Heat up your valentine with Spicy seafood Salad !!!!

               

         Almost valentine's day so let’s spice up your love with a spicy seafood salad.  Yum Ta Lay or spicy seafood salad is eastern Thai food (where my family came from),  because east Thailand is close to the ocean.  So most of eastern food has seafood for an ingredient.  It’s very easy to make and find the ingredients in America.  Amm…The more I talk the more I’m getting a craving, so let’s get started.

Ingredients

2 cup mix seafood (Shrimp, squid, mussel, crabs stick)

½ cup onion slice half moon

½ cup tomato slice in wedge or cherry tomato cut half

1 Green onion cut into 1 inch.

¼ cup Chinese celery cut into 1 inch (or celery leave)

2 tbsp. Lime

2 tbsp. fish sauce

2-3 Tsp. slice Thai chili or Jalapeno (it’s up to your hot level)

1 tsp. sugar.

3 cup. water

Cooking Instruction

1.       In the medium bowl add lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, stir until sugar dissolved. Add chili set aside.

2.       Put medium pot on high/medium heat, add 3 cup water. Wait until it boils.

3.       Add seafood into pot, stir until it is cooked about 2-4 minute (Shrimp turns pink, squid turns white) then drain it.

4.       Pour cooked seafood in to lime mixer bowl.

5.       Add onion, tomato, green onion, stir until mixed well

6.       Arrange on a serving dish, garnish with sprigs of celery and serve.

Note: This dish is very spicy.  Be careful!!!

Chicken coconut soup.

Tom-Soup: Chicken coconut soup.

                Tum kha Gai or Chicken coconut soup is the food from central Thailand that a lot of Americans like.  Actually it means chicken with galangal soup, because the main ingredient is young galangal and chicken.  In Thai we eat with rice and serve at the same time with any food not like in America it is served as an appetizer.  When I first came here (USA) I ordered it in one of the Thai restaurants and it tasted totally different from what I have in Thailand.  I was kind of disappointed.  The original was my mom’s recipe chicken coconut soup which makes it rich and tasty (little bit sour and spicy), but in America (some restaurants) make it too watery and it does not taste good at all (for my opinion).  I find out later that some restaurants just want to make it light so they serve as a soup not for food like the traditional recipe.  So this recipe it will be the original one, but if you think it’s too rich and tasty for you just add more chicken broth.

Note: If you cannot find young galangal don’t worry just use the one you can find and make thin sliced, but if it’s too old and cannot make thin sliced just pound it.

Ingredients

1/2 pound chicken

1 cup mushroom

1 can (14 oz) coconut milk

½ cup chicken broth or water

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

1 lemon grass (pounded and cut into 1 inches)

4-6 pieces young galangal (slice)

2-11 Thai Chilies (it’s up to you)

2 tbsp. cilantros

2-3 tbsp. fish sauce

2-3 tbsp. lime juice

1 tsp. sugar

Cooking Instructions

1.       In medium pot add coconut milk and chicken broth or water, bring it to a boil at medium heat.

2.       Add galangal, Kaffir lime leaves,  lemon grass, stir and keep at a boil for about 8-10 minutes

3.       Add chicken, stir 2-3 times till chicken cooked then add sugar

4.       Add mushroom bring it to a boil then turn the heat off

5.       For seasoning add chili and lime juice then stir it till mixed well at last garnish with cilantro.

6.       Serve with steamed rice (for me plus Thai omelet)

Now dig in!!

Thai Grilled Chicken or BBQ Chicken : modern recipe

Gai-Yang

This grilled chicken or Gai-Yang is a classic Thai northeastern Thailand (E-sann).  When you go to Thailand you will see it at almost every E-Sann food vender, also you can find it with every street food vender that’s how famous this dish is. For me I love to eat it with sticky rice and sweet chili sauce.  So this time I will give you the Grilled chicken recipe and sweet chili sauce.

Ingredients

4 pieces Quarter Chicken (leg & thigh)

minced garlic

6 gloves garlic minced

¼ cup vegetable oil

6 tbsp. soy sauce

2 tbsp. oyster sauce

2 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. sweet soy sauce for the color (If you don’t have don’t worry about it)

Cooking Instruction

1.       In a plastic bag mix garlic, oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, sweet soy sauce and mix well

Chicken in marinate bag

2.       Put chicken into marinate bag, massage chicken and let it marinate at least 1 hr. (The more it marinates the more it tastes good)



prepared to put it in the oven (It's rainy day,I can't grill)



3.       Turn on grill heat up to 400 F (or in the oven).

4.       Grill Chicken about 7-10 minute per side, if oven bake about 30-40 minute or till it’s cooked.

5.       Serve with sticky rice and sweet and sour chicken dipping sauce(recipe follow)

Sweet chili chicken dipping sauce (Num-Jim-Gai)

ready to use sweet chili dipping sauce

This sauce is common sauce that serve with Gai-Yang.  You can also buy it ready to use at Thai grocery store.

Ingredients

2-5 fresh red Thai chili (or dried Thai chili)

2-3 glove garlic

½ cup sugar

½ cup white vinegar

1 tsp.salt

1 tsp. corn starch

2 tbsp. water

Cooking Instruction

1.       In a small Ziplock bag put fresh Thai chili and garlic pound it with a pan or a tenderizer (whatever you have that’s heavy) until it becomes a chunky paste.  If you use dried chilies just chop it.

2.       In a small sauce pan add sugar, white vinegar, salt then bring it to a boil and then add chili paste.

3.       In a small bowl mix corn starch and water till mix well.

4.       Stir corn starch mixer into sauce keep stir until sauce thicken.

5.       Turn the heat off pour in to the serving bowl.