Norman’s Stellar Side: Thai Fried Rice

Norman Van Aken’s Thai Fried Rice gets its seductive aromas from garlic and ginger and its flavorful, separate grains from U.S.-grown, parboiled rice.

Norman Van Aken’s Thai Fried Rice gets its seductive aromas from garlic and ginger and its flavorful, separate grains from U.S.-grown, parboiled rice. Van Aken, the celebrity chef-owner of Norman’s restaurant in Coral Gables, Fla., serves it alongside his signature Mongolian Barbequed Veal Chop ($39) and as a side dish ($9).

Why parboiled rice? “Even with all the ingredients and the double cooking, the grains stay separate,” says Van Aken, known for his trend-setting New World Cuisine. He mixes a pilaf of rice cooked with garlic, ginger and onion with sautéed shiitake mushrooms and red peppers, Thai fish sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and crushed red and black pepper.

At service, he tosses that mixture with wilted red cabbage, tomato, scallions, bean sprouts, cilantro and scrambled egg. Thai Fried Rice is a stand-alone specialty, not a sidekick. “Some people like this dish as much for the rice as for the veal,” says Van Aken.