Gaeng Jued Woon Sen (Clear Broth with Vermicelli Noodles)

Yesterday I had a poorly sick husband and unfortunately even this soothing bowl of gaeng jued (plain or clear broth) didn't help; it did mean I got to take it to work for my lunch though!!! As this is such a nutritious, dare I say it- plain dish (and by plain, it's far from boring; it just doesn't have the usual variety of herbs, spices and chillies that usually feature in Thai food) I had been saving making it for the next time my husband was feeling under the weather, which doesn't happen very often so it's been on my to do list for ages now!

In this recipe the vegetables, not the meat are the main ingredients, it can easily become vegetarian or vegan by using a vegetable stock, and substituting the meatballs with more tofu and mushrooms. 

Those of you paying attention may wonder where the curry is; 'Gaeng' is the somewhat unspecific Thai word for a soupy sauce or stew, it just so happens that most dishes with 'gaeng' in the title (Gaeng Massaman, Gaeng Kari, Gaeng Kiew Wan etc.) are what we in the west traditionally lump under the generic term 'curry'. Gaeng Jued, fits much better in the 'stew' category.

That cleared up, here's the recipe; it's a versatile dish- as long as there's lots of vegetables, feel free to chop and change your veggies and proteins. It is quite a long list but as everything is just getting boiled up together in a pot, it's not too onerous.

For 2 big bowls use:

• 200g pork mince
• 6 shitake mushrooms (soaked in boiling water for 20 mins)
• a small handful of Chinese jelly/wood mushrooms (soaked in boiling water for 20 mins)
• a small tube of soft egg tofu, cut into slices
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
• 5 leaves of Chinese cabbage, cut into large chunks
• 4 spring onions, cut into chunky slivers
• a good handful of coriander, stalks separated from leaves
• 1 nest of vermicelli (cornstarch/mungbean) noodles (soaked in boiling water for 10 mins)
• 500ml of pork stock
• 2 lemongrass stalks, lightly bashed
• vegetable trimmings (carrot peelings, spring onion trimmings, a celery stick
• a teaspoon of black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• a small splash of fish sauce

Start off by making your stock [I admit I had a head start as I already had some concentrated pork stock in the freezer that I had left from another recipe. I added 500 ml of water to the jelly stock to make it liquid again.]

To make the stock even more flavoursome add the trimmings of carrot, spring onion, coriander stalks (reserving the leaves for later) and a bit of celery, plus the lemongrass stalks into a large pot and cook over a low heat for around an hour, topping up with water if it gets too low.

While the stock is cooking make the meatball mixture. First pound up half of the coriander leaves, garlic and black pepper into a smooth paste. Mix this through the mince with the splash of fish sauce. Leave to one side for later.

After an hour, use a strainer to scoop out and discard all the solids, leaving behind a rich light brown clear broth. You still need about 500ml of liquid.

With all ingredients prepared and ready to go, heat the broth over a medium heat. Pop in the carrots and let them soften for about 5 minutes before adding both mushroom (sliced if they are large) for a further 5 minutes. Next in goes the noodles (loosen them in the broth) and the Chinese cabbage, cooking for a minute.

Grab the meatball mixture and use a large spoon to make egg shaped meatballs by pressing the mixture against the side of the bowl. Very carefully, push the mixture into the simmering broth; don't stir but flip them over after a couple minutes.

Finally slide in the tofu slices and heat through for a final minute.

Scoop a big ladleful of ingredients into a bowl along with plenty of broth, topping with a sprinkling of spring onions and some of the remaining coriander.

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.

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.

Gluay Buad Chi ( Bananas in Coconut Milk)

This is quite possibly the easiest and quickest Thai dessert you'll ever make. It can be on the table in just 5 minutes and uses just four ingredients. The name 'Gluay Buad Chit' literally means 'bananas becoming nuns! In Thailand Buddhist nuns wear white rather than the saffron robes of the monks so maybe the dish is a visual reference to the name. Serve warm for a lovely comforting dish that everyone will enjoy.

For two people use:

• Two bananas- cut each into 4 pieces; cut lengthways and crossways
• A 400ml can of coconut milk
• A handful of sugar
• A tiny pinch of salt

In a pan gently heat the banana pieces in the coconut milk. Keep just a little of the thicker coconut cream back for dribbling over at the end. When the bananas have softened after a few minutes, pop in the sugar and salt and stir gently until dissolved, taking care not to damage the bananas.

Serve and dribble over the last bit of coconut cream

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.

Gaeng Hed Fang (Straw Mushroom Curry)

Sometimes you just want a simple, healthy, quick to make dish. This was just a it- a quick mushroom and bamboo shoot ‘curry’ with lots of herbal flavours. Satisfying and comforting, it would be a great cold weather dish. I’m a big fan of texture in food and this was lovely, crunchy bamboo shoots contrasting with the slippery mushrooms.
This is northern Thai cuisine and starts with a simplified red curry paste. It has predominantly a salty/sour/hot flavour and if you don’t want it to be vegetarian/vegan, you can definitely add some meat into the mix.
For two people use:

• A drained tin of straw mushrooms, halved
• 150g or thereabouts of drained sour bamboo shoots (or use regular plus the juice of half a lime) cut into strips/small pieces
• a big handful of Thai sweet basil (bai horapha) leaves
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 100ml of stock
• a big splash of light soy (or fish sauce if not needed to be vegan/veggie)
• a small amount of vegetable oil for frying

For the paste, pound together:

• 1 lemongrass stalk (peeled and chopped first)
• 5 dried red chillies, ripped up
• 5 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 4/5 shallots, peeled and chopped
• a big pinch of salt

Heat the oil in a wok and when hot, briefly fry off the paste for 30 seconds or before adding the stock and soy (or fish) sauce. Pop in the bamboo shoots and mushrooms and let it reduce a little (say 5 minutes).
Just before serving, sprinkle in the basil leaves and spring onions.

Tub Tim Grub (Crunchy Rubies)

The blog is definitely overdue another Thai dessert, it’s nothing personal, it’s just I’m a bigger fan of savoury than sweet. However, we’ve been having some warm days lately so a cool and crunchy pudding seemed in order and this dessert was one I’ve been meaning to get round to for ages- it’s a really popular well known hot weather dish in Thailand.
‘Tub tim’ can mean either rubies or pomegranate in Thai- it’s easy to see why this dish shares that name. The cool, sweet coconut milk is an awesome contrast to the jelly coated crunchy water chestnuts.
I only had tinned water chestnuts and coconut milk available to me but if you can get fresh, I would definitely use them.
For two people use:

• a handful (roughly 12) peeled water chestnuts- note: if using canned, drain and leave them to soak in fresh water for 12 hours, changing the water over several times to reduce the ‘tinned’ flavour. Cut each chestnut into 4 equal bits
• 1 cup of tapioca flour
• half a can of coconut milk (200ml)
• 100ml of water
• a teaspoon of red food colouring, mixed with a small splash of water
• a tablespoon of sugar
• crushed ice

Put the water chestnut pieces into a bowl with the red food colouring and water. Turn them gently and leave them to soak for 15 minutes.
Get a pan of water boiling
Drain the water chestnuts of excess colouring and put them in another bowl with the tapioca flour and coat them well.
Shake off the excess flour and gently lower them into the boiling water- you’ll see the bright red colour become visible. After just two minutes, they’ll float to the surface. Use a strainer to scoop them gently out and transfer into a bowl of very cold water for a minute.
Dissolve the sugar in the 100ml water and add the coconut milk and crushed ice. Pour into serving bowls.
Scoop the ‘rubies’ out of the cold water, gently shaking off the water and divide amongst the coconut milk.

Bua Loy Nam King (Floating Lotus in Ginger Syrup)

I don’t do many Thai desserts as I’m not a huge dessert eater but as this dish isn’t too sweet I thought I’d see what it was like and actually, it’s really good. Bua Loy means floating lotus as the rice balls, floating in syrup, resemble lotus, floating on a pond. A lot of versions for bua loy seem to be in coconut milk sauces where as this one is in a warm, spicy ginger ‘soup’.
The trickiest thing is getting the consistency of the dough right- too dry and it’ll crumble, too wet (even a tiny bit) and it turns too gloopy to handle.
To make 4 portions use:

• 150g of sticky rice flour
• 50g of palm sugar or brown sugar
• 50g of black sesame seeds
• cold water
• 50g more of brown sugar
• a chunk of ginger, cut into thin slices, no need to peel
• 200ml of water

Use a blender or food processor to turn the sesame seeds into powder. In a heavy pan heat the palm/brown sugar and mix the seeds in- and the sugar melts, it should create a sticky, not dry paste. Put to one side.
In a bowl put the rice flour and VERY slowly add dribbles of water, kneading the flour until you have a firm dough. Pinch off golf ball sized pieces of the dough and use your fingers to make a flat circle. Pinch off some of the sesame paste, place on the dough and roll up enclosing the paste into a smooth ball. Repeat to use up all the dough/paste.
Heat a pan of water until boiling and gently drop all the rice balls in. Let them simmer for 3-4 minutes until floating and fully cooked through- test one if you want to make sure the dough is fully cooked and no longer floury; it should be bouncy and chewy. Use a spatula to lift out the rice balls and immerse them in cold water to stop them cooking.
Empty the pan and refill with the 200ml of fresh water. Add in the extra brown sugar and ginger slices and heat slowly for at least ten minutes to create the ginger infused syrup.
To serve, place a few of the rice balls into the bottom of each bowl and pour over a generous amount of the hot syrup, sieving out the ginger slices.

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.

Tod Man Khao Pod (Sweetcorn Fritters)

Snack time! I’ll admit, this was a pretty lazy option; they’re probably more popular in western Thai restaurants than in Thailand itself but they are very moreish, have great texture and are easy to make. They can easily be adapted to be vegetarian or vegan friendly, just use salt instead of fish sauce and add more corn instead of the prawns.

This recipe makes around 10 fritters:

• A cereal bowl packed with sweetcorn kernels (defrosted)
• a heaped dessert spoon of red curry paste (I use Mae Ploy Brand)
• a handful of small prawns
• 5 or 6 kaffir lime leaves (rolled and finely shredded)
• 1 egg
• small splash of fish sauce (nam pla)
• ½ cup of rice flour
• heaped teaspoon of baking powder
• vegetable oil for deep frying

In a food processor, whizz up half of the sweetcorn, the curry paste, egg, fish sauce, flour and baking powder into a smooth batter. Remove the blade and stir in the remaining ingredients (other half of kernels, lime leaves and prawns) giving it a good mix together.
Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan until hot but not smoking. Drop a tablespoon of the batter into the hot oil- gravity will spread it out into a fritter shape. Don’t overcrowd the pan; three is probably the right amount. After a couple of minutes the fritter should gently be turned over and cooked for a further minute or two until deep golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper then serve them with some sweet chilli sauce or sriracha.

Thai Banana Pancakes

I spent ages looking for a Thai name for these but even when I translated the Thai characters, it was still pronounce ‘c-r-e-p-e’. In summary these are NOT a Thai food but are made and sold in Thailand primarily for tourists but have become kind of popular with the locals nonetheless. Traditional Thai pancakes are called roti and are a super thin bread, served with either savoury or sweet fillings. However, if you’ve ever travelled in Thailand you will almost certainly have had pancakes, usually served ridiculously sweet like this with condensed milk and banana. If anything is authentic here it’s the presentation; folded, cut into squares and eaten with a skewer!

This recipe makes enough for 6 pancakes…

• 1 cup of plain flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 banana, sliced very thin
• a few tablespoons of condensed milk
• fat for frying (I use lard for crispiness but feel free to use vege oil

Make the batter by beating the flour, egg and milk until all the lumps have gone and you have a smooth batter; it should be the consistency of double (heavy) cream. Add a bit more milk if it needs it.
Heat a small amount of your chosen fat in a small frying pan until hot. Use a ladle to spoon in a measure of the batter mix. Working quickly, swirl it around to coat the bottom of the pan. Let it set/cook for a minute before gently using a spatula to turn them. While the bottom cooks, place about 8 banana slices and  a drizzle of condensed milk in the centre.
Remove pancake and quickly fold into a parcel, using the spatula to help. Put the pancake on a plate and use a sharp knife to cut it into even squares before giving the pancake a final drizzle of condensed milk.Stick in a skewer.
*Don’t forget to use another small amount of fat for each pancake.

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.

Khanom Piak Orn (Jackfruit Sweets)

As it’s been a while since I last made a Thai dessert I thought it was time to do another. We don’t eat a huge amounts of desserts and sweets in our house as my husband and I both prefer savoury food but sometimes it’s nice to try new things. Thai desserts/ sweets do have a tendency towards being either really very sweet or an (unusual for Western tastes) mix of sweet and savoury ingredients in one recipe. Like this one, the sweet ones also lean towards being quite heavy and sticky. So this recipe does go a long way and is best made for lots of people to share. To the best of my knowledge, the Thai name literally means wet board sweet.

Makes 1 tray (enough for lots of people!) use:

• 2/3 can of evaporated milk
• 2/3 can of coconut milk (remainders of both can be frozen if needed)
• 250ml water
• about 3 or 4 pieces of canned jackfruit (mango would work well too), finely chopped
• 100g sugar
• 120g of rice flour
• 3 tablespoons of cornflour
• desiccated coconut 

Line a 1 inch deep baking tray with parchment paper first off. Then gently heat together the two milks, water and sugar in a large pan until the sugar has dissolved. Pop in the jackfruit and give it a stir. Gently tip the two flours in and keep stirring, make sure everything is mixed until smooth and keep stirring. After 5 minutes or so the mixture becomes very thick and paste like. Pour it out into the lined baking tray and sprinkle with the desiccated coconut. Leave it somewhere cool to set and after a few hours it can easily be cut into your preferred shape with a large knife.

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!

Yam Kai Dao (Fried Egg Salad)

Salads are pretty healthy kinds of things,that is until you throw a few crispy deep-fried eggs into them! If you think a fried egg salad sounds weird; just give it a try, it’s a perfect match.

I love Thai salads- they have lots of crunchy vegetables, they’re hot, sweet, sour and salty and they usually include protein unlike a lot of western salads.

This quite easily makes a meal for one or serve with a dish or two more if serving a few people.


use:

• 2 eggs


• vegetable oil for deep frying


• a big handful of coriander leaves, torn


• 1 stalk of celery,finely sliced


• ¼ white onion, finely sliced


• 1 carrot, shredded/julienned


• ½ mooli/daikon or radish, julienned or sliced


• 2 red chillies,finely sliced


• juice of 1 lime


• 2 cloves of garlic


• a large pinch of sugar


• a splash of fish sauce (nam pla)

Throw the coriander, chillies and chopped vegetables into a bowl. Heat a wok and when hot,add in enough oil to deep fry the eggs (about 1 inch/ 3cm depth), When the oil is really hot, crack in an egg- it’ll puff up and spit so watch out. It’ll be brown and crispy in about 30 seconds, use a spatula to turn it over and cook the other side for another 30 seconds. Gently lift the egg out and drain on kitchen paper.Repeat with the other egg.

The eggs will be okay for a few minutes or so while you make the dressing. Bash up the garlic and sugar in a pestle and mortar before squeezing over the lime juice and fish sauce. Give it a mix and pour over the veggies. Cut the eggs into three or four equal piece and toss everything together quickly before serving.

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.

Wun Gati Bai Toey (Coconut & Pandan Dessert)

I’ll be honest, this Thai dessert was something of an acquired taste but it did look really pretty. It’s two distinct flavours, a sweet coconut milk jelly and a very unusual pandan leaf extract one that was a sort of a sweet grassy flavour. This was the second recipe I did with the pandan; pandan being a really popular Thai ingredient for desserts too.

For servings for 4 or even more use:

• 2 sachets (2 x 5g) of agar agar or vegegel


• 525ml of water


• 150g sugar


• 250 ml coconut milk


• 4 pandan leaves (finely chopped)

Start by pureeing the leaves and 100ml of the water then strain this to get rid of the tough fibres, you’ll be left with bright bright green liquid.

Heat 300ml of water in a pan, add in the agar agar, stirring quickly so it all dissolves before adding in the sugar and letting that dissolve too. Add in and stir the green pandan juice. Leave on a very low heat so it doesn’t set.

In another pan, heat the remaing 125ml of water adding your other sachet of agar agar, dissolving fully. Add in the sugar, dissolve and then add in the coconut milk. Keep this mixture also on a very low heat.

In a serving dish or jelly mould, pour in a thin layer of coconut jelly, let this set- it happens very quick in about 3 minutes, then add a pandan layer and so on until all the mixtures are used. Let the whole thing firm up in the fridge, again it doesn’t take long. 

When you cut it up, take it very steady as it’s slippery and the layers can separate out again!

Sa Coo Maphraw (Tapioca Coconut Pudding)

I finally used my tapioca pearls to make this gorgeous little dessert Sa Coo Maphraw. Tapioca pearls have a great chewy texture that contrasted really nicely with the creamy sweet, rich coconut and there’s some young coconut blended through and on top for a bit of a slippery crunch. A perfect way to round off a Thai meal.

For two huge portions (or 4 smaller ones) use:

• Half a packet of pre made (coloured) tapioca pearls- the sort used in bubble tea. Had to buy at an Asian grocery shop


• 1 can (400ml) of coconut milk


• 1 young coconut (if available) or half a regular one.


• half a cup of sugar

Start with the whole coconut. Use whatever method works for you to hack your way into the coconut, enjoy the water inside as it’s not needed for the recipe and scrape nice long pieces of coconut from the shell. Leave these for now. Heat a pan of water and boil the tapioca pearls for 5 minutes or however long the packet recommends. While the tapioca pearls are cooking, gently heat the tin of coconut milk and sugar in a separate pan but don’t let it boil. Stir regularly to make sure the sugar is fully dissolved. When the tapioca pearls are done, drain them and put them straight in to the coconut milk or they will start to stick together. Add in half of your fresh coconut peelings and stir everything together. You’re done- just divide the mixture amongst your serving glasses and top off with the remaining fresh coconut. Best served warm but can be left to go cool if you  prefer.

Sankaya Mamuang (Mango Custard)

Hurrah!! I finally did another Thai dessert! this little lovely is a baked mango coconut custard; it’s very much like a soufflé in that it’s baked in the oven, rises and then sinks a bit after you take it out. It’s also good if you don’t like really sweet desserts. I’m also not totally sure if this is a ‘real’ Thai desert- sankaya is normally used inside a pumpkin and then steams as it cooks, you then get a big wedge of softened pumpkin and creamy custard inside. However, mixing in mango puree into the custard mix is much quicker and gives more predictable results.

For two people use:

• 1 juicy mango, pureed


• 2 eggs, beaten


• a small handful of sugar


• 150ml of coconut milk


• optional- shavings of coconut


• a very small amount of vegetable oil

Get the oven heated up, medium high, about 180 degrees/ 350F/ gas 4. Using just a few drops of vegetable oil, grease the bowls/ ramekins/ pots you will cook and serve in. Mix the pureed mango, beaten eggs, sugar and coconut milk in a bowl and pour this in until the mixture sits about a fingers width below the rim. Put the dishes into the oven and bake for about 35 minutes. Like a soufflé, it will rise and then fall as you take it out. Shave over some coconut flakes to serve and be careful- it will be really hot!