Thai Sweet Sticky Rice and Mango (Khao Nieow Ma Muang)

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups raw sticky rice (sweet or glutinous rice). Use Thai sticky rice if possible.
3/4 cup very thick coconut milk for mixing with rice (do not shake the coconut milk can before opening. Spoon out only the thick part that's usually on top)
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup very thick coconut milk for topping the rice (freeze the rest of the coconut milk for other use later)
1/8 tsp salt for the topping
1/2 tbsp salt for mixing with rice
1/4 tsp rice flour
6 medium mangoes -- peeled and sliced

Directions:

Wash and rinse the sticky rice well. Add enough water to the rice so until the water is about 1/4" above the rice surface. Cook rice in an automatic rice cooker or in a bowl in a steamer. Do not open the rice until fully cooked (about 20-25 mins).
Heat, on low, 3/4 cup of coconut milk in a small saucepan. Add sugar and 1/2 tbsp salt to the coconut milk and cook until dissolved. Remove from heat and pour into cooked rice. Stir to mix well and set aside to let stand for about 15 mins.
Heat the rest of coconut milk and add salt.
Stir until the salt is dissolved.
This makes the topping sauce.

To serve, place sliced mangoes on a side of a serving disk. Spoon some seasoned sticky rice on the other side. Top the rice with 1 or 2 tsp of coconut sauce and serve.
Makes about 6 servings.

Thai Yellow Curry Chicken (Kaeng Kari Kai)

Thai Yellow Curry Chicken (Kaeng Kari Kai)

Winter is a great time for recipes that take a little more preparation time. Grind up the ingredients for this Yellow Curry Paste recipe in our Granite Mortar & Pestle or electric blender if you are short of time. The addition of potatoes will make it a welcome meal on a cold night. Serve with a simple Cucumber Salad (recipe below).

Ingredients

1. 500 grams (about 1lb) chicken (or beef)
2. 2 tbsp Yellow Curry Paste (follow link for recipe)
3. 3 peeled and boiled small potatoes
4. 3 cups coconut milk (3 16-oz. cans Chao Koh brand)
5. 2 tbsp fried shallots (already prepared or make your own)
6. 1 tsp sea salt

Preparation

Cut meat into 2 inch thick pieces (chicken) or slices (beef).

Fry the spice mixture in 2 tbsp. of the oil used for frying the shallots (if you are ambitious and have made your own fried shallots use that oil or simply use vegetable oil) adding the coconut cream (see note from Kasma below regarding coconut cream) in small amounts.

Then add the chicken and cook without stirring. Spoon into a pot. Add the coconut milk and salt. Cook the meat until tender, add the potatoes. Remove from heat when done, dip into serving bowl, and sprinkle with fried shallots. Serve with cucumber relish.

Cucumber Salad

1. Mix 1/3 cup vinegar, 2 tps. sugar; and 1 tps. salt in a pot, bring to a boil, strain and allow to cool.
2. Slice 4 cucumbers, 2 shallots, and 1 red chili (mild fresh chili, optional) just before serving and add the vinegar mixture.

Tom yum kung
is the simple and popular Thai hot and sour soup, familiar to many from Thai restaurant menus. It is sometimes spelled tom yum koong or tom yum goong.

How to make it?

4 to 6 servings

* Water or stock -- 6 cups
* Fish sauce -- 1-2 tablespoons
* Kaffir lime leaves -- 4
* Lemongrass, white part of stalk only, crushed --1 stalk
* Galangal (optional), cut into thin rounds -- 2 pieces
* Garlic, crushed -- 2 cloves
* Salt and pepper -- to taste
* Shrimp, peeled and deveined -- 1 1/2 pounds
* Scallions, chopped -- 1/2 bunch
* Straw mushrooms (optional) -- 1 cup
* Limes, juice only -- 2
* Cilantro, chopped -- 1/2 bunch
* Thai chile peppers, sliced into rounds -- 2-3 each

Method

1. Bring the water or stock, fish sauce, lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, salt and pepper to a boil in a large pot over medium flame. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside for another 10 minutes to steep. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve and discard solids.
2. Return the stock to a simmer over medium-low heat. Add the shrimp, scallions and mushrooms and continue to simmer over medium-low heat until shrimp is cooked through, 5-6 minutes.
3. Stir in the lime juice, cilantro and chilies, adjust seasoning and serve.

Variations

* Tom Kha Kung: Substitute coconut milk for half or all the water or stock.
* Tom Yum Gai: Substitute thinly sliced chicken for the shrimp.
* Tom Yum Hed: A vegetarian variation. Eliminate the shrimp and double the amount of mushrooms.
* Add the shrimp shells from peeling the shrimp to the simmering stock for extra flavor.
* Straw mushrooms are usually found canned. You can substitute thinly sliced button mushrooms if you like, or omit the mushrooms altogether.
* Sliced bamboo shoots can be added if you like.
* If kaffir lime leaves are unavailable, zest the limes before juicing them and use the zest instead.

Pad Thai Prawn

Pad Thai - This Pad Thai recipe is how you actually find it in Bangkok and comes from testing hundreds of different variations from food carts all over the city. Pad Thai is the ultimate street food. While "street food" may sound bad, food cart cooks are in such a competitive situation, with such limited space, ingredients and tools they need to specialize in a dish or two just to stay in business. The best of these cooks have cooked the same dish day-after-day, year-after-year, constantly perfecting it.

Great Pad Thai is dry and light bodied, with a fresh, complex, balanced flavor. I've never actually seen the red, oily pad thai in Thailand that is common in many western Thai restaurants.

The ingredients listed below can be somewhat intimidating but many are optional. If you would like to make authentic Pad Thai, just like in Thailand, use all the ingredients.

Pad Thai is another perfect vegetarian dish, just omit shrimp and substitute soy sauce for fish sauce. Add more tofu if you like.


How to Make it?

2-3 Servings
1/2 lime
1 egg
4 teaspoons fish sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground dried chili pepper or ground pepper
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon tamarind
1/2 package Thai rice noodles
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 lbshrimp Optional
1/2 banana flower Optional
1/3 cup tofu - extra firm Optional
1 cup Chinese chives - green Optional
2 tablespoons peanuts Optional
2 cup bean sprouts Optional
1 tablespoon preserved turnip Optional

Tips and substitutions

By far, the trickiest part is the soaked noodles. Noodles should be somewhat flexible and solid, not completely expanded and soft. When in doubt, undersoak. You can always add more water in the pan, but you can't take it out.

Shrimp can be substituted or omitted.

In this recipe, pre-ground pepper, particularly pre-ground white pepper is better than fresh ground pepper. For kids, omit the gound dried chilli pepper.

Tamarind adds some flavor and acidity, but you can substitute white vinegar.

The type of extra firm tofu called for this recipe can be found at most oriental groceries in a plastic bag, not in water. Some might be brown from soy sauce, but some white ones are also available. Pick whatever you like.

If you decided to include banana flower, cut lengthwise into sections (like orange sections). Rub any open cut with lime or lemon juice to prevent it from turning dark.

The original Pad Thai recipe calls for crushed roasted peanuts. Many people in Thailand avoid eating peanuts because of its link to cancer.

Soak the dry noodles in lukewarm water while preparing the other ingredients, for 5-10 minutes. Julienne tofu and cut into 1 inch long matchsticks. When cut, the extra firm tofu should have a mozzarella cheese consistency. Cut up Chinese chives into 1 inch long pieces. Set aside a few fresh chives for a garnish. Rinse the bean sprouts and save half for serving fresh. Mince shallot and garlic together.

Use a wok. If you do not have a wok, any big pot will do. Heat it up on high heat and pour oil in the wok. Fry the peanuts until toasted and remove them from the wok. Add shallot, garlic and tofu and stir them until they start to brown. The noodles should be flexible but not expanded at this point. Drain the noodles and add to the wok. Stir quickly to keep things from sticking. Add tamarind, sugar, fish sauce, chili pepper and preserved turnip. Stir. The heat should remain high. If your wok is not hot enough, you will see a lot of juice in the wok at this point. Turn up the heat, if it is the case. Make room for the egg by pushing all noodles to the side of the wok. Crack the egg onto the wok and scramble it until it is almost all cooked. Fold the egg into the noodles. Add shrimp and stir. Add bean sprouts, chives. Stir a few more times. The noodles should be soft and very tangled.

Pour onto the serving plate and sprinkle with peanuts. Serve hot with the banana flower slice and a wedge of lime on the side and raw Chinese chives and raw bean sprouts on top.

As always, in Thailand, condiments such as sugar, chili pepper, vinegar and fish sauce are available at your table for your personal taste. Some people add more pepper or sugar at this point.

The origin of Thai Food

Thai cuisine refers to typical foods, beverages, and cooking styles common to the country of Thailand in Southeast Asia. Thai Cuisine is well-known for being hot and spicy and for its balance of five fundamental flavors in each dish or the overall meal - hot (spicy), sour, sweet, salty, and bitter (optional).

Although popularly considered as a single cuisine, Thai food would be more accurately described as four regional cuisines corresponding to the four main regions of the country: Northern, Northeastern (or Isan), Central, and Southern, each cuisine sharing similar foods or derived from those of neighboring countries. Southern curries, for example, tend to contain coconut milk and fresh turmeric, while northeastern dishes often include lime juice. The cuisine of Northeastern (or Isan) Thailand is heavily influenced by Laos. Many popular dishes eaten in Thailand were originally Chinese dishes which were introduced to Thailand mainly by Teochew people who make up the majority of the Thai Chinese. Such dishes include jok, kway teow rad na, khao kha moo (also known as moo pa-loh) and khao mun gai.

Thai food is known for its enthusiastic use of fresh (rather than dried) herbs and spices as well as fish sauce. Thai food is popular in many Western countries.