Saffron's Su-Mei Yu Featured in Sunday's Collaboration Kitchen

Su-Mei Yu, owner of Saffron and host of Savor San Diego on KPBS TV, will be featured, along with Ballast Point Brewing Co., at Sunday's Collaboration Kitchen, which runs from 5 to 8 p.m. at Catalina Offshore Products. There are limited tickets left.

What's on Su-Mei's Thai menu?

Thai Ceviche
Marinated salmon in seasoning paste, including chilies, garlic, shallot, krachai (Chinese keys) and lime juice, dressed with coconut cream, slivers of fresh Thai chilies, and shredded green mango – served with Belgian endive and rice/sesame seeds crackers. Pair with Calico Amber Ale with nice Madeira and toffee sweetness balanced with a citrus bite from Cascade hops.

Laab Goong
Northern Thai style salad with grilled marinated shrimp in Ballast Point’s Wahoo White beer, garlic, and olive oil and toss with chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, krachai (Chinese keys), shallot, green onion, kaffir lime leaves, culantro, mint and lime juice – served on lettuce leaves. Pair with Wahoo White Beer – Belgian wheat beer inspired ale with orange peel and coriander.

Grilled Mussels
Seasoned with Thai chilies, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and rinds, Thai basils, coconut cream and Piper Down Scottish Ale. Pair with Indra Kunindra – export stout infused with madras curry, cumin, cayenne, kaffir lime leaves and toasted coconut.

Southern Thai Style Spicy Yellow Curry
Turmeric-infused curry paste with yellow tail and pineapple – served with red Thai organic rice. Pair with Dorado Double India Pale Ale with the bitterness that increases from heat from curry and hop aromas and flavors similar to that of pineapple and grapefruit.

Melon Balls with Coconut Syrup
Sweetened with maple syrup and infused with rose water. Pair with Sculpin India Pale Ale with a balance of bitterness with hop flavors of tangerine and ripe mango.

You'll enjoy hearty samples of all these dishes (along with tastes from Ballast Point) and the recipes will be on your seat waiting for you as Su-Mei demonstrates how they're created (I've been to a couple of her classes and she's a terrific teacher). And, of course, we'll have the enthusiastic comic duo of Tommy Gomes and Dan Nattrass emceeing the evening. Feel free to bring your own bottle of wine. And dress warmly; it gets chilly in there!

Tickets are $75 per person and can be purchased online here. All proceeds (yes, really, all proceeds) will be donated to the James Lebowitz Scholarship Fund, in honor of the 18-year-old Cal Poly Pomona student and San Diego native who died suddenly of an aneurysm in January. You can learn more about him and his amazing parents in a moving article by Ed Zieralski published in the U-T San Diego.

So, yes, your money is going to a great cause--but you'll also have a blast, learn a lot, and eat and drink well while doing good.

Collaboration Kitchen is a collaboration between Catalina Offshore Products and Specialty Produce. Catalina Offshore Products is located at 5202 Lovelock St. just off Morena Blvd.

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