Tod Mun Pla & Nam Prik Waan (Fried Fishcakes & A Sweet Chilli Sauce)

A good long while back I wrote a post about how to make Tod Mun Pla, whilst I was always happy with the flavour, I was never really happy with the texture; although good and crispy they didn't have that rubberiness or bounciness that is expected in a Thai fish cake. This has led over the last few years to a bit of experimentation with both the recipe and the method and I'm pleased to say that now I think I've finally conquered how to create the perfect bouncy fish cake. The recipe will stay pretty much the same as before except there is an addition of some baking powder and an egg is no longer needed but otherwise it remains the same recipe. The key difference is in the cooking and preparation method- chilled, boiled (yes- boiled!) then fried.

You'll just need a few additional tools to help create the fish cakes. I've also served them alongside a sweet and hot chilli sauce which is different from the cucumber pickle that was used last time, though you could use either or both as they both make a really nice accompaniment to the fish cakes.

For around 15 so fishcakes you'll need:

• 2 fillets of skinless, boneless, firm white fish such as basa

• About six green beans sliced very finely

• A heaped tablespoon of red curry paste, I use Mae Ploy brand

• A good splash of fish sauce

• 4 or 5 kaffir lime leaves, rolled up into a cigar and shredded extremely finely

• A large pinch of sugar

• A heaped teaspoon of baking powder

And for the sauce you will need:

• Two large red chillies, chopped (deseeded if you don't want it too spicy)

• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped

• A chunk of ginger peeled and chopped

• Half a cup of tamarind puree

• A golf ball sized piece of palm sugar

• A pinch of salt

• A small splash of the juice from a jar of pickled garlic

• A level teaspoon of cornflour mixed into a thin paste with a little water

Begin by making the sauce by pureeing together the chillies, ginger and garlic cloves.

In a small pan over a low heat, melt the palm sugar with the half cup of tamarind puree, adding the splash of pickled garlic juice and mix well. When everything is dissolved, add in the chilli garlic and ginger puree along with the pinch of salt and let the mixture cook down for a few minutes and then finally stir in the corn flour blend just to thicken everything up. 

Once this is done put to one side until later. 

Now we move onto the fish cakes. Begin by blending all the fish in a food processor or blender until it's minced into a paste. Put in the sugar, red curry paste and fish sauce and blend again until it's as fine as you can make it. Using a spatula, mix in by hand the green beans and kaffir lime leaves and spread the mixture out thinly onto a plate, covering with cling film. Place the the plate into a freezer and allow it to cool down for 10 to 15 minutes; this will make sure that the mixture firms up and is it easier to work with. 

While the mixture is in the freezer, get a few items ready; bring a large pan of water up to a simmer and make sure you have a vinyl or latex glove handy (make sure it's a non-powdered glove). You'll also need a flat utensil such as a fish slice or a wok turner and a jug of cold water to hand. 

After taking your mixture out of the freezer; begin by popping on your glove and use a spoon to portion out a golf ball sized piece into your gloved hand. Dip your fish slice or wok turner into the jug of water and use it to flatten out and shape the ball of fish paste into a thin 1cm patty. As each patty is formed, again use the slice or turner to gently ease it off your hand and slide it into the pan of simmering water. Continue doing the same until all the mixture is used up and all the patties are simmering. You will notice as they cook they rise to the surface of the water. Make sure that they are fully cooked which won't take long, about four minutes or so and once they are done, scoop them out and let them dry on some kitchen paper for a moment or two. 

You can now heat up a frying pan with oil to the depth of about two centimetres and when hot, fry them for about 2 minutes on either side until dark golden and crisp. Boiling first has the added benefit of stopping the fishcakes from becoming greasy too.

Set along side the sauce you made earlier and you have the perfect bouncy Thai fish cake just like the restaurants

Pad Woon Sen (Stir Fried Vermicelli Noodles)

Pad woon sen, a speedy stir-fry dish for when you don't know what else to cook!! Joking aside this is possibly one of the most versatile dishes you will find in the Thai repertoire. There is very little that can't be substituted or skipped. As long as you're frying a combo of meats and/or vegetables with fine mungbean glass (vermicelli) noodles, you can't go far wrong. There does seem to be a common theme of cabbage, beansprouts, tomatoes and Chinese celery but, whatever you have can go in. It's another cross over dish- very definitely exported from Chinese cuisine along the way.

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I also want to give you a heads up that I'm going to be away on holiday for a few weeks- sadly, no not Thailand (although it is exactly one year already since I was in Malaysia- I do miss it and would love to go back to Kuala Lumpur again one day). This time we're going to be in the USA. We've been quite a few times already and tend to do big road trips; two years ago it was the Deep South, this time it's New England.

For the next three weeks, I'll be travelling and eating my way around Boston, Cape Cod, the Hudson Valley, the Adirondacks, Vermont/ New Hampshire, Mt Desert Island, Portland and Salem. Hopefully  eating a LOT of fresh seafood, buffalo wings, popovers, pies etc. I am particularly looking forward to experiencing Boston's Chinatown; I hope to post from there.

If you've any recommendations- it doesn't need to be Thai/Asian food, I love all food- then I would be thrilled to hear from you. And now back to my version of Pad Woon Sen....

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Okay so this recipe will make plenty for 2 and still enough for 3

You'll need:

• 2 sheets/nests of dried mungbean/glass vermicelli noodles (they're transparent)
• A small bag (200-250g) of raw king prawns/shrimp
• 2 small pork chops or steaks, fat trimmed off and cut into strips
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut into coins
• About a 1/4 of a white cabbages, cut into large squares (cut a thin slice off one side, then chop)
• 3 or 4 stalks of Chinese celery, chopped into large pieces. Regular celery leaves are great too
• 3 or 4 spring onions, trimmed and cut into large pieces
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• A big splash of oyster sauce
• A big splash of light soy sauce
• A small splash of dark soy sauce
• A big pinch of sugar
• A big punch of black pepper
• Vegetable oil for frying

Soak your vermicelli noodles by submerging them in cold water for 10-15 minutes, breaking them up as they soften. Drain and keep handy.

Heat a wok up until very hot, almost smoking and add in the oil, swirling to coat the base. Throw in the pork and stir fry for 1 minute, until mostly cooked through. Add in the raw prawns and stir fry for a further minute until they've mostly turned pink. If by any chance you're using pre-cooked prawns, add them in later (at the point that the celery and spring onions go in).

Next in goes the garlic, just toss it very lightly for a few seconds before adding in the carrot and cabbage, stir frying for around 1 minute. Now shove all these ingredients to one side of the wok, leaving them for a moment and pour the beaten egg into the empty side. Let the egg start to cook before lightly scrambling it before letting it set again. Repeat the setting scrambling until it's 90% cooked before mixing all the ingredients back together again, making sure the egg's well distributed.

Now throw the celery and spring onions into the pan, stir fry them for minute before adding in the noodles, 3 sauces, pepper and sugar. Stir well,the sauces will soften and darken the noodles and mix all the ingredients today. Try and let the noodles stick to the base of the wok a bit; it'll give you some nice crunchy bits. Cook for a final minute or two and serve.

Haw Mok (Fish Custard)

I have vague memories of first making these when I was just discovering Thai food aged about 15 or 16. I don't even remember where I managed to get hold of the banana leaves or if they even turned out okay. Two decades later, it's high time I paid a return visit to Haw Mok.

Fish custard isn't the most appealing sounding name, perhaps a better way to describe haw mok is to say red curry flavoured savoury mousse. You end up with a bouncy textured dense mousse, that is rich with coconut milk and the banana leaf cups adds a hint of smoky fragrance.

I strongly suggest that you spend a bit of time fiddling around with the banana leaves first, learning how to form them into cups. The classic way to hold them together is with cocktail sticks but this wasn't working for me so I've used a trusty stapler to hold them together- if you do this; please be aware of them when serving to others as there is a risk of loose staples getting into the mousse mixture. The banana leaf cups are just to cook and serve in, they aren't edible.

Aim to make about 6-8 cups. To form them, I cut out 4 identical circles of banana leaf about 10cm in diameter each (trim off the the tough edges of the leaf first) before overlapping the centre of all four circles and folding and stapling them until I had a flat bottomed cup. It takes some practice sorry!

However, once you've mastered making the cups, the rest is incredibly easy to do.

This recipe makes 6-8 haw mok, using:

• 3-4 banana leaves (prepared as above)- you can often get them frozen in Asian or Carribean shops
• 2 fillets of white fish, skinned and cut into large chunks
• 1 heaped dessert spoon of red curry paste (I use Mae Ploy brand)
• 2 eggs
• a few leaves of chinese cabbage or other green cabbage, rolled and very finely shredded
• 1 can of coconut milk (a 400ml one), shake before opening to mix
• a small splash of fish sauce
• a big pinch of sugar
• 3-4 kaffir lime leaves, rolled up and finely shredded
• 1 large red chilli, sliced
• a teaspoon of rice flour or just plain flour

Set a steamer/colander with a lid over a large pan of water and bring to the boil.

Place a small amount of shredded cabbage in the bottom of each banana leaf cup.

In a food processor, whizz up the fish, curry paste, fish sauce, eggs, sugar, and 250ml of the coconut milk until well blended. You should now have a very thick mixture, resembling cake batter in texture.

Place the banana leaf cups into the steamer and carefully divide this mixture amongst the cups- don't overfill them.

Place over the boiling water, pop a lid on and steam for 15-20 minutes until completely set. If you're not sure, poke with a skewer; it should come out clean. 

In a small bowl, mix the remaining coconut milk and the flour. Drizzle a small bit of this over the cooking haw mok and replace the lid, steaming for a final few minutes.

To serve, sprinkle over some shredded kaffir lime leaf and a few sliced chillies. The haw mok should easily pull away from the banana leaf. Serve with rice for a full meal.

Gaeng Som Cha Om (Sour Curry with Acacia Omelette)

Gaeng Som must be one of the few 'curries' I've yet to touch on; my preference for Northern and Central Thai cuisine means I often overlook dishes from South Thailand, perhaps unfairly. To this end today's recipe and the next will focus on southern Thai food.

Gaeng Som is more soup like than other curries and has a simple and aromatic paste making it an easy dish to pull off. It's sourness comes from a combination of tamarind paste and lime juice. Any combination of crunchy vegetables can feature in a gaeng som but keeping it traditional, I've just used bamboo shoots. A popular addition; acacia omelette (kai jeow cha om) helps to provide a pleasing textural contrast and soaks up some of the broth.

For 4 small bowls use:

• 200g peeled prawns
• 200g of drained and rinsed bamboo shoots, sliced
• 50ml of taramind concentrate
• juice of 1 lime
• small handful of peeled Thai shallots
• small handful of dried red chillies
• 4 or 5 fingers of krachai (galingale) chopped
• 1 teaspoon of shrimp paste
• 2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
• a big splash of fish sauce

and for the accompanying acacia omelette follow this recipe

Begin by making the acacia (cha om) omelette, cutting it into squares and keeping warm while you make the curry.
Make the curry paste by pounding the dried red chillies, shallots, shrimp paste and krachai in a mortar, working it until you have a well blended red paste. The krachai will be one of the predominant flavours of the dish whilst the chillies give it it's orangey/red colour.
Boil the chicken stock in a large pan and pop in all the prepared paste, mixing well. Turn down the heat to a simmer.
Add in the bamboo shoots and cook for 2 minutes, then add in the tamarind and fish sauces.
Next in go the prawns- 3 minutes or so for raw, 1-2 for pre-cooked.
Finally squeeze in the lime juice, give everything a final quick stir and stir with freshly cooked rice.
Serve the acacia omelette both in and on the side of your gaeng som.

Pla Tod Khamin (Turmeric Fried Fish)

Ahh, poor bonito; fish never look quite so pretty when they've been deep fried whole- I'm not one for removing heads though, I'd much rather keep them whole- plus you'd miss out on the cheeks!

Saturday just gone I did one of my favourite things to do in my free time, wandering round food markets, picking up random things to take home and make things with. I went to Bolton market; I've been there once before and remembered it was a great place to pick up every kind of fish, cut of meat, exotic vegetables and great for local northern produce. It also has a great fresh Thai fruit and vegetable stall, easily on par with any of my usual favourites in Leeds, Manchester and Birkenhead- very reasonable prices too. 

Along with my bonito fish (£5 for a huge fish), some acacia (cha om), fresh green peppercorns (just because I struggle to get them) I also picked up some bitter gourds for a recipe which will follow soon.

There is nothing fancy about the fish- I wanted to cook it in a way that would do it justice, quickly and simply and served it with nam prik seafood (seafood sauce) and some rice. We ate it as you see it here, sharing it between us.

For two people use:

• a large meaty fish, gutted, scaled and deep slashed cut into both sides
• several knobbly pieces of fresh turmeric, chopped
• half a bulb of garlic, peeled and chopped
• a lot of vegetable oil for deep frying

and if you fancy making the 'sauce seafood' to go with it- here's the link within another of my earlier recipes... 

Heat a large, deep wok full of vegetable oil until hot. Very, VERY carefully slowly slide the fish in and allow it to develop a deep golden crispiness- it will need to be carefully turned over half way through the cooking. It will depend on size but mine took about 10 minutes.

Gently lift out, use two spatulas (an extra pair of hands helps) and drain on kitchen paper.

Still in the hot oil, drop in all the chopped turmeric and garlic and deep fry for around 2 minutes- stirring regularly until you can see the garlic is a light golden brown and everything is slightly crispy. Scoop out with a sifter and sprinkle over the fish.

Nasi Goreng Kampung (Malaysian Fried Rice- Village Style)

I mentioned a while back that I may from time to time, post a non Thai recipe so hope it's okay that today I'm making a short hop over the border into Malaysia. Some of you may remember I went on holiday for a few weeks last year to Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi where I spent as much time as possible eating my way through dishes from all the cultures that call Malaysia home. 

My husband and I particularly enjoyed the simple rice dishes that we ate for breakfast, such as nasi lemak and this one; nasi goreng kampung (village style fried rice). Although it looks quite a straightforward dish it's full of very strong flavours; notably salty, fishy and spicy ones. Treat yourself and top your portion off with a freshly cooked crisp fried egg.

For 4 large portions use:

• A large bowl of cold, pre cooked rice
• a large bunch of morning glory (water spinach) cut into 2 inch pieces
• a handful of green beans, cut into small pieces
• 2 large handfuls of dried crispy anchovies (1 handful finely chopped, 1 left whole)
• 4 red chillies, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 small onion, finely sliced
• a big glug of light soy sauce
• a big squeeze of kecap manis (sweet, dark, thick soy sauce)
• vegetable oil for frying

In a deep wok, heat the oil until hot and fry the onion, garlic and chillies until they have some colour (about 2 minutes). 

Stir fry in the handful of chopped anchovies and green beans (open a window/put on the extractor!), frying for a minute before moving the ingredients to the side of the wok and pouring in the beaten egg. 

Let the egg begin to set before lightly scrambling. Let it set again, scramble, set, scramble until fully cooked and mix all the ingredients back together. 

Throw in the morning glory, briefly stir frying for a minute before carefully tipping all the rice in.

Pour over the sauces and gently toss and mix all the ingredients, making sure all the rice is well coated and heated through. 

Have a taste to see if it needs any more sauce and plate up, sprinkling the other handful of dried fish over the steaming 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.

Gaeng Taipo Pla (Morning Glory & Fish Curry)

Hi there everyone, firstly I hope you've had a lovely Christmas and/or some time off to relax and spend with friends and family. Let me start by apologising for my absence. I would love to say I've been having wild parties and gorging on food for the last 10 days or so but that isn't the case; in fact Christmas more or less has been thrown out of the window this year. I've been incredibly sick with a clostridium difficile infection, which developed after a course of antibiotics. I'm not home and dry yet but after a week of being rather poorly, I am starting to feel more human and am eating again. I'm also currently banned from the kitchen while infectious and on a very light diet; although am trying some Khao Man Gai (fatty chicken rice) tonight.

What with the floods/clean ups and power cuts and now this horrible bug it feels like I've been away for long enough, so it's high time to get blogging again.

This is a recipe I made a couple of weeks back that was planned during the time we had the floods; remember the swordfish I had to throw away? The week after, I bought some less expensive, but delicious steaks of hake and finally made the curry I had planned; Gaeng Taipo Pla.

It reminded me of some of the dishes we ate while we were in Malaysia in the summer, there's certainly a lot of common ingredients. It's a nice easy one to do and if you're sick of turkey and meat right now as a lot of us are after the Christmas festivities, it's a great dish- hot, sour, pungent and healthy with lots of crunchy morning glory.

For two people use:

• Two fish steaks (I used hake but any firm fish will work well)
• A very big handful of morning glory, trim off ends then cut into inch long pieces
• 200ml or 1/2 a can of coconut milk + water to make up to 400ml
• 75ml of tamarind concentrate
• A level tablespoon of red curry paste (I use Mae Ploy brand)
• A big splash of fish sauce
• A walnut sized chunk of palm sugar/ light brown sugar
• Juice of a large lime
• A few lime leaves, ripped up into small pieces

Heat the coconut milk in a wok over a reasonably high heat, gently stirring every now and again until the oils begin to separate from the coconut milk. When they do, add in the red curry paste and fry until well mixed, fragrant and the red oils can be seen. Now pop in the fish sauce, tamarind, sugar and lime leaves along with the additional 200ml water. After all are well mixed, gently pop in the fish steaks and let them slowly cook in the sauce, carefully turning over if needed after a few minutes to allow the fish to cook fully.

When you are happy the fish is cooked, use a slotted spoon or fish slice to carefully lift the fish out and put briefly to one side. Back to the pan of bubbling curry, add in the lime juice and morning glory, stirring well, cooking for only a minute or so until the morning glory is just wilted. 

Serve the curry with a fish steak on top along with freshly cooked white rice.

Goong Pad Sot Makham (Prawns Fried with Tamarind Sauce)

With Christmas just around the corner, it's the time of year when special dishes like this one are in store. I picked up a huge bag of king prawns from our local Asian food store which was much more economical than buying the tiny bags from regular supermarkets. Just a note on the prawns- I recommend using the prawns with the shell on. The sauce seems to stick to it so much better- however if you can't get shell on, don't get too hung up about it. Depending on your persuasion you can either chew the prawns, shell and all or get hands on and peel and suck the prawns as you go. 

This is a quick one to make, there is a bit of time needed to make the toppings but it's not onerous. My husband was a bit worried when I was making this that it would be too sweet; neither of us are particularly keen on sweet savoury dishes and I have used less sugar in my recipe than you may find in other versions of this dish. As ever with Thai food, you should always adjust the food to suit your own tastes. The end result is a thick sauce perfectly balanced between sour salty and sweet.

For two people, use:

• Two big handfuls of raw king prawns (shrimp) ideally with shell on
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 3-4 small red chillies, sliced
• 1 large red chilli, thinly sliced
• 5/6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• Around 75ml of thick tamarind concentrate
• Around 100ml water
• A big splash of light soy sauce
• A small splash of Thai fish sauce
• A tablespoon of palm sugar (or light brown sugar)
• Vegetable oil for frying
• Optional- lettuce leaves for serving on, coriander sprigs etc. 

Heat a large splash of oil over a medium heat and throw in the shallot slices. Gently fry for 4-5 minutes or until they become light golden. Add in the garlic and continue frying everything together until golden and crisp. Scoop out and drain on kitchen paper.

Heat up the same oil again and when hot, fry the chopped onion, until softened. Pop the small chillies, sugar, tamarind, water, soy and fish sauce into the pan, stirring until the sugar is all dissolved, and the sauce is reduced by around half. When the sauce is reasonably thick, pop in the prawns and cook in the sauce until pink (about 3-4 minutes).

Pour the prawns and sauce onto a serving plate (with a lettuce leaf bed if you wish) sprinkle over the large sliced chilli, crispy shallots/garlic and the sliced spring onion.

Pad Pla Cha (Sizzling Fried Fish)

The last week has certainly been a chaotic one- in our corner of the world we've had horrendous amounts of rain which led to wide scale flooding in our city centre, followed by our substation getting flooded, blowing up and widespread blackouts. It really was strange to have 3 days without electric, internet or even phone signal; most people also use digital phones so even a basic phone call using a landline was out. Consequently, cooking in the dark at friends and family's houses (we don't have gas here, only electric so we had to borrow) using up whatever food we had that hadn't yet gone off did not make for a productive week to run a food blog- all the shops were shut due to flood damage and having no power and even the museum where I work (unfortunately next to the river) had suffered from the flood waters so the beginning of week there was much cleaning up to be done.

This recipe for pad pla cha was made last week before all of this even began and has been waiting to get uploaded for a bit. The 'cha' part of the name describes the sizzling noise made by stir frying at high temperature, there are many variations on pad cha recipes, this is just one! I find deep frying the fish holds it together and helps absorb the flavours of the sauce. It has a couple of specific ingredients- the green peppercorns and the krachai root which give it a unique flavour.

For two people use:

• 2 small fillets of fish (I've use basa- a type of catfish)
• a big handful of flour
• 1 long Asian aubergine/ 3 Thai, sliced
• a handful of green pea aubergine
• a tablespoon of green peppercorns
• a heaped teaspoon of red curry paste (I use Mae Ploy brand)
• 2 small red chillies
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 large red chillies, sliced
• 2 fingers of krachai (fingerroot), peeled and finely chopped
• a large handful of sweet Thai basil (bai horapha)
• a large splash of oyster sauce
• a large splash of light soy sauce
• a small splash of fish sauce
• vegetable oil for deep frying and a splash for the stir fry

Make a rough paste in a pestle and mortar with the small chillies and garlic, set aside. Cut the fish into thin slices and coat them in the flour, dusting off the excess. Heat a pan of oil to a depth of at least 3 inches and when hot, deep fry the fish until crisp and light golden in colour, scooping out and draining onto a paper towel. Set aside briefly.

In a wok, heat a splash of oil over a high heat and briefly fry off the chill/garlic paste and the red curry paste for around 30 seconds until fragrant. Next pop in the sliced aubergine and fry for a few minutes until slightly softened. Next in go the pea aubergines, green peppercorns, krachai and sliced red chilli and fry for just a minute. Now pop in the breaded fish and be much more gentle now, stir through and add in the remaining sauces (soy, fish and oyster), coat everything well. Finally, turn off the heat and throw in the basil leaves, briefly stirring through. 

Serve with freshly cooked rice. 

Pla Neung Manao (Steamed Lime Fish)

When my best friend told me her Dad had been fishing and she had a trout for us I was over the moon. We'd been promised fish before though usually they never materialised but this time- there it was. When I saw it, I was taken aback by just how big it was- most supermarket trout end up around 1 foot tops but this fella was more like two feet- we wouldn't be going hungry!!

The only fitting way to treat such a beautiful fresh fish was to keep it whole and enjoy it with a vibrant, fresh tasting sauce that wouldn't swamp the mild tasting trout. 'Neung' means to steam but this in itself presented a substantial problem- how to steam such a large fish; there was no way it was fitting in a steamer and it was even too big for my large oval casserole dish. In the end it was placed on a baking rack, in a roasting tray sat over an inch of boiling water filled from the kettle. A tight cover of tin foil, kept up off the skin allowed the whole fish to steam evenly.

And what an amazingly tasty trout it was: a very light flavour, meaty texture and the sauce complemented it beautifully. This is about as healthy as food gets- no guilt whatsoever with this meal! Serve with rice for a full meal.

For 2-4 people use:

• a large trout ( as fresh as you can get and of a size to suit your needs!)
• a large bunch of coriander, just over half left to decorate,the rest finely chopped
• a few chopped red chillies (to suit your taste- I've used 3 in the sauce)
• a bulb (yes, a bulb) of peeled, finely chopped garlic
• 50ml of fish sauce (nam pla)
• juice of 2 juicy limes

Steam your fish using your chosen method depending on it's size and whatever you have in your kitchen that will so the job! Check periodically to see if it's cooked to your liking.

While it cooks, make the 'sauce seafood' (Thai's do actually say 'sauce seafood', they don't translate it to nam talay or similar). Mix the rest of the ingredients and have a taste- it should be predominantly sour but salty and chilli flavours not far behind. Some add some sugar, I prefer not to.

Plate your fish (this is the biggest I had) and serve with the coriander, pouring over the sauce.

Khao Pad Tom Yum (Hot & Sour Soup Flavour Fried Rice)

Apparently this Thai dish was all the rage a few years back when it became rather fashionable to mix together classic Thai dishes into one combined meal. Take Tom Yum Goong (Hot & Sour Prawn Soup) and Khao Pad (Fried Rice) and mix the flavours together to create a quick, filling, fresh and vibrant tasting rice dish.

For two people use:

• 3 cups of cooked and cooled white rice (left over from yesterday is ideal)

• a large handful of small prawns/shrimp

• a few stalks of green leafy veg (such as morning glory or pak choi) or substitute mushrooms or another veg of your choice

• 1 stalk lemongrass, finely chopped

• 4 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

• a 1 inch piece of galangal, peeled and finely chopped

• 5-6 kaffir lime leaves, stem removed and ripped into pieces

• 3-4 small chillies, red, orange or green

• juice of 1 lime

• a big splash of fish sauce

• a heaped teaspoon of nam prik pao (roasted chilli paste)

• a handful of fresh coriander, some chopped, some left as stalks

• vegetable oil for frying

Heat a splash of oil in a wok until hot and fling in the garlic, stir frying for a few short seconds. Next add in and briefly fry the flavouring herbs: galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime and chillies. Next in goes the nam prik pao, move it around and cook out the paste for a moment. Next your vegetable choice, give it 20 seconds or so stir frying before the prawns go in for another 30 seconds or so of frying.

Now it's time to carefully tip in the cool, cooked rice and mix everything well, coating the rice in the nam prik pao. Finally pop in the fish sauce, squeeze over the lime and mix in the chopped coriander before giving everything a good final mix through before serving alongside plenty of fresh coriander.

Thai Soup Collection

It’s almost that time of year again- soup season!! Bringing you my recipe collection of four Thai soups I have cooked over the past year or so.

From top-bottom:
Tom Kha Gai (Galangal Chicken Soup)
Tom Saeb (Hot & Sour Pork Rib Soup)
Tom Yum Boran (Ancient Soup)
Tom Yum Goong (Hot & Sour Shrimp Soup)

Pla Pad Prik Thai Dam (Fish Fried with Black Pepper)

Deep fried fish, lots of garlicky spices and crunchy vegetables- you can’t really go wrong here. I suspect this is one of these dishes that may have started out as tourist food but has ended up being just as popular with the Thai people.
It’s a quick easy to make dish that doesn’t use any obscure or hard to track down ingredients. It’s a nice contrast to have two kinds of heat from the smoky black pepper and the fiery chillies. It didn’t last long on our plates anyway!! Serve with fluffy white rice.
For two portions use:

• a large, skinned sea fish fillet (I used haddock- pollock, coley, catfish or ling are also good) cut into large chunks
• 1 & ½ bell peppers (whatever colour you fancy)
• 1 onion, sliced into strips
• 2 spring onions, cut into large pieces
• 4/5 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
• 2-3 small red chillies, chopped fine
• a dessertspoon of black pepper, ground
• a cup of plain flour
• a big splash of oyster sauce
• a big splash of light soy sauce
• vegetable oil for deep frying/ stir frying

Start off by coating the chunks of fish in the flour. Heat a deep pan or wok and when hot, gently drop in the fish and deep fry until lightly golden and crisp- roughly ¾ minutes. Cook in batches if needed so the pan isn’t overcrowded and drain on kitchen paper.
In a clean wok, heat a splash of oil until really hot and throw in the sliced onions and peppers, stir frying for 3 minutes and allowing the bottoms to get a little char. Throw in the spring onions, garlic, chillies and ground pepper (it’ll make you cough!) stir frying for another 30 seconds before adding in the fried fish and both sauces. Briefly stir fry (gently so the fish doesn’t break up) so everything is coated in sauce and serve with rice.

Khanom Jeen Nam Ya (Fish Curry Noodles)

Typically this is a breakfast or lunch dish in Thailand but if you make it for your evening meal I don’t think anyone will mind! This is typical southern Thai street food and is another of those dishes that can be adapted depending on what is available from the market (or in my case, my local Asian food store) on the day. Don’t feel you have to use the same accompanying vegetables. Eggs, pickled cabbage and stink or wing beans are all popular too.
The basic fish curry is served over soft rice noodles and served alongside a selection of crunchy raw vegetables, herbs and crispy dried chillies. The slippery noodles and soft silky sauce contrast really nicely with the beansprouts and green beans and it is both fiercely hot, fishy and salty but balanced out with rich creamy coconut and pepped up with lots of citrus flavours.
For 3-4 portions use:

• A pack of fresh rice noodles (typically thin ones), separated into individual strands or if using dried, soaked until fully flexible.
• 300g of skinned & boneless fish
• a big splash of fish sauce
• 400ml (a can) of coconut milk
• 200ml of fish ‘stock’ (boiling water left over)
• about 8 kaffir lime leaves, torn up

For the curry paste:

• 2 fingers of fresh turmeric
• 2 fingers of krachai (finger root/galingale)
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• a small handful of dried red chillies (6-12)
• a big knob of galangal
• 3 Thai shallots
• a teaspoon of black peppercorns

And to accompany:

• 2 heaped handfuls of beansprouts
• a handful of green/long beans, chopped into pieces
• a few handfuls of whatever fresh Asian herbs you can get- sweet basil would be ideal (I couldn’t get it) so coriander was used here
• several dried red chillies (lightly toasted to crisp them up)
• several slices of cucumber

Start as ever, by making the paste. Pound up all the ingredients, bit by bit, not putting too much in the mortar at once. Start with the tougher ingredients, working through to the softer ones and keep working away until a smooth red paste is reached- 15/20 mins probably. Pop the paste to one side, you need the mortar again…
While doing this, gently boil the fish in water. If you use pre filleted skinned fish, it’ll not take long, perhaps 10 mins. If you use whole fish, maybe 15 minutes. After boiling, scoop out, straining off any drips of water and spend some time as needed to remove any skin and bones. Keep the fishy water for the next step. Put the prepared fish into the mortar and gently pound it, until you have a smooth paste.
Heat a wok and pour in all the coconut milk, gently heating it through. Add in your newly made curry paste and stir through. Let the curry develop for 5 minutes before adding lime leaves, fish sauce and the pounded fish. Add in some of the fish stock as needed- the curry should still have a fairly thick (yoghurt like) consistency. Cook on low heat for a further five minutes. In the last 5 minutes, heat through the fresh rice noodles in hot water until soft and flexible and drain, plating up alongside your selection of vegetables. Ladle over the nam ya curry.

Miang Kham (Wrapped Bites)

Something totally different today, thanks to another trip to Siam Smiles Thai supermarket in Manchester yesterday. We had some more amazing food there and will do a write up on the next post. The main ingredient for this dish- the bai cha plu (wild pepper leaves) we picked up there, it’s something I’ve yet to come across in the UK and seeing how it’s essential for miang kham, it would have been a shame to not grab a pack at just £1.65.
Miang (wrapped) kham (bites) are made of of the glossy wild pepper leaves (incorrectly often confused with the stimulant/carcinogenic betel leaf). They have an incredible perfume and taste which I found hard to describe as they seem to be made up of so many elements. Initially they have spicy hits of star anise then something akin to kumquat with a bitter-sweet citrus note. Exciting stuff!
Into the leaves comes an assortment of sweet, sour, spicy, salty, bitter, fishy, chewy and crunchy goodies- your mouth won’t know what’s going on- but it’ll want another one!!
This recipe will make around 20 pieces.
Start by making the sauce:
Bash together in a mortar:

• A small handful of dried pink shrimp
• A small handful of peanuts, toasted in a wok until lightly browned
• A small handful of fresh or dried coconut, toasted in a wok until lightly browned.

Then pour this mix into a small saucepan with

• A very big splash of nam pla (fish sauce)
• Half a cup of water
• A tablespoon of palm or light brown sugar

Cook this mixture down until it’s quite thick and sauce-like. While it’s cooking, prepare the fillings…

• A big handful of peanuts
• 6-10 red and/or green small chillies, finely sliced
• A big nobble of ginger, peeled and diced fine
• A big handful of fresh or dried coconut, toasted in a wok until light brown
• 8-10 peeled and diced shallots
• Half a lime, skin left on (if you like the bitterness), peeled otherwise, cut into very small segments
• A handful of small dried pink shrimp

Serve everything together, make a cone shape of the stalk end of the leaf, load up with a couple of pieces of each of the fillings then spoon over some sauce, roll the leaf up and experience a mouthful of flavour madness!

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.

Laab Pla Duk (Catfish Chopped Salad)

This is the 3rd recipe for laab/larb/laap that I’ve done now. It’s something we cook quite a lot in our house as it’s easy to do and is fresh tasting and filling too. It’s sort of a salad (but much better than that). Laab is a northern Thai dish and it can come in hundreds of varieties and variations. There’s even one that involves raw pigs blood (though I don’t think I’ll be giving that one a go!) This one made a good change from the chicken or pork versions I’ve done before and the grilled catfish adds a nice smoky depth to the dish. Serve with sticky rice to mop up and juices that are left.

For two people use:

• 1 whole catfish
• 4 (Thai) shallots, sliced
• 3 spring onions, chopped
• a dessert spoon of white rice (for making khao khua- toasted rice powder)
• a big sprinkle of chilli flakes
• a big splash of fish sauce (nam pla)
• juice of 1-2 limes
• 2 wedges of white cabbage
• a big handful each of herbs (I used Vietnamese mint and sawtooth culantro- regular mint and coriander are perfectly fine- I just get excited when I see Thai herbs)

Start with the catfish and get it out of the way- mine was jet black in colour and looked pretty angry- put it on foil and shove it under the grill quickly and grill until fully cooked and the skin is crispy, gently turn it over half way through the cooking; it should take 10-15 minutes altogether.
When the fish has cooled down, remove and discard the skin and pick all the flesh of the bones. Use a big knife to roughly chop the fish.
While the fish is cooling make Khao Khua (toasted rice powder). Heat the dessert spoon of rice in a dry wok and keep moving it until it starts to toast, becoming light brown and smelling slightly nutty, about 3-5 minutes. When it’s toasted, pour into a mortar and grind into a fine powder.
Add all the ingredients into a bowl (apart from the herbs and cabbage) and give everything a really good mix together. Serve with the cabbage wedge and herbs alongside.