I wrote about half of this chapter at the beginning of August using a generic fried rice recipe I found online, but then I stopped because I didn't really like what I wrote. The beginning worked fine, but then I got to the part where they're cooking and then I realized I was pretty much copying and pasting a recipe and putting words in between, and that's boring (well I thought it was, anyway). I put it aside and worked on some other stuff while utilizing parts of the original opening paragraph in chapter 9. But now that Marcy's Journal has been out for a few months, I've come back and finished this chapter using the kai yat sai recipe. Enjoy.
May 16, 2043
Los Angeles, California, Earth
"I think these pieces go together," said Polly, holding two similarly shaped Lego bricks.
"What?" said Sprig, exasperated. "I said that fifteen minutes ago and you said I was wrong!"
Polly shrugged. "Well, I was wrong."
Marcy, Sprig, and Polly were building a large Lego model of a cruise ship. It's the largest set they had ever worked on, but they were up for the challenge.
"Hey, don't sweat it," said Marcy. "At least we have all the pieces. One time your moms and I built the Lego Death Star, and the box was missing the flat circular piece for the laser."
"Oof," said Sasha from across the room. "That ruined the whole weekend."
"Sprig, Polly, can you come here?"
Anne looked toward her two children and beckoned them toward the kitchen. Sprig and Polly got up from their seats and headed toward Anne, though Polly stopped when she saw Marcy begin closing up the box of Lego bricks.
"Sprig, she's putting the Legos away!" she shouted.
Sprig immediately turned around. "What!?"
"Sorry, but we'll have to continue this another time," said Marcy. "Your Mæ̀'s got a special surprise for you. You're gonna have a lot of fun today."
Oh, okay!
"Kids," said Anne, "your Mom and Mama and I talked for a while after we ate your Mother's Day breakfast, which was very nice, but again was something you shouldn't have done."
"Sorry," said the twins quickly.
"Buuuuuuut…" said Anne, dragging the word out for emphasis, "we thought that perhaps you would enjoy some more supervised cooking experience, more than what you did last Thanksgiving."
Excitement was visible on the kids' faces. "Really?" asked Sprig.
"Yep! Your khuṇ yāy and khuṇ pū̀ will be here in a couple of minutes and together we're gonna make a recipe from Thai Go!"
The twins gasped. Anne's a good cook, but they love their grandparents' cooking, so getting a chance to help make it themselves is like a dream come true.
"Actually it'll just be you and Mæ̀ and your grandparents," said Sasha who entered the kitchen with Marcy. "Your Mama and I have got an errand to run."
"An errand?" questioned Anne. This was the first she was hearing of this.
"It's nothing big," said Sasha. "I just need to get some more supplies for the office."
Marcy chuckled a little. "Yeah, and I'm going with her because it's probably best to get me away from the kitchen today anyway."
"No, you should stay!" protested Polly.
"Hey, it's okay." Marcy leaned down to give the twins a hug, but while doing so leaned in between their heads so she could whisper to them both. "We're not getting supplies at all. We're actually gonna arrange a big surprise for Mæ̀'s birthday while she's busy. Don't tell her that."
Sprig and Polly nodded, knowing Sasha and Marcy would be gone for a good cause.
Sasha leaned down to give the twins a hug as well, though she didn't need to whisper what she had to say. "Don't feel bad if you make a mess again. This is a learning experience, after all."
"Okay, Mom," said Sprig.
"We'll try not to though," added Polly.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
"They're here!" said Marcy. She ran over to the front door, Sasha trailing behind her, and opened it, revealing the Boonchuys carrying bags of ingredients they brought from the restaurant.
"Hi!" said Marcy happily.
"Hello, Marcy. Hello, Sasha," said Oum.
"Thanks for coming over," said Sasha, "Let me take those bags to the kitchen," said Sasha, grabbing the ingredients and heading off to deliver them to Anne.
"We should be thanking you," said Bee. "Getting the chance to cook with the kids is a true gift."
"Speaking of gifts," said Marcy. "Sash and I are gonna head out and go handle the surprise."
"We understand," said Oum. She and Bee walked into the kitchen, passing by Sasha who was leaving.
"Bye, everyone!" said Sasha as she headed for the door.
"We'll be back later! Have fun!" said Marcy, quickly following Sasha. They were gone in less than a minute.
"Khuṇ yāy! Khuṇ pū̀!" Sprig and Polly gave their grandparents a big hug, which the Boonchuys returned.
"You two have grown so much since we last saw you!" said Bee.
"But that was three days ago!" said Polly, giggling a little.
"Exactly," said Oum.
After that, they let go of the hug so they could start cooking. Anne just finished unpacking all the ingredients her parents brought, and went to grab a couple of others from the fridge and freezer.
"So what are we making?" asked Sprig.
"We're making kai yat sai," said Anne. "It's one of my favorite recipes."
"Yes, I distinctly remember you writing about it in that special journal," said Bee teasingly.
Anne immediately flushed with embarrassment. "Dad…"
"Kai yat sai… those are the egg things with meat in them, right?" asked Sprig.
Oum nodded her head. "Yes. It's a recipe that's not too complicated, but isn't quite simple either."
"And if all goes well, then we'll teach you some of the larger items from the Thai Go menu," said Bee.
"That makes sense," said Sprig.
"Let's start!" exclaimed Polly.
"No, no, no," said Anne. "Before you touch any food, there's something important you two have to do, isn't there?"
"We wash our hands!" said Sprig.
"Oh, right," said Polly. With that, the kids ran toward the nearest bathroom.
Anne fully gathered all the ingredients on the kitchen counter. Everything was laid out on the kitchen table: ground beef, eggs, garlic, an onion, ketchup, vegetable oil, Maggi seasoning sauce, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, and some jasmine rice to be served on the side. After that, she and her parents took turns washing their own hands in the kitchen sink.
"Those are some great kids you have there, Anne," said Bee. "You and Sasha and Marcy are doing a great job with them."
"Well that's because we learned how to be great parents from you!" Anne gave her parents a quick hug. "Thank you so much for doing this. I know all your recipes, but I can't explain them the way you can."
"You're welcome," said Oum. "We may not be the only ones running Thai Go anymore, but it's important our recipes are passed down through the family."
After a minute or two, Sprig and Polly returned. "So what do we do first?" asked Polly.
"We'll, first I can tell you what you won't do: cut things with knives," said Oum. "Anne will handle that."
"Got it!" Anne started mincing the onion and the garlic cloves.
"In the meantime, we can start with the rice, since that'll take the longest to finish," said Bee. He handed each twin a measuring cup. "Sprig, fill yours with 1 ¼ cups of water. Polly, open the package of rice and fill your cup with 1 cup of rice."
Oum then grabbed a short pot and put it on the counter. "And when you're done, pour both into these."
"Okey dokey," said Polly as she and her brother performed their tasks. They filled up their measuring cups as carefully as they could and then poured them into the pot. "So what's next?"
Oum took the pot back, placed it on the stove, and turned the heat on. "I'll cook these while you two can help your mother with the kai yat sai filling."
"Yep!" Anne put the minced garlic into a skillet. "Now I'm gonna put this on the stove, and you two are gonna very carefully take turns mixing these around until they're browned on all sides. Then more ingredients will be added and you'll mix them all together to complete the filling. Can you handle that?"
The twins glanced at each other and nodded.
"Okay, you'll need this." Bee handed Sprig a spatula.
Anne turned the skillet on and held onto its handle while Sprig stirred the garlic around with the spatula for thirty seconds. After that, he handed the spatula to Polly and she stirred the food around in the same way for the same amount of time.
"Okay, that's great!" said Anne. "Now it's time to add the meat and the onions, and it's the same sort of thing: make sure the pieces get even coverage as they cook. I personally don't like the onions, but I won't let my opinions color your eating experience, so you'll get the full recipe."
Anne put the onions in the skillet while Oum took apart the ground beef and put the pieces in.
"Khuṇ yāy, I thought you were making rice," said Polly.
"Rice takes very little active cooking," said Oum. "Right now it has to sit on low heat for ten more minutes before we have to touch it again."
Once everything was in the skillet, it was Sprig's turn again to mix stuff. He and Polly traded back and forth a few times until the beef was fully browned.
"That's looking good," said Bee. "I'll go drain the fat from the pan while you kids can get the sauces ready."
Anne grabbed the ketchup and Maggi bottles and offered them to the twins. "One of you will add a generous amount of ketchup—"
"Me!" Polly snatched the ketchup before Anne could even finish.
"Well, okay…" Anne gave Sprig the Maggi bottle and a teaspoon. "Fill this up and pour it in the skillet."
Bee came back with the pan and Polly aggressively squeezed the ketchup bottle. Sprig followed with the teaspoon of Maggi and then Oum opened the bag of frozen vegetables and tossed them in before putting the skillet back on the fire.
"In the restaurant we wouldn't use a bag of frozen veggies like this," said Oum, "but for casual home cooking it works fine. Now, keep mixing it all together until the veggies are fully defrosted. I'll tell you when."
For the third time, the twins took turns mixing the filling around the skillet. They weren't sure how long to cook it this time, but noticed the sauces being soaked into the food over a couple of minutes.
"The veggies should be defrosted enough by now," said Oum. "Poke some of them with the spatula."
It was currently Sprig's turn with the spatula, so he poked a carrot and saw that it was mushy enough for the spatula to sink in somewhat. "Yeah, I think it's done."
"Awesome!" Anne turned off the gas and took the skillet off the stove, putting the finished filling into a bowl for now.
Meanwhile, Bee took the pot of rice off the stove and set it aside. It still needed ten minutes before it was fully done, but it didn't need external heat anymore.
Oum opened the carton of eggs and got another bowl ready. "Now it's fine to make the crepe. Take three eggs— that will be enough for five people."
"But if I crack one egg and Polly cracks the second," said Sprig, "who'll crack the third?"
"Both or you can hold on to the third egg and crack it at the same time," said Anne.
The twins nodded, took three eggs, and cracked them into the bowl, saving their mutual cracking for last. They made sure to not let any of the shells get in.
Anne handed Polly a whisk. "Now, beat the eggs until they're silky."
Polly raised an eyebrow. "Silky eggs? What's that mean?"
"Smooth and soft, basically," said Bee. "It'll take a bit of time but you'll know when."
"Gotcha." Polly statfred whisking, which wasn't too different from stirring the filling— it was just much faster.
Sprig went next, and the siblings' combined work got the eggs just right.
"That's good," said Anne. She lightly coated another skillet with vegetable oil and turned the stove back on. "Now, pour the eggs just enough to cover the bottom of the pan," said Bee. "We'll need to make them one at a time."
Polly slowly poured a thin layer of egg into the pan per her mother's instructions. "So what now!"
"We're just gonna have to wait for a minute or two," said Oum. "It doesn't have to be flipped like a Western omelet."
"Our goal is for them to be soft on top, and crispy on the bottom," and Bee.
A couple of minutes passed before Oum carefully lifted the finished egg crepe out of the pan and put it on a plate.
Bee reached for a tablespoon and gave it to Sprig. "Put two scoops of the filling on the egg. Put it close to the edge so there's room for me to roll it.
Sprig added the two scoops, and then Bee rolled it up and folded it. The first egg crepe was done.
Oil-Pour-Wait-Lift-Place-Scoop-Roll-Fold
The family repeated that process four more times to finish the crepes. Anne took the pot of fully-cooked rice and plopped some on each plate. Oum took a knife and cut a little hole in the top of each crepe, letting out a little steam. Just like that, the meal was complete.
"So, can we eat now?" asked Polly.
"Hold on just a minute." Anne grabbed utensils for everybody. "Let's take this stuff to the table."
So they took their plates to the kitchen table, and they began eating. It was delicious.
"This is really tasty," said Bee. "You kids did a great job."
"Yes, one day you'll be ready to work at Thai Go," said Oum.
"You really think so?" said Sprig enthusiastically.
Oum nodded. "I really do. The restaurant will be in good hands."
Translations: Mæ̀ (mom), Khuṇ Yāy (grandmother) and Khuṇ Pū̀ (grandfather)
