Beef Pa-naeng (beef in dry Red curry)

My holiday in Thailand in the year 2002, was full of surprises and new adventures. I had just got married the year earlier and it was fun travelling far away after I had left my mother country just a year earlier.
Little did I know that a year later we would move to Thailand for my husbands work and live there for the following 2 years.

Ingredients:
250g Coconut Milk
160g Pa-naeng or red curry paste (I use one spoonful- as thai food is usually hot make sure you dose this according level of support of hot chilli)
650g Beef tenderloin, thinly sliced
35g Fish sauce
30g brown sugar
30g finely crushed peanut or chunky peanut butter
6g Kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
20g red chilli peppers, thinly sliced lengthwise (I use capsicum as it is meant for garnish)

-Mix the coconut milk with the red curry paste in a sauce pan. Heat the mixture and stir until it forms bubbles.
-Lower the heat and continue stirring the mixture until the red oil surfaces.
-Add sliced beef in the hot curry mixture . Raise the heat, add fish sauce and sugar. When beef is almost done , add crushed peanuts. Lower the heat and cook the beef until it is done and the sauce becomes thick.
-At this point, more fish sauce and sugar can be added if needed. The regular taste trend of this dish is the balance between saltiness and sweetness.
-Garnish the curry with the thinly sliced red chilli peppers (I use here capsicum)and kaffir lime leaves.
Serve with steamed rice.
Note: Thai meals are served not in courses but various dishes at the same time all with steamed rice.

Rice with beef

Stir fried beef with soy sauce.

Somtam: Thai carrot or Papaya salad

1 carrot, a clove of garlic, chillies depending on how spicy you can support, 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
1/2 cup chopped green beans, roasted peanuts, fish sauce, 4 lime fruit juice and cooked shrimps.

This is my version of light, easy, simple somtam

Thai Fruits: Durian

I bet many readers of this blog have heard of this fruit. The durian fruit of strong odour. It's home in South East Asia, it is a fruit I have seen everytime I walk around in the streets been offered but I have never had the courage to taste. The nice thing about this fruit is it often prohibited in certain hotels and also airlines in some place in Thailand.
You can find various Thai recipes where they use durian though myself I have not tried might be a delicacy that you cannot do without




From wikipedia I learn that it is also 'Durian fruit is used to flavour a wide variety of sweet edibles such as traditional Malay candy, ice kachang, dodol, rose biscuits, and, with a touch of modern innovation, ice cream, milkshakes, mooncakes, Yule logs and cappuccino.'

Thai Fruits: Salacca

Last week I went to a Loy Kratong event here and there was a collection of Thai fruits. Some of the fruit I love and eat them a lot and also use them to prepare my desserts like the mango but the fruit pictured below I have only seen it in supermarkets, or street vending places never tasted it myself.
Below also you see the description from Wikipedia about this fruit.



From Wikipedia:

Salacca is a genus of 20 species of palms native to tropical southeastern Asia. They are very short-stemmed palms, with leaves up to 6-8 m long. The leaves have a spiny petiole; in most species they are pinnate with numerous leaflets, but some species, notably S. magnifica, have undivided leaves.

The fruit grow in clusters at the base of the plants, and are edible in many species, with a reddish-brown scaly skin covering a white pulp and one to two large inedible seeds. The Salak (S. zalacca) is the species most widely grown for the fruit, which has a slight acidic taste.

The skin of the Salacca fruit has a unique texture not unlike that of a snake's skin, rough to the touch in one direction but smooth in the other.

I haven't yet tried this fruit you can leave us a comment if you have

Thai food recipes: Flavours of Thailand

Thai food recipe: recipe thai curry, thai rice recipe, thai food all other posts on thai cooking and food can be seen here my previous posts.




Enjoy the spicy taste of Thailand



Thailand curries



Cook Thai food from anywhere

Thai Cooking: Cocunut Soup

Chicken/Shrimp Coconut Soup

A friend of ours visited us in Bangkok 2 weeks ago and we went to have lunch in a thai restaurant. She had this rich aromatic Thai soup that she asked me to find a recipe for her. I thought it would be nice to post it here for anyone to try.

Note: Try to use fresh lime leaves and if you tear them instead of cutting it is better.
Galangal can be substituted with fresh young ginger.


Shopping if you are in Italy all these products you will find them in the asian Mini markets especially in Forli there is a chinese minimarket that stores all thai products including fresh vegetables. If you are in other countries you just have to find out if there is an asian market near you. I hope there is.
Ingredients:

2 cups (16 fl oz/500 ml) coconut milk
6 thin slices young galangal
2 stalks lemon grass/citronella, use the lower 1/3 portion only, cut into 1-in (2.5-cm) length and crush.
5 fresh lime leave tear in half
8 oz (250 g) boned chicken breast or shrimps (I always like it with shrimps), sliced
5 tablespoons (2 1/2 fl oz/75 ml) fish sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup (4 fl oz/125 ml) lime juice
1 teaspoon black chili paste
1/4 cup cilantro/coriander (maybe can substitute with parsley if you do not like the strong coriander smell) I love it try you might like it)leaves, torn


Cooking steps:

1. Combine half the coconut milk with the galangal, lemon grass and lime leaves in a large saucepan and heat until it boils. Add the chicken or shrimps, fish sauce and sugar.

2. Simmer for about 4 minutes, or until the chicken/shrimps is cooked. Add the remaining coconut milk to the saucepan and heat just to boiling.

3. Place the lime juice and chili paste in a serving bowl then pour the soup into the serving bowl.

4. Garnish with the torn cilantro leaves, and serve.

I always accompany with rice it is yummy!
Serve

Grilling on the boat

It's called a floating market, you will find all kind of food being prepared on the boat and while on another boat you can buy and be served all kind of food. This lady menu of the day included grilled fish and all seafood you can imagine you wanted to eat on your trip to the river.
Want to take home some vegetables too? No, Problem the lady on another boat will sell you just that.
Have a grilling boaty day woun't you?

Satays: meat skewers

on the same visit to the market I also got this. This lady is preparing Satays which is chicken, beef or pork skewers. Satays are marinated in curry and fish sauce.
To have the wooden skewers not burning them when you start grilling soak them in water. I usually soak them when I prepare the meat as it marinates the skewers are also soaked.
Have a nice skewers weekend

Thai food: Phudthai

This is a nice dish to try, I always ask for this when I'm out in the food courts. It is practically star fried noodles.
I will share a recipe with you soon.

Thai fried rice

Ingredients
250g chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1 clove garlic, smashed with the side of a knife
2 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cups cooked jasmine rice, at room temperature or from the refrigerator (usually rice can prepared much earlier and stored in the fridge.
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 tsp. light soy sauce
1/2 tsp. fish sauce
1 cucumber
spring onion,tomatoe (optional)- cut into small pieces

Steps:
- Heat Oil in a heavy Pan until hot over medium high heat.
- Add the chicken and cook well, about 4 minutes. Add the fish sauce, as you are cooking, to the meat. Remove from Pan and set aside (usually I put on one side of the pan).
- Add the smashed garlic, cook briefly, and the egg,then rice and the soy sauce.
- Mix together and add the onion, and spring onion cook for 1 minute and remove from the heat.
- Taste adjust the seasoning (by adding a little more fish sauce if it needs more salt)
- Remove to serving dish and garnish with cucumber

Enjoy your fried Rice!!

Thai cookery: Fried Rice

Ingredients
250g chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1 clove garlic, smashed with the side of a knife
2 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cups cooked jasmine rice, at room temperature or from the refrigerator (usually rice can prepared much earlier and stored in the fridge.
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 tsp. light soy sauce
1/2 tsp. fish sauce
1 cucumber
spring onion,tomatoe (optional)- cut into small pieces

Steps:
- Heat Oil in a heavy Pan until hot over medium high heat.
- Add the chicken and cook well, about 4 minutes. Add the fish sauce, as you are cooking, to the meat. Remove from Pan and set aside (usually I put on one side of the pan).
- Add the smashed garlic, cook briefly, and the egg,then rice and the soy sauce.
- Mix together and add the onion, and spring onion cook for 1 minute and remove from the heat.
- Taste adjust the seasoning (by adding a little more fish sauce if it needs more salt)
- Remove to serving dish and garnish with cucumber

Enjoy your fried Rice!!

First vegetables from my garden

This is my very first vegetables I got from my garden. Some lettuce, snow peas, scallions (green onion or spring onion) and some parsley.
Check on this link tomorrow for the recipe.
The recipe will be:
stir fried with rice
Make sure you don't miss this one!

Vegetarian secret delight

It is very easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil
2 garlic cloves minced
1 sliced onion
1-2 sliced carrots
1 cup sliced cabbage
1 cup broccoli and cauliflower flowerets
1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper/capsicum
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

How to cook:

Heat a large pan and add the oil and garlic. Add all the other ingredients. Stir-fry for 5 minutes, until the vegetables are crisp tender.

Serve with steamed or boiled rice