Po Pia Sot (Fresh Spring Rolls)

Since it's supposedly spring, it seemed like a good opportunity to do some fresh spring rolls using rice paper. Full of herbs and vegetables; they're very light, fresh and extremely healthy; we'll just ignore the fact that it's still only about 10 degrees and pouring down outside!

Since I was already doing one variety of spring roll, and I had a whole pack of dried rice paper sheets, I thought I'd do a second type of roll and also made Nam Nuang- a Vietnamese type of spring roll that uses pork 'sausages'. I will follow up this post very soon with the nam nuang.

* Just a note- the plate of herbs/veggies was used for both the po pia sot and the nam nuang and the darker sauce on the plate is the sauce for the nam nuang, not the po pia

If you're looking for the deep fried variety of spring roll, or Po Pia (to use the Chinese name) you can find the recipe here- Po Pia Tod. Spring rolls pop up with various fillings and wrappers in just about every east and south east Asian country (we even ate them in Malaysia last year) and there's lots of debates over who made them first, whose variation is the most authentic etc. I don't make any such claims with my version though this version has distinct Vietnamese influences.

Enjoy as a snack, a starter or as part of a larger meal.

For 8 rolls use:

• 2 poached chicken thighs (simmer in plain water for 20 mins), cooled and shredded finely
• 8 dried rice paper circles
• a shallow dish of cold water
• peanut sauce (I went for the easy option and pre bought- Lee Kum Kee brand) but you can use the sauce recipe from when I made satay- click here
• 1 sliced large red chilli
• fresh mint leaves
• fresh coriander leaves
• a small piece of cucumber, seeds removed and cut into very thin slivers
• some shredded lettuce
• a few extra peanuts for crunch (mixed into the sauce)

Have all your ingredients  prepped and ready in front of you. Take a dried disc of rice paper and dunk it into the dish of water for about ten seconds before lifting out, turning over and dunking for ten seconds more. It should now feel fairly flexible. If not, and you still feel it will snap if you tried to fold it, dunk for a further ten seconds then shake off the excess water.

Place the damp rice paper sheet on a board (it will continue to soften and become gelatinous) and fill with your choice of ingredients place horizontally across the middle of the sheet. It's worth placing some of the pretty ingredients like mint leaves and sliced chilli on the bottom, so when you roll them up they are visible through the wrapper.

Fold the sides into the middles then roll up from bottom to top, using your fingers to hold all the ingredients inside the wrapper.

Place them on a ceramic or metal plate as they will stick fast to wood or other porous materials as well as each other.

Drizzle over some of the peanut sauce and place a bowl alongside to dip into.

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.

Moo Satay & Ajaad (Pork Satay and Cucumber Pickle)

(or the satay that isn’t really). If you’re wondering why there are no sticks that’s because I forgot to buy them before I made the recipe. It was too late to go out and buy them so just imagine the meat came on sticks ok?

This dish takes a little bit of prep time but is fairly straightforward to do, both the sauce and the pickle can be made ahead of time.


Ingredients for enough for two:

For the marinade:

• 200g of lean pork, cut into reasonably thin slivers


• 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder


• 1 stalk of lemongrass, trimmed and very finely chopped


• a big splash of light soy sauce


• 1/3 can coconut milk


• a big pinch of sugar

For the peanut sauce:

• a heaped tablespoon of Massaman curry paste (some supermarkets sell this)


• the remaining 2/3 can coconut milk


• a big splash of fish sauce (nam pla) an easy supermarket find these days


• a large handful of salted peanuts


• a small splash of tamarind extract (if you can’t find this add the juice of half a lime)


• a heaped tablespoon of sugar


• 4 cloves of chopped garlic


• a small piece of galangal (use ginger if you can’t get it), very finely chopped


• 3 small red chillies, very finely chopped


• 4/5 kaffir lime leaves, shredded and chopped very fine (some supermarkets sell them fresh, dried are pretty rubbish- use lime zest instead


• 1 stalk of lemon grass, trimmed and very finely chopped

For the cucumber pickle:

• 3-4 inch piece of cucumber, peeled, seeds scooped out then finely chopped


• a small piece of red onion/ shallot very finely chopped


• 1 or 2 small red chillies, very finely chopped


• a big glug of white wine vinegar


• a big pinch of sugar

Start with the pork marinade- place the pork in a bowl and add all the ingredients listed. Stir well then leave somewhere cool for at least 1 hour, longer if you want.


While the pork marinades, make the pickle. Mix all the pickle ingredients in a small bowl and leave it to sit while you made the peanut sauce.


Start off by toasting the peanuts over a medium heat in a frying pan. Keep watching them and moving them about so they don’t burn, toast until they just begin to change colour. Take them off the heat, pouring in to a pestle and mortar and crush them. Take them out and put them to one side for now. Put all the herby ingredients (garlic, galangal, chilli, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves in the mortar and bash these up into a more paste- like substance. Into the empty frying pan, over a medium heat; add this paste and the leftover coconut milk and the remainder of the sauce ingredients. Let this heat through for 5 minutes, before adding the crushed peanuts. It’ll take a while, maybe 15 minutes, but very slowly reduce this down until you have a thick and gloopy sauce. this can now be kept to one side until serving time.


Back to the pork- thread the meat onto skewers and cook under a medium high grill for about 10 minutes, turning as needed. Let them get a little bit of char to them. If, like me you forget the sticks, just lay the pieces of meat onto a foil covered grill try in one layer and cook in the same way.


Finally, grab your three components and get dipping!

Gaeng Massaman Gai (Muslim Curry with Chicken)

The name reflects this curry’s historic roots. Massaman or Matsaman is a deviation of the word Muslim and this dish borrows it’s flavours from southern Thailand and Malaysian cuisine where the local population is of a majority Muslim faith. That said, you won’t find pork in this curry, unlike many other Thai dishes from central or Northern Thailand where the majority faith is Buddhism and pork is widely eaten. Massaman curries are easy to make, have very few ingredients, are creamy, salty, a little sweet and are very mild due to the lack of chillies.

For 3 big or 4 smaller portions, use:

• 2 big chicken breasts, cubed


• 2 big potatoes, cut in large chunks


• 1 onion, cut into large pieces


• a small handful of peanuts (lightly salted or unsalted)


• 50g Massaman curry paste (I’ve used Aroy- D brand but some supermarkets sell their own Massaman pastes)


• 1 can (400ml) coconut milk


• 1 cup water (maybe more, maybe less depending how thin you want your curry to be)


• a big pinch sugar


• a big splash of tamarind concentrate (use more lime juice if you don’t have access to an Asian supermarket for this) 


• a big splash of fish sauce (nam pla)


• a lime for squeezing over

Boil a pan of water, when boiling add the cubed potatoes and par boil for just 5 minutes. Drain and save them for later. In the now empty pan, heat on high and add the coconut cream- the thick part of the contents of the tin, throw in the curry paste and stir to mix through, you should start to see the red oils separate. When this happens, add the chicken and stir for a moment before adding the thin coconut milk, stir and turn the heat down to a simmer. Add the water. I prefer a thinner curry so use almost equal amounts of water and coconut milk. If you prefer a thicker curry, use less or even no water. Let this cook for 10 minutes before adding the onions and potatoes. Add in the fish sauce, sugar and if you have it, the tamarind (or lime juice). After another 5 minutes it should be ready. Stir half the peanuts through and sprinkle the other half over the top of the curry when you dish it out. Squeeze more lime over and serve with hot fluffy white rice.