About RandyClemens.com
My name is Randy Clemens, and I am a freelance food writer based in Los Angeles. I am a graduate of the California School of Culinary Arts, a BJCP Recognized Beer Judge, and an all-around hedonist. When not peddling (or consuming) beer, wine, and cheese, I can be found writing, reading, or brewing up suds in my friend’s kitchen. I hope to present any who may stop by my page (whether intentionally or accidentally) a peek into the wonderful world of beer, wine, and dabbling in food, highlighting specialty items that I enjoy and think you might also.
On The Writing Front
I have written for several major publications including:
- Gourmet
- Saveur
- Los Angeles
- Imbibe
- Wine Enthusiast
- Draft
- BeerAdvocate
- edibleLA
Clips are available upon request.
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19 February 2011 - 1:51 pm
Heard you on Splendid Table today. As a former Peace Corps volunteer who served in a town called Bang Saen near Sriracha, I have to say that I cringed every time you said the name of the sauce and town. Do not accent any of the syllables or it sounds very strange. In Thailand, we say, “Saw ["sauce"] See-ree-chah” with all syllables equally accented. If you make that correction, then I promise to look for your book because I do enjoy Thai cooking!
19 February 2011 - 3:14 pm
Hi Margaret,
Thanks for coming to the site, and kudos to you for volunteering with the Peace Corps! As for the pronunciation, I go with the flow and use the slightly bastardized American pronunciation. I’m aware of the correct Thai pronunciation, and had actually explained it for the show, but it was cut for the sake of time I suppose. Anyway, sorry it made you cringe. As for the book, it is not Thai focused. Just as the Huy Fong Foods brand of Sriracha is an American interpretation of true Thai Sriracha, my cookbook is my take on using Sriracha in creative ways with recipes from different cuisines. There definitely are some great Thai and Thai-influenced recipes in The Sriracha Cookbook, but it would be quite a stretch to call it a Thai cookbook. Hope you pick a copy up and cook like crazy!
Cheers,
Randy
21 February 2011 - 4:23 am
Hello -
Found your Fire-Roasted Corn Chowder recipe in the The Week’s Feb. 25 issue. It sounds fantastic! I do have one question though…I’m not able to eat dairy and the last ingredient to add is heavy cream. Do you think the chowder would be suitable without it, or is there a non-dairy substitute you can recommend to thicken the chowder? Thanks!
21 February 2011 - 5:42 am
Hi Carol,
Thanks for stopping by! There are a couple ways to add a creamy texture to the Fire Roasted Corn Chowder recipe from The Sriracha Cookbook without using cream. Truth be told, I’ve heard back from a few delighted vegans who just leave out the cream altogether! There are vegan cream substitutes, although I try to avoid items that are so full of processed ingredients. But for the sake of convenience, it’s there for you! Silken tofu pureed in a blender with some of the broth works wonders. If you have a Vita-Mix or other high-speed blender, you can soak raw cashews for four hours, and puree them with an equal amount of broth until smooth. One other way is to use coconut milk. It will change the flavor of the soup quite a bit, but it sounds delicious!
Hope this helps!
All best,
- Randy Clemens -
2 December 2011 - 12:02 pm
Hi Randy,
I was glancing at Sacramento’s Midtown Monthly and saw your Sriracha Cookbook listed on their recommended “Christmas Gift Guide” (next to Malto Batali’s cookbook). Right on!! Congrats on the great cookbook. I had the pleasure of one of your Sriracha Books magically appearing on my door step, signed by you and I love it. I see you’ve come out with a Stone Brewery book…soooo going to get it!!
I wish you much success….