Thai Store-cupboard Ingredients

No recipes just today I’m afraid! We’re just about to put our house on the market so unfortunately I’m having to lay off cooking so many strong smelling dishes as apparently it’s ‘not popular’ with potential buyers to have a house smelling of fish sauce and curry pastes!! It does mean I’m getting to eat lots of Som Tam (green papaya salad) and other Thai salads but recipes for these can already be found on the blog.
Instead, here’s a run down of what I consider to be my basic Thai store cupboard ingredients; things I couldn’t do without and recommend you buy if you’re serious about cooking Thai food. I stopped buying little bottles of sauces ages ago as I was just going through them too quick!
From L-R:

• Palm sugar (nam tan puk)- rock hard and needs to be chipped off, somewhere in between white and brown sugar in taste.
• Soy sauce (see ew)- light soy is used more commonly than dark but and adds saltiness; dark soy adds colour but is less salty.
• Roasted chilli paste (nam prik pao)- a thick sticky jam like paste that’s actually quite mild and contains other ingredients for flavour.
• Fish sauce (nam pla)- the most commonly used condiment in Thailand. Adds salt/fishiness- the lighter the better, dark fish sauce is often old.
• Tamarind paste (makham)- a puree of tamarind fruit,  provides a sweet/ sour element. Easier to use use in this form than the solid block type.
• Shrimp paste (kapi)- extremely pungent fermented shrimps, keep sealed in the fridge and use is small quantities as it easily overpowers.
• Yellow soy bean paste (tao jeow)- fermented soy bean paste adds a deep savoury/salty flavour, Used for Khao Man Gai or Rad naa
• Oyster sauce (nam man hoi) a thick dark sticky sauce, commonly used in stir fried dishes. It’s slightly fishy, salty and a little sweet
• Massaman paste (gaeng Massaman)- Milder southern Thai curry paste that contains lots of spices typically used in India.
• Green curry paste (gaeng khiao waan)- a hot green curry paste from central Thailand,lots of green chillies and fragrant herbs go in it.
• Red curry paste (gaeng ped prik)- another hot curry paste made from dried red chillies, also the most used and versatile of the curry pastes.

Moo Khua Kling (Dry Roasted Curry)

 I Had a break from Thai food over the weekend and as a late birthday treat sampled some amazing Japanese/Danish hybrid food at Sticks n Sushi in Greenwich. We couldn’t decide what to pick from their vast menu so went for the lazy option; basically tell the server your budget and they pick for you! We sampled tataki, rice crispie shrimp tempura two ways (whole and with avocado in rolls), black sesame and truffle crispy cauliflower, salmon sahimi, tuna, pork and steak yakitori. The quality of the ingredients and the imaginative way they were served was amazing!
Anyway, since we’ve just arrived back, Moo Khua Kling is a perfect dish to cook as it’s really quick to make and doesn’t need many ingredients. It’s not really a curry at all, as it’s a dry dish though it is stir fried in red curry paste. It’s a Southern Thai dish and like most Southern dishes packs some serious heat. It’s traditional not to add vegetables to the dish but to serving cooling ones alongside.
For two people use:

• 350g minced pork
• a level tablespoon of red curry paste
• a ‘finger’ of fresh turmeric, if available, or a heaped teaspoon of powder
• 8-10 kaffir lime leaves, spine removed, rolled and shredded fine
• a large red chilli, or 4/5 small red, sliced
• a big splash of fish sauce (nam pla)
• optional vegetables (cucumber, green cabbage, lettuce etc.)

Bash the fresh turmeric (if using) into a paste in a mortar then mix the turmeric (fresh or powdered) with the red curry paste. Use a non stick wok to dry fry the meat over a high heat until fully cooked and any water has evaporated. Add in the curry paste and mix thoroughly, cooking for a couple of minutes until fragrant and even coloured. Throw in the fish sauce, chilli slices and lime leaves, leaving some back for decoration if you want to. Cook until dry (1 minute or so) then serve with the cooling vegetables.

Yam Takrai Goong Sot (Prawn & Lemongrass Salad)

Continuing the love affair with Thai salads this week with this really easy and healthy salad. As always, it is a great example of ‘The 4 flavours’ with sour, salty, hot and sweet flavours present (in that order) although as with all Thai food, it’s expected that you can adjust the ingredients to suit your flavour preferences. I think this whole thing took about ten minutes to prepare so ideal if you’re rushing.

For two very large potions use:

• A large bag of cooked prawns/shrimp (I chose small ones so all the ingredients were roughly the same size)
• a small handful of cashew nuts
• 1 large red chill, chopped
• a small handful of coriander leaves/stems, chopped
• 3 stalks of lemongrass, trimmed, outer layer peeled off and finely sliced
• 3 Thai shallots or ½ small red onion, finely sliced
• juice of 1-2 limes
• a big splash of fish sauce (nam pla)
• a big pinch of sugar
• slices of cucumber and lettuce to serve

In a bowl, mix everything together well. Serve over the lettuce with the cucumber slices on the side. Feel free to use the lettuce to wrap up the salad.

Gaeng Penang Moo (Pork Penang Curry)

It’s been an exciting week in our house; not least, today is my 30th birthday! For the last two nights I’ve eaten out; Thai (of course) on Tuesday night and Malaysian last night. I’ve been exploring Malaysian food a little more recently as we’re due to go on holiday to Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi in a couple of months and I want to get to grips with the cuisine a bit more beforehand. I got some lovely birthday presents but two in particular have got me very excited. The first from my wonderful husband (you’re looking at the results) a new macro lens for my camera meaning I can get even more detail and depth of field in my pictures and secondly a private photo tour of some of Kuala Lumpur’s wet/dry markets. I can’t wait!
In honour of my forthcoming trip to Malaysia (but obsession with Thai food) today I have made a Penang curry- very thick creamy sauce, nutty, mild in taste and quite sweet; not my usual choice but really indulgent and a lovely birthday tea!
For two portions use:

• 400g lean pork, sliced thin
• 400ml (1 can) coconut milk (keep a little back to drizzle over)
• a tablespoon of Massaman curry paste (I used Aroy- D)
• half teaspoon of shrimp paste (I added it as there wasn’t any in the curry paste- if your paste has it already, skip this)
• a big splash of fish sauce (nam pla)
• a tablespoon of palm sugar (or light brown sugar)
• a small handful of peanuts, crushed
• 5/6 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
• a handful of sweet basil leaves
• 1 large red chilli, sliced

In a wok heat the coconut milk (save some back for drizzling over the finished dish). Cook until it starts reducing, bubbling and oils begin to rise. Stir every now and again so it doesn’t stick/burn. Add the curry paste and (if using) shrimp paste, cook and stir well for severeal minutes until mixed together and thick in consistency. Throw in the pork, fish sauce, sugar, nuts and lime leaves and stir,coating everything in the sauce until fully cooked (about 5 minutes). Stir though most of the basil leaves and serve. Sprinkle over the chilli slices, spare basil leaves and drizzle over the remaining coconut milk.

Tod Man Khao Pod (Sweetcorn Fritters)

Snack time! I’ll admit, this was a pretty lazy option; they’re probably more popular in western Thai restaurants than in Thailand itself but they are very moreish, have great texture and are easy to make. They can easily be adapted to be vegetarian or vegan friendly, just use salt instead of fish sauce and add more corn instead of the prawns.

This recipe makes around 10 fritters:

• A cereal bowl packed with sweetcorn kernels (defrosted)
• a heaped dessert spoon of red curry paste (I use Mae Ploy Brand)
• a handful of small prawns
• 5 or 6 kaffir lime leaves (rolled and finely shredded)
• 1 egg
• small splash of fish sauce (nam pla)
• ½ cup of rice flour
• heaped teaspoon of baking powder
• vegetable oil for deep frying

In a food processor, whizz up half of the sweetcorn, the curry paste, egg, fish sauce, flour and baking powder into a smooth batter. Remove the blade and stir in the remaining ingredients (other half of kernels, lime leaves and prawns) giving it a good mix together.
Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan until hot but not smoking. Drop a tablespoon of the batter into the hot oil- gravity will spread it out into a fritter shape. Don’t overcrowd the pan; three is probably the right amount. After a couple of minutes the fritter should gently be turned over and cooked for a further minute or two until deep golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper then serve them with some sweet chilli sauce or sriracha.