Thai Recipes

I live in the middle of nowhere in Northern Minnesota, the most ethnic food I can get is ketchup! LOL

Since I'm from a large city in Florida that had the best Thai restaurants, I'm trying to gather a few good ones.


Here's my recipe for cheaters Peanut Sauce... goes great on chicken or noodles! This is a quick recipe with substitutes found in any market (great for people with no international market in their town)

2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup lime or lemon juice
lime or lemon zest
1/2 can of chicken broth or veggie broth
2 tbls brown sugar or mollases
4 oz half and half or heavy cream
1/8 cup fresh finely grated ginger root
4oz of coconut milk (if you can't get this use a cap full of coconut extract or 2 tbls of coco-lopez)
3 cloves of minced garlic
Cayenne pepper to taste
2 dried red chiles


Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and cook over low heat for 15 minutes and let stand til it comes to room temp. It will thicken when it cools. Will keep for a week in the frig or you can freeze it for up to a month, just add more broth or a little water when reheating to keep the peanut butter from getting grainy.

Sounds easy, ingredients can be found and kid friendly. I'm going to make some.

They like it with "chicken on a stick" off the grill...

Real Thai: The Best of Thailand's Regional Cooking

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811800172/104-4545257-0433558?v=glance&n=283155

Another tip is use Mae Ploy brand curry pastes in place of the curry paste ingredients in Thai recipes-- they're generally better than homemade-- better texture, better blended taste-- and you can always use them as a base and add your own touches. Mae Ploy curry pastes are MUCH better than most commercially prepared pastes. I won't use any other.



I'm in a bit of a rush this morning, but I'll come back later and post some of my favorite recipes. Thai and Vietnamese are two of my favorite cuisines.

Thai is definitely my favorite cuisine. I love the sweet and hot flavors of the dishes that I have sampled.

This is a somewhat different take on the classic red curry pork with ginger. It is VERY good-- one of my all time favorites.

Mike C.'s Gaeng Hahng Ley

Quantities are approximate, of course.

4 slices bacon
1 lb boneless country style pork spare ribs (you need a fatty cut for this), sliced bite-sized
1/4 cup sliced shallots
3-4 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup palm sugar (maybe a bit less)-- if you can't find palm sugar, use maple sugar, or maybe maple+brown blended. Brown sugar alone should be considered a last resort.
2 tbsp Mae Ploy red curry paste or to taste (start with 1 tbsp and add more as needed, I usually use 2-3 tbsp, but I like it HOT)
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp dark soy sauce
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
2-3 tbsp tamarind liquid (I buy the liquid concentrate and use a tbsp or so to taste)
noodles

Fry the bacon over low heat to render the fat. This REALLY improves this dish, so go ahead, use the bacon. Remove the crisp bacon and use it for something else (cook's munchies is where mine usually goes). Brown the pork cubes in the bacon fat over high heat. Add the shallots, curry paste, and garlic at the very end, stirring to mix well. Fry for another minute or so, but don't burn the garlic or curry paste (browning it a little is good). Add the chicken stock-- it should cover the meat. Scrape up all the bits stuck to the pan. Add the palm sugar, turmeric, dark soy, and ginger. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 40 min to an hour, stirring occasionally. Watch it closely at the end-- you want the liquid to reduce to a thick red-brown gravy, but don't let it dry out completely. The meat should be falling apart tender. Stir in the tamarind liquid at the end. Taste. It should have an unctious smoothness, with a nice balance of salty, sweet, sour, and hot-spicy. Adjust the flavor if necessary. Serve over noodles.

BTW, all of these ingredients are available online if you don't have a market locally that carries them.

I made this last night and my husband, who says he doesn't care for Thai food, lapped it up and went back for seconds. I haven't had a lot of Thai cuisine, but have liked what I've tried. I'm looking forward to trying some of your other recipes. Question for you - I picked up a copy of that Thai cookbook you recommended and several of the recipes call for lime leaves, which I'm not sure I can find locally. Can you substitute a little lime zest for them?

...that call for lime leaves-- I personally find lime leaves a little soapy tasting, while lime zest is just clean and bright. I substitute the zest of one lime or so for 6-10 whole lime leaves, and most recipes that use lime leaves also need a bit of fresh lime juice at the very end anyway, so the lime is available for zesting. I think the soapy taste thing is genetic or something-- other people I've talked to don't get that taste at all. Another piece of advice is to use Mae Ploy brand curry paste in place of the curry paste ingredients listed in each of McDermott's recipes unless you want the whole pound your own paste experience, but Mae Ploy curry pastes are better than average homemade pastes, IMO, and cheap and easy to boot. The texture is perfect. They last for a loong time in the refrigerator, but the ideal way to keep them is to spoon tablespoon sized measures loosely into ice cube tray compartments, freeze, then store the curry chunks in a ziplock bag in the freezer for as long as it takes to use them.

McDermott's recipe for gaeng hahng ley is on page 87-- you can compare it to my version to see what I mean about the substitutions-- the same approach works throughout the book.

Reading this thread, you might get the impression I work for Mae Ploy, but I swear I don't! I'm just a nut for SE asian cuisine and I've been cooking it for years, and when I found Mae Ploy curry pastes I was really pleased by their quality.

on edit: BTW, if you can find green papayas the som tum recipe on page 125 is stellar.

Green curry chicken. This is a fiery curry-- just be aware of it. It is really good-- this is the classic green curry.

Gaeng kiow wahn gai

Quantities are approximate.

6-8 boneless chicken thighs, cut bite size
coconut cream scooped from one 10 oz can of Mae Ploy coconut milk*
1 19 oz coconut milk
2-3 tbsp of May Ploy brand green curry paste (adjust later if you like it hotter)
1 or 2 minced fresh Thai bird's eye chilis
1 1/2 cups Thai eggplant, diced, or an equivalent amount of cubed winter squash (don't use regular eggplant-- it's not the same)
2 tbsp of nuoc mam fish sauce
1 tbsp palm sugar
grated zest of one lime (or six lime leaves, but I prefer the lime zest)
1/2 cup Thai basil leaves (best) or regular basil (basil is essential), finely chopped
pinch of salt
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

* refrigerate the coconut milk for an hour or so, then open carefully without undue shaking. Scoop the coconut cream from the top. Discard the thin liquid below.


Gently heat the coconut cream in a skillet until the oil just begins to separate- you'll see it forming small droplets on top. The coconut cream will become nicely fragrant at the same time. Stir in the green curry paste to dissolve it. Cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat with green curry madness. Cook for a few minutes, then add the coconut milk, eggplant or squash, fish sauce, palm sugar, a bit of salt, and the lime zest or lime leaves. Cook for 10-20 minutes or so on a slow simmer. When the chicken is done and the squash is tender, remove from the heat and stir in the basil leaves. Adjust the taste-- it should be a balance of rich, fiery hot, salty, a touch limey and sweet. Add fish sauce, palm sugar, and lime juice as necessary. If you need additional heat, make a note for next time and use more green curry, then add additional minced chilis this time. Scatter the sliced red bell pepper and the minced Thai chilis on top. Serve with hot rice.

on edit-- I'll post a couple more of my favorites tomorrow-- I've gotta go cook dinner now.

This is one of my favorite ways to grill chicken. You will like this even if you're not a big cilantro fan.

Marinade:

1 tbsp whole black pepper corns
1 1/2 cups chopped cilantro, stems and leaves
3-4 gloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
a few tbsp olive oil

Crush the black pepper corns in a mortar or spice grinder. Blend the cilantro, garlic, black pepper, and soy sauce in a blender or food processor with a little oil until you make a smooth thick paste-- it will need lots of scraping down.

1 chicken, backbone removed and cut into halves (or more chickens, depending on you much you need)

Marinade the chicken halves in the cilantro/garlic pesto for several hours, turning to coat well. Prepare a hot grill and grill the chicken halves with lots of the marinate still clinging, 40 min to an hour, turning several times until well done. I usually add some wood chips and use a kettle grill to insure a nice smokey taste along with the garlicy pesto. Serve with chili-garlic dipping sauce.


Chili-garlic dipping sauce:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp tuong ot toi sauce (chili garlic sauce, aka rooster sauce)*

Combine sugar, water, vinegar, garlic, and salt in a small, non-reactive sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat to reduce to light syrup, maybe 10-20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the tuong ot toi sauce. Cool to room temp and serve.

*

I LOVE both Thai and Vietnamese cuisines.... Do you have a good recipe for the Thai Soup Tom Kha Gai? also do you have a good recipe for the Vietnamese soup Canh Chua Tom? I will be forever indebted to you if you do! You don't know how much I adore these soups and have yet to find a good recipe for either. And I have oodles of Thai/Vietnamese cookbooks! Please let me know if you have tried the recipes (if you have them)... :hi:

Tom Kha Gai

quantities are approximate

4-6 boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
2 stalks fresh lemon grass, outer layer removed, cut into 1 inch pieces and bruised
10-15 pieces of galanga about the size of a quarter (don't bother peeling)*
6 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in boiling water until soft, sliced
1 can good coconut milk (I prefer Mae Ploy brand, comes in 19 oz cans)
4 cups chicken stock
6 kaffir lime leaves or finely grated zest of one lime (I prefer the lime zest even though it isn't as traditional)
2 tbsp nuoc mam (best quality fish sauce you can find)
juice of one lime (two if you don't have at least 2 tbsp)
very generous freshly ground black pepper

*there really isn't any good substitute for galanga-- if you cannot find any, use some fresh ginger but realize that the soup will be a little different.

Combine chicken broth, coconut milk, chicken pieces, lemon grass pieces, mushrooms, galanga, lime leaves or lime zest and black pepper in sauce pan and simmer covered for 20-30 minutes. Just before serving, remove from heat and stir in the fresh lime juice and fish sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning.

I'm going to make this tomorrow!!!! Thank you for posting this recipe!!!!!!!!:bounce:

Finding galangal isn't difficult, thankfully, where I live. I have a kaffir lime tree in my back yard, so I can get those whenever I need to. I think I usually use Mae Ploy too, if you look at the back of the can, they use coconut cream and water, in the ingredients. Many other brands will use coconut powder and water, or very little actual percentage of coconut milk. Have you ever tried dried galangal? I haven't yet, but think it might be less expensive; the galangal here is $5.99/lb!!!!

I'm not sure what dried galanga is actually used for, if anything, but it doesn't taste anything like the fresh root. Definitely use fresh in tom kha gai. BTW, it freezes well-- just slice up a whole root, toss in a ziplock bag, and stick it in the freezer.

I will definitely do that! I wash and freeze my kaffir lime leaves, and they fare very well. I've never tried dried galangal either, but in some of my Thai recipe books, for recipes for Tom Kha Gai, they say you can use fresh/dry interchangeably. Personally, I have to believe that the fresh has much more flavor, but I've never been able to ask anyone the taste difference before!

I get great Thai chilis at a local oriental market, but they come in ziplok bags that, even refrigerated, often spoil faster than I can use even a fraction. Plus, they're not always available when I want them. The solution is to simply throw the whole bag into the freezer-- I pull the chilis out a few at a time as I need them, slice while still frozen, and throw them into dipping sauces or cook with them. They work perfectly.

My favorite dipping sauce:

6-8 Thai chilis, sliced paper thin or minced
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
3 tbsp nuoc mam fish sauce

Combine and rest for 1/2 hour before serving. Keeps for a week or so in the refrigerator. This is FANTASTIC for dipping thinly sliced beef, but I use it for pot-stickers, spring rolls, drizzled over fish, and lots more.

That's a great tip about the thai chilis, because like you, I have thrown away too many bags of them, after they've gone bad. I will definitely freeze them from now on!

Have you ever made the Vietnamese soup, Canh Chua Tom? Its a sort of sweet and spicy soup with okra, tomatoes, pineapple, bean sprouts, and shrimp. Its absolutely delicious. But the broth (its a clear broth) is what's key. I believe it has been flavored with tamarind in some way, but I could be wrong...

My version uses chicken stock with either clam juice or hon dashi added. I've never used okra in mine, but I think it would be a great addition. I have a recipe for a version made with catfish instead of shrimp that uses pineapple, but I don't usually use it-- the recipe I make is more or less like this:

Quantities are my best guesses :rofl:

1 lb medium shrimp (maybe 25-30 count?), shelled, with the shells reserved
2 stalks lemon grass
4-6 cups chicken stock
1 bottle clam juice or 1 tbsp hon dashi powder (I'm partial to the latter, balance the amount of stock if necessary)
1 tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped fine
6 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water until soft and sliced thin
2-3 green onions, whites and green parts sliced thinly, separated
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup sliced thinly celery
grated zest of one lime
juice from the lime, and maybe another if there isn't enough
2-3 tbsp nouc mam fish sauce
2 tbsp tamarind liquid
1 tbsp tuong ot toi chili garlic sauce (rooster sauce)

Slice the lemon grass into 1 inch pieces and peel off the outer layers (reserve them). Pound the innermost heart layers until softened, then mince them very finely.

Simmer the shrimp shells and tough outer layers of lemon grass in the chicken stock and clam juice or hon dashi for 20-30 minutes. Strain off the solids and discard.

Bring the stock back to a simmer and add the minced lemon grass hearts, mushrooms, grated lime zest, white parts of the onions, and tomato. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the shrimp and celery, and cook for just a few minutes until the shrimp is just done. Remove from the heat and stir in the tuong ot toi, fresh lime juice, bean sprouts, green onion bits, tamarind liquid, and fish sauce (I add the bean sprouts a minute or so early-- I don't like the taste of unblanched bean sprouts). Taste and adjust seasoning-- it should be sour/hot/salty/citrus with a slightly sweet undertone from the shrimp stock. The hon dashi helps to insure that last bit, which is why I use it often in seafood soups.

on edit-- I would serve this with the Thai chili dipping sauce I mentioned earlier to drizzle on top, or maybe just a sprinkling of thinly sliced chilis.

I haven't ever seen or heard of hon dashi powder or tuong ot toi. I think I hve chili garlic sauce, so I will check the label on that, to see if its tuong ot toi. I am going to the chinese market today, so I will look for hon dashi powder-

How do you get your tamarind liquid? Is it already in liquid form, bought from the store? Or are you getting it somehow from the tamarind paste? I do also have tamarind juice. Which of these forms are you using?

I can't thank you enough for sharing these recipes- YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!! May I ask, how you know so much about Thai/Vietnamese cooking? Me, I just love to read cookbooks, and try new things. There is a cooking show that comes on, or used to come on, GoodLife TV/American Life TV, called Thai Food Tonight, with Cathy Gefay. Link to website: http://www.thaifoodtonight.com/thaifoodtonight/home.htm

I learned a lot from watching her prepare authentic Thai dishes. I only wish there was something for Vietnamese cuisine!

Thank you again!!!:hug: :loveya:

It's already a liquid, no need to soak tamarind paste.

What a pleasant surprise! Not only is it tasty, it was much cheaper than the other curry pastes! The only thing that I don't like is that I can't use it too often because I have to watch my sodium intake. At least I know I am getting less sodium than if I ate it in a restaurant.

I hate to admit that, because I generally make it a point to decipher and deconstruct ingredients in products that I like, and then make a homemade version of it, but I've never done it with peanut sauce. Now I'll have to make a point of trying yours. Thanks for sharing.

I usually use 'A Taste of Thai' peanut sauce. It's a dry mix, and you just add coconut milk.

I make a Thai peanut pizza that my son loves.

I start with a traditional foccaccia recipe for the crust, because we prefer softer crust on our pizza.

Sprinkle the dough with garlic powder.
Use the peanut sauce the same way you would use red sauce.
Add diced, grilled chicken breast, Monterey Jack cheese, toasted peanuts and green onions. Deee-lish!

-chef-

1 small can masaman curry paste (or the equivalent amount from the big cheap tub)
1 can coconut milk
1# beef (cheap stew meat = OK) cut into small chunks
1-2 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 onion, cut into chunks
1 green pepper, cut into chunks

The usual condiments (fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce, white pepper, etc.), to taste

Heat up the curry paste in half the coconut milk. When the mixture boils, add the rest of the coconut milk and the beef. Bring to a boil again, and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil again, and add the onions. When the beef is almost as done as you'd like, add the green pepper. Finish cooking (but NO MORE than 30 minutes total or the coconut milk will get gross). Season to taste. Serve with jasmine rice.

with either beef, chicken, or pork, sauce, peanuts, and slices of avocado. I don't really think this is traditional (your recipe is probably more traditional), but its really delicious!!

1.5 pounds boneless chicken, cut into small pieces, marinated in oyster sauce and soy sauce (about 2:1 oyster-to-soy)

Stir-fry in a wok vegetable oil until the chicken is cooked through; push to one side

2 eggs

Crack the eggs into a cup, then slide into the empty part of the wok. Break the yolks, stir lightly. When the egg is almost set, mix it in with the chicken, and push again to the side

1 pound cooked (if they don't come ready to stir-fry) fresh wide rice noodles, cut into long thin strips

Stir-fry the noodles (add a little more oil if need be); add a generous splash of dark soy sauce (for color)

2 cups or so broccoli florets

Add broccoli and stir-fry everything together, and add approximately 1 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp vinegar, 2 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp sugar, a few grinds of white or black pepper

Serve when broccoli is as done as you like. You also can let people season their own with fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar and pepper.

I've printed this thread and will be trying these out. I love Thai food but have never tried cooking it.