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Posts Tagged ‘Thai Foods’

Thai Mixed Vegetable Stir-fry Recipe   

Phad Pak Ruam Mit   

ผัดผักรวมมิตร

Inspired recipe from June 24th cooking demo at Snohomish Farmer Market

There were many good reasons for me to cook Thai Mixed Vegetable Stir-fry at a cooking demo at the Snohomish Farmer Market. It is a simple dish to learn and an inspiring way to use fresh ingredients that are available right away. Most of the pantry items are available at any grocery store. It is the best and easiest way to learn cooking Thai dishes in 5 minutes. Both the shoppers and the farmers were happy and I was too, as a teacher. The shoppers walked pass my demo stand and showed me a bag of vegetable that they planned to stir-fry that evening. Mission accomplished.

I could not help but to share this recipe with you. It is very easy to apply Thai mixed vegetable stir-fry to your repertoire this summer. My secret ingredients in this dish are  flavored cooking oil with crushed garlic, and a little bit of ginger and green onion. The main  ingredients are mushroom and tomato and season with soy, and oyster mushroom with a dash of white pepper powder to finish.

Thai Mixed Vegetable Stir-fry Recipe   

Phad Pak Ruam Mit  

ผัดผักรวมมิตร

 Serves: 2-4

2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon green onion, chopped
4 shiitake mushrooms stem removed and sliced
1 large tomato, cut into wedge
2 cups mixed vegetables (garlic scape, Anaheim pepper and sweet peas)
1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
A pinch of brown sugar
A pinch of white pepper powder
2 tablespoons water or more as needed

Heat canola oil in a wok on high heat and stir in garlic, ginger and green onion. When garlic is light yellow, stir in shiitake mushroom and cook for 15 seconds. Then stir in all vegetables and stir for 30 seconds, then add oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and water. The vegetable should have a slight crunchy texture. Season with white pepper powder.  Serve hot as a side dish or a main dish with steamed jasmine rice.

Vegetarian option: use vegetarian oyster sauce
Gluten-Free option: use wheat free soy sauce, wheat free oyster sauce
  
© 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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Last Wednesday I had a great dining experience at Sostanza Trattoria in Madison Park. What does Italian food has to do with Thai? Well, for me all foods are related somehow. When it comes to the way I cook, yes it does. I love risotto and chicken liver, and I was in luck. A special menu featured that night had a few choices but the risotto with White chicken liver appealed to me the most. It had an amazing flavor which was enhanced by a generous helping of chicken liver. I don’t have any photos to share, unfortunately.

Pranee's Chicken Live Fried Rice

At home I enjoy cooking fried rice, rice pilaf and risotto for my family. I love borrowing ingredient themes and cooking with any method that is suitable for the situation (including menus of all kinds, what ingredients are available, etc). When I have time in the kitchen, I cook risotto. And when I have a lot of left-over rice, I prefer to make fried rice.

This recipe for fried rice serves as main dish with fresh sliced cucumber and lime wedge as accompaniment.

 Kao Phad Tub Gai

Chicken Liver fried rice with garlic, ginger and red onion

Serves: 2

2 tablespoons canola oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup finely shredded ginger
½ cup finely sliced red onion
6 ounce organic chicken liver cut each in half
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1½ cup cooked rice, room temperature
2 pinches salt
2 green onions, trimmed and chopped

Heat a wok on high heat, place hand 6 inches above the wok when hot adds canola oil. Add garlic and ginger, stir constantly to fry evenly until golden-yellow, about 30 seconds. Then stir in onion and cook until onion is translucent. Stir in chicken liver and ½ tablespoon soy sauce. When the liver is nice and brown on the outside, add water to cover, about 3 tablespoons water. Cover with lid and let it cook for 5 minutes or more until the liver is cooked. Stir in rice and the rest of soy sauce and salt. Stir until well mix and rice is heat up. Stir in green onion and mix well. Serve right away.

 © 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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Ten years ago, I developed the best (my students say so) recipe for Phad Thai to teach and share with my students in the cooking class. Because it is a trade secret, I can not share that version with you. However, for my Thai food blog I am in search of Phad Thai recipes from the vendors and restaurant chefs in Thailand. The fascinating thing about Phad Thai is the ingredients. They are different from town to town and region to region. For example, in Korat one of the ingredients is salted soy beans, and in Phuket we use fresh rice noodles, “chow fun”.  I hope you enjoy the discovery of Phad Thai with me.

My first step, I called my sister last week for her contribution to my blog; Phuket Phad Thai. From her e-mail, I copied her Thai barebone recipe down–this is how one Thai gives recipes to another Thai. To make a recipe work, you need to decode, experience, and record the version that you have come up with. Simply follow the principle of balancing sweet, sour, salty, and spicy. When I am done with decoding my sister’s recipe in my kitchen into an American-standard recipe, then I will share it with you in another blog entree. Please don’t wait for me, but try it on your own. I have included a slide show from a street vendor in Phuket taken a few years ago near Chalong Temple in Chalong District, Phuket, Thailand.

ผัดไทย
พริกใหญ่   แห้ง   1         ขีด                  แช่น้ำ
พริกเล็ก           1          กำ          แช่น้ำ
กรเทียม            1          หัว
มะขามเปียก         1           กำ(  แช่น้ำ  ไม่เอาเม็ด)
เกลือ               1              ช้อนชา
น้ำตาล               3            ช้อนโต๊
นำทุกอย่างมาปันรวมกัน       แล้วตั้งไฟเปาไฟ
แล้วตั้งให้เย็น       เก็บในต้เย็น
วิธีทำ
เต๋ากั๋ว หั่นเป็นสีเหลียมลูกเต๋า      แล้ว
ตั้งไฟ   ใส่กุ้ง    เต๋ากั่ว   แล้ว    ตีไข่ผัดกับเส้น   จนเส้นนุ่ม ใส่น้ำผัดไทยวีอิ๋วดำ  นิด   น้ำปลา   น้ำตาล  ออกหลายแล้วตามด้วยถ้วงอก
กุ๋ยฉ่าย

Translation 

Phad Thai 

Sauce
Large dried chili, 1/10 kg, soaked in water
Small dried chili, 1 handful
Garlic, 1 bulb
Tamarind paste, 1 handful, soaked in water
Salt, 1 teaspoon
Sugar, 3 tablespoons
 
Place everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Bring to boil in a pot. When it has cooled down, keep in the fridge.
 

Stir-fry

Heat a wok, add cooking oil, shrimp, tofu, beat the egg to stir-fried noodles until the noodle is soft. Stir in Phad Thai sauce, a little bit of dark soy sauce, a little bit of fish sauce, sugar. Finish the stir-fry with bean sprout and garlic chives.

Phad Thai - Phuket, mobile vendor

Phad Thai Phuket at Chalong Temple

Final touch with bean spout and garlic chive

Note: Rudee Piboon is my sister who owns a wok-fast food restaurant in Thalang Phuket. She is a regular contributor, you will find her recipes and cooking demo at this food blog and the I Love Thai Cooking youtube channel. .

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 Oodles of fun with Shianghai Noodles        

 

Shanghai Noodles - Phad Mee Shanghai

Phad Mee Shanghai

Stir-fried Shanghai Noodles with Beef 

Servings: 2 

1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine or sake
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ pound  flank steak, thinly sliced diagonally across the grain
3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup snow peas or choy sum
1 pound Shanghai noodles or Udon noodles, about 2 cups
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons water, or chicken broth or more as needed

 Stir cornstarch, soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil in a medium size bowl. Stir in beef and let marinated for 30 minutes. 

Heat a wok over high heat and add 1 tablespoon canola oil and fry beef until cook, about 2 minutes, set aside on a plate. Rinse the wok with hot water. 

Heat the wok over high heat; add 2 tablespoons canola oil and garlic. Stir in a snow peas, stir for 15 seconds then stir in noodles for another 15 seconds. Stir in oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar and water, mix well and cook until the water is all evaporated. Stir in beef and serve right away.

Cook note: Linguini and udon are noodle choices that work great when Shanghai noodles are not available.

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 Udon noodles (enrich wheat flour).

© 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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Eat Like a Local in Phuket, Thailand

Kan Eang @ Pier

Each visit to my home town, Phuket, I make sure to visit Kan Eang @ Chalong Pier and eat my favorite dishes. I would recommend this restaurant to any visitors (Thai or foreigner alike) that love local Thai foods and plan on taking a tasteful trip there. All the dishes are delicious and tested and tasted by my family over the years, and all these are dishes that I have always a longing for in each visit.

Pranee at Kan Eang 1 ~ Grilled Jack Fish with Phuket Tamarind Sauce

First make a reservation for the table next to the beach, perhaps before a sunset which is around 6pm. I always make sure to order grilled jack fish right way, because it grills over coconut husks charcoal 3 feet above the flame. It takes at least 30 minutes or longer depending how busy they are. The flavor of the grill fish is uniquely Phuket Islander flavor–aroma of coconut husk and banana leaf combined. It is served with Phuket style tangy sweet tamarind-soy sauce.

Phuket Prawn Tempura Bua Tod

Enjoy Phuket Prawn Tempura (Bua Tod) with Phuket spicy chili dipping sauce  (Nam Chau) for a starter. Enjoy it while you browse through 10 pages menu. This will allow you to leisurely read through the menu without a hurry and a chance to enjoy the scenery around you.

Sour Curry Prawn with Cha-Om Omelette

Sour Curry with Prawn with a chunk of Cha-Om (type of herb) omelet. This is a Southern Thai cuisine, a curry without coconut milk with a sour flavor from tamarind paste.

Here’s a tip for you. If you are afraid of spicy food, order a glass of milk on the side to help you, when you experience the heat but never discuss the heat level with a local. In Thailand the food never too hot, they cook and use chili appropriate to the dish. If you start to discuss the spiciness, they will cook you a tourist food which means either too sweet or too much coconut milk depending on the dish.

Kan Eang’s specialties are sea food and local dishes. A few more dishes to consider: Hua Mok (steamed fish curry wrapped in banana leaf), Yum Talah (seafood salad), Gai Tom Prade (devil sweet and sour chicken soup), Pak Bung Fai Daeng (stir-fried morning glory with salted soy bean) and more.

Kin Hai Aroy!  (Bon apetit!)

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Kan Eang @ Pier
http://www.kaneang-pier.com/
Chalong
Phuket
Thailand

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Phuket Stir-fried Blue Crab with Black Pepper Recipe

Phoo Phad Prik Thai Dam

The world is just a finger tip away.

I would like to share with you my family cooking and recipes from Phuket, Thailand. These photos were taken by cell phone and then downloaded onto facebook. I called my niece Darunee Khruasanit in Phuket after seeing her food photography and asked for permission to show her photos and recipes on my blog. I would like to share this delicious dish from my home town Phuket where blue crab is very fresh and equally delicious. You can find blue crab in Seattle at Asian Markets such as Viet Wah and Uwajimaya.

Ingredients for Stir-fried Blue Crab with Black Pepper

You will need all the ingredients from the above picture.

4 blue crabs, 2 cloves garlic, 1 Anaheim chili pepper, 5 green onions and 1/2 onion

3 tablespoons canola oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

4 blue crabs, cleaned and cut in half

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 Anaheim, cut into large dices

1/2 onion, sliced

5 green onions, cut into 1 inch length

Here is the final delicious result.

I am planning to cook up this same dish with some local Dungeness crab next week. I can’t wait to savor this dish again. It is the contrast of flavors that excited me. I remember the flavor so well, the spicy black pepper flavor that contrasts with sweet crab and green onion. I am so close to my home land, and can imagine eating this  black pepper blue crab on the beach~ I can feel the sea breeze right now; the one that would make a sweat on my forehead feel cool like air conditioning.

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

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Fish Sauce Chicken Wing

My son loves Teriyaki Chicken and also chicken wing. After eating and inhaling fish sauce chicken wing with sticky rice at the Pok Pok Thai Restaurant in Portland , I decided to create a recipe that is close to my tasting memories. I substituted fish sauce for soy sauce in my own teriyaki sauce recipe created way back. And it works, now everyone loves the fish sauce chicken wings as well. To get a nice even brown, you have to be patient and keep turning the chicken every 5 minutes. Please remember that the high heat can burn the skin quickly due to the brown sugar used in the marinade.   After a few tries, I am happy with the result. Time to get your fingers dirty by eating this dish and  might as well with Thai sticky rice, because that is the best way to eat it.  

Grilled Fish Sauce Chicken Wing  

Gai Nampla Yang  

Yield: 10 wings
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 pounds chicken wings, about 10 wings

To make a marinade, stir sugar, fish sauce, dry sherry and rice vinegar in a large bowl until sugar is dissolved. Place chicken wings in a zip-lock bag and pour in marinade. Remove the air from the bag and seal. Let’s it marinated in refrigerator for at least three hours and flip the bag every half hour. Drain well before grilling.Pre-heat the gas grill, then set at medium heat. Grill both side until nicely brown but not burnt and it will take about 20 to 30 minutes.  

Serve with jasmine rice or sticky rice and  Somtum: Thai Green Papaya Salad. Sriracha hot sauce and sweet chili sauce also are ideal dipping sauces for chicken wings.  

© 2010  Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen  

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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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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

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 
 

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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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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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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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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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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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