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

Kai Jeow Moo Saab (Fluffy Omelette with Pork Mince)

After cooking some fairly elaborate dishes over the last few weeks I thought a change to something really easy would be nice and made a simple fluffy Thai omelette.

I'm also still getting used to using my new carbon steel wok. It was a very welcome Christmas present but due to the amount of time needed and smoke created in order to season a new wok I've waited until it was a bit warmer and I could have the doors and windows right open! About a month in with my new wok and I love it, I can use my metal food turner with it and it already it's pretty much non-stick.

Back to omelettes...

Thai omelettes are a lot fluffier, a bit crispier and a little more unhealthy but other than that, they're still very straightforward and ready in less than 5 minutes.

For 1 omelette you need:

• 2 large or 3 medium eggs
• a very small splash of fish sauce
• a very small splash of light soy sauce
• a big pinch of black pepper
• 75g of pork mince
• half a cup of vegetable oil

Beat your eggs in a bowl with the sauces and pepper. Add in the pork and mix well to break up.

Heat a wok on a high heat and when smoking, add in the vegetable oil, let it heat up almost until smoking again.

Tip your egg mixture into the hot oil from about 1ft above but please, be careful! This action will cause the omelette to instantly start puffing up around the edges. Use a spatula to allow oil to move all around the edges and let it cook, undisturbed for a couple minutes (the centre may still be raw- that's fine).

Use a wide spatula (or get a friend with a second spatula) to carefully flip over the omelette; any raw mixture is now underneath and will cook in the oil. Let the other side cook for a couple of minutes and get golden brown. 

When cooked, carefully lift out. Serve with Sriracha chilli sauce, white rice and something like pad pak bung fai daeng (Stir fried morning glory), one of my favourite vegetable dishes.

Khanom Krok (Coconut Rice Cakes)

Khanom krok are a Thai breakfast/snack/dessert dish that use a rice flour and coconut batter, traditionally cooked in small circular hollows in a round cast iron tray called a 'krok'. They have a texture a bit like Japanese mochi; slightly bouncy, chewy with a pleasing crispy outer layer. They're usually topped with colourful ingredients like pumpkin, spring onion or as used here, sweetcorn.

This recipe is for an oven baked version of khanom krok; although it is possible to get the cast iron krok pans here in the UK (I've seen them on our visits to Raan Thai in Birkenhead) they're also relatively expensive and need a gas burner underneath. Unfortunately our ceramic hob wouldn't work for such a cooking method so I've come up with both an alternative cooking method and utensil in which to cook them.

Those in the UK and possibly also the US, may be familiar with the famous Yorkshire pudding (a crispy egg/flour batter based baked item often served with roasted meats, vegetables and gravy). I've used the same cooking method and shallow 4-holed baking tray to make the khanom kroks. You can also use a muffin/cupcake tin but make sure that whatever tray type you use, just don't fill the batter to more than 3cm/1 inch deep or they won't fully cook through.

For 8 khanom kroks, you'll need:

• 1 400ml can coconut milk- divide it into two parts- the thicker cream and the thinner milk.
• 1/2 cup water
• 50g sugar
• 3/4 cup of rice flour
• 1/4 cup of tapioca flour
• a pinch of salt
• a tablespoon or so of corn kernels (frozen/tinned is fine)
• a small drizzle of vegetable oil

Get the oven heating up before beginning to make the batter- turn it to it's hottest temperature and put your Yorkshire pudding/ cupcake/muffin tray in to get really hot.

For the outside batter, mix the rice flour, salt, thinner coconut milk and water together, mixing until there are no lumps left- it should have the consistency of thin/single cream.

Also make the inner batter; mix the tapioca flour, sugar and thicker coconut cream together, again, whisking/beating until the mixture reaches a smooth, lump-free, cake- icing like consistency.

Get the tin out of the oven (obviously using an oven mitt or something!) and pour a drop of oil into each hole. Use a piece of kitchen roll to make sure all the inside surface is well oiled.

Pop the tray back in the oven for a few more minutes to heat up again.

Working quickly now, get the the tray out and pour about a tablespoon of the thinner outer batter into each hole; you should hear it sizzle. Gently holding the tray (still in a gloved hand!!) roll it a little, so some of the batter touches the sides of each hole.

Pop the tray back in the oven to allow the skin of the outer batter to form- and leave to cook for 3-4 minutes.

Now get the tray out again and this time, use the thick inner batter, spoon out a generous tablespoon into the middle of each hole, on top of the almost cooked outer batter.

Drop a few corn kernels on to the top of each lot of the mixtures.

Place back into the oven for 10 minutes until fully cooked. Use a table knife to carefully lift the khanom kroks aways from the surface of the baking tray and lift out with a spoon.

As I only had the one Yorkshire pudding tray, I then repeated to give me 8 in total.

Karipap Gai (Chicken Curry Puff)

Today's post is a substantial hike in the difficulty levels! Normally I try and make dishes that are easy to follow and make but Karipaps (Curry Puffs) are particularly difficult, or the pastry is at least. As you might be able to see it's a multi-layer puff pastry that is folded in such a way that ends up with an open spiral-like finish. This is the first time I've ever tackled anything like this so it really was a challenge but with a bit of practise, hopefully you can manage it too.

The filling is a fairly simple chicken and potato curry-at least that part is easy to do!

The pastry involves making two lots of dough, both slightly different mixes.

For 8 curry puffs, you'll need:

For the Inner Dough:

• 120g plain flour
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

For the Outer Dough:

• 300g plain flour
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup water (you may not need all of it)
• big pinch salt
• big pinch sugar

For the Curry Filling:

• 4 small/2 medium potatoes, peeled, cut into 2 cm squared cubes and pre-boiled for 3-4 minutes
• 2-3 chicken thighs, cut into 2 cm squared pieces
• 1 small onions, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon mild curry powder
• 1 teaspoon of chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• a big pinch salt
• vegetable oil for frying

Start by making the filling, as it'll need to be cool by the time you make the doughs.

Heat a small splash of vegetable oil in a pan until hot, then fry the onions until softened. 

Add in the chicken pieces, frying until cooked; about 2-3 minutes. Pop in the spices and salt and mix well. 

Gently add in the cooked potato, stir everything well and cook for a couple minutes more. Leave to cool while you make the pastry...

Make the inner dough

Pour the oil into the flour, it'll quickly and easily make breadcrumbs and then with a little further squeezing and kneading will become a smooth, oily dough. Divide into 8 equal balls (each will be about golf ball size).

Make the outer dough

Put the sugar and salt into the flour, add the oil as before, using your fingertips to make 'breadcrumbs'- this will be a dry mix at this stage. Slowly add in the water bit by bit, kneading gently to bring the dough together. You do not want a dry crumbly dough, it needs to hold together so add enough water to make sure you've got a smooth, pliable dough that will hold itself together.

Divide the outer dough into 8 equal sized balls and use a rolling pin to roll them into a flat circle.

No need to leave the dough to rest, lets move straight on to the rolling....

Making the pastry...

Work on an oiled work surface or board to make life a lot easier for yourself.

Place a ball of the inner dough into the middle of a flat circle of outer dough and fold and squeeze the outer dough around the inner dough ball so it's fully encased. Repeat for the rest of the dough. You now have 8 enclosed dough balls.

Take one of the enclosed dough balls and roll it flat rolling only forwards and backwards- you want a long, narrow 0 shape to the dough, as thin as you can get it.

Loosening the dough from the work surface, roll it up like a cigar, rolling away from yourself (open rolled ends are to your left and right)

Pick up the rolled dough and turn it 90 degrees (an open rolled end is facing you). Use the rolling pin to roll out the dough, like we did at the beginning, into a long narrow 0 shape. Again, use your hands to roll it up like a cigar (or sausage roll!) pushing it away from you before turning it 90 degrees.

Rinse and repeat... 

Altogether I did 3 cycles of rolling out, cigar rolling and turning. As long as you do the same actions each time and turn the dough in the same direction you'll be fine.

On the final cigar roll, smooth the roll off, smoothing the ends into the dough as much as possible and gently manipulate into a more even roll. Cut this roll into 8 equal slices, leaving you with something resembling the picture above.

Give yourself a well deserved pat on the back!!

Filling & Cooking

Heat a deep fat fryer or heavy pan of vegetable oil while you start to fill the dough. Yes more oil, these are not healthy snacks!!

Take one of the dough slices, placed flat on the work surface and roll flat with the rolling pin straight down on top of the layers, again, aiming for an elongated '0' shape. As you roll, you'll see the layers start to stretch and open up. Aim to get the dough quite thin, about 5mm is ideal.

Lift up the rolled dough and place a tablespoon of the cooled curry filling into the inside, fold both halves of the dough together and pinch and twist the edges to seal it tightly.

Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling.

Cooking in batches, deep fry for 6-8 minutes until crispy and light brown.

Serve with pickled cucumber/chilli/shallot (known as ajaad- click for the recipe) to help cut through the rich pastry.

Fall into a heap!!

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.

Nam Nuang (Grilled Pork Fresh Spring Rolls)

 

So following on from last Sunday's post about fresh spring rolls, here's part two- the Vietnamese style 'nam nuang'. I was initially quite confused by the name; 'nam' meaning liquid/water/sauce in Thai. After a bit of nosing around I discovered that they are known as 'nem nuong in Vietnamese (nuong simply means grilled in Vietnamese and across a few borders, they have become Nam Nuang in Thailand. These spring rolls are a simplified version of the original but are no less tasty for it...

This recipes makes about 8 rolls; use:

• 8 dried rice paper circles

• A shallow dish of cold water

For the sausages:

• 250g of pork mince

• a heaped teaspoon of black pepper, ground finely

• a small splash of soy sauce

• a small splash of oyster sauce

For the sauce:

• a very big splash of tamarind concentrate

• a big splash of water

• a small splash of fish sauce

• a big pinch of sugar

• a small handful of chopped peanuts

• a small pinch of chilli flakes

And for filling the rolls a selection of:

• shredded lettuce and/or whole baby leaves

• mint leaves

• fresh coriander

• shredded cucumber

• sliced red chillies

First make the sauce by heating the first four ingredients in a small pan, reducing down until the sauce takes on a thin caramel consistency. There should be a good balance of sweet, sour and savoury. Sprinkle over the chopped peanuts and chilli flakes. 

Next prepare all the herbs and vegetables and set out on a plate with the sauce.

Now comes the sausages- dead easy to make, just mix all four ingredients in a bowl by hand. Take a handful and shape into a chunky sausage shape (it should be at least a couple inches smaller than the width of your rice paper circles. Place the sausages on a foil lined tray and grill on a low-medium heat until fully cooked and browned (about 6-10 minutes).

With everything ready to serve, the rice paper comes last. 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 veggies/herbs placed horizontally across the middle of the sheet. Place a sausage on top, drizzle over some of the sauce and roll up by folding the sides into the middles then roll up from bottom to top, using your fingers to hold all the ingredients inside the wrapper.

If you're feeling sociable, serve everything on a big platter and let your guests make and wrap their own nam nuangs!

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.

Pak Mara Pad Kai (Bitter Melon Stir Fried with Egg)

There comes a time when occasionally I have to admit defeat with one of my recipes, when I quite frankly hate it. This is one of those times. Bitter melon is most definitely not for me- although it's supposed to be very healthy for you and I purposely chose the palest ones the market stall had, it still tasted like something that shouldn't be eaten!! My palate just isn't accustomed to bitter as a predominant flavour. 

If you would like to try the health giving properties of pad pak mara kai, here's the recipe...

• 2 small bitter melons (paler are less bitter supposedly) cut in half lengthways and seeds scooped out, cut into thin slices.
• 2 eggs, beaten
• a big pinch of ground black pepper
• a small splash of light soy sauce
• a small splash of fish sauce (or a bit extra soy if you're vegetarian)
• a splash of vegetable oil for stir frying

Heat a wok with the oil until hot. Throw in the bitter melon and stir fry for a couple of minutes until beginning to soften. Push to one side and pour in the beaten egg. Let it set for a moment before scrambling and then mixing all together again. Add in the sauces and pepper and mix well, frying for a couple more minutes before serving.

Moo Ping, Som Tam & Khao Nieow (Grilled Pork Skewers, Papaya Salad & Sticky Rice)

If I was to ever find myself on death row and had to pick a final meal, it would be this. Everything about these three relatively simple components equals complete perfection. Ever so slightly charred, grilled pork skewers (moo ping), juicy and rich with garlic and black pepper with a hint of coconut. My long time favourite, som tam (papaya salad) with it's addictive crunch and astringent sour and hot flavours and to round the whole thing off and soak up all the flavours; sticky rice (khao niew) eaten by hand. It's no wonder they're regularly found in this combined set in Thailand.

Isaan (or north eastern Thai) food is for me the pinnacle of Thai food. The use of fresh herbs and strong pungent flavours, paired with grilled meats, salads and less use of creamy/soupy based dishes equates to food heaven for me.

Doing these dishes also gave me chance to try out and show off some of my new kitchenware- the large terracotta mortar and wooden pestle (informally known as a pokpok) used for gently bashing ingredients- ideal for som tam and the woven sticky rice holder- which I lined with cling film before putting the rice in. It keeps the rice warm and finished off the cooking so the rice is the proper consistency at serving.

For the moo ping skewers (this makes 6 large) use:

• 3 pork steaks (ideally with some fat, though cut off any large rinds), cut into thin pieces
• a small handful of coriander stalks or roots
• a teaspoon of black pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• a big splash of oyster sauce
• a big splash of light soy sauce
• a small splash of fish sauce
• a big pinch of brown or palm sugar
• 100ml of coconut cream (the thick part off the top of a can)
• 6 bamboo skewers

In a mortar (a regular granite one, not the terracotta one above) bash up the black pepper, garlic and coriander stalks into a paste. Add this to a bowl along with the pork pieces. As a rough guide for the pork, I cut each steak into three strips lengthways and then thinly sliced each strip across (roughly 4mm wide.) I ended up with lots of small pieces. 

Into the bowl add in the three sauces and sugar, mix well and leave to marinade for around an hour.

In the meantime, soak the skewers in water (a tall flower vase works well!) so when you grill them they won't burn.

If you make a som tam salad or are doing sticky rice, now is the time to prepare the ingredients and get them ready.

Here's the link, Som Tam Recipe - it was the second ever recipe I did for this blog!

For the sticky rise it's best to just follow the recipe on the packet/ bag that you're using as it'll require a fairly specific quantity of water.

Back to the pork. Take the skewers out of the water and begin to thread the meat onto the stick; the meat strips should sit perpendicular (across) the skewer, not lengthways along it. Skewer it through the thinnest edge so that the maximum amount of meat is exposed to the grill and is easier to pull off when eating. Put plenty of meat on each skewer and pack it down; don't worry about the cooking- it's thin pieces so it will cook through.

Heat the grill medium-high and place onto a wire rack or as I did, on a baking tray with the edges of the bamboo skewers resting on either side of the tray so the meat sits clear of the bottom. The grilling takes about 10-15 minutes and twice during the cooking, take the skewers out and baste them with a light coating of the coconut cream. They're ready when they're a little smoky, have a little bit of light char and and golden brown.

Serve with the som tam and sticky rice- you'll thank me!

Yam Makeua Yang (Grilled Aubergine Salad)

This is a very healthy dish, which is fine but we ate it along with deep fried garlicky pork- khao moo tod gratiem (which will be the next post) so all was good! You could say this was the vegetarian brother of laab (chopped meat salad) as there's a lot of similar herbs and flavours used but none of the guilt. There's beautiful smoky flavours from the charred aubergine which goes great with anise and mint in the herbs and salty/sour sauce.

This doesn't take too long to make and the standard purple mediterranean aubergine does the job just fine in this case. Small Thai eggplants would be way to costly to make this dish in the UK due to how many you'd need. Long thin Asian eggplants/aubergines are another good (and more affordable option).

For a bowl of Yam Makeua (which is a perfect side dish for 2) use:

• 1 large purple aubergine/ 3 thin Asian/ 8 Thai
• 4 shallots, peeled and sliced
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 2 red chillies, sliced
• 2 boiled eggs (optional but always nice)
• a large handful of fragrant herbs- I've used sweet Thai basil (bai horapha) and mint
• juice of 1 lime
• a big splash of fish sauce or light soy sauce

Put your aubergine(s) on a baking tray and grill whole, on a high heat until the skin is blackened and the aubergines wrinkled. It took me about 10 minutes, it'll take less for the smaller/thinner aubergines. You can also toast the aubergine directly over a  flame but it will get very smoky and sets the smoke alarms off indoors so best to save this method for outdoor cookery.

As soon as the aubergine(s) come out of the grill, cover the tray with a tight layer of cling film (which will vacuum itself to the hot aubergine) but once cooled a little will allow you easily peel off the skin.

Discard burnt skin and cut the smoky flesh into strips. When cool, mix in a bowl along with all the other ingredients, serving the boiled eggs on the side.

Nam Prik Ong (Spicy Pork Dip)

Nam Prik’s come in many varieties- they are sauces, dips, snacks and starters and nearly always served with a variety of fried things and crispy vegetables to dip in. They come mainly from the north of Thailand and mix together, fresh, sour, chilli, smoky and fishy flavours; in short an unusual and exciting blend of flavours.
To make a bowl of nam prik ong you’ll need:

• around 300g of pork mince
• 5 or 6 cherry toms, halves
• ¾ spring onions, sliced
• 5 shallots, sliced thin and fried in oil until crispy
• 3 shallots, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 6 dried red chillies, ripped up
• 1 egg
• a small blob of kapi (shrimp paste)
• a splash of fish sauce
• a large handful of coriander, ripped up
• vegetable oil for frying

and to serve along side…

• Thai prawn crackers and/or pork cracklings
• cucumber slices
• crunchy veg like long beans, cabbage
• a few small red and green chillies if you’re feeling brave

Start by making a paste of pounded up garlic, half the coriander, the shrimp paste, the 3 chopped shallots and dried chillies until it’s smooth and of the same consistency.
Heat a small amount of oil in a pan, when it’s hot, start frying the pork mince for a few minutes before adding the paste and frying- it will be quite pungent! Add in the egg- you’re not aiming for fluffy like with fried rice, the egg should be mixed through to give the pork and paste a smoother, dip like consistency. Add a splash of water if needed to keep it loose. Throw in the halved tomatoes and stir them about in the dip to crush them slightly.
Pop the dip in a bowl and sprinkle over the spring onions, other half of the coriander and the crispy shallots.
Serve alongside all the extras

Makua Yao Nam Prik Pao (Aubergine with roasted chilli paste)

Despite being in house selling mode and what I said in my last post about not wanting to cook strong smelling food, I couldn’t resist another Thai dish. This one is ‘more or less’ vegetarian and is easily adapted to be vegan too, just check the ingredients on any chilli paste you use. It took about ten minutes to prep and even less to cook, so it’s perfect for a quick meal. Aim to get the aubergines to be a little soft but not mushy; you still want some texture in the dish.

For 2 big portions use:

• 2 regular purple aubergines/ 4 thin purple ones/ 16 Thai egg aubergines or a combination of. I used the thin purple ones, sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 3 small red chillies, roughly sliced
• a handful of sweet Thai basil (or try using tarragon for an anise-like flavour as a substitute)
• a big splash of light soy sauce
• a splash of fish sauce (nam pla) or extra soy if vegetarian/vegan
• a heaped teaspoon of roasted chilli paste (nam prik pao- be aware some contain shrimp)
• vegetable oil for frying

This recipe it so easy; Make a rough paste by pounding the garlic and chilli in a pestle and mortar. Heat a big splash of oil in a wok until hot. Throw in the garlic/chilli paste and stir fry for a few seconds before throwing all the aubergine in. Depending on which aubergine you have used (green Thai need longer, large purple need less) stir fry for 3-5 minutes, making sure the garlic/chilli doesn’t burn. Add in the roasted chilli paste, soy sauce and (if using) fish sauce, mixing everything well for a further minute. Turn off the heat and stir through the sweet basil leaves until just wilted before serving.

Kai Jeow Cha Om (Acacia Omelette)

Day or night, omelettes are one of those perfect meals when you’re hungry and in a rush and Thailand is a great place to experience the omelette in all it’s glory. They are usually cooked in fiercely hot oil so they puff up and usually contain a small amount of filling mixed in with the egg, such as pork mince. I appreciate acacia (also known as climbing wattle or in Thailand; Cha om) isn’t something you’ll easily be able to get hold of unless you have a Thai supermarket nearby but it was something I’ve been on the look out for a for  while now and when I saw it at RaanThai the other week, I had this recipe lined up ready for it. It shares some of the properties of stink beans such as the sulphurous smell and taste and lingering odour about the person but this largely disappears at cooking time, unlike stink beans which stay potent for up to two days post ingestion.
***A word of warning- cha om is a spiky plant so you have to carefully pull all the leaves off the stems before cooking; avoiding the thorns and resulting finger injury.

For a pan sized omelette that serves one as a main or two as a side dish use:

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 pack of cha- om (roughly a bowl full) Leaves, stripped CAREFULLY off the stems
• a small splash of fish sauce (nam pla) or use light soy sauce if veggie/vegan
• vegetable oil for frying

Mix the cha om/ acacia into the beaten eggs. There should be more cha om than egg. Add in the fish sauce and stir. Heat a big splash of oil in a small-medium sized frying pan and when the oil is very hot, tip the mixture in. Let it fully set underneath (about 1-2 minutes) and very carefully turn over and cook the other side for a further 1-2 minutes. When cooked, turn out onto kitchen paper to soak up excess oil then cut into pieces; fancy diamonds if you like, or slices/wedges/strips if you want to just get eating.

Pad Pak Bung Fai Daeng (Hot Fire Morning Glory)

This is something I make pretty regularly as an accompaniment to other Thai dishes I make. I don’t really see it as being a ‘veggie’ dish. It easily can stand up to other protein based dishes in it’s own right as it has so much flavour and texture. It’s a seriously potent dish. If you ate this in Thailand you may get the showmanship involved with it’s cooking process. The dish is so named for the flames that erupt around the wok when cooked over a raging gas burner.

For two portions use:

• a bunch of morning glory, washed, trimmed and cut into finger length pieces
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 small red chillies
• a big pinch of sugar
• a big splash of oyster sauce (substitute mushroom ketchup for vegans)
• a big splash of soy sauce
• a small splash of yellow bean sauce
• a big splash of water
• vegetable oil for frying

Bash up the garlic and chilli in a mortar into a rough paste. Heat a wok and when hot, swirl in the vegetable oil. When smoking, throw in the garlic/ chilli paste, stir fry for just a few seconds before throwing in all of the morning glory. Stir fry briefly for a minute. Now add in the sugar, three sauces and water. Stir fry for a further minute and turn out on a plate. For some reason, this always tastes better, and the sauce has a better consistency if you leave the dish somewhere warm to sit for 5 minutes. I often make this then leave it in the oven while finishing off another Thai recipe. Serve with white rice

Pad Pak Ruam Mit (Stir Fried Mixed Vegetables)

Sometimes you just need a healthy stir fry of fresh and vibrant crunchy vegetables. Sometimes you don’t and only deep fried will do. I like a happy medium; if I do an unhealthy and/or meat based dish like my crisp garlic chicken- gai tod gratiem I like to have a dish like this to serve on the side. It creates a good balance, don’t you think?

This recipe is very flexible- use whatever combination of crunchy vegetables you have to hand…


For two people I used:

• a handful of beansprouts


• 5 or 6 baby corn, cut into chunky pieces


• a small bunch of yu choy (Chinese spinach), cut into chunks


• 3 spring onions, chopped small


• a small handful of oyster mushrooms, ripped up


• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed


• a big splash of Thai fish sauce- soy sauce is a fine substitute for veggies/vegans


• a big splash of oyster sauce- use a bit more soy or mushroom ketchup if you’re vegetarian/vegan


• a small splash of yellow bean sauce


• a big pinch of pepper


• a small splash of vegetable oil for frying

Heat a wok until hot and add in the veggie oil- throw in the garlic and stir fry for just a few seconds before adding in all the veggies apart from the spring onions. Stir fry these for about 3 minutes until they’re lightly cooked. Add in the sauces and pepper and cook for a further minute. If you like a little more sauce,add in a splash of water.

Just before turning off the heat; throw in the spring onions and stir through. That’s about it- it only takes 5 minutes to cook, so it’s a great one if you need food quickly!

Po Pia Tod (Fried Spring Rolls)

They can be found at every restaurant serving Asian food across the world and must be one of the most popular snacks they sell but each country has their own variation on the roll. The Thai version varies from the typical Chinese one with the addition of a coriander/white pepper paste and different fillings. This recipe is vegan friendly too and would be a perfect complement to the pad see ew noodles I made a few months back.


For loads of rolls (like 20) use:

• a pack of square spring roll wrappers (freeze what you don’t use)


• half a block of tofu, cut into very small cubes


• half a bag ( two handfuls) of beansprouts


• about 15 dried wood ear (Chinese) mushrooms- re-hydrated in boiling water and then sliced fine (use shitake mushrooms chopped if you can’t get wood ears)


• a small handful of coriander leaves/stalks/roots, roughly torn


• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled


• a teaspoon of white peppercorns


• cup of water (for sealing edges)


• vegetable oil for deep frying

Make a paste of the coriander, garlic and white peppercorns in a pestle and mortar, you should end up with about a tablespoon. Mix this with the tofu cubes and set all the other filling ingredients around you for easy access.

Take a single spring roll sheet and lay it in front of you with a corner pointing towards you (i.e. so it’s a diamond not a square). Lay a thin line of beansprouts across the widest point from left to right, leaving a gap at both points. On top of this put a small sprinkling of mushroom and on top of that a spoonful of tofu cubes. Fold up the bottom point over the filling, fold in the left then right points, roll the whole thing towards the top point and use a drop of water to get the top point to stick. If it’s too full you won’t be able to roll it up and if it’s under-filled it’ll be saggy- it takes a bit of practise to get the right amount of filling!

To cook, heat the oil until medium hot and gently lower the rolls in (don’t do too many at a time). The odd one may burst but don’t worry. Cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Drain on kitchen roll and serve with sweet chilli sauce.


If you want to make your own sweet chilli sauce that tastes way better than the bottled variety here’s the recipe…


(enough for 20 rolls or) use:

• 3 red Thai chillies for a hot version/ 1 red jalapeno for a mild version


• 1 garlic clove, peeled


• a small splash of white wine vinegar


• a big splash of water x2


• a tablespoon of sugar


• a teaspoon of cornflour

In a herb chopper/ small blender, mix the chillies, garlic, vinegar and 1 big splash of water. Heat this mixture (gentle heat) in a small pan for a minute or so until the sugar is all dissolved. In a small bowl mix up the other big splash of water into the cornflour-make sure there’s no lumps. Pour this into the pan and mix gently, it will thicken straight away into chilli sauce.

Yam Som O (Pomelo Salad)

I wasn’t totally won over by this one; some of the flavour combinations weren’t totally to my taste. You wonder why then am I posting it, well everyone’s tastes are different- I think it was the slightly bitter and sweet combo that didn’t do it for me but it was very easy to make and had nice bright colours to it. It is pretty healthy too so give it a go, and see if it works for you- it is totally unlike any other Thai salad I’ve posted so far.


For a big one person portion use:

• a handful of raw or cooked big prawns
• a pomelo or red/pink grapefruit, peeled, segments skinned and flaked
• 2 cloves of chopped garlic
• half a red onion, sliced
• a small handful of peanuts
• a small handful of coriander, roughly torn
• 2 red chillies, finely sliced
• juice of a lime
• 50ml of coconut milk
• a small splash of fish sauce (nam pla)
• a pinch of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of nam prik pao (roasted chilli paste) optional
• small splash of vegetable oil for frying

Fry the red onion in the oil for five minutes or so until they get a bit crispy and golden. Throw them into a bowl. Cook/heat through your prawns, cooking raw ones fully. Add them to the bowl. Add in the garlic, chillies, peanuts and pomelo/grapefruit and torn coriander. In a separate jug/ jar mix up the dressing- optional roast chilli paste, coconut milk, lime juice and fish sauce. Pour this over the ingredients in the bowl and mix everything briefly together. Serve quickly otherwise things start to get a bit limp…. so to speak.

Gai Haw Bai Toey (Chicken Wrapped in Pandan Leaf)

Totally fallen in love with these little guys! I’ve had them once or twice before in Thai restaurants but they always seemed dried out and kind of bland- not so with this recipe. Pandan (or screwpine) is basically just a stiff spiky leaved South East Asian plant that has a slightly perfumed/ grassy flavour when fried. The leaves are just a wrapper, and are not meant to be eaten. I did make a pandan and coconut jelly with the spare leaves but that’s another story for another day….

for 2 people/ starters for 4, use:

• two chicken breasts/ 4 thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into chunks bigger than bite size


• a pack of pandan leaves (only available at Asian grocers), banana leaves are a good substitute.


• a big hefty shake of oyster sauce


• a big splash of light soy sauce


• a small splash of sesame oil


• a small splash of Shaoxing rice wine/ sherry


• a pinch of sugar


• a small handful of fresh coriander, roughly torn


• 4 cloves garlic, peeled


• a big pinch of black pepper


• vegetable oil for frying

Pound up the coriander into a paste, add in the garlic cloves and black pepper until you have a reasonably fine paste. Throw this into a bowl and on top, add the four sauces and sugar. Put into this mix the chunks of chicken and give everything a good stir through. Leave to marinade for one hour, making the dipping sauce in the meantime.

For the dipping sauce, gently warm through…

• a big splash of light soy sauce


• a small splash of dark soy sauce


• a small splash of water


• a finely chopped red chilli


• a sprinkle of sesame seeds

There are basically two ways to wrap up your chicken in the pandan leaves. The easiest way is to take half a strip and just keep wrapping it round the meat, pinning in place with a cocktail stick. The other way is to use the top halves of two leaves ( the pointed tip end); hold these in a V shape, with the base of one leaf on top of the other. Place the chicken ontop of the intersection of the leaves folding left over, then right over, alternating until you reach the end and everything is encased in a little parcel. See my photo above for both types of wrapping.

Set up a steamer/ colander over boiling water and steam the pandan parcels for 10 minutes. They’ll now be cooked but look pasty and dull. Fill the bottom on a wok with oil and now fry them for 5 minutes or so until the leaves are crisp and the chicken has taken on a golden brown colour.

Unwrap and discard the leaves (they’re not meant to be eaten) and dip into the sauce.

Sai Oua (Thai Sausage)

I’m back! I’ve been away for a week or so, having escaped from my little Yorkshire town for a bit- It’s been a busy week of weddings, conferences, visits to the capital and travelling up and down the country so time to enjoy some great Thai food again. Sai Oua (which actually means stuffed intestines- or basically sausages to you and me) are pretty much the same as our regular sausage, they usually come in the style of a Cumberland sausage, i.e. in a big coil but yellow from turmeric and full of Thai flavours. When buying at the Thai food stall you can ask for whatever length of grilled sausage you desire, or can even buy the whole coil. The picture below isn’t the prettiest but it is damn tasty and I wholly recommend you give the recipe a try.

This makes enough for 2 people:

• 6 pork sausages of your choice (please use decent ones though)


• 25g of red Thai curry paste (roughly a heaped tablespoon)


• two stalks of lemongrass, trimmed and very finely chopped


• a few stalks of coriander, stem is best, very finely chopped


• a small knob of galangal very finely chopped (some supermarkets have it)


• a few kaffir lime leaves, very finely chopped (some supermarkets sell fresh)


• a big teaspoon of turmeric powder


• a pinch of sugar


• a small splash of Thai fish sauce (nam pla) all supermarkets sell it

Into a bowl, squeeze out the sausage meat from the skins, then add all the other ingredients. Mix gently but thoroughly by hand until everything is well blended, and your fingers are probably bright yellow. Wet your hands and form the meat into sausage shapes again. I should say by the way, this recipe presumes you don’t have a sausage maker. If you do, by all means make a long coil in the traditional way. But otherwise, place your hand rolled sausages under a grill and cook on a medium heat until a little char forms and the meat is cooked right through, about 10-15 minutes.

Serve with steamed rice and ideally a cucumber pickle (recipe to follow soon) or your favourite chilli dipping sauce.

Yum Tua Pu (Wing Bean Salad)

I made this recipe a few weeks ago now and wings beans, for me were a totally new ingredient. I went away and did a bit of research on the most popular ways to cook them and came out with this- Yam Tua Puu. It’s a side dish on it’s own but could definitely be a main dish for one over rice. It’s also quite hard to describe- the beans have a satisfying crunch to them and the sauce is creamy, sweet, salty, vinegar (rather than lime) sour. It’s a really moreish dish- if you can get hold of wing beans from an Asian supermarket, please give it a go.

For a small side dish use:

• 1 packet of wing beans, trim off the ends and cut them into inch long pieces. Use green beans otherwise

 

Wing beans (pic courtesy of ‘the food canon’)

• ½ an onion, finely sliced


• 3 cloves of garlic


• 3 red chillies


• 200ml coconut milk (if using a tin freeze other half)


• a small handful of peanuts (crushed)


• a big splash of light soy sauce


• a big pinch of sugar


• a big splash of white wine vinegar


• juice of half a lime


• vegetable oil for frying

Start off by heating plenty of oil in a wok or frying pan and deep fry the onion slices until their dark brown (but not burnt!) and crispy. Drain them on kitchen paper. Next pre cook the wing beans for just 2 minutes in boiling water, then drain them and set aside.In a pestle and mortar, crush the garlic cloves and chillies into a rough paste.

Back to the wok/frying pan, heat the remaining oil and very briefly, fry the garlic/ chilli paste, a few seconds later add all the sauce ingredients- coconut milk, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and let this cook down for three or four minutes before adding the beans back in, along with the lime juice and cook for just a couple more minutes. Have a taste to check on the seasoning before pouring it out into a dish. Sprinkle over the crushed peanuts and crispy onions.