I don’t cook to often…I cook sometime for my sister and her family however it is not convenience to cook because my sister doesn’t cook so if I cook I have to start buying everything even fish sauce.

So we better eat out.

This is one of my favorite dish called ” deep fried fish and mango salad dressing or in Thai called Pla samlee daed deaw yam mamoung ”

It comes with mango salad dressing it is so good I never get bored with eating this dish, every time I go out to restaurant I have to order this one.

Pla samlee daed deaw yam mamoung with mango dressing. When we eat, we only take a bite of fish and a bit of mango then dressing on the top..yummy !!

Next is stir-fried crab meat with curry powder and egg. My niece and nephew love this one.

What we do ? We use crab meat because it is very easy to eat then stir-fry with brown onion, shallot, Chinese celery then add curry powder, eggs and evaporated milk. This makes me hungry I have to cook it sometime.

Next will be deep-fried sea-bait : this dish likes snack as I compare with eat hot chips. Served with hot chili sauce and it is great to be companion with any drink or even cold beer.

OMG I am hungry when I look at these pictures I am missing foods over there. Well I want to show you another dish which again my niece and nephew’s favorite. This is prawn cakes, when we make prawn cakes in Thailand we use prawn meat and pork fat and blend with Thai herbs until combine and become sticky then shape them and coat with bread crumb and deep fry in hot oil. Served with plum sauce….

I have got heap of Thai foods that I have eaten in Thailand I will show you a bit more for next time.

What do you have for dessert in Thailand??

This is one of many questions that I have got asked a lot about Thai desserts.

Yes !!! we do have desserts and Thai people love desserts including me. I am not a big fan of desserts but I still have them sometime when I need a bit of something sweet.

When I was a child I was growing up with my relative who had dessert cart where she sold on the street .

She made 15-20 types of Thai desserts everyday. I helped her a lot when I was with her and I learned from her by making them.

Thai desserts can be eaten in warm or cold. A lot of Thai desserts contain with coconut cream, palm sugar, white sugar and flour.

This is one of many Thai desserts ” Black sticky rice pudding ”

Recipe ( 4 serves)

Ingredients

½      cup black sticky rice, rinsed once and soaked in water for at least 3 hours or over night.

½      cup glutinous rice (white sticky rice), rinsed once and soaked in water for at least 3 hours.

3½    cup water

1       cup white sugar

1       cup taro, diced 1 cm

1       cup coconut cream

½      tsp salt

Method

-       In a big mixing bowl, add both of stick rices and wash both of sticky rices with water few times then drain.

-       In a saucepan fill 3cups of water and leave on over medium to high heat. Then bring the water to a boil.

-       After boiling add black and white sticky rice. Use spoon to mix well.

-       Bring to boil. After boiling reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir occasionally to prevent sticky rice get burnt and stick on the bottom of the saucepan. This will take 15-20 minutes.

-       When sticky rices are soften add sugar in.

-       Add cooked taro then mix well.

-       Bring to boil again and turn off the heat.

Coconut topping

-       In a small saucepan over low heat add 1cup coconut cream and ½ tsp salt.

-       Stir well with spoon until coconut hot but not boil for 5 minutes.

-       Remove from the heat.

Taro

-       Peel the skin and dice 1 cm.

-       In a steamer with boiling water place diced taro, cover with lid and steam for 5 minutes or until cook.

-       Alternatively place diced taro in a microwave with high temperature and cook for 3 minutes.

Now, you can enjoy Thai dessert as I do

Here is another quick meal when I want to have Thai food.

This dish reminds me in my childhood in Thailand where I grew up. There was restaurant near our house where we went and had meal even bought take away food home when we didn’t want to cook.

We loved this restaurant very much because it was cheap and extremely delicious I believe this restaurant is still operating however the owners pass on to next generation.

Restaurant is called ” Raan Boonsong ” if we went on lunch time we wouldn’t get the seats there were packed with people from everywhere.

I enjoyed very much watching them cooked at the front of me.

One of my favorite dish we ordered was Gai pad prik gaeng in English Stir fried chicken with red curry paste.

This dish they used evaporated milk instead of coconut milk and there is no kaffir lime leaf in this one.

Taste great, quick and easy meal I have all my ingredients in my fridge ready so why don’t I cook it right!!!

I added a bit of sugar snaps in because I just love eating them as they are crunchy but you can have anything. However the original one they don’t have any veggies at all.

The idea of gai pad prik gaeng is there is some liquid but not much as the same as curry but a little bit more than ordinary stir-fried.  And you can use pour cream instead of evaporated milk.

Recipe ( for 1 person )

150    g. chicken breast you can use chicken thigh fillet if you want to, thinly sliced

50      g. sugar snaps you can use any vegetables as you like

1/2    long red chill, sliced

1        small hand full of Thai basil leaves I picked from my garden

11/2  tbsp red curry paste, this will be my taste you can reduce to 1 tbsp

1        tbsp cooking oil

1/4    cup evaporated milk

2        tbsp water

1        tsp fish sauce

1        tsp sugar any sugar will do the job

Method

1. Prepare wok over medium to low heat, add oil and red curry paste then fry well for minute until fragrance.

2. Add chicken and fry well.

3. Add sugar snap and fry well.

4. Pour evaporated milk in and add some water to make more a bit of liquid.

5. Season with fish sauce and sugar to taste.

6. Add chilli and basil leave and mix well until cook through.

7. Ready to eat with hot steamed rice.

I had gai pad prik gaeng for my lunch yesterday. If you have basic how to cook curry or stir-fried this will be similar techniques. It is so simple, quick and easy.

I still have my memory for this dish and I am so happy every time I am thinking about foods, family and life in Thailand.

Pad Se Eiw ( ผัดซีอิ๊ว )

This is one of the most popular dishes in my cooking class, Pad Se Eiw. I made this one for lunch yesterday it is simply and extremely easy. If you already have all Thai seasoning sauces in the pantry all you need are flat rice noodle and Chinese broccoli (คะน้า). The most important thing for stir-fry is you need to be quick and keep moving wok or even fry pan at all the time and shouldn’t take long to cook. I would say no more than 5 minutes spending at the front of wok.

You can use chicken, beef or prawns to cook  pad se eiw, I used tofu to cook mine I love eating tofu I got this habit from my mother. She is Thai-Chinese so we cooked with tofu a lot when we were together in Thailand.

Here are sauces I used for my Pas Se Eiw. From right to left Oyster sauce, Fish sauce, Black soy sauce and Soy sauce. The key ingredient to make pad se eiw is black soy sauce that make pad se eiw goes black.

“Se Eiw” means “soy sauce”

“Pad” means “stir-fry”

Here is a very simple recipe for Pad Se Eiw and everyone can make at home.

Ingredients (one serve)

200     g. flat rice noodle ( I used fresh one and cut into about 1 inch the unfold )

150     g. firm tofu, sliced big

150     Chinese broccoli, sliced into 1 inch length

50       g carrot, sliced ( I don’t have it for mine )

1         eggs

2         cloves garlic, crushed and roughly chopped

2         tbsp cooking oil

Seasonings

1      tbsp oyster sauce

1      tbsp soy sauce

1      tbsp fish sauce

1      tsp black soy sauce

1      tsp sugar

Method

-       Prepare a wok over high heat add oil.

-       Add tofu and stir well for a minute or until tofu skin just firm and turn to light brown ( this will prevent tofu breaks during cooking )

-      Add crushed garlic and stir well until fragrance ( if you use meat you should add meat after garlic )

-       Add egg then spread egg and let egg set until cooked, then stir through.

-       Add Chinese broccoli and carrots then seasonings and stir well.

-       Add flat rice noodle and stir well.

-       Turn off the heat and spoon on a serving plate.

-       Serve with lime wedge and chilli flakes.

This doesn’t take long to cook, I promise you will not buy pad se eiw from Thai restaurant again. It is so easy right!!! Let make one.

Chinese broccoli

Sliced 1 inch length

Tofu I diced them but you can slice them only make sure they are thick.

Flat rice noodle when you buy from Asian grocery it comes in fold layers, you need to slice big then unfold into a thin layer.

Garlic, I love cooking with garlic when you stir fry properly garlic becomes sweet to eat…Make sure!!!! DON’T BURN GARLIC

Crushed and roughly chopped

This is a tip when you cook stir-fry dishes.

Always mix all seasoning sauces in a small bowl and get everything ready. Remember we have to do fast …mixing sauces in a small bowl and you can just pour in wok when you stir-fry them.

Ok…I will try post more some ideas of my Thai cooking so you can enjoy Thai foods at home as I do.

” Always fresh, clean and tasty Thai Foods when you make at home “

Sour bamboo shoot taste is sour and has a strong smell but do not worry. When you cook them, they will give a perfect taste and are ideal  for red curry. As I told you I like cooking with bamboo shoot.

Here is the recipe:

150 g Chicken breast or thigh fillet, sliced
200 g Bamboo shoot, drained
1 cup coconut cream
1 cup water
¼ cup Thai basil, picked leaves
2 single kaffir lime leaves, torn
1 long red chilli, sliced
1-1 ½ tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp palm sugar
2-3 tbsp red curry paste
2 tbsp cooking oil

Heat wok over medium to low heat and add oil then red curry paste
Fry paste and add coconut cream mix well and let coconut boil until separate (as you will see some little oil on the top)
Add chicken and cook for few minutes then add fish sauce and palm sugar, mix well
Add water and bamboo shoot, let it boil and taste it
When boiling add kaffir lime leave, Thai basil, chilli and turn the heat off.
Ready to eat

I cooked this dish the other night for my dinner whatever I have left in my fridge and pantry. I should put some Thai basil in but I didn’t have it. However, taste was still great I had it with steamed rice.

I like bamboo shoot and I always have it in my pantry. Bamboo shoot is easy to cook and there are many ways you  can cook with it such as curry, stir-fried with eggs or stir-fried with curry paste like this one.

This recipe is very simple and extremely easy and everyone can make it.