DISH OF THE WEEK: Kang Hoh at UGLY BABY

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

Considering my mother thinks black pepper is too spicy, it’s pretty amazing how far I’ve strayed. I’ve eaten some pretty spicy dishes. And while the heat doesn’t always like me, I really enjoy the heat. I’m not afraid – I’ve eaten some pretty spicy dishes out there. But I was truly amazed at the level of serious fire at the newly opened Ugly Baby in Carroll Gardens.

This is a revival of sorts. It’s a new concept from Chef Sirichai Sreparplarn who worked at Kao Soy, one of the best Thai restaurants I’ve ever eaten at, which unfortunately closed a number of months back in Red Hook.

Happy to hear some exciting non-Pad Thai and Massaman Curry Thai food is back in this area of South Brooklyn.

I had been wanting to come to Ugly Baby since the day it opened late last year but they are only open for dinner and weekend brunch and I’m rarely in this neighborhood during those shifts.

I finally made it late one Saturday afternoon right before the kitchen closed, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that from the crowds still in the small dining room.

Most of the dishes on the menu were unrecognizable to me – even with the English descriptions. That’s an exciting, but overwhelming prospect.

I started with a very unique brunch-y dish called Tue Ka Ko which were fried coconut milk cakes with taro and black beans. They looked like mini-blueberry muffins and tasted somewhere in that world too. The blueberries were black beans and there was a doughy sweetness throughout. Very interesting.

But then fire came to my mouth in the form of a very delicious dry curry. Kang Hoh evidently is a northern style dish featuring both red curry paste and dry Hung Le curry (which is popular in Myanmar). Wonderfully tender pork shoulder and fatty beef spare rib were slathered with the rich, smoky fiery curry. it was sticky with a pinch of sweetness and a constantly building burn.

Underneath were some mung bean noodles which added nice texture (although I wished there were more), some crunchy pork cracklings sat on the side, and it was served with a patty of sticky rice that barely helped soak up the heat.

Sure. there was some pain involved but the flavors were deeply intense and the ingredients had lots of flavor. My mom would never understand. Price: $18