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Archive for August, 2010

~Grilled Corn with Scallion Oil Recipe~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Pranee's Travel Thailand & Beyond, Recipes, Thai Cooking School: How to series, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Recipe for Kid, Thai Side Dish Recipe, Thai Snack & Street Food Recipe, Thai Vegetarian Recipe, tagged , , on August 29, 2010| 3 Comments »

Corn and Scallion, a perfect pair

On the street corner of Hoi An, sliced scallion is soon ready for making into scallion oil.

The most memorable time for me in Hoi An was getting up to see the sunrise over the Bon River while drinking Vietnamese coffee shortly before heading for the market.  Then I walked along the street, and the scenery was very beautiful. The aromas and sounds were so enlivening and the taste of the food was phenomenal. I tasted many street foods along the streets and took a lot of it back to the hotel so that I could taste more during the day. This is part of the learning, culture and cuisine. Now, as I look at all my photos, I am getting hungry from the taste of foods that I still remember and long for.

I came to love one particularly famous grilled corn dish in Hoi An, Mo Hanh. It is made of grilled corn with scallion oil. You will see pictures of why the Vietnamese are so fond of this dish by the amount of corn on the street of Hoi An.

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Yesterday, I was grilling corn for a special event at Magnuson Park in Seattle. About 500 people were there. I have 3 flavors for them to choose from: with spicy coconut sauce, jalapeno sweet and sour sauce and scallion oil. They were all a big hit at the event. I am delighted to share grilled corn with scallion oil recipe with you and hope that you will get a chance to enjoy until the last harvest of local fresh corn.

Grilled Corn with Scallion Oil

Serves: 8

1 cup thin sliced green onion, only green part–about 4 green onions
¼ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon sugar
8 ears of corn, peeled

 Pre-heat the grill to medium-high heat.

To make scallion oil or  Mo Hanh, heat canola oil until very hot and drop in green and let it cook for 40 seconds. Stir in salt. Let it sit until cool. Keep well in refrigerator for a week.

Grill corns over high heat 6 to 8 minutes, until some pope with nice brown cornel. When serve, dip each ear in scallion oil. Enjoy while it is warm.

© 2010  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen  
I Love Thai cooking
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~Hanoi Confetti Corn Recipe~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Pranee's Travel Thailand & Beyond, Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Recipe for Kid, Thai Side Dish Recipe, Thai Snack & Street Food Recipe, Thai Vegetarian Recipe, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »

February 2010, Old Quarter in Hanoi

Hanoi Confetti Corn from the street of Hanoi Old Quarter

I love writing recipes from my culinary trip in my kitchen because it is like traveling through time.  And I love to travel, so when the journey ended then I was in pain with nostalgia. I missed the places I have been and the friends I have made. Then I decided to revisit the experience by recreating the food of that land. Like what I did last week with this Hanoi confetti Corn here in my kitchen.

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This year my culinary trip to Southeast Asia started in Hanoi. After the long flight from Seattle and we arrived in the middle of the day.  After checking into the hotel, we headed off to the famous old quarter of Hanoi. No time for jet-lag, and old quarter is a best to start with exciting sight and sound. I already knew which street we wanted to walk, eat and shop. No time to waste we only have two days in Hanoi.

We came across the mobile foods just before Cha Ca Street, and the aroma of scallion oil and corn that caught our attention and find the confetti corn was cooking. Three of us tried to remember the all of the ingredients: cooking oil, corn, green onion, dried small shrimps, fish sauce and sugar. We ordered one and shared it on the street, it was delicious. Every day in Vietnam, the foods we loved consisted of a few simple ingredients put together in a stunningly simple way but the use of fresh ingredients made all the difference. This was a great welcome to the next world leading culinary destination.

Hanoi Confetti Corn with Shrimp Powder

I purchased the freshest local white corn from PCC Natural Market (in Hanoi, it was glutinous corn), shrimp powder is always in my freezer ready to use, I used chives from my garden instead of green onions and the rest of ingredients were staple foods.  I know how to revisit Hanoi again until the fresh corn runs out.

From Hanoi to your kitchen! Bon Appetite.

Hanoi Confetti Corn    

Serves: 4 

3 tablespoons butter 

2 cups corn kernels cut from 3 ears yellow or white corn 

1/4 cup chopped green onion, from 2 green onions or chives 

3 teaspoons shrimp powder, plus 1 teaspoon for garnish 

1 teaspoon sugar, optional –omit when use freshest corn 

1/2 teaspoon chili powder 

1 to 2 teaspoons fish sauce

Heat the butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Allow the butter to melt, add the corn and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in green onion and shrimp powder and chili powder and let it cook for 1 or 2 more minutes. When the corn loses its starch and  stir in fish sauce and serve right away.

© 2010  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen 
I Love Thai cooking  Pranee teaches Thai Cooking class in Seattle areas, her website is: I Love Thai cooking.com  
 
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~Thai Basil Seed Drink Recipe, Nam Mengluck~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Recipes, Thai Beverage Recipe, Thai Dessert Recipe, Thai Recipe for Kid, Thai Vegetarian Recipe, tagged , , , , , on August 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Thai Basil Seed Drink, a Fun Summer Time Drink   

When the weather was very hot and dry in my Thai village, I used to run to the drink stand for fresh basil seed drinks with ice floating in a pink rose floral flavored drink. It made the summer day bright and special for me and all the Thai kids back then.   

We sometimes harvested our own lemon basil seeds by shaking and rubbing dry flowers over a cloth until all the seeds came out. Then we would blow out the impurities and dust before soaking seeds in water. Then we added simple syrup or honey, rose-water or flower essences and ice. It was a fun drink to make and enjoy. I loved to make this drink with friends. It was fun to see a black seed changing in water to look like a fish egg, dragon fruit or kiwi seeds like in 10 minutes.  It looks strange but it tastes so good, and has natural fiber. This jelly-like seeds can be added to Thai desserts for texture, just like you do with tapioca pearls in bubble tea drinks. It is great with toddy palm seeds and longan drink also. Similar drinks are known to all Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, India.     

Thai Basil Seed Drink -- Nam Mengluck

 

At home in Seattle, I either made this drink with simple syrup and natural flavor extract or honey. You may use  Hale’s, Torani or Grenadine syrup with your choice of  flavor and color. The hard part for you will be to find basil seeds. They comes in a small package under: Sweet Basil Seed (Med Mengluck) [Thai], and Natural Dried Basil Seed (HOT E) [Vietnam]. Good luck (Chok Dee).   

Thai Basil Seed Drink   

Nam Mengluck   

Serves: 2   

1 tablespoon basil seeds, culinary seeds only
6 tablespoons simple syrup, Grenadine, Torani or Hale’s syrup.
2 cups ice-cubes
1 cup cold water
2 basil sprigs or flowers for garnish 

Combine 1 cup water and basil seeds in a pitcher and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then stir in simple syrup, grenadine syrup or Torani, ice-cube and cold water. Pour in two-chill-tall glasses and garnish with basil sprigs or flowers. Serve cold.   

© 2010  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen  
 I Love Thai cooking 
 
Pranee teaches Thai Cooking class in Seattle areas, her website is: I Love Thai cooking.com

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~My Milo Recipe~

Posted in Recipes, Thai Beverage Recipe, Thai Recipe for Kid, tagged , on August 16, 2010| 4 Comments »

My Milo  

Most Thai kids grow up with hot milo just like American kids do with hot chocolate. However, growing up in Thailand more than 45 years ago, daily products such as milk, butter and cheese were rare commodities. We grew up with milk powder or UHT milk and of course sweetened condensed milk. There are many ways to make this quick drink for your kids. I have modified the method my mom used to make for us, based on sweetened condensed milk and hot water, to this healthier recipe with a hint of sweetened condensed milk and 2% milk for my kid. Any Thai mom would have done the same back then based on availability and affordability.   

Milo is a chocolate malt beverage mix. It was created by Thomas Mayne, an Australian industrial chemist in 1934. It is marketed in Thailand as an energy food drink. Perhaps that why most parents serve to school children. 

 

 

My Milo

 

This morning, I made some Milo for my son. The sounds I made were not the same as the sounds from when my mom prepared one for me. I remember waiting with anticipation, hearing the sound of a teaspoon whisking around and hitting the side of the glass mug. Here in my kitchen, it was a whisk against a stainless steel sauce pan. But I knew that my son was waiting for his morning drink with an anticipation too.

My Milo Hot Milk 

Khrueng Duam Milo 

1 1/2 cups milk
3 tablespoons milo powder, plus 1/2 teaspoon for garnish
1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk, optional

Heat milk in a medium-size sauce pan on medium heat until the steam appear, about 5 minutes. Stir in milo powder, sweetened condensed milk and whisk for 30 seconds until it well blended and foamy. Pour in a heat proof glass and garnish with 1/2 teaspoon milo powder on the top. Serve warm or cold over ice. 

© 2010  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen  

 I Love Thai cooking 
 
Pranee teaches Thai Cooking class in Seattle areas, her website is: I Love Thai cooking.com

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~Stir-fried Scallop with Red Curry Paste and Green Bean Recipe~

Posted in Recipes, Thai Curry Recipe, Thai Main Dish Recipe, Thai Stir-fry Recipe, tagged , , , , , on August 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Quick & Easy Spicy Thai Stir-fry for Summer Day 

I’m back from my road trip to Idaho and I miss eating Thai food. I don’t want to spend too much time cooking in the hot summer weather. Looking around I found some frozen Alaskan scallops in the freezer. I bought some fresh green beans at the market and got some fresh mixed basil leaves from the garden. A spicy stir-fry was the answer to fit all expectations–quick and easy, spicy to suit my soul and with cool Thai beer for the 95 degree Seattle weather.

Stir-fried Scallop with Red Curry Paste and Greeen Bean

Twenty minutes before dinner, place the beer in the freezer, I turned on the rice cooker and then went into my garden to get some basil. The scallops were thawed.  The rest of ingredients are Thai staple ingredients from my kitchen such as red curry paste and roasted red chili paste. The remaining work was to stir-fry it in a wok for about 10 minutes.

This recipe is an impromptu creation and it may not have all the steps and ingredients like when I teach traditional Thai recipes. At home when the focus is to put everything together in a hurry. But all the ingredients I used for this recipe was sufficient to call it an authentic Thai. It was a very satisfying meal. I hope you get a chance to try the recipe. Jarean Arharn Kha — Bon Appétit!

Stir-fried Scallop with Red Curry Paste and Green Beans and Jasmine Rice

Stir-fried Scallop with Red Curry Paste and Basil 

Phad Phed Hoy Shell 

Serves: 2
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon curry paste
1 tablespoon roasted red chili paste
3 Thai eggplants, cut into wedge
16 green beans, trimmed
6 large scallops
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup Thai basil or sweet basil leaves

Heat a wok or skillet on high heat until hot, stir in canola oil red curry and roasted red chili paste and stir until fragrant. Stir in Thai eggplants and green beans and cook for 30 seconds, and then add scallops. Stir well with one hand and add 1 tablespoon coconut milk at a time every 10 seconds. Keep an eye on scallops, when it starts to firm up and the flesh get opaque, it should be done. Then on high heat, stir in basil for 20 seconds. Serve right away with steamed jasmine rice. 

Please see similar stir-fried with instruction and vedio here: Stir-fried Catfish with Red Curry Paste
 
© 2010  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen
 I Love Thai cooking
 
Pranee teaches Thai Cooking class in Seattle areas, her website is: I Love Thai cooking.com

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~Tomato & Chinese Celery Smoothie Recipe~

Posted in Recipes, Thai Beverage Recipe, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Recipe for Kid, tagged , , , , , , on August 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Drink for Our Complexion 

I grew up in Phuket, an Island off of Southern Thailand, where I never saw tomatoes until I was a teenager.  We learned to like tomatoes because there was a saying that it was great for our complexion. People from the Northern part of Thailand had the most beautiful complexions due to the fact that they grew and ate a lot of tomatoes. And of course at that time, tomatoes were only known in Northern cuisines such as Nam Prik Ong, Nam Prik Nom and green papaya salad. Howevery, today tomatoes are available at the markets every day in Thailand. And it is a well loved and acquired taste to all Thais.

Tomato-Celery Drink

The Europeans brought tomatoes to Thailand around the 16th century. It is true that ” tomatoes contain lycopene, a powerful antioxidant, which improves the skins ability to protect against harmful UV rays”

Now seeing fresh sweet tomatoes everywhere including from my garden and at the local farmer market. It is appropriate to blend my childhood smoothie that I used to have from Phuket Smoothie Stand.

Now that so many variety of local tomatoes available in the market, I hope that you will enjoy this recipe as much as I do. Cheers to our complexions!  

Tomato & Chinese Celery Smoothie
Nam Makruatade Punt 

Serve: 1 

1 cup crushed ice
1 cup tomato, diced–sweet variety
1/4 cup chopped Chinese celery or any celery, plus one stem for garnish
1 tablespoon simple syrup
A pinch of  salt
A pinch of chili powder
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce

Place ice, tomato, celery, simple syrup, salt, chili powder and Worcestershire sauce in a blender and blend until smooth. Place in a chilled-tall 12-ounce glass, garnish with a celery stem. Serve cool. 

 © 2010  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen
 I Love Thai cooking
 
Pranee teaches Thai Cooking class in Seattle areas, her website is: I Love Thai cooking.com

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~Baitong Thai Restaurant, Review~

Posted in Recipes on August 10, 2010| 1 Comment »

Baitong Thai Restuarant

 

Whole deep-fried trout covered with delicious salad

When I do errands near South Center Mall or Sea-Tac Airport, I will make sure that I can include lunch or dinner in my schedule at Baitong Thai restaurant. And recently I revisited it and had another wonderful dinner there, after dropping off a family member at the airport. And I anticipate more delicious meal there. This time I ordered something I have never tried here before. I got a Bangkok Soda with Pineapple flavor for a fun drink, Deep-fried Crispy Trout with Mango Salad and Massaman Curry with Chicken that came with warm steamed jasmine rice were sufficient for a summer supper. I loved everything but the most fullfilling part were the sweet-tart flavors of green mango salad on top of a crunchy butterflied trout.

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It is easy to duplicate the flavor for the salad, if I were to plan on making at home. Simply just prepare the trout fillet with breadcrumb bredding and pan-fried the trout. Then prepare mango salad from my recipe here plus two tablespoons shredded fresh ginger.

But I will plan to have my deep-fried trout with mango salad again for my next visit whenever that is. It is the best I ever had outside Thailand!

Pranee’s Previous Baitong Review

16876 Southcenter Parkway
Tukwila, WA98188
Phone: 206-515-3366
http://www.baitongrestaurant.com

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~Red Curry with Morning Glory & Salted Croaker Recipe, Gaeng Tapo Pla Kem~

Posted in Recipes, Thai Curry Recipe, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Main Dish Recipe, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The Rustic Style Cooking of Thailand  

Unlike the morning  glory found elsewhere, in Thailand, this morning glory is a vegetable and it is called Pak Bung in Thai. It is also known to all Asian cuisines as Kangkung in Malaysia and Ong Choy in Chinese. It’s scientific name is Ipomoea aquatica. You may know it as Chinese Spinach or Swamp Cabbage. I want to call it morning glory because it is a beautiful name and it belongs in the same family with its leaf and flower. I remember having morning glory in my garden here in Seattle. 

 Thais love to eat Pak Boong fresh, stir-fried in the famous dish “Pak Boong Fai Daeng” and often in a curry as a classic Gaeng Tapo dish. In Seattle, I often teach students the stir-fry dish. Then the other day, I walked down the aisles and saw three dried salted croaker and right away, I was just craving for this dish that my grandma used to cook during the monsoon time when fresh fish and other proteins such as meat were hard to find and morning glory were abundant. That was because it is an aquatic plant that grows on the edges of swamps canals or any damp soil. I wrote this recipe to honor both of my grandmas.

Red Curry Morning Glory and salted Croaker — Gaeng Tapo Pla Kem

This recipe is easy to adapt. You may use pork, beef, or salted cod. I love the fact that this recipe require less coconut milk than most curry to reflect my grandma style of cooking. And it is truly delicious. I ate every drop of the curry broth.

Red Curry with Morning Glory and Salted Croaker   

Gaeng Pla Tapo Pla Kem   

Serves: 4

2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons red curry paste
1/2 cup coconut milk, divided
1 dried salted croaker, cut into a steak of 1/2 inch long, or 5 pieces salt anchovies
2 cups water
3 cups morning glory, tough stems removed and cut into 3 inches long, see note
1/2 tablespoon sugar

Heat canola oil and curry paste in a large pot on medium-high heat and stir constantly until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in 3 tablespoons coconut milk, and let it cook for 30 seconds. Pour in water in the pot and place in croaker and let it cook for 8 minutes on medium heat. Then you may strain to remove the bone and pour back into the same pot, add the rest of coconut milk; and then bring back to a boil. Stir in morning glory and sugar and cook for only 1 minute, just to cook morning glory.  Serve hot with steamed jasmine rice.  

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© 2010  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen  
I Love Thai cooking 
  
Pranee teaches Thai Cooking class in Seattle areas, her website is: I Love Thai cooking.com  

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~Sunflower Sprout Salad with Chili-Lime Vinaigrette Recipe~

Posted in Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Recipe for Kid, Thai Salad Recipe, Thai Side Dish Recipe, Thai Vegetarian Recipe, tagged , , , , , , on August 4, 2010| 5 Comments »

Sunflower Sprouts Salad with Chili-Lime vinaigrette

Yum Med Tan Tawan Ngawk

Sunflower Sprouts by the Alm Hill Gardens Stall – The Columbia City Farmer Market

July 15, 2010 – Yesterday I was at the Columbia Farmers Market. While waiting for my friend, I visited the Alm Hill Gardens stall, and was introduced to sunflower sprouts. I have tasted it before, but these fresh sprouts from the farm I will never forget. It was fresh, buttery and nutty. I brought some home and made a salad for a side dish to accompany my Thai chicken Baryani rice, Kao Mok Gai.

Chili-Lime Vinaigrette, tomato and dill

August 4, 2010- My friend Annette came over for lunch today and it is a perfect day for me to perfect my Sunflower Sprout Salad Recipe and do some photos for the blog. As I envisioned to add some texture, and sunflower seed is a perfect theme for salad. I have no reservations about adding the abundant and flavorful mixed heirloom cherry tomatoes. The rest is simple. I hope you like my chili-lime vinaigrette. Interesting and freshest  ingredients in an easy recipe is a way to go.

Sunflower Sprouts S

Sunflower Sprout Salad with Chili-Lime Vinaigrette

alad with Chili-Lime vinaigrette

Yum Dork Tan Tawan Ngawk 

Serves: 4

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or garlic oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt or 2 teaspoons fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon evaporated cane sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper flake
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon lime juice or lemon juice
1 shallot, peeled and sliced
12 cherry tomatoes, whole or halved
2 cups sunflower sprouts, washed and drained
1/4 dill or cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons toasted sunflower seeds

Whisk olive oil, sea salt, sugar, black pepper, chili powder, lime juice until it is well mixed. Fold in shallot, tomatoes, sunflower sprouts and dill, and mix gently. Sprinkle sunflower seeds  before serving. Serve immediately.

 © 2010  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen  

 I Love Thai cooking 

 Pranee teaches Thai Cooking class in Seattle areas, her website is: I Love Thai cooking.com

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