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.

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.

Sankaya Fakthong (Pumpkin Custard)

With so many of you posting beautiful and inviting images of falling leaves, misty mornings and Halloween ideas it only seemed right that I jump on the pumpkin bandwagon and give my spin on the seasonal dessert (in traditional Thai style of course) with a sankaya (steamed custard pumpkin.
Pumpkins aren’t a popular food choice here in the UK, most are reserved for Halloween lanterns and those that are eaten are almost all destined to become savoury dishes- roasted and risotto’d. You lot in the USA definitely have the right idea using pumpkin in desserts and cakes and Thais seem equally happy to use them as a sweet ingredient too.
Just a quick note on pumpkins- Thailand’s main choice is the kabocha squash. I don’t recommend using a traditional orange halloween pumpkin as they’re too stringy and watery. I am lucky enough to have access to a fantastic food co-operative shop called Single Step where every year a motley selection of organic squashes and pumpkins emerge at this time.
For 4 portions (perhaps more!) use:

• a small edible pumpkin (fits comfortably into both hands) I used a gem squash
• 4 eggs
• 300ml of coconut milk
• 100g palm sugar (or light brown sugar)
• a small splash of vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt

Prepare your pumpkin/squash by cutting around the stalk in a small square and carefully prize out the stalk in one piece. Use a long spoon and spend a bit of time thoroughly cleaning out all the seeds and string inside the pumpkin. Once it’s empty- rinse it out under cold water to get rid of all the last bits then pat dry.
In a pan, gently heat the palm sugar and coconut milk, stirring lightly over a low heat until the sugar has fully dissolved. Add in the salt and vanilla extract then leave the mix to cool down fully.
in a separate bowl, beat the eggs and pour them into the coconut milk mix, blending thoroughly. Pour this mixture into the hollowed out pumpkin and set in steadily inside a steamer over boiling water. There will probably be some mixture left over- I steamed the rest in a ramekin dish.
Depending on your pumpkin’s size and thickness and the type of steamer you use, it will take between 45 mins and 75 mins to slowly soften the pumpkin and set the custard inside- don’t rush it and check it is done using a metal skewer- it needs to come out clean if the custard is set.
Use a large sharp knife to cut up the pumpkin into fat slivers.

Hoi Jor (Shellfish Rolls)

Having never worked with fresh bean curd sheets, these were probably one of the trickier Thai foods I’ve made and it can take a bit of practise to get the amount of filing and the role shape correct but I’m pleased with the outcome. What we’re looking at here is a pork mince and crab filling, rolled up in a bean curd sheet, steamed, sliced and then deep fried. They make a great appetiser to a healthier Thai main meal or would be perfect served alongside some other Thai snacks such as Tod Mun Pla (Fishcakes) or Po Pia Tod (Spring rolls) for canapes/buffet food. If you don’t have access to an Asian supermarket and can’t get bean curd sheet, use filo pastry instead and skip the steaming stage, making closed parcels rather than open ended rolls with the pastry.

For around 15 rolls (not all will be equal in shape) use:

• a packet of fresh bean curd sheet (roughly 2/3 A4 sized sheets)
• 100g of fresh or tinned crab meat (shredded/ chunks/white/brown it’s all good)
• 200g of pork mince
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 tablespoons of rice flour
• a small handful of coriander (stalks are ideal)
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled
• a teaspoon of black peppercorns
• 4 spring onions, very finely chopped
• a big splash of light soy sauce
• a small splash of Chinese rice wine (Xiaoxing/ Shaoshing or sherry)
• vegetable oil for frying
• Sriracha sauce for serving

Start by pounding the pepper, coriander and garlic into a paste in a mortar. Add the paste to a bowl along with the pork, crab, egg, flour, spring onions and liquids. Beat together well. The mixture should have the consistency of a loose meatloaf/ sausage meat before cooking.
Lay a sheet of bean curd in front of you (landscape). Divide the mixture equally between the amount of sheets of bean curd you have and place one portion of the mix in the middle/bottom part of the bean curd sheet. Spend a bit of time getting it into a roughly even sausage shape, leaving about 2 inches free from either edge. Fold the sides in first, then roll the whole thing up, leaving the seam underneath the roll. Repeat to use up the rest of the bean curd/ mixture.
At this point you’re supposed to start tying the roll into sections, like a Christmas cracker- for me it didn’t work. Even using wide thread slowly cut through the soft bean curd like a cheese wire before the roll got anywhere near tight enough.
Instead, for this next step, I recommend just keeping the rolls seam side down. Heat a steamer/ colander over a boiling pan of water. Gently place the filled rolls into the steamer and allow to slowly cook in the steam for 15 minutes. Check the water levels in the pan periodically to make sure it hasn’t boiled dry.
When the time’s up, remove the steam cooked rolls, leave them to cool for a while and then use a very sharp knife to cut them into 1 inch long slices- be careful to keep those loose ends tucked under for now.
Heat a frying pan with oil to a depth of ½ inch. It needs to be hot but not smoking. Carefully lower in the rolls, cooking in smaller batches if needed. The bean curd bubbles up and goes brown and crispy fairly quickly. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, gently turning the rolls over on all sides until all the bean curd,and the filling is golden brown and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper before serving.
Feeling lazy after all this effort, I served my hoi jor with a dipping bowl of Sriracha but by all means, make/use a chilli sauce of your choice.

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.

Khanom Jeeb (Thai Style Steamed Dumplings)

Khanom Jeeb are the Thai interpretation of Chinese Sui Mai (steamed pork dumplings). There are usually some minor differences between the Chinese and Thai versions such as the use of white pepper and coriander root. For my version, I’ve decided to use the Chinese ingredients but add Thai herbs and flavours to the mixture and dipping sauce…

Depending on the size you make them, my recipe should do about 40-60 dumplings, halve the ingredients for less/ double up for more…

• A pack of yellow dumpling skins (sorry this is one you will need to go to an Asian grocers for)


• Half a packet of pork mince (roughly 300g)


• Half a tin of water chestnuts, cut into a fine dice


• A small handful of Chinese black fungus, soaked in boiling water until re hydrated then chopped into fine strips (optional and another specialist ingredient)


• 4 spring onions, finely chopped


• 2 red chillies, finely chopped


• 3 cloves garlic


• 1-2 stalks of lemongrass (ends trimmed, outer layers removed and the rest very finely diced (most supermarkets sell it fresh now)


• A thumb sized piece of galangal, very finely diced (some supermarkets sell this- morrisons does) or if is often sold in jars)


• A pinch of sugar


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

Stir the ingredients (apart from the dumpling skins!) in a bowl until all the ingredients are well mixed.

Make a circle shape with your thumb and forefinger and lay a dumpling skin over the top. Take a heaped spoonful of the mixture and place it in the centre of the skin, letting it fall into the well you’ve made. Shape the skin around the filling and use a clean spoon to level off the top Repeat- many times! When you’ve used all your ingredients up. Place the finished dumplings in either a greaseproof paper lined bamboo steamer or concoct a similar version with a colander/sieve- just remember to line it otherwise you’ll leave most of the dumpling skin behind! Steam the dumplings, in batches if needed, for 10 minutes over rapidly boiling water.

While the steaming is going on, make a quick dipping sauce…

• finely chop a few red or green chillies


• put them in a small bowl with a good splash of soy sauce


• and a smaller splash of fish sauce


• with a pinch of sugar and stir well.

and serve!