Friday, June 22, 2007

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.

Monday, June 4, 2007

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