Pad Woon Sen : stir fried mung bean noodle

In Thai we call it Pad-Woon-Sen.  This dish you can find in a lot of Thai restaurants.  This is another favorite dish of American people, because it’s not spicy and tastes good. My hubby and a lot of Americans I know love this dish.  This is a low-cab dish because Woon-Sen or mung bean noodle is made from mung bean that has protein in it not carbohydrate like normal noodle or pasta.  Mung bean noodle some people call clear noodle or glass noodle because the noodle itself is clear just like glass.  It has no taste by itself, but absorbs sauce very good.  You can find it in an Asian grocery.  Usually this dish you can add anything in it, meat or vegetable depending on what you like.

Ingredients

½ cup meat (if vegetarian use mushrooms: in the picture I use pork and shrimp)

3 hand full mung bean noodle           

2 eggs

1 stock green onion cut into 1 inch

3-4 tbsp. light soy sauce

1-2 tsp. sugar

½ cup thin slice cabbage

1/4 cup  celery

1 tsp. White pepper (optional)

1 tbsp. oil

1 tp. Mince garlic

1-2 tbsp. water

Cooking instructions

1.      Soak mung bean noodle with warm water about 5 minutes.

2.      Add 2 tbsp light soy sauce and 1 tsp. sugar in meat and marinate about 5-10 minutes.

3.      In a large pan turn the heat on medium high heat add oil and wait until oil is hot.

4.       Add garlic cook until golden brown add meat stir until meat cooked.

5.      Add egg stir it just like you make scrambled eggs when egg cooked add cabbage stir  about a couple of times

6.      Add soak mung bean noodle stir till it mixed together add light soy sauce , sugar, water (if need) keep stirring until it is mixed well

7.      At the end add green onion and celery, then turn the heat off

8.      Pour it in the serving and sprinkle it with white pepper and cilantro.

Try this dish you will love it!!!

Tom-Yum-Kung : spicy and sour shrimp soup.

Tom Yum Kung

         Another famous Thai soup that has gone international!!! Tom-yum made from 2 words in Thai.  Tom means soup and yum means sour and spicy salad, so if you hear tom-yum that means spicy and sour soup, but the most famous kind is shrimp or “Kung” but you can use any kind of meat you like (pork, chicken, fish, seafood).  Almost every Thai restaurant in America has to have it, but not too many make it tasty like the original.  Also they have 2 kinds in Thailand.  One has milk (for shrimp and fish) and another one is without milk (tastes spicier).  The key of tom yum is galangal, Lemon grass and Kaffir leaf.  If you don’t have those 3 we don’t call it tom-yum (it’s going to taste just like sour & spicy water!).  I know it is hard to find it in a grocery store.  You can find them at Thai grocery stores, but trust me it’s worth it to find in a Thai grocery store.  In GA I have found them in a frozen version.  They still almost have the same amount of freshness (but the fresh is still the best!).  Anyway If you really cannot find it, use tom yum paste or tom yum cube (but I still recommend the real thing, it tastes way better). Also the original recipe calls Num-Prik-Pow for seasoning. Num-Prick-Pow is a special Thai chili paste (Not like curry paste) and is made with dried chilis, shallots, garlic, shrimp, tamarind juice and sugar then pan fried.  The paste itself has chili oil in it (comes from pan fried) tastes sweet and is not too spicy (for Thai people).  A lot of Thai folk mix Num-Prik-Pow with rice and eat it with a hard boil egg and vegetables just like that.  You can find it in an Asian grocery store, but if it is too much trouble to find them all just leave those ingredients out of the recipe.

Tom yum kung

½ pound Shrimp (peeled and de-veined)

4 Kaffir leaves (Tear it about 4 pieces per one leaf)

1 lemon grass (pound and cut into 1 inches)

2 pieces galangal (pound)

1 cup mushroom

1 ½  cup water or chicken broth or seafood broth

1 tbsp. fresh Thai chili (pound or chop)

1 lime juice (about 3 tbsp.)

2 tbsp. fish sauce

1 tsp. Num-Prik-Pow (special Thai chili paste)

½  cup of half & half (optional for creamier)

1  tsp.  Cilantro

Cooking Instructions:

1.      In the medium pot bring water or chicken broth or seafood broth to boil add galangal, Lemon grass, Kaffir leaf let boil about 2-3 minute for aroma from herb season the soup.

2.      Add shrimp cook about 2-3 minute or until it cooked.

3.      Add mushroom bring it to boil.

4.      Add chili and half & half at the end turn the heat off.

5.   Add lime juice, fish sauce and Num-Prik-Pow then pour soup into the bowl sprinkle with cilantro.

6.   Serve with jasmine rice.

Note: For me I love to eat tom yum soup with rice and Thai style omelet. Oh yes I can eat it all day long!! 

Curry Tart

            This dish actually is a snack in Thailand called “Ka Ree Pup”.  It has chicken potato and curry powder filling.  I believe Thai people get this recipe from western style cooking because Thai food doesn’t use fried dough and potato.  “Ka Ree pup” is very popular in one of our cities called “Sara-buri”, like when you go there you have to buy it for a souvenier (yes… in Thailand a lot of our souvenier’s are food).  In the original recipe you need a special dough that just tastes like fried pie filling with potato chicken curry stuffing.  It tastes savory and you cannot have just one!!!  For me I don’t know how to make the original dough on the outside, so I tried to make it my modern Thai Food way and I discovered 2 ways that came out pretty good.  My 1^st way is to use a frozen puff pastry and it came out very good and the second one I made a tiny little tart (recipe from better home and garden 2000 cook book) and put the stuffing back in it and it tasted good and looked cute too. So let’s get started!!!

Ingredients

Stuffing

1 cup chicken breast ground or cut into ¼ inch cube (for vegetarian use mushrooms)

2 cup cooked potato cut into ¼ inch cube

1 cup dice onion cut

1 cup dice cooked carrot (if you don’t like it leave it out)

2 tbsp. curry powder (or 1 tbsp. turmeric powder)

2 tbsp. sugar

1-2 tbsp. salt

2- tsp. ground pepper

1 tsp. oil

Cooking instructions

1.      Heat large pan on medium high heat add oil wait unit the oil hot add onion stir it till it is cooked

2.      Add chicken and 1 tsp. sugar, salt, pepper  stir it until cooked

3.      Add cooked carrot and potato then add sugar, salt, pepper and curry powder stir it until mixed well.

4.      Adjust the taste till you like turn the heat off let it cool before filling

Tart

½ cup cold butter

1 ¼  cups all-purpose flour

1 beaten egg yolk

2-3 tbsp. Ice water

Cooking instructions

1.      In a mixing bowl cut butter into flour till pieces are pea-size. Stir together egg yolk and 1 tbsp. Ice water.  Gradually stir egg yolk mixture into flour mixture.  Add remaining water, 1 tbsp. at a time. till all the dough is moistened. Gently knead the dough just till a ball forms.

2.      Divide the dough into a small size about 1 inch diameter and mole into small muffin pan use your finger to make a cup shape.

3.      Bake in 375 F about 15 minute or until golden brown.

4.      Let it cool. When it’s cool stuff with chicken curry stuffing garnish with cilantro and thin slice bell pepper.

Spicy grilled steak or beef salad : Num Tok

         

             Num Tok is a northeastern Thailand food.  It means waterfall.  The name came from the juice of meat when it grills it drips onto charcoal hence like a waterfall.

Actually Spicy grilled steak or beef salad when we translate in Thai can mean two different dishes.  One in Thai is called yum-nuea which is grilled beef spicy salad with Thai eggplant and use fresh chili(I’ll tell you the recipe later), but the one I talking about Num Tok has one special ingredient that makes the dish different.  It is a rice powder.  The rice powder is very easy to make, just toast the rice and pound it to make it fine like powder.  I use the mortar for this.  If you don’t have one use a Ziplog bag and pound it until it is fine or use a blender for coffee that works also.

  Also, we use dried red chili to season it.  So be careful when you order it in a Thai restaurant and make sure you know which one you order (best way ask server).

Ingredients

1 pound top sirloin.

1-3 tsp. Dried ground Thai Chili (If you don’t like, because it’s too hot use chili flack)

2-3 shallots or ½ red onion, slice very thin (If you din't have red onion use white onion it's OK)

5 tbsp. fresh squeezed Lime juice

5 tbsp. fish sauce

3 tbsp. rice powder

½ cup mint leave

¼ cup thin slice green onion

Cooking Instructions

1.       Grill or broil the steak until medium-rare (about 5 minute per side).  Slice thin, into pieces approx. 2 inches across and 1/8 inch thick.

2.       Mix chili, fish sauce, lime juice, roasted rice in a medium bowl. Add the sliced meat and toss with the shallots, mints and green onion until it is mixed well

3.       Make a bed of the lettuce on a serving plate. Place the salad on top.

4.       Server with Carrot stick, cucumber and cabbage for garnish (and cool down the heat during eating it !!! )

Sum tum (papaya salad) modernThaiFood Style!!!

               

         This time is I will show you how to make Sum Tum without using a mortar and a pestle, because a lot of people don’t have them in their kitchen(I know not many kitchens in America have it).  Also if you cannot find a green papaya you can use a cucumber or a carrot instead so you can enjoy real Sum tum Thai taste without too much trouble!!!  

Ingredients : Modern Thai Food Style (Non-Mortar recipe)

1 medium carrot chopped

1 hand full chopped green papaya

Note: for slice carrot and cucumber I use potato peeler, peeled it looks like a ribbon.

2-3 cherry tomatoes cut in half

1 globe of garlic

1-1 ½ lime juice

1-2 tbsp. fish sauce

1-2 tsp. Sugar

3 tbsp. peanut

3 tbsp. Dried shrimp (But If you can’t find it don’t worry about that)

1-7 Thai chili (depend on you spicy level)

Cooking Instructions : Modern Thai Food Style (Non-Mortar recipe)

1.       In a large ziplock bag put garlic and Thai chili and 1 tbsp. peanut and dried shrimp pound it with a pan or pounder (whatever you have that’s heavy) until it’s become chunky paste.

2.       Add lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and mix it well.

3.       Add carrot cucumber and tomatoes mix and massage it together till mixed well.

4.       Pour Som-tum on serving plate, garnish with remaining peanut and dried shrimp.

Serve with sticky rice, Grilled chicken (from earlier) Ammm… yummy!!!

Som Tum (Papaya Salad) Part 1 original recipe!!!

Papaya salad

This is the number one of E-sann(Northeatsen)food “Som-tom” (Papaya salad). We almost call this dish the nation’s food of Thailand. That’s because they have it to sell everywhere and everyone loves it!! The ingredients of Som Tum is young papaya, chili, sherry tomato, lime juice, fish sauce and different ingredients depend on what people tastes, but some add nut, sugar, shrimp we call Som Tum Thai.  Some add fermented rice pattern crab call Som Tom Poo. The top chart is Som Tom Pra-Rha. Pra-rha is fermented fish with rice salt, some people add garlic depending on the recipe. It smells very strong and even some Thai folk cannot handle it (one of them is my dad).  Also some people use carrot, cucumber, long bean or fruit like apple, grape instead of papaya.  They just call Som-tum first word and follow with that ingredient  Ex. Som-Tum Pon la Mai (Som Tum fruit salad). 

In this blog I started with the original Som Tum Thai Recipe and continued the next blog with modern Thai food style Som tum Thai recipe.  Later on (after you get to use Thai food more) I will add more Som Tum recipes for you one bit at a time.

Som Tum Thai : Original recipe

Ingredients

1 medium carrot chopped

Green Papaya Salad

1 hand full chopped green papaya

1 long bean cut into 1 inch.

2-3 cherry tomatoes cut in half

2-3 globes of garlic

1-1 ½ lime juice

1-2 tbsp. fish sauce

1-2 tsp. Sugar

3 tbsp. peanut

1-7 Thai chili (depends on your spicy level)

Mortar and pestle

Cooking Instructions :  Original recipe

Original Som tum has to use the tool that’s called “Krok and  Sahk” or mortar and pestle.  It’s the best way to make it, because it makes the ingredients mix well and Som-Tum juicy,  but if you don’t have one I have the way you can enjoy Som-tum without it in the next blog Som Tum Modern Thai Food style.

1.       In the mortar put garlic and Thai chili and pound with pestle together about 5-8 times

2.       Add 1 tbsp. peanut, 1 tbsp. dried shrimp  and long beans pound it 2-3 times until it brakes

3.       Add lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and mix it well

4.       Add carrot and green papaya, pound 2-3 times and tomatoes pound and mix it together.

5.       Pour Som-tum on serving plate, garnish with remaining peanut and dried shrimp.

Note : you can use carrot or cucumber instead of papaya.



And next time I will show you how to make Som Tum with out mortar and pastle.

Thai tea Crème Brulee

Thai tea Crème Brulee picture by Adam Gruszynski

 I went to a valentine’s  party with my Thai friend.  The host was Pearl and Scott her husband, also their was my best friend Sirirat (pick), J J and a lot of Thai girls that I just met and there husbands. Usually after I had my baby Nadia I haven’t really gone to any parties that much, but yesterday was an exception, because Pearl made one of my favorite foods that is very hard to make it called “Sai Krog E Sann” or Northeastern Thai sausage.  This sausage has ground pork, cooked rice, salt, garlic, pepper mixed together and stuffed in the intestine of a pig and fermented by hanging it outside until it sours about a couple of days and then fried or grilled.  Which is a lot of work and I never make it myself, because in Thailand we can find it in with any food vendor, but in the USA I have never found this kind of sausage.  They have another kind that looks similar at the Thai temple, but it is different because it is a northern Thai sausage style that has a kaffir lime leaf in it which is called “Sai Aur” ,and  I don’t really care for that kind.  That’s why I was so excited to go to this party.  She called me a couple of days before and told me that she made it for the first time and she was not very sure how it was going to come out’ but after I tasted it (amm) that was just the way I liked it(sorry I don’t have a picture of it because I ate it all).  

All Party Food



 "Med Kha Non" picture by Adam Gruszynski



She also made Thai desserts called “Med Kha Non” which is mung bean grounded and cooked with coconut milk and sugar rolled in an oval shape and dipped in egg yolk and cooking again in syrup( yes… that is a lot of work too) and Thai tea Crème Brulee.  Actually Crème brulee is not Thai food, but with a twist of Thai tea in it makes it unique to Thailand.

Actually this dessert idea  “Pearl” told me that she got an idea from Nan fine Thai dining restaurant menu as a special (So, thank you Nan Thai dining restaurant to create this menu).  She took the idea and made it for her party.  I ask her can I put it in my blog and she say it was ok.  So I opened my cook book(recipe from better home and garden 2000 cook book)  for crème brulee recipe and added Thai tea.    This is the first time I made this recipe, so I will see how it will go….(I did not get it from Nan Thai dining restaurant original recipe).

Ingredient

2 cup half and half

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/8 tsp. salt

¼ cup raw sugar for make a crust on top

3 tbsp.Strong Thai Tea ( I use 5 tbsp. ground Thai tea with 1 cup of water)

Note :  For Thai tea is a Thai style tea that taste spicy than regular tea (not hot) it has orange in the color. Make it just like making coffee.  A lot of Thai restaurant in America make it sweet and  serve with half and half in Thai we call “Cha Yen”, but if you serve just sweet Thai tea no half and half we call “Cha Dum yen”.

Thai tea

Cooking instruction

1.      In a heavy saucepan heat half and half over medium-low heat just till bubbly .Remove from heat; set aside.

2.      Meanwhile , in a medium mixing bowl combine egg yolks, the 1/3 cup sugar, Thai Tea, and salt. Beat with a wire whisk or rotary beater just till combine. Slowly whisk the hot half and half or light cream into egg mixture.

3.      Place six ¾ cup soufflé dishes or 6-ounce custard cup in a 3-quart rectangular baking pan. Set pan on an oven rack. Pour enough hot water into the baking pan around the dishes to reach halfway up the sides of the dishes

4.      Bake the custard in a 325 oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center of each custard comes out clean. Remove custards from the water bath; cool on wire. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.

5.      Before serving , put 1 tsp. sprinkle over the custard heat with a kitchen blowtorch until the sugar caramelizes evenly. Allow to sit at room temperature for a minute until the caramelized sugar hardens.

Thai tea Crème Brulee picture by Adam Gruszynski

Thank you for the pretty picture from Photographer Adam Gruszynski (Patty husband)