For years, one of the best places to go for authentic Thai food was Wat Thai, a Thai Buddhist temple in North Hollywood whose parking lot was taken over on the weekend by food stalls. You bought plastic tokens from a little booth up front, then trolled the offerings. Some people loved the tiny “tacos” of coconut batter holding wisps of omelette. My favorite thing was the custardlike fish cooked in coconut milk, in little banana-leaf cups. And it seemed like everyone on Chowhound agreed that the green papaya salad, made to order, was the best in town.

It had been a few years since I’d been to the wat, but when I heard the food court operation was being shut down (the neighbors complained visitors took up all the parking on their streets), I had to get out there one last time.

I got my tokens, signed a petition to keep the food court open, and hit the stalls. There was no sign of the fish in banana leaf, but there were two green papaya salad stalls, mirror images of each other down to the sign with a photo of the woman it proclaimed to make the best som tum in town. I usually I relied on the long line in front of it for identification, but I was there too early in the day. Eventually, I remembered that the woman I had gotten the salad from had a sort of jolly demeanor as she asked how much you wanted of this or that ingredient. I looked at the women. One had a sort of dour expression; the other lady looked much nicer. Bingo. Seconds later, she was expertly whipping up my salad in her mortar.

The green papaya salad was breathtakingly intense: fresh, spicy, and very briny - there were plenty of crab bits, and I got one piece with the eyes. Still, it was a bit much for breakfast and I wished I had come with someone to share.

I ran into chef Jet Tila, who was doing a spot for local radio. Eavesdropping on his recommendations, I decided to get the sour yellow curry that he noted was pretty unusual. This curry is like the missing link between Thailand and Korea, a distant cousin of kimchi stew. It’s incredibly spicy, not a hint of coconut milk, and pungently funky - I didn’t quite realize how funky until I took some leftovers to work and heated them in the office microwave. The fumes permeated the air for about 20 yards. I actually liked it (the main solids seemed to be fish and jackfruit) but the next time I’d eat it all in the privacy of my own home.

No matter how full I am, I always grab a box of mango and sticky rice to go when I visit Wat Thai. It’s hard for me to believe that I had never had this treat before moving to Los Angeles. I first read about it in Hot Sour Salty Sweet, a Southeast Asian cookbook that’s one of my favorites. Its simplicity and deliciousness are almost unbelievable: just sliced perfectly ripe mango and sticky rice basted with sweetened coconut milk. I can only hope one day I can come back for more.