Eating In Translation

Thai Thai

In Thailand khao niew ping, sticky rice and banana wrapped in a banana leaf, then grilled, is an everyday if not commonplace street snack. At the counter of this Elmhurst grocery, the window of availability is much narrower: weekends only, from late morning until they sell out in early afternoon ($1.50). A similar timetable applies to what looks like sesame chicken (below, $5); it's actually sesame plantain. Both snacks are often available with a taro filling, too.

Previously: Given the choice between two varieties of fruit-in-ice (170 g., $3.25), my natural impulse was for a new flavor. Why go for the mangosteen, one more time, when I could try santal? A quick web search via iPhone revealed nothing about it.

I declined the shopkeeper's offer to hunt down a plastic spoon, and just as well: The cup's transparent seal was made of tough stuff. After the pull-tab and all available edges tore free, I finally punctured it with a metal spork (part of my regular field kit). But despite the spork and even after warming my purchase between two palms, I made frustratingly slow progress on the icebound (and unphotogenic) mass underneath, and I didn't fully appreciate the flavor.

That evening I belatedly recalled another near-encounter with santol, as it's more often spelled, years earlier. As it happens, one of the fruit's many other vernacular names is faux mangosteen.

Thai Thai (also known as NongNoi Thai Grocery)
76-13 Woodside Ave., Elmhurst, Queens
917-769-6168
www.Facebook.com/ThaiThaiGrocery

Pajunia

The bulgolgi ($7.99) is well and good; it was the smell and sizzle of grilled beef that first lured me to tiny Pajunia's window. (Though generally open to the sidewalk, it's not a service window, it's a come-see-what's-cooking window.) Even more enticing are the hotteok (four for $5), "nut cakes" that are flattened on the griddle with a handheld press that resembles an air-hockey mallet.

The filling, brown sugar and a crushed mix of peanuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds, suggest brown sugar cinnamon Pop-Tarts, both for the flavor and for the ability to burn your mouth if you take your first bite too soon. The hotteok, as you can see, have a pancake-like texture and a viscous, drippy filling, so burned fingers are a hazard, too. Give 'em a minute.

The nut cakes, alas, are not always available. Late afternoon seems to be the most promising time, though a reliable neighborhood informant tells me that she's had Pajunia's hotteok for breakfast.

Pajunia
75-24 Broadway (75th-76th Sts.), Elmhurst, Queens
718-651-2879

Tea Cup Cafe

In some parts a spread like this ($4) would go by the handle "Texas toast," but not with Thai tea-flavored sweet cream on the side, pardner.

The menu board and the hodgepodge of hand-drawn signs offer the likes of mango with sticky rice; hot ginger soup with black sesame rice balls; durian, mangosteen, and jackfruit ice cream; and additional Thai toast flavors including pandan cream and a savory combo of dried pork with chili paste. On weekends, as noted in the post-Songkran coverage on Chopsticks and Marrow, there's an Isaan soup station, too.

Tea Cup Cafe
7619 Woodside Ave. (at 77th St.), Elmhurst, Queens
718-426-2222

Villacolombia

Guava and cheese go great together in pastries throughout Latin America, but only at a Colombian bakery will you find this combo in an empanada de cambray. "Cambray" — it may be a proper name, but its origin is unknown to me — seems to be associated with Valle del Cauca, the department on Colombia's Pacific coast whose largest city is Cali.

The shell of this baked empanada ($1.50) was unusually thick. I suspect that the dough, and not just the filling, incorporated some sort of cheese, and possibly yuca flour as well.

Villacolombia
40-42 82nd St. (Roosevelt-41st Aves.), Elmhurst, Queens
718-476-3500

Mie Jakarta

"Batagor," like "brunch," is a portmanteau.

Esquites cart

Corn off the cob: esquites (ess-Key-taze, small, $2), dressed with the customary margarine, grated cheese, lime juice, and, since I gave the nod to "Picante?", a shake of chili powder.

Esquites cart
Vicinity of Roosevelt Ave. and 82nd St., Elmhurst, Queens
Afternoon through early evening
(location and hours subject to change)

Playground Bar & Bistro

To pull off the legs, you'll probably need both hands.

Maengun Thai Dessert

Just inside the entrance of an Elmhurst supermarket, this Thai kiosk serves smoothies and stocks a variety of prepared food for takeaway. Some, like the cassava leaf curry recommended by my tipster (thanks, Elika!), may be cooked by the Maengun folks themselves. As at nearby Sugar Club, however, many bear labels from other Thai businesses. The appearance of these "coconut pancakes" ($3), from Playground, and their lack of sweetness bring to mind paeng jee.

Maengun Thai Dessert
Kiosk inside Hong Kong Supermarket
82-02 45th Ave. (82nd-83rd Sts.), Elmhurst, Queens
718-578-2850

Delicias Calenas

This Colombian raspado (lemon, $2) differs from its its Dominican counterpart in a couple of ways. Delicias Calenas keeps crushed ice at the ready inside the restaurant, then crushes it further in a snow-cone machine at the cart just outside. The raspado man, who otherwise would be scraping away by hand from a solid block, saves elbow grease, though the end product is still on the granular side.

The distinction that makes a greater difference is the addition of condensed milk, striped on the inside of the cup and layered on as the ice is loaded. As with a cholado (also on offer here), you're provided with both a straw and a spoon, so although the condensed milk tends to settle, you can get to the sweet stuff as quickly as you please.

On occasion, Puerto Rican piraguas and Dominican raspados do offer the option of condensed milk. Invariably, that I've seen, the milk is simply poured or dribbled on top, often straight from the can.

Delicias Calenas
95-41 Roosevelt Ave. (at Warren St.), Jackson Heights, Queens
718-507-0414

Food-and-drink refuse

Compressed, in fossil-like view, behind the chain-link fence bordering the LIRR right-of-way
Whitney Ave. near Broadway, Elmhurst, Queens

La Esquina del Camaron Mexicano

This Mexican-style seafood cocktail of shrimp, octopus, and squid (small, $5) was soaked in clam juice, tomato juice, and a half-lime squeezed a la minute, garnished with cilantro, raw onion, and hot sauce, and crowned with avocado. Like many customers, even before I crossed to the shady side of the street, I didn't wait to dig in.

Note: At the time of my visit this street vendor was doing business under the awning of Elmhurst's Glober Market (sic), across from Clement Clarke Moore Homestead Park and its ample seating. Reportedly he's since moved to Roosevelt Ave., where there's much more walk-by traffic, to be sure, but standing room only.

La Esquina del Camaron Mexicano
Roosevelt Ave. at 80th, Elmhurst, Queens
Saturday and Sunday, 11:30-3:30

Los Perros D'Nico

The color scheme of this tiny eatery, subdivided from a shipping store, suggests that both businesses are Colombian-owned. Four named dogs are on offer ($3 to $4): a Hawaiiano, which includes pineapple sauce, a Mexicano, with pico de gallo, a Romano, which features bacon, and this Iraqui. Its sole distinguishing ingredient seems to be a salsa verde, here camouflaged by other sauces. If you imagined it might be an MRE, that's not quite the case: My meal wasn't ready to eat until the dog was popped in the microwave.

Los Perros D'Nico
40-09 81st St. (Roosevelt-41st Aves.), Elmhurst, Queens
786-337-2689

Indo Java

In addition to packaged goods, such as sambals and various other assertive condiments, this Indonesian grocery — affiliated with nearby Java Village — stocks an intriguing selection of locally prepared items. One of the most portable: a dense, not-too-sweet square of rice imbued with brown sugar ($2).

Indo Java
85-12 Queens Blvd. (Grand Ave.-Van Loon St.), Elmhurst, Queens
718-779-2241

Asian Taste 86

If there were one dish that could dissuade me from ordering ayam penyet, "smashed fried chicken," it would be pecel lele (Peh-chel Lay-lay, $8).

Uncle Zhou

"Uncle Joe" — whose menu features the cuisine of Henan province, breadbasket of central China, where wheat-based noodles are the foundation of many meals — also serves three versions of kou wan.

Flavors of Peru, Recast

My roundup of three Peruvian restaurants appears in the January 4, 2012 edition of The New York Times. For photos, see my slideshows of dishes at Lima Limon, Coney Island Taste, and Warique.

Mi Estrella

Cuba, si! China, si!

Taiwanese Gourmet

For English speakers the menu identifies this dish as "ginger chicken with sesame oil" ($9.95), but to customers who read Chinese, the characters that signify "three cup chicken" are more evocative. Equal parts sesame oil, rice wine, and soy sauce are cooked down, often in the presence of ginger, garlic, chili peppers, and sugar, until their flavors are absorbed by the chicken; basil is commonly added as a finishing touch.

Since the liquids are largely reduced, when served the dish often sizzles. At a minimum, it should glow; so will you.

For more dishes, see the slideshow.

Taiwanese Gourmet (also known as Taiwanese Specialties)
84-02 Broadway (at St. James Ave.), Elmhurst, Queens
718-429-4818

El Mundo Supermarket

Nostalgia for old-time taste isn't confined to soda.

Java Village

Fried, perhaps, in that chunky-style peanut oil.