Thai Recipes From My Kitchen

Pad Prik Khing with Squid

Pad Prik Khing is one of popular Khao Khaeng dishes. Raan Khao Khaeng is a type of traditional Thai diner; the style of this diner is similar to cafeteria that all the food, it can be 20 – 30 different kinds of items are ready made and display for customers to choose and food will be served to you at the table.

Raan Khao Khaeng is one of food services that play a big part of city life; people who living in cities from low level labours to white collars rely on it as it is served as a breakfast, lunch and or dinner for many people. Every time when government increase the price of cooking gas (In Thailand, the price of cooking gas is controlled by government) and the prices of Khao Khaeng food will increase as well. Often the prices of food increase more than cooking gas by percentage because it’s easy to take an advantage of increasing the price of food each time by 5 baths rather than 1 or 2 bath base on the part that increased. The gas price increased last time was in February 2013 and the prices of Khao Khaeng food are still at 25 – 40 baths per dish. (Bath is, Thai currency, about 30 bath= 1 USD) We use the prices of Khoa Khaeng measure the economy in a sense of everyday life of cost living so the inflation rate in Thailand is still pretty good as Khoa Khaeng food prices are not much different than many years before.

This recipe, I use curry paste from a can instead of making curry paste from scratch so that people who don’t have much time on cooking will be able to enjoy some Thai food. Some time I will post another recipe with homemade curry paste on this blog as well.

*** Prik Khing curry paste in a can is available at Asian grocery stores.

Level of spiciness - mild

For 2 – 3 serving

Ingredients

2 Fresh squid tubes, about 300g.(or 2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts)

1 ½ cups Snake beans, cut into 1 inch

2 tbsps Prik Khing Chilli Jam or Prik Khing Curry Paste (114g./can)

5 Kaffir lime leaves, chop into very thin stripes

2 cloves Garlic, chopped fine

²⁄₃tsp Sugar

1 tsp Fish sauce

2 tbsp Vegetable oil

2 – 3tbsps Water

Instruction

Clean the squid and cut the squid tubes in half lengthways. Cut a criss-cross pattern on the inside of squid. Cut into 1 ¼ inch x 2 inch. Or if use chicken breasts, cut into ½ inch x 1 ¾ inch.
Heat the steel wok over high heat with 1 tbsp oil and swirl to coat. Add squid or chicken and chopped garlic, and stir-fry for 2 minutes and add curry paste. Mix well.
Stir in snake beans, sugar, fish sauce, the other tbsp of oil. Stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes during the process adds 1 -2 tbsp of water before remove from heat stir in kaffir lime leaves.
Serve with steamed rice.

Khao Pad Goong

Khao Pad Goong (literally, fried rice with shrimp) is one of the most popular kinds of fried rice. This style of fried rice is original from high-end Cantonese Chinese restaurants and nowadays you can see on the menu at higher end Thai restaurants as well. The style of this fried rice is simple and normally with more expensive meat like shrimp or crab.

There is another style of fried rice that is also popular and normally you can find this dish at street vendors and Raan Ah-Han Tam Sang (another kind of short order food shop beside Raan Khao Khaeng). This style of fried rice is a one dish food, in the dish contains with vegetable like Gai Lan or Chinese broccoli, tomato and onion and the meat will be pork or chicken, and serve with some slices of cucumber. People in Thailand eat fried rice as a breakfast, lunch or and dinner.

My recipe here is from the first style of fried rice but I make this recipe as a one dish food as it covers all category of food.

For 1 serving

Ingredients

1 cup (packed) Steamed Jasmine rice

1 Egg

5 Shrimp (31 – 40 PCS /lb) (Or any size you wish)

1 clove Garlic, chopped fine

1 Small spring green onion, chopped into ¼ inch

¼ tsp Ground pepper corn

1 tsp Soy sauce

1 tsp Oyster sauce

1 tbsp and 1 tsp Vegetable oil (1tbsp would be enough, if you concern about your health)

3 slices Tomato

3 slices Cucumber

1 wedge Lime

2 Fresh Thai chilli, chopped

Fish sauce

Instruction

Heat a steel wok over high heat, add 1 tbsp oil and swirl to coat. Add the egg and cook for a few second then use a spatula cut and break the egg to be pieces.
Add garlic and shrimp, and mix well. Add steamed Jasmine rice, breaking up any lumps and stir into the mixer. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce and ground pepper, and while swirling and mixing, add 1 tsp oil on just edge of the mixer. Swirl and mix 1–2 minutes or you can see every gain of rice stay individually with slightly golden brown colour.
Just before remove from heat, add spring green onion and mix well.
Serve with slices of tomato, cucumber, (squeeze) the wedge of lime, and chopped fresh chilli in fish sauce.

Chilli in Fish Sauce

Cover chopped chilli with fish sauce (squeeze a wedge of lime juice if you wish)

***A whole process happens very fast and on high heat only so that it produces good fried rice.

***Jasmine rice is the best for making fried rice as fried rice suppose to be dried but soft

*** Some people prefer lime juice mix in fish sauce and chilli rather then squeezing it on the rice.

Khai Luk Koei

Khai Luk Koei, Kai Leuk Koey or Kai Look Koey (literally, son-in-law eggs) is a dish that commonly found at Raan Khoa Khaeng or short order Thai restaurants. Khai Luk Koei or Son-In-Law-Eggs made of hard boiled eggs and we also have Khai Luk Sa Pai or Daughter- In-Law-Eggs made of over easy fried eggs but Son-In-Law-Eggs seems more popular.

Eggs are a common food for everyone, we simply turn the eggs to something more interesting, and it is for families especially for kids. In Thailand we consider Khai Luk Koei is a kind of comfort food and also it is a kid friendly dish as it contains a little sweetness, saltiness and sourness but is not spicy. Many people asked me what ages of kids can eat or learn to eat spicy food – I think it depends on each kid his or herself some can eat spicy hot food at very young age like 2 -3 years old and some can eat only mild spicy food even they are adult. We both my husband and I be able to eat very spicy food but not our son, he can eat mild spicy only. I was surprised he loved my Massaman Curry; this curry is mild hot in a sense of spicy hot from chilli pepper but it has the strong flavour of the spiciness of other different spices like cumin, for example.

Ingredients

Tamarind Liquid

1 ¾ x 1 ¾ inches of 200 g Tamarind cake (see picture)

½ cup water

Break and knead tamarind in water until the mixer thickens

6 Large eggs

½ cake Palm sugar

6 tbsp Tamarind thick liquid

2 tbsp Fish sauce

½ cup Oil for frying

1 Large shallot, slice thin

2 tbsp Chopped coriander

1 Big long red chilli or Prik Chee Fah, sliced (optional) this kind of chilli is mild hot.

Instruction

Place eggs in a pot and cover with cold tap water and boil at high heat for 12 minutes (boil 10 minutes from tap water in Thailand).
Remove from heat, drain the hot water and rise and soak with cold tap water in the same time shake the pot so the eggs will be cracked from hitting to each other and peel the shells.
Put oil on a small frying pan over medium heat until hot. Add egg one at a time if using small amount oil in the pan and roll and turn the egg to brown totally until finish all.
In the same frying pan with the same oil, add sliced shallot, fry until slightly golden brown and drain oil on paper towel.
In the same frying pan, remove all oil, reduce the heat to low and add tamarind liquid, fish sauce and palm sugar and cook until palm sugar dissolves and the mixer thickens slightly.
To serve, slice the eggs and arrange on a serving plate. Pour on the sauce and garnish with crispy shallot, red chilli slices and chopped coriander. Serve with steamed rice.

Pla Goong

"PLA" is kind of processing food, by using acid from lime juice, without cooking, normally it is for raw meat; beef or seafood, basically the process is the same as "YUM", and Goong means shrimp. Original this dish is made from live tiny shrimp krill but nowadays many Thai restaurants in Thailand use roasted or grilled shrimp to for this dish.

This dish is considering a healthy food and it doesn’t take a lot of time to prepare and make it, it’s perfect for people who have a busy life and love healthy and Thai food.

Ingredients

12 Shrimp (size 31 -40)

2 - 3 Fresh chilli, chopped fine

3 tbsp Lemongrass, chopped very fine (see picture)

3 Shallots (about ¹⁄₃cup), slice thin

8 leaves Mints

1 tbsp Kaffir Lime Leaves, chopped very fine (see picture)

1 tbsp Nam Prik Pao or chilli paste with soya bean oil

? Sugar (there is only one brand of Nam Prik Pao in my city and it is pretty sweet so I don’t add more sugar in it.)

2 tbsp Lime juice

Herb cuts

1 tbsp Fish sauce

Instruction

Grill shrimp on pan grill or charcoal both sides until shrimp turns prink.
Combine fresh chilli, Nam Prik Pao, (sugar), lime juice and fish sauce and stir until sugar or Nam Prik Pao dissolved.
Add shrimp, lemongrass, shallots, mints and kaffir lime leaves. Mix well.
Serve with steamed rice or eat as appetizer or salad.

*** This dish can be served as appetizer, place each piece of shrimp on a rice cracker and put a small piece of lettuce between shrimp and the rice cracker to prevent the crackers being wet, or just simply place shrimp on a piece of belgain envide as a healthy finger food.

Gai Pad Khing or Kai Phat Khing

Gai Pad Khing or Kai Phat Khing (literally, stir-fried chicken with ginger) original this dish is from Taejew Chinese food (Taejew is one of Chinese dialects and it is the biggest group of Chinese in Thailand). This dish is used to be found at Raan Khao Tom which is kind of Taejew Chinese restaurant (literally for Raan Khao Tom, rice porridge shop) but nowadays it is available almost every Raan Khao Khaeng. Raan Khao Khaeng is a short order Thai restaurant, it is a Thai fast food but all the food is made from scratch everyday. Gai Pad Khing is pretty much one of Raan Khao Khaeng’s main dishes.

Chinese immigrants introduced ginger to Thai people through Chinese food in Thailand, when we talk about ginger we will think about some of Chinese dishes that have been known for a long time and became a common food for Thai people, for example - Pad Khing, steamed fish with ginger and as well as a well-known dessert called Bua Loy Nam Khing , is made of sticky rice dough balls in the ginger and brown sugar water. Chinese people use this dessert as part of a wedding ceremony.

Ingredients

2 Chicken breasts (about 400 g.), cut into ½ inch x 1 ¾ inches

3 cloves Garlic, chopped fine

¹⁄₆ tsp Salt

2 tsp Soy sauce

Marinate chicken with other ingredients above for an hour.

½ cup Young ginger, shredded

1 Onion,small, cut into ½ inch wedges

¹⁄₂ cup Cloud or wood ear or Chinese black fungus, soak in warm water until soft and cut into stripe ½ inch x 2 inches

Vegetable cuts

3 Green onion, cut into ¾ inch long

½ tsp Sugar

1 ½ tbsp Soy sauce

1 ½ tbsp Cooking wine

4 tbsp Oil

6 – 8 tbsp Water

Instruction

Heat a steel wok over high heat, and add 2 tbsp oil until smoke coming up from the wok. Add marinated chicken, stirring and breaking up any lumps until chicken turned pale colour.
Add cooking wine and stir and flip a few times with a spatula. Add more oil, ginger, onion, fungus, and stir and flip a few times, and add soy sauce. During this process add 2 -3 times of water. Cook until vegetables wilted.
Just before remove from heat, add green onion and mix well.
Serve with steamed rice

On the left is dried fungus and after soak in water the size can be as big as on the right

Gai Hor Bai Toey (Chicken in Pandan Leaves)

Chicken in Pandan Leaves, or Gai Hor Bai Toey, is another popular Thai dish with chicken marinated wrapped in pandan leaves and deep-fried, and serve with sesame sauce. This dish is more a restaurant food from middle class restaurants to high end restaurants because it is more delicate in preparing and appearing.

Pandan leaves or Pandanus Amaryllifolius, and or Bai Toey (in Thai), is a tropical plant and is used widely in Southeast Asian cooking as a flavoring and coloring. In Thailand we use commonly and wildly in dessert more than in savory food. Pandan leaves are available in frozen form at Asian grocery stores.

About 18 pieces

Ingredients

400 - 450 g or 2 Large chicken breasts (boneless and skinless), cut into approx 1.5 inch chunks.

½ tsp Ground pepper

3 roots Cilantro (coriander), chopped and pound with pestle

4 cloves Garlic, chopped and pound with pestle

Pinch of Salt

1 tbsp Soy sauce

2 tsp Oyster sauce

1 tbsp Sesame oil

1 tbsp Cooking wine

1 tsp Potato starch or corn starch

10 Pandan leaves, cut into half

Oil for frying

Instruction

Marinate chicken with ground pepper, coriander roots, garlic, salt, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, patato starch and cooking wine for an hour or more.
Wrap each piece of chicken in a pandan leaf until finish all. (see the pictures)** It’s better let some part of chicken being exposed so that part of chicken will get nice brown color.
Fry in Oil until cooked or turn golden and put on the plate and serve with sauce.

The steps of wrapping chicken

Secure chicken with toothpicks ( in Thailand pandan leaves are cheap so we use a whole leaf for wrapping one piece of chicken and it's long enough to fold itself without using a toothpick to secure)

Sesame Sauce

4 tbsp Thick sweet soy sauce (there are two kinds of thick soy sauce; sweet and salty) if thick sweet soy sauce is not available, Hoisin sauce can be used as a substitute.

1½ tbsp White vinegar

1 tsp Soy sauce

½ tsp Ginger, chopped very fine

½ tsp Roasted sesame seeds

Instruction

Sesame Sauce

In a pot, heat sweet soy sauce, white vinegar and soy sauce on medium heat until sweet soy sauce dissolved and add ginger. Combine well.
Remove from heat and transfer to a sauce bowl.
Garnish with sesame seeds.

Moo Yang

Moo Yang (literally, grilled pork)

Last weekend we had some friends came over. One of the dishes that I made was Moo Yang, and some of my friends asked for the recipe so I just post it here.

Moo Yang is pretty common dish in Thailand and we make this dish for a beer party or any relaxing occasion. You can find Moo Yang at a restaurant too but may not exactly be like my recipe.

The weather is warming up; the BQQ season is coming so this dish is perfect for a nice warm sunny day with friends or family. You may like to try something different - Moo Yang with sticky rice.

Ingredients

1 kg. Pork loin,(best with pork loin with some fat) slice into ¾ inch thick (from any size you wish)

4 - 5 cloves Garlic, chopped and pound with a pestle

4 Big coriander roots, chopped and pound with a pestle

2 tbsp Honey or Sugar

½ tsp Salt

2 tsp Fresh ground black pepper

2 tbsp Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Oyster sauce

2 tbsp Oil

1 tbsp Cooking wine

Instruction

In a bowl, combine garlic, coriander roots, honey or sugar, salt, ½ tsp ground pepper, soy sauce, oil and cooking wine. Mix well.
Add pork into the mixer and coat totally, and grind or sprinkle black pepper on each layer of pork totally and cover with plastic wrap or transfer pork to a bowl with a lid. Marinate over night in the fridge.
Grill on charcoal or oven both sides until cooked. (If the pork is very dry you can apply some more oil).
Cut into the size you wish and serve with steamed sticky rice.