Gaeng Pa Moo (Pork Jungle Curry)

Like any recipe, over time you make amendments and adaptations, you find better ways to make a dish or variety of ingredients that have a better 'fit' and are truer to the authentic version of a dish.

This is one such recipe- way, way back in June 2014, jungle curry was one of the first recipes I put up on my blog- click here for beef jungle curry. However, despite being my favourite type of Thai curry, it was always one I felt I couldn't quite do justice to and wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. Over the last couple of years I've been fiddling with both the way the curry is cooked and the ingredients. 

Jungle curry, is a northern Thai curry, heavy on the vegetables, typically one of the hotter Thai curries and is made without coconut milk. If you like spicy hot, herbal flavours with lots of crunchy textures, you'll love Gaeng Pa. It's very easy to do. It's also easily adaptable to be a vegetarian dish- just add more of the meaty king oyster mushrooms and substitute the fish sauce for a big pinch of salt.

So may I present the upgraded- Gaeng Pa Moo (Pork jungle curry)...

This make four portions:

• 300g of lean pork, sliced thinly
• 5 baby corn cobs, cut into chunks
• a small handful of green beans, cut into chunks
• a large handful bamboo shoots, drained and rinsed
• 2 king oyster mushrooms, cut into wedges
• a large handful of pea aubergines/eggplants
• a large red chilli, sliced
• 3 fingers of krachai (finger root), finely shredded
• a tablespoon of green peppercorns
• a handful of holy basil (or sweet basil- but NOT Mediterranean basil!!)
• a few kaffir lime leaves, ripped into small pieces
• a large tablespoon of red curry paste (I use Mae Ploy brand)
• 300ml of meat stock
• a small splash of fish sauce
• a small pinch of palm sugar (or light brown sugar)

• Heat the stock in a pan (no wok needed for this recipe) until simmering. Add in the pork; it's thinly sliced so will cook quickly, in around 2 minutes. 
• Add in the red curry paste and stir until thoroughly mixed into the stock. 
• Add in the lime leaves and krachai strips, which will start to infuse into the broth. 
• Next pop in the chunkier vegetables; green beans, pea aubergines, baby corn cobs and bamboo shoots, let them cook down for a few minutes then add in the king oyster mushrooms, green peppercorns, sugar and fish sauce. 
• Cook for a few more minutes, stirring every so often; the vegetables should still retain some crunch. 
• Just before serving, stir in the basil and chilli slices and serve with rice.

Goong Ob Woon Sen (Baked Glass Noodles with Prawns)

Using up the rest of the huge box of prawns I had meant thinking of more recipes I could put them in. This one seemed a great one with which to continue the recent trend for seafood and/or Chinese influenced Thai dishes. The Chinese influence can clearly be seen in the use of clay pot cooking and ingredients such as sesame oil, soy sauce and Shaoxing rice wine. A word of advice, check if the pot you're using is safe to go on the stove- mine wasn't so I oven baked my dish which was perfectly fine and certainly healthier- many versions of this in Thailand start with a thin layer of lard to stock everything sticking!

It takes a bit of time to cook but is easy to do and as a one pot dish- makes the washing up after easier!

For two people use:

• 2 sleeves/blocks of glass noodles (woon sen) made from mungbean flour
• 10/12 very large tiger prawns
• a handful of coriander leaves, ripped up
• a small bunch of coriander roots/stalks, chopped
• a 2 inch piece of peeled ginger, chopped
• 4 peeled cloves garlic
• a dessert spoon of black pepper
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• a big splash of light soy sauce
• a small splash of dark soy sauce
• a small splash of Shaoxing Chinese rice wine
• a big splash of oyster sauce
• a small splash of sesame oil
• 1 cup chicken stock

Boil the kettle and pour over the dry glass noodles, letting them soak for about 10 minutes until soft. Pop the oven on to heat up, about 180C/ 360F.

Use a pestle and mortar to make a rough paste of the black pepper, coriander roots/stalks, ginger and garlic; throw this into your baking dish. In a separate bowl/jug, mix up the liquid ingredients (soy sauces, oyster sauce, sesame oil and Shaoxing rice wine). Back to the baking dish and on top of the paste put the drained glass noodles, followed by the sauce you've just made up. On top of everything arrange the prawns and scatter over the spring onions. Place the lid on the dish and cook for 30-40 minutes; the noodles will be soft and crispy near the edges. Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves over and mix everything together before getting stuck in together.

Sukiyaki (Thai Hot Pot)

Sukiyaki is a beautiful marriage between a Chinese hot pot and Japanese shabbu shabbu, blended with Thai ingredients and flavours to create something that's colourful, fun, beautiful and really healthy to eat. In an ideal world, you would have a tabletop stove with a pot designed to bubble away while you sit around. Unfortunately I don't have one and you may not either; don't let it put you off; it's really not that difficult to cook in a big pot on the stove and nip back to cook and fill each bowl of ingredients you build. The great thing is the more ingredients that get cooked, the more flavour the basic stock gets.

There are no rules when it comes to ingredients, so create your own mix of meats and/or tofu, seafood, vegetables and fungi, noodles and seasonings, I've used what was available to me and what took my fancy. The sauce you serve with it should be salty, sour, spicy and sweet- put a spoon into the bottom of each serving bowl before pouring in the broth and use it as a dipping sauce to perk up each mouthful.

For two people use:

For the sauce:

• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 small red chillies, finely chopped
• a small splash of light soy sauce
• a small splash of fermented yellow bean sauce
• juice of 1 lime
• a big splash of sriracha chilli sauce
• a pinch of sugar
• a pinch of sesame seeds

For the sukiyaki: (remember you can choose whatever ingredients you like)

• 8 very large prawns
• 2 chicken thighs, sliced very thin
• a small pack of fish balls (10 or so)
• a small pack of enoki mushrooms, ripped into thin bundles
• several stalks of choi sum, cut into large chunks
• a bundle of morning glory, cut into large chunks
• 1 litre of chicken stock

Make the sauce by mixing up all the ingredients, set to one side.

Heat the stock in your largest pot/pan on a medium/high heat until gently boiling.

Using chopsticks, put in the chicken, waving around to cook in the broth. Make sure the chicken is fully cooked and then start adding combinations of whatever ingredients you want to use, cooking until just done. Pop some of the sukiyaki sauce into your bowl, ladle yourself some broth over, mixing with the sauce and top off with the cooked ingredients.

Choo Chee Pla (Fish in Thick Red Curry Sauce)

Wow, I've been away for a long time again and for that I can only apologise. Those of you who saw my last post will know I'd been rather ill, had lost my appetite and wasn't really cooking, hence putting up a post from before I got the lurgy. You'll hopefully be pleased to know that the 2nd round of antibiotics have done their job and I'm now hungry and have most definitely taken over the running of the kitchen again!!

Choo Chee Pla is a dish that has been on my to do list for quite a long time now, there are certainly some similarities with Penang curry - they're both thick, creamy coconut based dishes, predominantly sweet and mild in heat. The main difference is choo chee uses a red curry paste rather than massaman and is always a fish/seafood based one. For convenience and presentation, I've chosen to use fish fillets but whole fish can also be used. For texture (and mostly indulgence) I've chosen to lightly batter and deep fry the fish; not an essential for choo chee; but very nice!

I like to eat this with lots of fresh sweet basil leaves, white rice and something tangy like a som tam salad to cut through the richness.

For two people use:

• 2 large fish fillets cut in half (I've used basa/river cobbler- yes I know it has poor credentials but it's robust and holds up well when deep frying)
• a large handful of plain flour
• 400ml of good coconut milk eg Chakoh or Aroy-D
• a level tablespoon of red curry paste (Mae Ploy is what I always use)
• a large splash of fish sauce
• a large pinch of palm or light brown sugar
• 5 or 6 kaffir lime leaves, rolled and shredded finely
• optionals to serve- sliced large red chilli & Thai sweet basil leaves 
• vegetable oil for deep frying

Heat the oil for deep frying to around 180 degrees celcius. Pat the fish pieces dry with kitchen paper and dust in the plain flour before placing gently in the oil, fry until a light golden brown and crisp (around 5-8 minutes depending on the size). I did mine in two batches so as not to overcrowd the fryer.

While the fish fries, make the sauce. Heat a dry wok and when hot, add in the coconut milk. Allow the milk to bubble away, reduce and the oils to start making their way out- this should take about four to five minutes. Stir gently to help it along.

Next pop in the red curry paste and mix well for several minutes until fully blended and the red oils start to float to the top of the sauce. Add in the fish sauce and sugar, stir well.

Drain the fried fish on kitchen paper before putting on your serving plate, pour over the sauce, sprinkle over the lime leaves and serve up with chillies and sweet basil. Don't leave it hanging around too long so the fish stays crisp.