in the sauce.

- Pour in the coconut milk. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook until the chicken is tender and there is a darker yellow sheen on the top of the sauce (about 20 minutes).

- Stir in the fish sauce and the remaining 3/4 cup coconut cream. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes to emulsify the cream into the sauce. Season with the salt, black pepper, white pepper, and the remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar.

- Drain the basil leaves and set aside 6 leaves for garnish. Add the rest to the pot, along with the torn makrut leaves. Stir well, then remove from the heat.

- Transfer the curry to a serving bowl and garnish with the reserved basil leaves and the sliced chilies.

- Scatter the makrut leaf chiffonade on top.

- Serve with rice!