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Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

~Thai Crab Salad with Mango Recipe~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Pranee's Thai Cooking Videos, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Salad Recipe, tagged , , , , , , , on May 15, 2010| 4 Comments »

Eating in Southeast Asia

Traveling through Vietnam in 2009 as a culinary tour leader was an interesting and heartwarming experience. The local people are so eager to share their country’s wonderful cuisine and culture and spend time with you. You’re treated more like a welcome guest than a tourist.

Back home in Phuket with my traveling companion, we rested and strolled on the beach and enjoyed the best food in Phuket: local seafood.

We were lucky to become friends with Chef Tony of the popular Rockfish Restaurant after savoring our first plate of his Thai crab salad. He generously agreed to share his recipe and do a cooking video for my newsletter to welcome our mango season here in America.

Chef Tony Wringley has been working at Rockfish Restaurant as executive chef for the past 6 months. His recipe was inspired by local and seasonal ingredients from Phuket Island such as local crab, fresh mango and coconut. Chef Tony has captured the flavors of the tropical island of Phuket with this Thai crab salad.

Thai Crab Salad with Mango and Shaved Coconut

Thai Crab Salad with Mango and Shaved Fresh Coconut Recipe

Yum Pu Mamuang Maprow

Recipe by Chef Tony Wrigley
Executive Chef, Rockfish Restaurant
Kamala Beach, Phuket, Thailand
Rockfish Restaurant

Serves: 1

½ cup cooked crab meat
½ cup diced mango, about half mango
¼ cup sliced red spur chili or Anaheim pepper
2 green onions, chopped into 1-inch long pieces
3 sprigs cilantro, torn into large pieces
10 Thai basil leaves or sweet basil, torn in half
¼ cup chili peanuts or dry roasted peanuts
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice, about 1 lime
¼ cup fresh shaved coconut or dry coconut chips
1 teaspoon chili oil for presentation

Gently combine crab, mango, red spur chili, green onions, cilantro, Thai basil and chili peanuts. Add fish sauce, sugar, olive oil and lime juice, and fold just to mix. Place crab salad on the plate, garnish with shaved fresh coconut on top and decorate the plate with chili oil. Makes one serving.

How to shave fresh coconut with a peeler

© 2011 Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen

I Love Thai cooking Pranee teaches Thai Cooking classes in the Seattle area. Her website is: I Love Thai cooking.com .

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~Amok, the Khmer Fish Stew Recipe from the Wall of Angkor Thom~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Recipes, Thai Curry Recipe, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Main Dish Recipe, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 3, 2010| 3 Comments »

The Making of Amok, Angkor Thom in 1300

Amok
Khmer Fish Stew

Servings: 4
3 tablespoons canola oil
8 tablespoons Khmer curry paste (please see Khroeung, Khmer Curry Paste Recipe)
3 cups spinach, amaranth, la lot (wild pepper leaf) or pea vine
1 pound catfish filets or any white fish cut into a bite size
6 tablespoons coconut milk
1 egg
2 teaspoons fish sauce
½ cup Thai basil

Heat canola oil and curry paste in a frying pan until fragrant. Stir in spinach until wilted and then stir in fish. Add coconut milk and egg and fold in until the fish is cooked. Then stir in fish sauce and Thai basil until Thai basil is just wilted.  Serve with jasmine rice.

© 2009  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen

I Love Thai cooking

Amok, Khmer fish curry in banana leaf-cup

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~Kroeung, Khmer Curry Paste Recipe~

Posted in Pranee's Travel Thailand & Beyond, Recipes, Thai Cooking School: How to series, Thai Curry Recipe, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Main Dish Recipe, Thai Sauce & Condiment Recipe, Thai Vegetarian Recipe, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 3, 2010| 4 Comments »

Kroeung, Khmer Curry Paste

Kroeung is Khmer curry paste that is versatile for many curry dishes in Khmer cuisine such as famous national dish, Amok (fish cake), chicken curry with sorrel leaves or fish stew with seasonal vegetable. Like Thai curry paste, Khmer curry paste consists of fresh herbs which will give pungent flavor and aroma. This curry paste is easy to prepare with a food processor and keeps well in the freezer for up to 6 months. This recipe is inspired by Le Tigre De Papier cooking class, my recent trip to Siem Reap March 2010.

 

Kroeung

Khmer Curry Paste

น้ำพริกแกงแดงเขมร

Yield: 1 cup curry paste for making two to three curry dishes

 
10 fresh or dried Thai chilies
2 large fresh Thai spur chilies or dried New Mexico Chili pods or guajllo chile pods
2-inch galangal root, trimmed and sliced to about 1/4 cup
4-inch fresh turmeric, sliced to about ¼ cup or 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed and finely sliced
2 shallots, peeled and sliced to about ¼ cup
10 Kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
¼ cup canola oil

Cut and soak dried New Mexico chili pods in hot water water for one hour; then drain. Place New Mexico chili pods,  fresh or dried Thai chilies, galangal, turmeric, garlic, lemongrass, shallots, Kaffir lime leaves, black peppercorns, salt and shrimp paste  in food processor and blend until it forms a smooth paste, about 15 minutes. Use spatula to clean the edge a few times. It is ready to use for cooking.

Thai Vegetarian option: omit shrimp paste and replace with 2 teaspoons mushroom powder

Gluten-Free Recipe

 

© 2012  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen
I Love Thai cooking
Pranee teaches Thai Cooking classes in the Seattle area.
Her website is: I Love Thai cooking.com 
 
Related articles

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~Lychee & Mint Smoothie Recipe~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Recipes, Thai Beverage Recipe, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Recipe for Kid, Thai Vegetarian Recipe, tagged , , on March 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Drink a memory of a tropical garden in Bangkok

Lychee & Mint Smoothie

น้ำลิ้นจี่กับใบสะระแหน่ปั่น

Lychee & Mint Smoothie

Just two weeks ago I was in Bangkok at the famous Jim Thompson’s house near the National Stadium. I always enjoy taking a break at the restaurant near the lily pound. I had Lychee & Mint smoothie, a very simple refreshing drink that was just perfect for a mid-day break in the month of March when the heat can climb up to 95 degrees during the day.

To make this smoothie is as simple as putting all these ingredients in a blender: 5 Lychee fruits and ½ cup juice from a can plus ½ cup  crushed ice and ¼ cup fresh mint leaves. Add sugar to taste before blending in a blender and serve. Garnish with a mint sprig. That’s all there is to it, but don’t forget to imagine that you are looking at a beautiful old Thai house surrounded by a  beautiful garden while sipping this refreshing smoothie.

Related articles

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~Phuket Hokkien Mee Recipe, Phuket Cuisine~

Posted in Pranee's Thai Cooking Videos, Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Main Dish Recipe, Thai Noodle Recipe, Thai Snack & Street Food Recipe, Thai Stir-fry Recipe, Thai Vegetarian Recipe, tagged , , , , , , , on February 11, 2010| 3 Comments »

Stir-fried Phuket Hokkien Mee with Choy Sum

PHUKET HOKKIEN MEE RECIPE
Stir-fried egg noodles Phuket style

Serving: 1
Prep Time: 15    Cook Time: 5 minutes

On Chinese New Year Day, I always enjoy Phuket Hokkien Mee – an egg noodle dish similar to stir-fried chow mien.

In America, I use Miki noodle or yakisoba. For this recipe you may use any fresh egg noodles but I prefer ones the size of spaghetti. For vegetable choices, select a combination of mixed vegetables that you like, personally I love Choy sum or Chinese broccoli. For meat choices, substitute pork and/or seafood combination for tofu and mushrooms.  To serve, I always enjoy eating it with chopsticks and a little kick of Sriracha hot sauce.

3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 garlic, minced
¼ cup sliced pork
¼ cup sliced pork liver, optional
3 shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup egg noodles, yakisoba or Miki noodles
1 cup cut Chinese kale or Choy Sum
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
½ cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon sugar
A dash of white pepper powder

Heat a wok or cast iron pan over high heat; add canola oil. Stir in garlic, sliced pork, pork liver and shrimp. Continue to stir until the meat is almost completely cooked, then stir in egg noodles, Chinese broccoli, and dark soy and light soy sauces. Stir for 10 seconds, then add chicken broth. Stir and continue to cook until the broth is almost absorbed.  When the sauce has reduced to ¼ cup, add the white pepper powder. Place in a noodle bowl and serve with chopstick and spoon.

Vegetarian option: omit meat and substitute it with 1/4 cup cut extra firm tofu and 1/4 sliced brown button mushroom

Gluten-Free option: use wheat free soy sauce and rice stick or rice vermicelli instead of egg noodles.

© 2009  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen
I Love Thai cooking

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~Stir-fried Cabbage with Garlic and Ginger Recipe~

Posted in Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Main Dish Recipe, Thai Recipe for Kid, Thai Side Dish Recipe, Thai Stir-fry Recipe, Thai Vegetarian Recipe, tagged , , , , , on December 8, 2009| 3 Comments »

 

Local Cabbage from Ballard Farmer Market

PHAD KALUMPEE

Stir-fried cabbage with garlic and ginger

Cabbage is the most popular vegetable in Southeast Asia. It belongs in the Brassica Oleracea family along with bok choy and gai larn (Chinese kale or broccoli). It’s commonly used in stir-frying, curry and soup dishes.

My favorite way of preparing cabbage at home is to stir-fry it with salt and pepper for a side dish. This month I enjoy stir-frying cabbage with leftover turkey and lots of ginger and garlic.

Nutritionally, cabbage is high in Vitamin C and fiber, and contains anti-inflammatory benefits. With the two additions of garlic and ginger (flu prevention aids), what a great recipe for healthy eating.

Servings: 4

Preparation: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

3 tablespoons canola oil

3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 tablespoon shredded ginger

1 cup shredded cooked turkey, optional

3 cups shredded cabbage

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat canola oil in a wok on high heat and stir in garlic and ginger. When garlic is golden, stir in turkey and cabbage. Then add oyster sauce, soy sauce and 3 tablespoons of water. Cover and quickly braise until cabbage is cooked but still has a slight crunchy texture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve hot as a side dish with steamed jasmine rice.

Vegetarian option: omit turkey, use vegetarian oyster sauce

Gluten-Free option: use wheat free soy sauce, wheat free oyster sauce

 

Thai Cooking Recipe for Kids

 

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

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~Banh Mi, my way~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Thai Sauce & Condiment Recipe, Thai Snack & Street Food Recipe, tagged , on November 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Pranee's Banh Mi

My obsession for food this week is all about Banh Mi, a lucious Vietnamese baguette sandwich filled with meats, crunchy pickled veggies, herbs, mayo and heat from chilies. It’s the product of the French influence on Vietnamese culture at its tastiest.

As much as I have heard about Banh Mi and sampled it in Seattle Vietnamese sandwich shops, my real love affair with Banh Mi began less than a year ago in the Banh Mi home city of Saigon. I still remember the experience vividly – I was on a mission to find the best Bahn Mi in town. Late at night and by myself, after managing to get lost a few times, I was finally munching my sandwich on the street corner while watching a wave of motorbikes flow by. It was a blissful culinary moment.

I admit to not being much of a sandwich fan – with the exception of a French baguette – but everything about this Vietnamese sandwich and its explosion of flavor was perfect – the aroma of fish sauce and vinegar, the texture of cucumber, carrot and daikon, piles of savory meat and pate on light, crusty bread. I fell in love at first crunch.

Now back home in Seattle, I have made many versions of Bahn Mi, as I continue to create recipes for my Vietnamese cooking classes. By chance, the one I prepared today in my kitchen was the closest in taste to the ones I had in Saigon. And I included my own special ingredient – Washabi mayonnaise. Let’s keep it a secret between us!

Next time, you’re wanting to expand your Vietnamese culinary horizons, search out a Bahn Mi sandwich shop and enjoy.

Banh Mi, unstacked by NY Times

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~Stir-fried Kabocha Pumpkin with Pork Recipe & Video~

Posted in Pranee's Thai Cooking Videos, Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Main Dish Recipe, Thai Stir-fry Recipe, Thai Vegetarian Recipe, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 8, 2009| 1 Comment »

When I visited my mom in Phuket in March 2009, I  dropped by to see her everyday for her home cooked meal. I didn’t plan to tape this video with Kabocha and pork, but at that moment, I wanted to record her cooking and share it with my students. My mom loves to surprise me with my favorite childhood dish. And she knew best. I love her recipe with shrimp paste but you can omit it and use fish sauce and soy sauce instead to give it a flavorful salty flavor.  Shrimp paste, soy sauce and fish sauce are Thai umami.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami.

Phad Namtao Moo
Stir-fried Kabocha Pumpkin with Pork

This recipe combines pumpkin with pork – and it may not seem like one that appeals to you at first.  Think of it as mashed potato with chicken broth next to pork chop gravy. The Kabocha melts in your mouth with a sweet taste and creamy texture. The shrimp paste leaves a hint of  saltiness to contrast the sweetness of Kabocha, and the fried garlic enhances the flavor. Be adventuresome  and try this as a side dish with steamed jasmine rice and curry dishes.

3 tablespoons canola oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 teaspoons shrimp paste or 2 tablespoons fish sauce
¼ cup minced pork
3 cups Kabocha pumpkin chunks, seeds and skin removed
½ cup water or more as needed

Heat a wok on high heat, pour in canola oil and stir in garlic. When garlic is yellow, stir in shrimp paste and pork and cook until fragrant. Stir in Kabocha and add water to reach the top. Stir well, cover and let it cook until Kabocha is cooked in the center. Test by pressing a fork against Kabocha; it should break easily. You should taste a balance of salty and sweet from Kabocha.

Vegetarian option: omit pork, egg also popular instead of pork

Gluten-Free option: use wheat free soy sauce

© 2009  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen
I Love Thai cooking

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~Thai Stir-fried Cat Fish with Red Curry Paste, phad phed pla dook Recipe & Vedio~

Posted in Pranee's Thai Cooking Videos, Recipes, Thai Curry Recipe, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Main Dish Recipe, Thai Stir-fry Recipe, tagged , , , , , , on September 12, 2009| 2 Comments »

PHAD PHED PLA DOOK

Thai stir-fried catfish with red curry paste

Recipe & Video
Servings: 1
Prep Time: 15   Cook Time: 5 minutes
 

Thai stir-fried catfish with red curry paste is a typical fast food wok-frying dish served over steamed rice. My sister’s recipe is a southern-rustic version that is very pungent. But at home and cooking school in Seattle, I prefer coconut milk instead of chicken stock. Then I recommend to omit oyster sauce when coconut milk is used. This is a great quick and easy Thai cooking for anyone who tries out Thai cooking for the first time.

1 cup steamed jasmine rice
1 fried egg
5 sliced cucumber
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 to 1 ½ tablespoons red curry paste
¼ cup chicken stock or coconut milk (see note)
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 spur chili or Anaheim chili
¼ cup basil leaves
4 pieces fried catfish steaks (see note)

Place steamed jasmine rice on a serving plate and fried egg on top of the rice. Garnish with sliced cucumber on the side.

Heat a wok on high heat, when it is hot add curry paste and stir well until fragrant. Stir in chicken stock, oyster sauce, sugar and salt. Mix well. Stir in chili, basil and fried catfish and cook until the fish absorb the flavors and moisture from the sauce.

Pour the hot catfish curry next to steamed rice and serve right away.

Cooknote: My sister coated her catfish with corn starch before frying. She likes it crunchy.

Thai Vegetarian Recipe Option: omit catfish and substitute it with 1/4 cup cut extra firm tofu and 1/4 sliced brown button mushroom. Use coconut milk instead of chicken stock

© 2010  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen
I Love Thai cooking

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~My First Wok, how to season a wok~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Recipes, Thai Cooking School: How to series, Thai Stir-fry Recipe, tagged , , , on September 12, 2009| 3 Comments »

Thai Cooking with Wok

As far back as I can remember, my family kitchen contained only a few cooking utensils and cookware. The most versatile cookware was a wok. We use woks for all tasks, from stir-frying, steaming and blanching vegetables to making cooking oil from lard and coconut milk. It is possible that every household in Thailand will have an average of 3 woks in various sizes. For a community kitchen, the wok can be as wide as three to five feet wide. This wok is used for cooking curry, frying and steaming rice for a function with more than 300 people. A wok allows you to have total control to stir and mix a large quantity of foods with a large shovel. Owning a new wok is a new beginning of your culinary adventure in your kitchen.

A wok made of mild steel will rust; therefore a well-seasoned wok will protect it and make it easy to cook foods and prevent them from sticking.

Ladle & Shovel (Spatula)

Depending on the style of your wok, a ladle or spatula can be used. A ladle fits well in a deep bowl shaped wok and a shovel can be used for either a flat bottom or deep bowl wok.

How to Season a Wok

This is the summary on how to season a wok according to the “The Breath of a Wok” by Grace Young. 

First step to handling your new wok is to clean it with hot soapy water to remove the protector. Then season it by using a few tips below.

~ Cook pork in a bone in boiling water.

~ Pan fried tofu to absorb metallic taste, and then stir-fry chives.

~ Use scallions, garlic chives, pork and ginger to remove the metallic taste.

~ Use high heat with salt.

This is a recipe for seasoning a wok for the first time before cooking a meal for serving:

2 to 3 tablespoons pork fat

1 cup garlic chives

½ cup ginger, shredded

Clean the new wok according to instructions. In general, clean and rinse well with hot water. Dry with a paper towel. Open all of the windows and turn the range hood on high. Bring the wok to a high heat, when it starts to make a layer of smoke, add in a pork fat, ginger and chives, and with a shovel or spatula stir-fry the ginger/chive mixture to cover the entire surface area of the wok. Reduce the heat to medium-high and keep stirring until the wok darkens. Discard the ginger/chives. Rinse the wok with hot water and bring back to high heat to dry the wok. Your wok is now ready.

The best way to season and to develop the wok patina is to constantly use it. I like to use the wok for deep frying, and the shape of the wok also helps to use less cooking oil.

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~Steamed Prawns with Sea Salt and Kumquat Recipe~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Recipes, Thai Main Dish Recipe, Thai Sauce & Condiment Recipe, tagged on May 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

 

Sea Salt, Kumquat & Prawn

After soaking up the sunshine in Seattle, I missed the simple and delicious food of Vietnam. One memory that rises above the others is now of steamed prawns with Chinese celery served with Vietnamese sea salt and sour Kumquat. I savored the dish in the boat while cruising along the Halong Bay just less than two months ago. While the boat slowly took us through Limestone Mountain, my friend, Babs, and I leisurely enjoyed our meal. While we chatted, our hands busy peeling cooked prawn to dip into sea salt with sour Kumquat. As our eyes gazed through the mountains and into the horizon, we tasted the sweetness of fresh prawn, Vietnamese sea salt that has a hint of metallic and sour from the kumquat. A few good ingredients have made a statement. I am planning to do the same dish tomorrow while the sunshine compliment Southeast Asia flavors and the experience will bring back my memories all over again.

1 pound fresh local prawn, whole
1/4 cup cut Chinese celery or any
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 whole kumquat, cut into wedges
 
Mix prawns and celery together and place over pre-heat steamer. Cook until pink and cook all the way through, about 5 minutes. Enjoy with sea salt and Kumquat juice as snack or with meal. 

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~Everyday Thai Stir-fry, asparagus and shiitake~

Posted in Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Side Dish Recipe, Thai Stir-fry Recipe, Thai Vegetarian Recipe, tagged , , , , , , , on May 4, 2009| 5 Comments »

Local asparagus

Local asparagus

The best taste of stir-fried vegetables is their freshness. I chose asparagus, to celebrate spring, and then welcomed it into the wok with shiitake mushrooms. These are a perfect pair and you can heighten the depth of flavor with oyster sauce. Phad Pak, or stir-fried vegetables, is a typical side dish that is usually served daily. To go with a tasty Thai banquet, stir-fried vegetables could be plain but seasoned with oyster sauce, salted soy bean or black bean sauce. To change the taste to go with the season, you may substitute any fresh vegetable for asparagus and replace shiitake mushrooms with any other mushrooms. 

Phad Nor Mai Farang

Stir-fried Asparagus and Shiitake with Oyster Sauce

Servings: 4
Preparation: 10 minutes     Stir-frying Time: 3 minutes
 
3 tablespoons cooking oil
6 cloves garlic, smashed
2 cups asparagus, cut into 1½-inch length
1 cup shiitake mushrooms; sliced
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
Pinch of white pepper, more as needed
½ cup water or chicken stock
1 teaspoon cornstarch

 

Heat oil in wok or stir-frying pan on high heat. Just before oil reaches smoking point (really hot), stir in garlic, asparagus, and mushrooms. Stir for one minute and then stir in oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and white pepper. In small bowl, mix well the water or chicken stock with cornstarch, then pour into stir-fry to make sauce. When the liquid comes to a boil and is translucent, serve vegetables as a side dish or with steamed jasmine rice.

Vegetarian option: use vegetarian oyster sauce

Gluten Free option: use wheat free soy sauce, wheat free oyster sauce

© 2009  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen
I Love Thai cooking

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~Thai Omelette Recipe, Kai Jeow~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Pranee's Thai Cooking Videos, Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Side Dish Recipe, tagged , , , on March 15, 2009| 3 Comments »

Pranee with her mom and sister

Three Women Cook

 

I spent a good week with my mom and sister in March 2009. We would like to share with you our rustic style cooking. My mom was a chef of the village. Today my sister owns a fast-food wok restaurant in Thalang, Phuket.

I only have one sister and her name is Rudee. Her nick name is Kleuy which means “banana”. I love my sister cooking and you will also. She will contribute a lot of her recipes for my Thai cooking blog and also a basic Thai cooking video.

 Here are my sister’s cooking demonstration and recipe on how to make Thai omelette.

 

 

How to Cook Thai omelette

Thai Omelette Recipe 

Kai Jeow

Servings: 2
 
1/2 cup canola or peanut oil
3 eggs
3 drops fish sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce or Thai Kitchen spicy sauce
 
Place three eggs into medium size bowl, use fork or whisk to beat the egg for 30 seconds. Heat a wok until hot and pour in canola oil. Pour the eggs mixture to the wok steady 12 inches above the wok, the omellet will puff, let it cook until golden. Flip over and cook another side until golden. Drain with slot spatula and serve right away with hot sauce and steamed jasmine rice.
 

© 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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~Rice Soup Recipe, a real comfort food

Posted in Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Soup Recipe, Thai Vegetarian Recipe, tagged , , , , on February 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

KAO TOM GOONG
Rice Soup with Prawn, Ginger and Garlic Recipe
 
Servings: 2-4
Preparation: 10 minutes.
Cooking time: 15 minutes
 
Rice soup is a real comfort food for every occasion. Nothing is as satisfying as rice soup on a cold day or when one’s body needs gentle food. The meat for this dish is ground chicken or ground pork. Shrimp adds a great touch, too. For extra protein, add one egg to the boiling soup just before serving.
 
16 ounces chicken broth, vegetable broth or water
1 cup water or more as needed
1-2 cups steamed rice (left over rice is fine)
2 tablespoons cooking oil
5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons ginger, chopped
½ cup shitake mushroom, sliced
½ cup ground chicken or pork
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
9 shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup spinach, chopped
1 egg (optional)
White pepper powder as needed
1 green onion, sliced
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
 
Bring chicken broth, water and rice to boil in a medium saucepan and keep on cooking. Heat cooking oil in a pan over medium-high heat, then fry garlic and ginger until light golden. Remove half of the fried garlic and ginger to use later as a garnish. In the same pan with remaining cooking oil, garlic and ginger, stir in shitake mushroom and cook until soft. Then add ground chicken (or ground pork, if you prefer). Keep stirring until the chicken is cooked. Add chicken, mushroom and remaining garlic and ginger to the saucepan with the rice soup. 
 
Continue to cook the soup over medium heat until the texture is neither too soupy nor too thick. Stir in salt, soy sauce, shrimp and spinach. When the shrimp turn pink, add egg and stir until egg is cooked. Before serving, season with white pepper and garnish with green onion, cilantro and reserved garlic and ginger.
 
Rice Soup Condiments

Rice Soup Condiments

 

 

Vegetarian option: omit chicken and prawn, use 1 cup chopped oyster mushroom to supstitute chicken

Gluten Free option: use wheat free soy sauce

© 2009  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen
I Love Thai cooking

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~Grandma’s Steamed Fish with Lemongrass Recipe~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Main Dish Recipe, Thai Recipe for Kid, tagged , , , , , on February 15, 2009| 2 Comments »

By now, you have a handle on how useful lemongrass is when you prepare Thai foods. This herb is easy to grow in Thailand and luckily it is now a staple in American supermarkets as well.

 

I hope you enjoy my grandmother’s recipe for steamed trout with lemongrass. I have a fond memory of her cooking this in a clay pot.

Rainbow trout steamed on the bed of lemongrass

Pla Nueng Takrai

Grandma’s Steamed Fish with Lemongrass Recipe

My grandmother, Kimsue, used lemongrass to line the clay pot before placing the fish on top. Lemongrass helps prevent the fish from sticking to the pot while it adds scent and flavor to the fish and a wonderful aroma to the kitchen. You will have fragrant steamed fish for a healthy dinner.

Servings: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

4 lemongrass stalks
2 whole trout, cleaned (see Village Note)
1-2 teaspoons salt
¼ cup water, or more as needed

To prepare lemongrass, remove about 1½ inches of the hard root end and enough of the leaf end to keep 6 inches of the center part. Save the leaf end for cleaning the trout (see Village Note). With a meat pounder, smash lemongrass to release its essential oil. Lay all 4 smashed lemongrass stalks on the bottom of large pan and lay trout on top. Sprinkle salt and water over the fish, cover and bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat until the fish is cooked, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add more water if the pan is low on water and insert a knife in the thickest part of the fish to see if fish separates from the bone. If it does, the fish is cooked. If not, keep steaming just until fish can be removed easily from the bone.

Village Note: To clean trout, sprinkle 2 teaspoons salt on both sides of the fish and use discarded lemongrass to rub salt onto the surface of the fish; rinse off and pat dry. This cleaning technique is also used to prep casings for sausage. The salt helps to remove impurities and the lemongrass acts like a brush and eliminates fish odors.

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

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~Sawasdee Pee Mai 2009~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Thai Soup Recipe on January 10, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Sawasdee Pee Mai

Sawasdee Pee Mai

Sawatdee Pee Mai means Happy New Year in Thai. I would like to wish you good health, happiness and prosperity in 2009.

I hope that you continue good healthy cooking at home. Thai cooking is easy and healthy, so think Thai foods when you plan your weekly menus. My featured recipe this month is Thai rice soup, an easy-to-learn soul food to add to your repertoire. I think you’ll also enjoy the lively podcast on Kiro 710 from In the Kitchen with Chef Tom Douglas and Chef Thierry Rautureau. When I was featured on the show earlier this month, I talked about five different types of Thai soup. We focused on Tom Kha Gai with a link to my recipe. We also discussed coconut milk and how to use less of it. Welcome the New Year by filling your kitchen with aromatic and pungent Thai herbs. Add spice to your life a little bit at a time and every day you cook.

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~Thai Garlic Prawn Recipe, Goong Kratiem Prik Thai~

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Snack & Street Food Recipe, tagged , , , , on December 20, 2008| 5 Comments »

Cilantro, also known as coriander, is a key ingredient in Thai and Southeast Asian cooking, especially the cilantro root.Thai cooks treasure the roots and in Thailand cilantro is always sold with its roots.The root is very aromatic and has lots of flavor when cooked. It’s a precious ingredient—a treat among herbs—and an important ingredient in curry paste, marinades and meat stir-frys. When the root is not available, substitute four stems for one root. Try the recipe featured below for an opportunity to experience the unique flavor and fragrance of cilantro root.

Kratiem Prik Thai Goong – กระเทียมพริกไทยกุ้ง

Goong Kratiem PrikThai
Sautéed Garlic Prawn Recipe
Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 15 minutes   
Cooking Time: 5 minutes

These garlic prawns have a peppery accent and are an astonishingly easy-to-prepare crowd pleaser. The first six ingredients in this recipe make a classic spicy Thai marinade paste. You can use it to create many simple dishes by using it as a marinade for chicken or a spicy paste for chicken or pork patties. For best results, grind the marinade paste using a mortar and pestle. Otherwise, use a small food processor.

½-1 tablespoon black peppercorns
¼-½ teaspoon salt
10 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 cilantro roots or 5 cilantro stems
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
32 prawns, peeled and deveined
5 tablespoons cooking oil
Cilantro and lime wedges for garnish

In mortar, place black peppercorns, salt, 5 cloves of garlic and cilantro roots; pound with pestle until it becomes a paste. Stir in light soy sauce and brown sugar to make marinade sauce. Pour the marinade sauce over prawns and mix well. Set aside. In a frying pan, fry remaining garlic until golden yellow; remove and set aside. In the same frying pan, fry prawns until cooked. Place prawns on a serving plate and garnish with fried garlic and cilantro leaves. Serve lime wedges on the side.

 
© 2009  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen
I Love Thai cooking
 

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