Deep fried fish, lots of garlicky spices and crunchy vegetables- you can’t really go wrong here. I suspect this is one of these dishes that may have started out as tourist food but has ended up being just as popular with the Thai people.
It’s a quick easy to make dish that doesn’t use any obscure or hard to track down ingredients. It’s a nice contrast to have two kinds of heat from the smoky black pepper and the fiery chillies. It didn’t last long on our plates anyway!! Serve with fluffy white rice.
For two portions use:
a large, skinned sea fish fillet (I used haddock- pollock, coley, catfish or ling are also good) cut into large chunks
1 & ½ bell peppers (whatever colour you fancy)
1 onion, sliced into strips
2 spring onions, cut into large pieces
4/5 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
2-3 small red chillies, chopped fine
a dessertspoon of black pepper, ground
a cup of plain flour
a big splash of oyster sauce
a big splash of light soy sauce
vegetable oil for deep frying/ stir frying
Start off by coating the chunks of fish in the flour. Heat a deep pan or wok and when hot, gently drop in the fish and deep fry until lightly golden and crisp- roughly ¾ minutes. Cook in batches if needed so the pan isn’t overcrowded and drain on kitchen paper.
In a clean wok, heat a splash of oil until really hot and throw in the sliced onions and peppers, stir frying for 3 minutes and allowing the bottoms to get a little char. Throw in the spring onions, garlic, chillies and ground pepper (it’ll make you cough!) stir frying for another 30 seconds before adding in the fried fish and both sauces. Briefly stir fry (gently so the fish doesn’t break up) so everything is coated in sauce and serve with rice.
So I’ve finally got round to posting my review of Siam Smiles, the Thai cafe in the basement at 48 George St in the heart of Manchester’s Chinatown. This was the second visit, we ‘discovered’ it after making it’s acquaintance in April and felt a follow up visit was much needed.
I’ve eaten at quite a lot of Thai restaurants in the UK and the majority follow a very safe formula; using pre bought red, green and massaman pastes, overly sweet and sticky pad thai noodles and a general lack of fresh Thai herbs and vegetables (such as my particular bugbear- substituting Mediterranean basil for sweet or holy Thai basil).
This cannot be said of Siam Smiles, despite only having a few tables alongside the supermarket produce, you know you’re going to get real Thai street food. The condiment caddy and pot of nam prik pao is a good indicator you’re going to be eating very well.
On this occasion I ordered some simple comfort food- khao moo daeng (red pork over rice) and the som tam pla ra (fermented fish sauce papaya salad) with added crab. The rice plate also came with a warming bowl of herbal broth which was a nice touch and a palate cleanser.
There is a clear Chinese influence with khao moo daeng- the red pork and sauce not too distant from char sui/hoisin. The pork was lean and firm and had a great depth of flavour with star anise coming through quite strongly. The cucumber and boiled egg added some lovely texture too; definitely a unfussy and comforting dish.
The som tam pla ra was a different beast altogether. Those who follow my blog know I love som tam and make it usually once a week at home. This was the first time I had encountered the pla ra version and it’d been on my ‘to try’ list for quite some time. However for my taste buds I think it was a step too far. The salad itself was great, crunchy green papaya, not padded out with large amounts of carrot, cherry tomatoes, long beans and I loved hearing it being pounded up in the pok pok in the kitchen. The salad also had pounded up small crabs (for the flavour rather than meat) and contained slivers of pickled limes which are delicious. The pla ra isn’t how I expected it to be, it’s not that it’s especially fishy, though it is strong, it made me think more of the bottom of a pond. My husband however, preferred it to regular som tam. I was pleased to see it arrive with the customary cabbage wedge.
The portions are a perfect size, plenty enough to fill you up but not wasteful and the prices are good- £7-£8.50 for most plates. The staff are also really friendly and helpful, answering some of my questions about ingredients.
We’ll most certainly be back again, we’re slowly making our way round the extensive menu and will continue pushing our flavour comfort zones in our quest for authentic Thai street food! https://twitter.com/SiamSmilesCafe https://www.facebook.com/SiamSmilesCafe
Typically this is a breakfast or lunch dish in Thailand but if you make it for your evening meal I don’t think anyone will mind! This is typical southern Thai street food and is another of those dishes that can be adapted depending on what is available from the market (or in my case, my local Asian food store) on the day. Don’t feel you have to use the same accompanying vegetables. Eggs, pickled cabbage and stink or wing beans are all popular too.
The basic fish curry is served over soft rice noodles and served alongside a selection of crunchy raw vegetables, herbs and crispy dried chillies. The slippery noodles and soft silky sauce contrast really nicely with the beansprouts and green beans and it is both fiercely hot, fishy and salty but balanced out with rich creamy coconut and pepped up with lots of citrus flavours.
For 3-4 portions use:
A pack of fresh rice noodles (typically thin ones), separated into individual strands or if using dried, soaked until fully flexible.
300g of skinned & boneless fish
a big splash of fish sauce
400ml (a can) of coconut milk
200ml of fish ‘stock’ (boiling water left over)
about 8 kaffir lime leaves, torn up
For the curry paste:
2 fingers of fresh turmeric
2 fingers of krachai (finger root/galingale)
6 cloves garlic, peeled
a small handful of dried red chillies (6-12)
a big knob of galangal
3 Thai shallots
a teaspoon of black peppercorns
And to accompany:
2 heaped handfuls of beansprouts
a handful of green/long beans, chopped into pieces
a few handfuls of whatever fresh Asian herbs you can get- sweet basil would be ideal (I couldn’t get it) so coriander was used here
several dried red chillies (lightly toasted to crisp them up)
several slices of cucumber
Start as ever, by making the paste. Pound up all the ingredients, bit by bit, not putting too much in the mortar at once. Start with the tougher ingredients, working through to the softer ones and keep working away until a smooth red paste is reached- 15/20 mins probably. Pop the paste to one side, you need the mortar again…
While doing this, gently boil the fish in water. If you use pre filleted skinned fish, it’ll not take long, perhaps 10 mins. If you use whole fish, maybe 15 minutes. After boiling, scoop out, straining off any drips of water and spend some time as needed to remove any skin and bones. Keep the fishy water for the next step. Put the prepared fish into the mortar and gently pound it, until you have a smooth paste.
Heat a wok and pour in all the coconut milk, gently heating it through. Add in your newly made curry paste and stir through. Let the curry develop for 5 minutes before adding lime leaves, fish sauce and the pounded fish. Add in some of the fish stock as needed- the curry should still have a fairly thick (yoghurt like) consistency. Cook on low heat for a further five minutes. In the last 5 minutes, heat through the fresh rice noodles in hot water until soft and flexible and drain, plating up alongside your selection of vegetables. Ladle over the nam ya curry.
Roti Mataba is the name used in Thailand whilst in Malaysia they are known as Roti Murtabak. Roti are found mainly in the south of Thailand, near the Malay border where there is a larger Muslim population.
Unlike a UK pancake (which is made from a batter), roti are made from dough, rolled out incredibly thin and pan fried to create a flaky, chewy flat bread. Really skilled cooks will stretch and slap the dough out until it becomes paper thin but this is very difficult and not totally necessary!
Roti Mataba are made in two parts- the curried chicken filling (though you could vary this with pretty much any meat/vegetable/egg/sweet filling) and then the enriched dough.
They are absolutely delicious and well worth taking the time to make (and eat them).
For 5 rotis (a snack for 2 people or main meal if served with another dish) use:
Dough-
450g plain (all purpose) flour
1 beaten egg
1 cup water
25ml milk
a dessertspoon of sugar
pinch salt
vegetable oil for coating
Filling-
3 skinless chicken thighs/1 breast, chopped into small cubes
1 beaten egg
4 shallots/ half red onion, very finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 red Thai chillies, finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seed, ground
2 teaspoons coriander seed, ground
2 teaspoons curry powder
pinch chilli flakes
pinch salt
small splash of vegetable oil
The dough needs to be started at least 2 hours before you plan on making and eating the mataba. In a bowl sift flour, salt and sugar. Mix in the beaten egg and milk and slowly add in the water- you may not need the whole cup of water. The dough shouldn’t be wet but it certainly doesn’t want to be dry. Knead it well on a floured surface until it feels soft and springy. Pop it back in the bowl, covered and leave it for at least an hour while you make the filling.
For the filling, heat the oil in a pan, when it’s hot add in the shallots/onion and fry until they have some colour. Add in the garlic and chicken (or whatever meat/veggies you’re using), toss in the spices, salt and chillies, frying briefly before pouring in the egg and scrambling it into the mixture. Once cooked, it can be left to cool until the dough is ready.
Back to the dough again. Briefly knead before cutting and rolling into golf ball sized pieces. Coat each ball with vegetable oil, cover with cling film and leave them for a further hour.
After an hour, roll each ball as flat as you can manage- the oil will stop it from sticking. Heat a large flat frying pan and add a small dribble of oil. Working quickly, place a flattened piece of dough in the pan and it will start to cook straight away. Place a heaped tablespoon of the filling mix into the centre of the roti and fold in the sides, top and bottom to cover. Flip the roti parcel over to cook (and somewhat seal) the edges. Each roti takes about 2 minutes to cook. Add and small drizzle of oil between each one
Cut in half to serve and serve alongside a cucumber pickle or simply a few slices of cucumber.
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.
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.
Just a quick, fresh salad here, perfect for a warm summer’s night- fresh, hot, crunchy and vibrant flavours and it can easily be substituted with whatever you have in. Also great cold the next day in a lunch box! The glass noodles are incredibly fine and have a good bite to them, they shouldn’t be mushy.
As always, I did way too much but let’s say this does 2 main meals and 2 small lunch portions…
3 blocks of glass (mung bean) noodles/ or roughly 2/3 of a whole packet
3-4 Thai shallots, finely sliced
2-3 spring onions finely sliced
a small piece of lean pork (200g or thereabouts), chopped into small bits
a big handful of coriander leaves, torn
a small handful of peanuts, crushed
1 stalk of celery, thinly sliced
3 small red chillies, finely chopped
juice of 1 large or 2 small limes
a big glug of fish sauce
Place the noodles in a glass or ceramic bowl and pour over boiling water to soften the noodles. Leave for 5/10 mins then drain and snip them up a bit with scissors.
While the noodles soften, heat a small pan of water until boiling and drop in the pork. It’ll be cooked in just a few minutes, skim off any scum, the drain when cooked.
Mix all the cooked and raw ingredients together in a bowl well, let it sit for around 5 minutes to absorb some of the dressing.
Serve, sprinkling over some extra coriander leaves and/or peanuts if you wish.
Best served with a cold beer and eaten outside :)
Something totally different today, thanks to another trip to Siam Smiles Thai supermarket in Manchester yesterday. We had some more amazing food there and will do a write up on the next post. The main ingredient for this dish- the bai cha plu (wild pepper leaves) we picked up there, it’s something I’ve yet to come across in the UK and seeing how it’s essential for miang kham, it would have been a shame to not grab a pack at just £1.65.
Miang (wrapped) kham (bites) are made of of the glossy wild pepper leaves (incorrectly often confused with the stimulant/carcinogenic betel leaf). They have an incredible perfume and taste which I found hard to describe as they seem to be made up of so many elements. Initially they have spicy hits of star anise then something akin to kumquat with a bitter-sweet citrus note. Exciting stuff!
Into the leaves comes an assortment of sweet, sour, spicy, salty, bitter, fishy, chewy and crunchy goodies- your mouth won’t know what’s going on- but it’ll want another one!!
This recipe will make around 20 pieces.
Start by making the sauce:
Bash together in a mortar:
A small handful of dried pink shrimp
A small handful of peanuts, toasted in a wok until lightly browned
A small handful of fresh or dried coconut, toasted in a wok until lightly browned.
Then pour this mix into a small saucepan with
A very big splash of nam pla (fish sauce)
Half a cup of water
A tablespoon of palm or light brown sugar
Cook this mixture down until it’s quite thick and sauce-like. While it’s cooking, prepare the fillings…
A big handful of peanuts
6-10 red and/or green small chillies, finely sliced
A big nobble of ginger, peeled and diced fine
A big handful of fresh or dried coconut, toasted in a wok until light brown
8-10 peeled and diced shallots
Half a lime, skin left on (if you like the bitterness), peeled otherwise, cut into very small segments
A handful of small dried pink shrimp
Serve everything together, make a cone shape of the stalk end of the leaf, load up with a couple of pieces of each of the fillings then spoon over some sauce, roll the leaf up and experience a mouthful of flavour madness!
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
