Dinosaur Eggs

Dinosaur Eggs
These are baked buns with a sweet center of candied fruit & candied lotus root, around a salty egg yolk. This is the usual mixture of salt and sweet, so typical of Thai food.

Ingredients for Dough
250 gms Wheat Flour
50 gms Butter
1 Egg
100 ml Evaporated Milk or Coconut Milk
2 Teaspoons Bicarbonate Raising Agent

Ingredients for Filling
100 gms Dried Sweetened Lotus Root
150 gms Dried Glace Melon
Salty Eggs Yolks (12-15)

Preparation For Dough
1. Whip the egg, bicarbonate, sugar and butter together
2. Add the wheat flour and mix, then add a little milk at a time to form the dough.
3. Split the dough into 12-15 pieces (one for each of your egg yolks).

Preparation for Filling
1. Blend the candied fruit and lotus together, split into 15 portions.
2. Take the egg yolks and drain off the white. (Salty egg yolks are solid from the salting process).

Assembly
1. Oil your hand to stop the dough sticking.
2. Flatten the dough in your hand to form a disc 11-12cms diameter.
3. Place a ball of the candied fruit and a salty egg yolk inside.
4. Fold up the dough around it, and press the edges together to form a ball.
5. Bake in a preheated over at 150-170 degrees celcius until brown.


Spiced Rice With Pork ( koa Mu Ap Gapi Mor Din )

More use of my traditional pot with this recipe. This is a slow cooked rice and pork dish, that couldn't be simpler to make. I cook this on a raised stone platform over the fire (the candles in the photograph are just to make the photo more interesting!) but you can also just make this in a rice cooker.

Ingredients
50 gms Fragrant Rice
50 gms Red Rice
100 gms Pork Three Layers (Mat+Fat+Skin)
1/2 Teaspoon With Pepper
5 gms Dried Chillies
2 Teaspoons Shrimp Paste
6 Garlic Cloves
6 Small Red Onions
4 Tablespoons Coconut Milk
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Oil

Preparation
1. Slice the pork and fry till browned and cooked through.
2. Put all the ingredients except the two types of rice, together in a blender and blend until fine.
3. Add this to the pork and fry this for 10 seconds just to release some flavour, add the rice and mix together, then transfer the whole thing to the pot.
4. Pour enough water into the pot so that there is 2cms layer of water above the rice.
5. Cover and put on the stove until the rice has absorbed all the water and cooked through. The water should boil, the rice will cook through and all the flavours be absorbed by the rice.
6. Obviously if you're using a rice cooker, you transfer the ingredients into the cooker instead of the pot, add the water and let the rice cooker do it's job.

Drink

Bi Tua Drink ( Nam Bi Tua )
Bi tua is a Thai green reed that can be purchased in asian grocers. When you pulp it in water, it makes the water green and releases a bubblegum like flavour. This drink is a completely natural taste without any of the artificial flavours of factory made drinks!

Ingredients
20 gms Bi Tua
250 ml Water
120 gms Sugar
50 gms Crushed Ice

Preparation
1. Chop the Bi Tua into 2 cm lengths, put into a food processor together with the water and blend until the fibres are completely broken into the water.
2. Sieve the liquid to remove any pulp, and put into a saucepan.
3. Add the sugar, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, then leave to cool.
4. To serve crush the ice, pile the ice in a glass and pour the drink over it.





Bael Fruit Iced Tea ( Nam Matoom )
This is considered a health drink in Thailand, it's supposed to be good for cleansing the stomach and helping digestion. You can see Bael fruit here, it's available dried in packets from Asian grocers. Serve warm or cold.

Ingredients
4-6 Dried Matoom Pieces
4-6 Tablespoons Sugar
400 ml Water

Preparation
1. Boil the water in a pan.
2. Add the matoom and continue simmering for 15 minutes.
3. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved, adjust the sweetness to your own tastes.
4. Leave to cool.
5. If you want iced tea, chill it in the fridge and serve over crushed ice. For iced tea, it is better to slightly over-sweeten it, as it won't taste so sweet when it's cold.




Hales Blue Boy Ice Cone ( Nam Kang Siy )

I wasn't sure whether to put this under 'drinks' or 'desserts'. It is a cone of shaved ice, with the Thai drink syrup known as 'Hales Blue Boy' (Helbruboy) poured over it and dressed with condensed milk. The taste is sweet and creamy, like an ice cream version of cream soda.

Ingredients
150 gms Shaved or Crushed Ice
2-4 Tablespoons Hales Blue Boy Drink Syrup
1-2 Tablespoons Condensed Milk

Preparation
1. Make a cone of crushed ice, I pack it into a beaker and upturn the beaker normally.
2. Pour some of the drink syrup over it.
3. Drissle some condensed milk over the top.

Serve With
Sunshine
Hot Summer Days




Papaya Drink ( Nam Maragor )

Papaya smoothy drinks are easy to make, but it does need a little sugar syrup to sweeten it, otherwise it can taste like a health drink.

Ingredients
200 gms Fully Ripe Papaya or a Tin of Papaya
200 gms Sugar Syrup
100 gms Crushed Ice

Preparation
1. I prefer to use a canned papaya for this, the fruit is already soaking in syrup and the syrup has it's flavour.
2. Chop the papaya into pieces, and the syrup from the can, and wizz in a blender until smooth.
3. Crush the ice, and pour the drink over the ice.

From Appon's Thai Food

Desserts Archives

Jack Fruit Ta Ko ( Ta Go Ka Noon )

Ta Ko, you've seen before in a different form here. Here is a variation in bi-tua leaves with jack fruit (shown at the back in the photograph). Ta Ko (also known as Tahko) is a traditional Thai dessert with a sweet layer and a salty topping.

Ingredients
200 gms Mung Bean Flour
800 ml Water
700 gms Sugar
100 gms Rice Flour
880 ml Coconut Milk
200 gms Jack Fruit (Chopped)
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
Bi Tua Leaves (For Wrapping)

Preparation
1. Use the bi tua leaves and make little trays (gar tong), you will find it easier if you use a stapler to do this.
2. Mix the mung bean flour with the water in a saucepan.
3. Heat slowly, stirring continuously until the flour has cooked, thickened and gone clear. This can take 25-30 minutes.
4. When it's nearly cooked, add 500 gms sugar and stir until it is dissolved.
5. Stir in the chopped jack fruit.
6. Fill the bi tua trays half full with the mixture and leave to cool.
7. In a saucepan, mix the rice flour, coconut milk, salt, and remaining sugar. Stir slowly over the heat until the flour has cooked through and the sugar dissolved and the mixture is thick.
8. Spoon this mixture onto the top of the earlier layer.
9. Leave to cool and serve.




Bananas in Coconut Syrup ( Grury Churm )



A very simple dessert, bananas in a sweet sauce with slightly salty coconut milk. It's typical in Thailand to add salt to desserts to balance the sweetness. For extra richness use coconut cream, the thicker top layer of coconut milk.

Ingredients
4-5 Bananas
50 gms Sugar
200 ml Water
50 ml Coconut Milk
1/3 Teaspoon Salt

Preparation
1. Boil the water with the sugar until dissolved.
2. Cut the bananas into halves and add to the boiling syrup and cook for 5 minutes. Set the sauce and bananas to one side.
3. In another saucepan, heat the coconut milk gently together with the salt. You just want to warm through the coconut milk and dissolve the salt, no more. Do not let it boil!
4. To serve place some of the banana in a dish with some of the sugar syrup and spoon over the warm coconut milk.




Kidney Bean Balls in Ginger Sauce ( Bour Loy Nam Khik )


Today is sweet ball day! There are many desserts we have made from balls in sauce. This one is sweet balls contain kidney beans and are served in a sweet ginger sauce. In the photograph top left you can one ball I cut open.

Ingredients
100 gms Sticky Rice Flour
50 gms Rice Flour
2 Tablespoons Cassava Starch
100 ml Rose Water
50 gms Kidney Beans (Canned or Boil hard for 10 Minutes!)
100 gms Sugar
2 Tablespoons Toasted Sasame Seeds
Water for Boiling
Cool Water

Ingredients for the Syrup
200 gms Sugar
200 ml Water

Ingredients for Ginger Water
20 gms Ginger Root
400 ml Water

Preparation
1. Blend the kidney beans into a purée with a food processor or blender. Put the purée into a saucepan and heat over a medium heat to thicken the beans and remove some of the water. Leave to cool.
2. Mix the rice flour, starch and sticky rice flour together. Add enough of the rose water to form a dough and knead it until it is smooth and well mixed.
3. When the kidney beans a cool, pinch off pieces of kidney bean paste and roll to form 1cm balls. Then take each ball and roll it in the sesame seeds. Do this until all of the bean is used up.
4. Put a pan of water on to boil.
5. Pinch off some of the flour dough, flatten it in your hand to form a disc about 4cms across. Put a bean ball inside and fold up the edges to envelop the bean ball. Repeat until all of your bean balls are wrapped up in the flour dough.
6. Drop the balls into the boiling water, they will float to the top when cooked, it only takes a minute or two. Once they are cooked, remove them and drop them into the cool water.
7. Make a sugar syrup by placing the sugar and water in a pan and heating until the sugar is dissolved, then leave to cool.
8. To make the ginger sauce, boil water, add the chopped ginger and boil until the ginger smell is released, then remove the ginger from the water.
9. To serve, put some of the balls in a bowl, add enough syrup to sweeten it to your personal taste, then spoon enough of the warm ginger sauce over the top to drown the balls.

From Appon's Thai Food.

Stir Frys Archive II

Green Pepper & Liver Stir Fry ( Tub Pad Prik Yuek )

If you think there have been a lot of liver recipes lately, you're right! I was given lots of fresh pork liver, unlike meat liver is best eaten fresh. So all my recipes will feature liver until it's used up!

Ingredients for 2 People
40 gms Green Pepper
50 gms Pork Liver
4 Garlic Cloves
30 gms Tomato
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
1/4 Teaspoon White Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Water
2 Tablespoons Oil

Preparation
1. Chop the tomatoes into quarters. Chop the green pepper into pieces (approx 3cms).
2. Chop the garlic and fry to release the smell.
3. Slice the pork liver and add to the pan frying, fry for 1 minute.
4. Add the light soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, water, and white pepper. For for a few seconds.
5. Add the chopped green pepper and chopped tomatoes and fry for 2 minutes.

Serve With
Thai Fragrant Rice



Pumpkin Stir-fry (Pad Fuk Tong )

Halloween is tomorrow and you may end up with a lot of pumpkin flesh to use up. We don't celebrate Halloween much in Thailand, its a western thing that's only done in discotechs and restaurants. However we do eat this pumpkin stir fry all year round. This stir-fry is a great alternative to meat dishes and a great way to use up the pumpkin you hollow out of the lantern!

Ingredients
50 gms Pumpkin
2 Eggs
30 gms Chopped Celery
20 gms Chopped Spring Onion
10 gms Chopped Coriander Leaves
10 gms Sliced Onions
20 ml Water
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
3 Garlic Cloves
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1/4 Teaspoon White Pepper
3 Tablespoons Oil

Preparation
1. Peel and slice the pumpkin.
2. Chop the garlic, add to a frying pan together with the oil and fry for a few seconds to release the aroma of garlic.
3. Add the eggs in and stir-fry the eggs until half cooked.
4. Add the pumpkin, spring onion, celery, onions, water, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, light soy sauce and white pepper (basically, everything but the coriander leaves).
5. Stir fry for 1 minute.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve With
Thai Fragrant Rice



Tofu & Soya Stir fry ( Tua Ho Pad Tur Kngok )

A delicious stir-fry made from fried tofu, together with soya beansprouts and carrots. This is the best way to eat tofu, frying it gives it more texture and flavour.

Ingredients
50 gms Tofu
40 gms Soya Beansprouts
30 gms Carrots
20 gms Onions
3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon White Pepper
2 Tablespoons Oil

Preparation
1. Chop the tofu into small squares, slice the carrots and onion.
2. Clean the soya beansprouts, and remove the roots.
3. Put oil into the frying pan over a medium heat.
4. When the oil is hot, fry the sliced onions for a few seconds, then add all the other ingredients and stir fry quickly for 30 seconds.

Serve With
Fragrant Rice



Ton Ho Chai Stir Fry ( Pad Puck Jean )

A stir fry made from Ton Ho Chai, the Chinese leaf vegetable. This is one of the beautiful simple side dishes that bulk up a meal with healthy green vegetables.

Ingredients
100 gms Ton Ho Chai
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Tablespoons Oil
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sugar

Preparation
1. Clean the Ton Ho Chai and cut off the ends.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan.
3. Chop the garlic, fry for 20 seconds, add light soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and ton ho chai.
4. Fry for 30 seconds, then serve.

Serve With
Fragrant Rice
or Rice Soup

From Appon's Thai Food

Stir Frys Archive I

Sweet Sour Stir Fried Vegetables ( Pad Piew Wan)


This is a side vegetable dish, suitable for accompanying a rice or meat dish. Sweet and sour frying is common all through Asia, for this dish the sour comes from vinegar and the sweet from the sweet chilli sauce. Naturally since this is Thai cuisine it has a little chilli in it too, but not much, this is not a spicy dish.

Ingredients for 2 People
100 gms Carrot
1 Tomato
3 Mangetout, Long Green Bean or Wing Bean
75 gms Courgette
50 gms Onion
3 Garlic Cloves
1/2 Teaspoon White Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce (use Soy Sauce if Vegetarian Dish)
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
2 Tablespoons Sweet Chilli Sauce
2 Tablespoons Oil
1 Tablespoon Vinegar

Preparation
1. Put oil into frying and pre-heat.
2. Chop the garlic add to the pan, fry it till the garlic smell comes out.
3. Chop the carrot, onion, mangetout, courgette, into small bite-sized pieces and add to the pan.
4. Add light soya sauce, fish sauce, sugar, white pepper, sweet chilli, oyster sauce and vinegar to the vegetables.
5. Stir fry it for 1 minutes then serve.

Serve With
Hot Fragrant Rice




Thai Mushroom Stir-Fry ( Ton Hoom Pad Hed )

I'll let the photograph speak for itself.

Ingredients for 2 People
100 gms Mushrooms (Oyster, Whitecap etc.)
100 gms Spring Onion
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Tablespoon Oil
2 Garlic Cloves
White Pepper

Preparation
1. Clean the mushrooms and chop them in half.
2. Chop the spring onion into 4 cm lengths.
3. Put oil in frying pan and heat.
4. Chop the garlic and fry for a few seconds to release the fragrance.
5. Add the mushrooms, spring onions, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar.
6. Fry for 1 minute.
7. When you serve add a pinch of pepper to season.

Serve With
Hot Fragrant Rice
Chicken or Vegetable Bouillon




Stir Fry Chicken Liver ( Pad Kueng Niey Gay )

Liver is a strange thing, on the one hand people think it's something you throw away when preparing a chicken, on the other, they pay a high price for paté made from liver! This dish is a very tasty way to eat chicken livers.

Ingredients for 3 People
50 gms Chicken Liver
100 gms Fresh Spinach Leaves
4 Garlic Cloves
1 Teaspoon White Pepper
3 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
3 Tablespoons Oil
300 ml Water

Preparation
1. Boil water and salt in a pan then add the liver and cook for 3 minutes. Remove it and dry it.
2. Oil the frying pan, pound the garlic in a Thai mortar and put into the pan.
3. Add the liver and white pepper to the pan and fry for 5 minutes over a medium heat.
4. Clean the spinach, chop it into 4 cm lengths, then add to the pan with the liver.
5. Add the light soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar and fry it for a few seconds just to mix.

Serve With
Hot Rice




Spicy Liver and Green Bean Stir Fry ( Pad Pate Tub Mu )

This stir fry includes big red chillies and is very spicy. You may prefer to make the non spicy stir fry (the green pepper and liver stir fry) if you don't like spicy food. Of the two this is the one I prefer!

Ingredients for 2 People
40 gms Pork Liver
50 gms Chopped Green Beans
5 Chillies
4 Garlic Cloves
1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
200 ml Water
2 Tablespoons Oil

Preparation
1. Boil the water with the salt and black pepper.
2. Slice the pork liver into thin slices and add to the boiling water to cook for 1 minute.
3. Chop the garlic and chillies, fry in the oil for a few minutes to release the smell.
4. Add the pork liver to the frying pan, add the light soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, chopped green beans and fry for 1 minute.

Serve With
Hot Fragrant Thai Rice



Stir Fried Chicken Cashew Nuts (Guy Pad Med Mamuang Hinmapan)

A very popular dish, this is a quick easy to make stir fry of chicken and vegetables seasoned with cashew nuts. This is ideal as a side dish for Thai Fragrant Rice. The name break down as 'Guy' = chicken, 'pad' = fried, 'Med' = seed and 'Med Mamuang Hinmapan' means cashew nut. In Thai its just as long a name! ไก่ ผัด เม็ดมะม่วง หิมมะพานต์

Ingredient for 2 People
100 gms Chicken Breast
30 gms Cashew Nuts
1/2 Medium Onion
1 Spring Onion
1/2 a Red Pepper
50 gms Bamboo Shoot
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon White Pepper
3 Garlic Clove
2 Tablespoons Oil

Preparation
1. Chop the garlic into small pieces and put in a frying pan and fry it for a few seconds to release the garlic fragrance.
2. Chop the chicken breast into strips and add to the frying pan - stir until chicken is cooked.
3. Chop the onion, spring onion, red pepper and bamboo, into strips add in the pan.
4. Add all the remaining ingredients.
5. Cook for 2 minutes.

Serve with
Hot Fragrant Rice


From Appon;s Thai Food

Thai Food

Mini Yellow Bean Fruits ( Kao Noom Look Choup )

Everyone of these miniature fruits are made from sweetened yellow bean paste, and food colourings. The shine comes from a glaze made of agar. Don't be put off, they are not as difficult to make as they look, and you can have a lot of fun with your children making them.
Make each one small, 10-15gms of yellow bean paste is perfect, if you make them too big, they are difficult to dip in the agar later and will not hold their shape. A good way to hold the fruit is to skewer them on toothpicks as you paint and dip them.

Ingredients
200 gms Yellow Bean
150 gms Sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt
100 ml Coconut Milk
Food Coloring

Ingredients for Glaze
5 gms Agar Jelatin
150 Water
50 gms Sugar

Preparation
1. Soak the yellow beans obernight, steam for 45 minutes.
2. Pound or blend the bean to a paste, add mix with the sugar, salt and coconut milk.
3. Place into a saucepan and heat gently, stirring continuously until the paste thickens, then leave it to cool.
4. Now comes the artistic stage, take small pieces of the yellow bean paste, about 10gms each and form them into fruit shapes.
5. I find it's a good idea to use toothpicks and a block of foam to hold the shapes while I paint them with the food colouring.
6. Now to glaze, mix the agar with water and heat until the agar has fully dissolved.
7. Leave it to cool slightly, but be careful not to let it set.
8. Dip the fruit into the agar and stand them up by pushing the toothpick into foam or polystyrene. Let the agar set on the fruit, then repeat the process and coat the fruit again with another layer of agar. You may have to reheat the agar in the pan to melt it again each time.

Hints for Each Fruit
Banana - Bananas are slightly oblong, with 4 stripes running down the sides.
Chom Pu - These are a Thai fruit, a little pink yellow and orange on the base and make the top slightly green.
Cherries - The stalk I made from a stalk of coriander.

Chillies - I rolled out the basic shape and used a blunt knife to make the leaf shape at the top. Then skewer them with a toothpick and paint with food coloring.
Man Cud - the leaves on the top are made by pressing in the top of a pen to give the round leaf shape.
Melon Slices - I found it is easier to not paint the bottom edge of the melon.

Mini Orange - One of my favourites, make the leaf separately and be careful when dipping this one in agar because the leaf can come off.
Mini Sweet Corn - Make a tapering sausage shape, cut a grating into the soya with a sharp knife, then paint with yellow food colouring and green edging.
Mini Tomato - A blunt knife is used to make the star shaped leaves, by pushing down the soft yellow bean paste.

Mini Pears - I made these pears too big, and as you can see one of them bent when I was coating them in agar.



Sweet Shrimp on Yellow Rice ( Kao Niew Moon Na Gung )


This recipe may sound a little strange. It is a dessert made from shrimp on a base of (non-spicy) curried rice. A common Thai dish, but the ingredients are not common to desserts!

Ingredients for Yellow Rice
100 gms Sticky Rice
1-2 Teaspoons Tumeric
200 ml Coconut Milk
150 gms Sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt

Ingredients for Sweet Shrimp
100 gms Shrimps
2-3 Garlic Cloves
1 Teaspoon White Pepper
10 gms Coriander Root or Seeds
100 gms Desiccated (Ground) Coconut
150 gms Sugar
1 Teaspoons Salt
2 Tablespoons Oil
2-3 Drops of Orange Food Colouring
10 gms Sliced Kaffir Leaves for Garnish

Preparation
1. To make the yellow rice, soak the sticky rice in warm water, and tumeric and leave for 4-8 hours.
2. Steam the rice until cooked, (approximately 15 minutes).
3. Place the rice in a bowl, mix with the sugar, salt and coconut milk. Leave it to soak up the coconut milk.
4. Now to the shrimp topping. Clean the shrimp, remove the shell and cut down the back to remove the black thread 'gut'.
5. Chop the shrimp into a fine mince.
6. Pound the garlic and coriander root/seeds and white pepper together until well ground up.
7. Fry the shrimp and pounded mixture in a frying pan with a little oil until part cooked, 30 seconds or so is fine.
8. Mix the ground coconut with the orange food colouring, add to the frying pan, add the sugar and salt and fry for a further 2 minutes. The sugar will slightly caramelize.
9. Serve a small bowl of the yellow rice with the sweet shrimp on top and garnish with some slices of kaffie lime leaves.



Pandan Pancakes ( Kanoom Crorg Sung Ka Ya )


The green topping on these pancakes is made from Bi Tua (pandan), the sweet reed with the bubblegum like flavour used in many Thai desserts.

Ingredients
100 gms Rice Flour
230 ml Water
80 gms Cooked Thai Rice
50 gms Shredded Coconut
1/2 Teaspoon Salt

Preparation
1. Mix all the ingredients together until smooth.
2. Warm a mini pancake pan on a medium heat.
3. Rub oil onto the surface with a piece of oiled kitchen paper.
4. Pour a little mixture into each dimple and over with a lid for 1 minute. You want them nearly cooked.

Ingredients for Topping
200 ml Evaporated Milk
100 ml Coconut Milk
1 Tablespoon Wheat Flour
1/2 Salt
5 Tablespoons Sugar
2-3 Tablespoons Bi tua Water

Preparation
1. Mix all the ingredients together in a saucepan and cook through very slowly until it thickens.
2. Spoon the mixture onto the pancakes, then finish cooking the pancakes with the mixture on top.



Coconut Rice Nut Ring ( Ga Ya Sat Bi Tua )


This ring is made from young shredded coconut, bi-tua (pandan leaves) flavouring, nuts, and puffed rice. It's Thailand's version of crunch bars and eaten at the new year in April. I've pressed it into a tom yum pan to get that donut shape.

Ingredients
125 gms Rice Crispies ( Puffed Toasted Rice )
80 gms Peanuts
40 gms Ground Young Coconut
150 gms Sugar
2 tbsp. White Sesame Seeds
10 gms Bitua Leaves (Pandan Leaves)
200 ml Water

Preparation
1. In a dry hot frying pan, toast the sesame seeds until they are golden.
2. Toast the peanuts in the same way, until browned and leave to cool.
3. Blend the bi tua leaves with the water then sieve to get just the green water.
4. Into a saucepan, place the bi tua water and bring to the boil, add the sugar and ground coconut and stir until the water reduces and becomes sticky.
5. Add the remaining ingredients, and mix to make sure the sticky water covers all the ingredients.
6. Empty into a tom-tum pan, press flat, and leave to cool and set.



Seafood Mee Krob ( Mee Krob Rad Na Ta Le )


Another Mee Krob dish, this one is flavoured and bulked out with seafood and pak choi. Remember that mee krob is just fried puffed rice noodle and so it does not really fill you up.

Ingredients
30 gms Rice Noodle (Thin Vermicelli)
Oil For Deep Fry
800 ml Water
1 Chicken Stock Cube
50 gms Mixed Seafood Meat (Mussels Shrimp Shellfish... but no shells!)
2 Tablespoons Corn Flour

Preparation
1. Preheat the oil.
2. Fry the rice noodles for a few seconds to crisp it up. It will expand as it cooks, so only cook a little at a time.
3. Remove the noodles and drain on kitchen paper.
4. Boil the water with the stock cube, add the seafood mix. Mix the corn four with a little water and pour into the boiling water. Stir and heat until the sauce has thickened.

Serve with
Flaked Dried Chillies
Sugar
Vinegar


Pork & Crunchy Basil ( Yum Mu Sam Chun Garpow Grob )

A typical gop-gam dish to eat as a snack or with alcoholic drinks. This one is fatty pork garnished with crunchy (fried) kaprow basil leaves. We love our snack food in Thailand!

Ingredients
20 gms Large Kaprow Leaves
300 gms Pork with Rind and Fat (3 layer pork)
1 Teaspoon Flaked Chillies
1 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Lime Juice
1 Teaspoon Fish Sauce
Sliced Kaffir Lime Leaves
Sliced Red Onion
Sliced Garlic

Garnish
Sliced Coriander Leaves
Sliced Mint

Preparation
1. Clean the kaprow leaves, dry them and drop them into hot oil to just crisp up, this only takes around a minute. Set aside on kitchen paper to drain.
2. Boil the three layer pork in water for 10 minutes to cook it, chop it into tiny strips.
3. Mix the pork with the other ingredients, and shallow fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Garnish with the fried kaprow leaves, coriander and mint.



Spicy Noodles & Sweet Sesame Pork ( Lab Woon San Mu Wan )

This is crunchy sweet pork on spicy glass noodles. The sweetness of the pork is to balance the spiciness, and the crunch of the sesame seeds balances the softness of the noodles.

Ingredients
100 gms Glass Noodle
1 Tablespoon Chopped Coriander Leaves
1 Tablespoon Chopped Spring Onion
1 Tablespoon Chopped Mint
1 Teaspoon Dried Flaked Chillies
1 Teaspoon Sticky Rice
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Teaspoon Lime Juice

Preparation
1. Dry fry the sticky rice to brown it, in a clean dry frying pan.
2. Pound the toasted sticky rice in a Thai mortar. This is a common flavoring and I usually have a jar of toasted sticky rice pre-made.
3. Boil the glass noodle in water for 2-3 minutes.
4. Drain and mix with the other ingredients.

Ingredients for Sesame Pork
200 gms Pork Meat ( Cubed )
100 gms White Sesame Seeds
50 gms Black Sesame Seeds
30 gms Palm Sugar
1-2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1-2 Tablespoons Oil
1 Teaspoon Chicken Stock Powder

Preparation
1. Toast the sesame seeds lightly in a dry frying pan to just colour them a little. Set aside.
2. Mix the pork and stock powder and leave for 30 minutes.
3. Mix everything except the sesame seeds in a frying pan.
4. Cook over a medium heat until the pork is cooked and the sugar coasting is sticky.
5. Drop the cooked sticky pork cubes into the sesame seeds to coat them.
6. This is better served sliced, for the photograph I left it in cubes.



Red Curried Duck ( Gang Pate Pet Yang )

The most unusual part of this recipe is the rambutans, the semi-sweet Thai fruit we add to it to balance the spicy curry. Lychees can be substituted very successfully if you can't obtain rambutans. The duck though is essential, it has a soft meat that blends into the dish. If you can't get hold of duck, try one of the other pork or chicken red curry recipes on this site instead!

Ingredients for 2 People
100 gms Duck
200 ml Coconut Milk
Water for Boiling
3 Tablespoons Thai Red Curry Paste
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Oil
2 Red Chillies
5 Basil Leaves
4 Kaffir Citrus Leaves
5 Cherry Tomatoes
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
2 Cubed Raw Potatoes
4 Rambutans (From a tin is better than fresh for this recipe)

Preparation
1. Boil the potatoes in water until they are cooked, drain off the water, leaving only approx. 100 mls remaining in the pan.
2. Clean the duck and slice the meat into strips.
3. Into a frying pan, fry the curry paste in the oil for few seconds - this will release the flavours - then add duck and stir fry in the hot oil. Again this only needs to be done for a few seconds.
4. Cut the chillies and kaffir leaves into smaller pieces and add to the frying pan with the duck.
5. Add the coconut milk, salt, sugar and fish sauce, and fry for 2 minutes.
6. Add the contents of the frying pan to the potato pan and bring the liquid back to the boil.
7. Add the rambutans, basil leaves, and cherry tomatoes and serve immediately.

Serve With
Hot Thai Fragrant Rice



Spicy Thai Shrimp Soup (Tom Yum Gung)


'Tom Yum' is a spicy soup made from chilli, lime leaves and lemon juice, 'Gung' is the shrimp form of this soup. 'Tom Yum' is what people think of when they think of Thai food, it is the poster dish you must learn to cook to be able to say you cook Thai food. In the North East it's common to eat 'Tom Yum' made from chicken, it can also be made from pork or even fish.

Ingredient for 2 People
150 gms Shrimp
250 ml Water
30 gms Galanga
30 gms Lemongrass
20 gms Kaffir Lime leaves
25 gms Bird Chilli
1 Sprig Coriander
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
3 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Tom Yum Paste
1 Teaspoon Chilli Paste
2 Tablespoon condensed milk

Serve With
Hot Fragrant Rice

Preparation
1. Clean the shrimp and remove the black thread (the intestine) from the shrimp by cutting it down the back.
2. Slice the galanga and lemongrass, into short 3cm pieces and pound it in a mortar to break out the flavours.
3. Put the water in pan bring to the boil.
4. When the water is boiling add the galanga, lemongrass, kaffir, salt, and Tom Yum Paste, and wait for it to come back to biling again.
5. Add the shrimps in cook for 2 minutes.
6. Break the chillis into a mortar and pound them for a few moments to a pulp, add to the soup.
7. Add the fish sauce, lemon juce, chilli paste and condensed milk to the soup.
8. Turn off the heat and add the coriander leaves, serve hot.


From Appon's Thai Food