Many times while going to the Asian Supermarkets in Elmhurst (Queens, NY), I get inspired to make Thai food . I grabbed some green papaya and already planned making papaya salad for dinner. That is a super impulsive greedy thought that I usually have with food. I don’t think it’s right to give measurements of the flavour for papaya salad because people have different taste preferences. Where my mother comes from, people don’t put sugar in papaya salad and they prefer to taste saltiness over sour. However, the basic ingredients are green papaya (of course), carrots (optional), string bean, cherry or grape tomatoes, fresh chilli, garlic, coconut sugar, fish sauce and lime juice. The accessories to papaya salad vary to specific areas of Thailand. All I can say is that it should have 4 flavours; spicy, salty, a hint of sour and slightly sweet.

I experimented with Coq Au Vin because my grandmother-in-law always says she makes French dinner for my husband and me. For some reason it looks different from what I expect. That little thing inspired me to attempt this dish. It came out nicely even though it was my first attempt. Thank you Ina Garten for the recipe from Food Network.