Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/15710
SEPTEMBER 2010 FOOD & WINE 26 Sophy's Fine Thai and Cambodian 3240 E. Pacific Coast Highway 562.494.1763 The "Prahok Kteih" is a vibrant vegetable platter surrounding a bowl of spotted crimson spread. Eggplant, lettuce, tomato, broccoli, cucumber, green bean, and zucchini encircle the spicy and oily dip made from fish paste, ground pork, lemongrass, kaffir leaves, tamarind sauce, and coconut milk; the vegetables are cold, crisp, and simple, but captivating with the warm, enigmatic dip. A pouty, citrus and sour flavored shredded green mango salad with dried shrimp, the "Neoum Green Mango" includes crushed peanuts, basil leaves, red onion, and Sophy's homemade lime dressing. Every crunchy, lime- infused bite incites daydreams of finishing on a beach in the tropics, perhaps with a Corona. Another of their signature and most popular dishes is the "Treiy Ahng," a whole grilled catfish, so crispy that it breaks into fully edible strips. These are then wrapped in massive lettuce leaves along with fresh mint and basil, and dipped into a light and faintly sweet sauce. If there were such an outlandish, spectacular thing as a gourmet catfish lettuce wrap, this would be it. Sophy's is the type of place many customers come to and never open a menu. Often the requests are for basic Cambodian comfort food, such as the authentic Khmer "Somlaw Kaukah" soup. Stuffed with any and every vegetable available, historically those found growing in the wild in Cambodia, this vegetable soup floats roasted rice and either fish or pork spareribs in a broth of lemongrass paste, roasted rice, and kaffir leaves. Consider it the Cambodian version of stone soup, with onions, Chinese broccoli, squash, eggplant, beans, celery, mushrooms, and shredded green papaya simmering among the thick broth. When constantly asked the difference between Thai and Cambodian cuisines, the manager at Sophy's is fond of a simple reply: "Not a lot. People just don't know about the Cambodian side." Though, they certainly should. SHRIMP CAKE COMBO SHRIMP CAKE COMBO