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~Steamed Prawns with Sea Salt and Kumquat Recipe~

May 23, 2009 by iLoveThaiCooking & Pranee's Thai Kitchen

 

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. 

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Recipes, Thai Main Dish Recipe, Thai Sauce & Condiment Recipe | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

~Everyday Thai Stir-fry, asparagus and shiitake~

May 4, 2009 by iLoveThaiCooking & Pranee's Thai Kitchen

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

Posted in Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Side Dish Recipe, Thai Stir-fry Recipe, Thai Vegetarian Recipe | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

~Culinary Adventure in Vietnam~

March 27, 2009 by iLoveThaiCooking & Pranee's Thai Kitchen

 

Market in Hoi An, Vietnam

Market in Hoi An, Vietnam

 

 

The culinary discoveries in Vietnam were irresistible. Although Thai and Vietnamese ingredients are similar, their aromas and flavors have distinct dimensions. The way they prepare and enjoy their foods is very different as well. Vietnam was a gastronomic wonderland with many great restaurants, cooking schools, market scenes and local food experiences.

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales | Tagged | 2 Comments »

~Thai Omelette Recipe, Kai Jeow~

March 15, 2009 by iLoveThaiCooking & Pranee's Thai Kitchen

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

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Pranee's Thai Cooking Videos, Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Side Dish Recipe | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments »

~Rice Soup Recipe, a real comfort food

February 26, 2009 by iLoveThaiCooking & Pranee's Thai Kitchen

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

Posted in Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Soup Recipe, Thai Vegetarian Recipe | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

~Baitong Restaurant~

February 20, 2009 by iLoveThaiCooking & Pranee's Thai Kitchen

huamok
 

 

 

When I visit Thai restaurants, I don’t just order Phad Thai to determine how good they are but seek out signature dishes that are hard to find elsewhere.

I have heard so much about Baitong Restaurant, and had been to the old location near the airport. The owner is also well known within the Thai community in Washington state. But when it comes to ordering from the menu I find myself ordering these dishes countless times: Gai Hor Bai Toey (chicken wrapped in pandanus leaves with soy-molasses sauce), Hormok Salmon (salmon curry), Chili Fried Rice (Rice stir-fried with red and green chili and basil). Then I cool my palate with Baitong’s delightful dessert of pumpkin custard.

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

 

Posted in Pranee's Restaurant Reviews | 2 Comments »

~Grandma’s Steamed Fish with Lemongrass Recipe~

February 15, 2009 by iLoveThaiCooking & Pranee's Thai Kitchen

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
 

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Main Dish Recipe, Thai Recipe for Kid | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

~Go Wild with Lemongrass, how to prepare and cook with~

February 14, 2009 by iLoveThaiCooking & Pranee's Thai Kitchen

 Lemongrass

Takrai, lemongrass

Thais use herbs in cooking for three great reasons: flavor, aroma and medicinal value. Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) has a lemon-citrus flavor and is used widely in Malaysia, Indonesia, Lao, Burma and very intensely in Thailand. In Thai cuisine, lemongrass is the queen of Thai herbs. Thais use it in soup, curry paste, tea, stir-fry, fish and meat dishes. In a Thai kitchen, lemongrass reduces the strong smell of meat and fish and commonly is used in marinades and sauces. Lemongrass is easy to use and combines well with other herbs such as cilantro, ginger, garlic and shallots. Medicinally, lemongrass is known to heal stomach disorders and enhance mood.

   

Go Wild with Lemongrass

Thais use lemongrass intensively but I encourage American home cooks to use lemongrass whenever possible. Besides traditional Thai cooking, it also works well in a simple syrup or tea. 

Here is a link to Pranee’s recipes for cooking with lemongrass.

Posted in Pranee's Thai Cooking Videos, Thai Cooking School: How to series | 2 Comments »

~Square Lotus in Factoria~

January 26, 2009 by iLoveThaiCooking & Pranee's Thai Kitchen

Vietnamese crepe

Vietnamese crepe

3540 A Factoria Boulevard SE
Bellevue, WA 98006
Phone: 425-679-0680

Pranee’s Star Rating
Food: ****
Ambience: ****
Price: $$
Service: *****

 

I want to share a recent lunch experience. I am especially interested in Vietnamese foods because of my upcoming trip to Vietnam in February. I have been exploring favorite dishes from Vietnam for a year or more. Thanks to my friend, Judy, I have a new Vietnamese restaurant discovery in Factoria. The restaurant is called Square Lotus and I recommend it highly.

Crepes, noodle bowl and lotus root salad are among my favorite dishes and these were all great. The service was outstanding and speedy. It may be hard to find, so you may want to remember it is located in Factoria at Loehmann’s Plaza near the QFC. They are very busy at lunchtime, so get there before the lunch crowd arrives. 

Posted in Pranee's Restaurant Reviews | 2 Comments »

~Sawasdee Pee Mai 2009~

January 10, 2009 by iLoveThaiCooking & Pranee's Thai Kitchen

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.

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

~Thai Garlic Prawn Recipe, Goong Kratiem Prik Thai~

December 20, 2008 by iLoveThaiCooking & Pranee's Thai Kitchen

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
 

Posted in Pranee's Culinary Tales, Recipes, Thai Gluten Free Recipe, Thai Snack & Street Food Recipe | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments »

~The Royal Orchid Restaurant in Renton~

December 15, 2008 by iLoveThaiCooking & Pranee's Thai Kitchen

 phad-thaiMy family dined at The Royal Orchid Restaurant in Renton owned by Chef Daeng, well known among Thai chefs in Seattle. We’ll go back again! Phad Thai at the Royal Orchid has great flavor but my favorite dish was braised pork ribs with pineapple.  

 104 Rainier Ave S
Renton, WA 98055-2044
Phone: 425-271-4219 

Pranee’s Star Rating
Food: ****
Ambience: ****
Price: $$
Service: ****

Posted in Pranee's Restaurant Reviews | Leave a Comment »

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