Kosher Blog

Does Thai Treat have a liquor license?
Singha beer from Thailand goes great with Thai food!
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They definitely sell wine and I believe beer as well. I was the designated driver for the trip, so I don’t remember what exactly was available.

Just a warning. Thai Treat is under NK hashgacha, and NK in Miami right now is under pretty severe suspicion, after the closing of Jerusalem Peking (they were using non-kosher duck). No mashgiach temidi was required by NK in a meat restaurant owned by non-Jews, which is unheard of. This unfortunately seems to be the standard for NK in Miami (no aspersions on NK anywhere else).

I will be in Miami in a couple months. I’ve been advised by my Rabbi to stick with restaurants under the new vaad, KM (Kosher Miami - Vaad Hakashrus of Miami-Dade). Info on them & a restaurant list can be found at http://www.ohrchaim.com/kosher_miami5.htm.

I hate it. I really liked Aoba in NMB, but I won’t be going back unless hashgacha changes.

Where can one get kosher chili paste? I found one recipe for chili paste on the web that depended on a lot of shrimp.

Thanbo–
Huy Fong Foods of Rosemead, CA produces a chili paste called sambal oelek, as well as other Asian chili-based sauces. It sports a Shield-Star-K heksher.

You can buy direct from Huy Fong, or use some other online retailer, like PacificRim-Gourmet.com.

Thai Treat is an amazing restaurant. Everything is delicious, prices are resonable, and the owner and staff are very friendly and accommodating.
Regarding the post about the NK hashgacha - Thai Treat has changed to Kosher Miami. I can also tell you that there is ALWAYS a mashgiach present when i have been to this restaurant, which is very often!

with the recent news about Goya Coconut Milk I have been making some decent Tom Kha Gai recently. However I have a few questions:

1. Are there any vegan recipes for fish sauce. Obviously even the homemade versions (anchovies, garlic, soy) would make a meat dish treif, so we need to look to those trusty vegans once again.

2. Shield-Star-K is generally considered an unreliable hechsher, any other brands of chili paste using a more mainstream hashgacha.

thanks-Jes

i’ll answer my first question

http://yumfood.net/recipes/fishsauce-vg.html

i’ll make some next week and report the results.

jes

JBoogs–
I noticed at the Butcherie today that Gefen produces a “more mainstream” kosher chili sauce, cobranded with Lee Kum Kee.

Glad they changed to KM. That means I can check out some nice kosher Thai food when I visit Miami next month.

It’s too bad the NK in Miami has been so tainted.

RE: NK Hechsher in Miami

As a local resident let me clarify
comments posted on this site Regarding NK.

NK Kasherus has allways required a full time Mashgiach Temidi at all Resteraunts not owned by a Jew. (Meat/Dairy).
Jerusalem Peking Resteraunt had a full time Mashgiach Temidi. However the owner “Holly” a non Jew (may her name be earased) brought in non kosher meat and ducks in fact all of the meat and ducks were not Kosher for an estimated two years. When a substitute mashgiach was sent the JP for a few weeks he noticed that no meat was delivered. one thing led to another. She was caught! perhaps way too late. The previous Mashgiach was not too keen. The establishment was shut down.

This is the risk that you take when you go to ANY Kosher establishment owned by a non-Jew.

The other kosher Thai restaurant in South Florida is “Thai Taste” which is in Sunrise, FL. They are in Broward county so I don’t know what their hashkafa is however.

Thai Taste is under ORB. And apparently in the top ten Best Kosher Restaurants in the US. http://www.bnaibrith.org/magazine/BBM2006Fall/2006_fall_10_best_kosher_restaurants.cfm

That’s an odd list. I was not impressed with Hy Life whatsoever and La Creperie has been the object of ridicule on chowhound from day one.

Thai Taste (sunrise) is gone, as is Pomegranate (Boca). Sigh…

Hey Jabbett - what are the odds that the two posters above are the same person?

Maybe perhaps someone working for/financially involved in Fu Xing?

What do you know– both had the exact same IP address. Deleted!

If you’re deleting comments, how about the blatant spam you get? (see the most recent two comments).

Thai Treat was YUMMY. Unbelievable!

Regarding comment #7 - I find your statement about the Shield Star-K to obnoxious and outright lashon hara. It is generally considered to be an unreliable hechsher; huh? Did you get you this unbiased so-called reliable information from your local so-called mainstream hashgachas agency? Did you ever bother to talk to the Rav HaMachshiur or do you enjoy throwing stones without having all the appropriate information? Slander is a very dangerous thing especially from someone who concerned about what goes into his mouth but so much what comes out.

BS”D

Well, Avraham, I would say that most in kashrus don’t hold by the shield star k. But do what you want, by all means. I just know that nobody I trust holds by that hechsher. Now that I have my Sriracha sauce under KF supervision (packed by Homhual Foods Industry Company), I don’t really lust after any of the Shield Star K products.

Well, Craig, you like a number of others on the blog state that nobody (who are these nameless “no-bodies”?)that you trust hold by the Shield Star K. When you state “most” I am presuming you are referring to “Rov;” of the populace don’t hold by the Shield Star K; you maybe attained this information from the Sears Roebuck catologue?
Did you ever bother personally to call the Rav HaMachshiur and confront him with any questions you have about product(s) the hechsher gives? Do you know who the organizations poskim are?
The individals you asked doesn’t put out a montly bulletin and works out of his house in your hometown; would it? It wouldn’t be those self-righteous people who you considered to be righteous but down deep they are jealous of this hechsher; would it? I presume this same people wouldn’t touch Bet Yosef meat with a 10ft pole as they would consider it as trief;right? KF is not as widely acceptable as you think. The head is an old Bostonian that moved to the UK. As a Jew you shouldn’t have a lust for anything, you can have a desire. How is it that a rabbi that used to head a national kashrut organization’s office in your state is able to give hashgachot long distance while residing in Israel? Without being presumtuous, you must also put on Rabaynu Tam tefillin (Reb Moshe did all of the frum people do),only drink chalav yisrael. I hope you aren’t a meat eater, as there were more problems in the place in Iowa dealing with kashrut that were never disclosed. I guess nobody of these no-bodies are all very careful to make sure that the chickens they have purchased have had their ‘geedeem’ inspected; right? Wrong!! The Eida HaCharedit, B’Datz MeHadrin, Shearit Yisrael, Agudat Yisrael all laugh at the people you look up to and ask your questions. Rav Eliashiv just put down someone who is most likely one of your stars, that thought he knew science and halacha better than the Gedolei HaDor. The people you go to for your questions are Nogaya B’Davar and should disqualify themselves as they are in the business. We have not yet fully felt the negative impact it has had on us. We all take it for granted that we can speak our minds without fear of any repercussion even if the information is false. Did you ever bother to contact Kashrus magazine and ask them about the hechsher as they are unbiased and not involved in giving hechsherim? Watch what you say as you are being held accountable by the Heavenly Court. Your words kill the potential of selling a product and at the same time also killing a person’s reputation. What you are saying over is all heresay. Check your mezzuzot & tefillin as you have possuled them.

Someone needs some Prozac, and this time, it isn’t Craig.

BS”D

No, what I said was “Nobody I trust” holds by this hechsher, which is different than saying “Nobody” holds by this hechsher. For instance, the RCC will not allow it, but will allow the KF Sriracha. The star-shield-K has been around a long time, at least a decade, and that’s been long enough for it to come to peoples’ attention. And I’ve asked about it before. Most of my inquiries usually took the form of questions to Reuven Nathanson, West Coast director of OU kashrus (a Lubavitcher, by the way), because he was frequently up at my winery. I rarely, if ever, consulted Rabbi Eidlitz, because I didn’t know him and had other contacts in kashrus, but since he’s local now, I can ask him, if you desire. By the way, the shield star k srirachi is evidently really good, so much so that it’s likely a special batch will come out under another hechsher for use in LA kosher establishments (this according to someone “in the know”, the director of the kashrus agency which is working to do this).

As to Beis Yosef meat, who doesn’t consider it kosher? Nobody I know. Frankly, the opposite is true. There’s little enough of it that it goes mostly to Sephardic places- they have first dibs in LA.

As far as meat, I don’t know about Rubashkin, but as of now none of the meat in my BBQ place (yes, we opened for 4th of July weekend) is Rubashkin, mostly because it’s unavailable. Everything is Alle or RCC/CRC Shechita so far.

Avraham, you presume to much, and your presumptions are largely incorrect, as far as your presumptions about me. And as far as Rav Heineman is concerned, so what if he’s a daas yachid on changing temperatures of electronic ovens on Yom Tov. I don’t really care what Rav Eliashiv says about him. I only care what my own rav says about the matter (fact is he holds like Rav Eliashiv). Really, Avraham, your rants are reaching new lows.

#1 The halachic question is who do you stand for first, your father or your rebbe? The answer is you stand up for your rebbe. Your response by stating that you really don’t care what the Posek Hador, Maran Hagaon Rav Elyashiv, shlita says shows you are an Am HaAretz. Rav Elyashuv is not the run of the mill rabbis the likes you are used to dealing with in California. This generation has no respect for the Gedolei HaDor and you have bluntly shown that by your statement even though you tried to clear it up by making some lame excuse. This is why we as Klal Yisrael are in great trouble.

#2 Even though I did infer who the gentleman was I did not mention him by name but since you did so be it. For a number of years the OU did not trust Rabbi Heineman’s hashgacha either even though he has grown at present to what was supposed to be a local organization into a international one. They OU used to send people into the agency’s plants as they didn’t trust him.

#3 After the supposed KP plum alcohol fiasco of the OK which caused the demise of Berel Levy, the OU again placed a doubt in many people’s mind about the reliability of the OK.

#4 The RCC (mainly YU people that have been indoctrinated by the OU during their schooling) couldn’t find jobs on the East Coast so they went to the west to ply their trade. These people are NOT professionals in kashrut, you might think they are but people on the East Coast that come out to chatunot don’t eat any of the food that is served and they ask for airplane meals. The RCC do not have shoctim, the cRc does. The last Gadol B’Yisrael that was on the West Coast was Rav Simcha Wasserman, zt”l and he then moved. Anyone that wants to get a true Torah education does not stay in California. They head to Lakewood, Brooklyn . The RCC has no on-board food technologist, chemist actively involved in the food industry or anyone that is an expert in the food industry. Rabbi G.B. is supposedly a nice person but he is not a chemist, nor a pharmacologist nor did he take post graduate studies at any university or technical school. He is a good research person in asking question but there is more to kashrut than what meets the naked eye.

#5 Since you seem to have learned something somewhere then you must be familiar with the term “Ma’asay Gevul.” If you are familiar, then that is what you should tell the kashrus agency that is trying to enter into the back door into a place that already has an established “orthodox” hashgacha. The person should really search out Igrot Moshe as he is a major violator of halacha. By his entering also causes a shadow of doubt on the Shield Star K’s authenticity as well; was that ever thought out? Religious people jump and look out for themselves and their cause right or wrong and in this case wrong. They never think that the end result will be cause grave harm to another in this case the Shield Star K. You should advise this religious individual he is treading on ice and that the Shield Star K has the right to take him to Bet Din and to civil court.

#6 I purposely posted an e-mail address at the end of my initial response and further corrected where all of this could be discussed off line but you have made this a public spectacle not a forum.

#7 Rabbi Gabai who used to live in N. Hollywood & now lives in the city where his brother also lives does not buy his Bet Yosef from the U.S.; do you know why? Doubtful. The U.S. Bet Yosef meat is another drumed up thing of the Rubaskin family. I found this out by asking Rabbi Silver who is in constant contact with Eretz Yisrael as that is where his poskim are located. People in the Bet Yosef shechita told him the whole story with the supposed Bet Yosef meat in the U.S. . It is truly a shame that you and others that think you know everything know nothing except heresay and are bad mouthing Rabbi Silver (cousin to Rabbi Eliezer Silver, zt”l if you know your American Jewish history).

Kashrut is the dirtiest busniness in the world and eveyone is a self-proclaimed Tzadik. Even you seem to know it all. I am not reaching lows your negative comments which are baseless are the lowest.

The most important point made in these diatribes is that Craig opened. Yasher koach and mazel tov. Please let us know what you’re learning!

BS”D

DeisCane, thanks, I’m learning that the restaurant business is really hard, especially when the kids don’t want to be involved. I’m also learning that people really love BBQ, that 1/2 lb servings of brisket are unnecessarily large for the normal Jew, though he’ll clean his plate (Goyim seem to value large portions, stacked high, and may not frequent an establishment with smaller portions), and maybe it’s the visual arrangement on the plate that means more than the actual quantity of food. I’m learning that Jews value a clean establishment, possibly even more than the quality of food, and don’t want to eat from a real dive. Jews like to be served and waited on, even with relatively fast food. More ramblings to come… but now, Shacharis.

So the she-donkey turned away from the road. (22:23)
From among the many gifts and opportunities with which Hashem has graced us, teshuvah, repentance, its process, efficacy and acceptance by Hashem is one of the most significant. Clearly, as HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman, shlita, points out, its meaning to HaShem is extremely impressive. The Gaon, zt”l, m’Vilna writes that Hashem tested Bilaam ten times before he was killed. In other words, Hashem gave Bilaam ten chances to see the error of his ways and recant. He did not; thus, he forfeited his life. This is Hashem’s way with everyone. He gives us a chance, an opportunity to change, to repent our ways. He does not take out the “big guns” right away. As the case of the metzora, leper, illustrates, the plague first strikes his house, then his clothes. Only after nothing has turned him around, does Hashem plague his body.

Hashem gives even an individual as evil as Bilaam every opportunity to repent. Hashem even sent him a special “messenger,” a talking donkey, to convince him that it would be prudent to repent. Bilaam, of course, ignored it all, because that is the pattern of evil: to repudiate any stimulus for positive action, to eschew any efforts that would spur our repentance. To delve further into the matter, Rav Shteinman notes that the “talking donkey” was one of the creations that took place during bein ha’shmashos, after sundown prior to nightfall. It is almost as if Hashem wanted to “squeeze” in one more opportunity to catalyze Bilaam’s repentance.

Imagine, the entire universe was already in place. Everything was ready to go forward. Hashem still was not ready. The opportunity to “bring back” Bilaam was not yet in place. One more chance, one more opportunity. It seems, perhaps, a bit unusual, a bit extreme - especially for such an evil man. Just think: we now understand how much teshuvah means to Hashem, how much He waits for it, to what lengths He will go to avail us the opportunity to return. Let us learn from Bilaam and the “talking donkey” how valuable teshuvah is. Let us also learn to give others the chance to return - and to accept their sincere contrition. Let us learn from Hashem’s model.

The 17th of Tammuz is rapidly approaching us followed up by another day that is even more auspicious 9 AV, so take heed.

Avraham,

Speaking as a leper with a perfectly clean house and freshly washed clothing, I’m not sure I quite understand your analogy.

I’d elaborate but it has suddenly become far harder to type with my arm falling off.

Lest this be unclear to anyone else, this thread has gotten way out of control. Kosher Blog is not now, nor has it ever been, a place to air your various halakhic differences. I don’t say this to minimize their import, but, as I’ve written elsewhere on this blog and as has been made clear by the preceding discussion on this thread, halakhic, and specifically kashrut, standards are rarely, if ever, universal. These conversations are not productive and lead, invariably, to lashon harah and sinat chinam when all we’re trying to do is talk about FOOD. If you don’t trust someone’s hekhsher, DON’T EAT FOOD THEY CERTIFY. It has been said many times on this blog that you should always consult your local rabbi for any questions relating to a given hekhsher or other halakhic issues. The anecdotal, inexpert hearsay that litters discussions like the one above does NOTHING to advance kiddush Hashem or the future of the Jewish community. I have no doubt that many of the participants will disagree with me, but frankly I don’t care. As such, I am closing this thread to further comments.

Craig: It is exciting to hear that you’ve opened your restaurant and I encourage you to find a topic-appropriate thread to post it under. In fact, I’d be happy to initiate a new post about if if you want to send me the content. B’Shalom.