Thai recipes

[Mama Mangia]

Wing Bean Salad (yum tua pu – ยำถั่วพู) is a central Thai dish featuring “wing beans” which are blanched and tossed with coconut milk, roasted chili paste, toasted coconut, tamarind, palm sugar and peanuts. If you can’t get wing beans where you are, they can be substituted with green beans or snap peas.

Directions
1.Slice the fresh coconut meat into match-stick size strips, about 1″ (2cm) long. Remove the skin of the shallots and slice thinly.
2.Roast the coconut on medium heat in a dry pan until light brown. Keep stirring so it doesn’t burn. Set aside on a flat plate to cool.
3.If your peanuts are not already roasted, dry roast them now like you did the coconut. Crush the peanuts with a stone mortar & pestle or the side of a heavy knife.
4.Fry the shallots in enough vegetable oil to cover them on medium heat until golden brown. Be careful not to burn. Remove before dark brown as they will continue to cook for a minute or two once removed from the pan. (You can cheat here and buy pre-fried shallots in a container at many Asian groceries.)
5.Fry the chilies in the oil until browned.
6.Boil the eggs in water until hard-boiled, about 10 minutes. Replace the hot water with fresh cold water to stop the cooking. Peel and slice however you wish (halved, quartered, or sliced thin like shown).
7.Clean the shrimp by peeling off the heads and legs, and removing the “vein” (intestine), but leave the tail on.
8.Trim off the ends of the wing beans and boil whole in salt water for less than a minute — just enough time to turn a darker green. You want them to still be crisp & crunchy. Rinse in cold water and slice into 1/4″ pieces (as shown).
9.Heat the coconut milk in a pan until boiling. Add the shrimp and cook until pink. Turn off heat and add the palm sugar, tamarind paste, roasted chili paste, lime juice, fish sauce, peanuts and coconut. Mix well.
10.Add the wing beans and mix. Remove to a plate and arrange the eggs along side. Garnish with the fried shallots and chilies.
Note:

There are a few variations on this dish which include adding small pieces of boiled chicken or pork along with the shrimp.

If you cannot get fresh coconut where you are, or are too lazy to do that step, do not substitute for the dried coconut in the baking section of the supermarket. It's better to just leave it out.

[Mama Mangia]

Fried Chicken with Salt (gai tod gleua) is a very easy snack dish which goes great with beer! Boiling the chicken first makes it juicy and tender.

2 cups chicken (legs and wings work best)
enough vegetable oil to coat your pan 1" deep
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
1.Rinse and boil the chicken for about 15-20 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.
2.Cut the chicken into pieces, larger than bite-size (about 1.5-2.5″ long).
3.Fry in the oil on medium-high heat. Make sure the oil is hot before you drop the chicken in. It’ll probably splatter a lot, so you might want to use one of those splatter screens.
4.Remove the fried chicken and drain. Place into a pot with the salt. Cover with a lid and shake hard to cover the chicken well with the salt.
5.Serve. Goes well with beer!

[Mama Mangia]

Pad Thai Sauce (makes four large servings)

1/4 cup palm sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
1/4 cup Sriracha sauce

Put tamarind concentrate into a measuring cup, and add enough water to make 1/4 cup, stir, this is your tamarind juice.

In a small sauce pan, put palm sugar, fish sauce, tamarind juice, and sriracha sauce. Cook on low heat until the palm sugar dissolves, then increase heat. Let it start to boil, then quickly remove from heat, and set aside. You can make this Pad Thai sauce ahead and put in a jar in the fridge up to a week.

[Mama Mangia]

Pad Thai (makes 2 servings)

1 egg lightly beaten
3/4 cup (or more) fresh shrimp, uncooked
1 tablespoon sliced shallot
1 tablespoon chopped salted radish
1/4 cup diced firm tofu
1 handful rice stick noodle
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1/4 cup fresh chives, cut into one inch long pieces
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanut
vegetable oil for frying


Rinse the radish several times under cold water, gently squeezing off the water. Chop it and add a little bit of sugar to sweeten, mix well.

Soak the rice stick noodle in warm water for about 15 minutes, leave in water until you are ready to use.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok at medium-high heat. Add egg and cook it quickly, scrambling into small pieces (see video below). Remove, set aside.

Add 2 tablespoons of oil in the same wok. Add shrimps and cook until done. Transfer to a bowl, set aside.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok. Add shallot, radish and tofu fry until aromatic. Increase the heat of your wok. Add a handful of soaked noodles followed with water. Stir-fry this mixture for about 5-6 minutes. The noodles will start to get soft. Add 1/4 cup of Pad Thai Sauce and mix well. Add sugar, cooked egg, bean sprout, chive and cooked shrimps. Stir well for another 1-2 minutes until everything blends together. Turn off heat, transfer to serving plate with sliced fresh lime, roasted peanuts, and more bean sprout on the side. Now dazzle your friends with the fact that your Pad Thai looks and tastes just as good as any restaurant. Enjoy!

You may add Thai chili powder, sugar and crushed peanuts at the table on the side.

[Mama Mangia]

Thai sticky rice (also known as "sweet rice" or "glutinous rice")

Thai sticky is a particular variety of sweet rice, and you must not substitute other varieties with this method.

Rinse rice 2-3 times, until water runs clear. Place rinsed rice in a bowl and fill with cool water so the water is approximately 2-3 inches above the rice. Let the rice stand in water for 6-8 hours. Drain the rice, place it in a cheesecloth, wrap it up and put the cheesecloth inside bamboo steamer. Put 6-8 cups of water in sticky rice steamer. Then place bamboo steamer inside sticky rice steamer. Be sure the bottom of the bamboo steamer does not touch the boiling water. Place a standard 8 inch lid loosely over the top of the bamboo steamer. Now turn on the heat (Med/High) and steam the rice for 45 minutes (or until tender). Enjoy!

[Mama Mangia]

Thai Spicy Ground Chicken and Toasted Rice, "Larb Gai"

1 lb ground chicken
2 tablespoons sliced shallot
2 tablespoons finely chopped spring onion
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
3 tablespoons roasted rice powder (khao koor)
2 tablespoons ground Thai chile (be sure to use real Thai ground chile)
3 tablespoons lime juice
2-3 tablespoons fish sauce


Garnish

Always serve with a good portion of fresh cabbage, and add green beans, parsley, sliced radish, cucumber, & coriander leaves if you like.

Method

You can use ground chicken from the supermarket, or chicken ground in your food processor. Cook the chicken with 2 tablespoons lime juice in a pan over moderate heat. Stir until done. Transfer cooked chicken into medium mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, and mix well. Taste and season as desired. You might want more or less ground chile and/or fish sauce, etc. Serve with fresh vegetables (as shown) and warm, freshly-steamed sticky rice (or if you prefer you can use Thai jasmine rice). Note: if you like chicken giblets, cut them up into small pieces and cook in boiling water. Drain then add to cooked ground chicken before you add the other ingredients.

The usual way to eat this is to get a small ball of sticky rice in the fingers and use it to pick up a little lawb, then eat it with the raw veggies. You can also use a fork and spoon as a lot of Thais do.

[Mama Mangia]

Waterfall Beef, "Neua Yang Nam Tok"

1 pound steak, cut fairly thick.

Marinade

1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate mixed with 3 teaspoons water
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon chopped Thai chile peppers

Mix the marinade, coat the steak with it and marinade it for at least 3 hours.

The steak is then barbequed, broiled or grilled until on the rare side of medium rare, cut into half inch thick strips and the strips cut into bite sized pieces. The meat can be kept cool until just before you want to eat.

Remaining ingredients

1/3 cup fish sauce
1/3 cup lime juice
2-3 tablespoons chopped shallots
2-3 tablespoons chopped coriander/cilantro (including the roots if possible)
2-3 tablespoons chopped mint leaves
2 tablespoons khao koor (see below)
1 tablespoon freshly roasted/fried sesame seeds
1-3 teaspoons freshly ground dried red chilis.


Khao Koor: get a medium sized wok fairly hot, and add a couple of tablespoons of uncooked jasmine rice. Keep in movement until the rice starts to turn golden brown. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Grind to a fairly coarse powder in a spice mill, or a mortar and pestle, or a pepper mill or a good clean coffee grinder (all of these work well but keep in mind that a coffee grinder tends to grind too fine--the powder should retain some "texture").

Method

In a wok bring a little oil to medium high heat and add the strips of beef, immediately followed by all the remaining ingredients. Stir fry until heated through (about a minute).

Serve with Thai sticky rice, or as part of a meal with pad Thai and a soup such as tom yum koong (hot and sour shrimp soup).

[Mama Mangia]

Thai Barbeque Chicken, "Gai Yang"

Marinade:

1/2 cup oyster sauce
1/2 cup sweet dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons of crushed garlic
2 tablespoons of freshly ground ginger root
1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
5 (ore more) cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 sprigs parsley
Fresh limes, halved
1-2 tablespoons satay powder (optional)

Marinade the poultry for an hour or more (overnight), the longer the better.

Method

Wash the chicken and rub it with fresh limes. Combine the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken, mix well and marinade.

Barbeque over charcoal or broil until cooked and the skin is crispy brown.

This is best served with Thai sticky rice, and sweet chile sauce. You should also put some more fresh ground ginger on the table and the usual Thai condiments (we particularly like chilis marinated in sweet dark soy sauce with this one). You can also serve it with a simple green salad.

[Mama Mangia]

Crying Tiger Beef, "Seua Rong Hai"

Ingredients / Beef & Marinade
1 flank steak (usually weighs about 1 lb or a bit more)
2 tablespoons of thin soy sauce

Ingredients / Dipping Sauce
1/2 teaspoon corriander seeds
4 cloves garlic
15 fresh Thai chiles
5 tablespoons lime juice
5-7 tablespoons fish sauce
1-2 tablespoons sugar

Method
Coat your steak in the thin soy sauce and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Some chefs like to add a bit of fish sauce to this, but we like to use just soy sauce. Barbeque your steak over charcoal.

To make the crying tiger dipping sauce, first pound the corriander seeds in a mortar and pestle until it becomes powder. Add garlic and chilli pound until roughly smooth then stir in lime juice, fish sauce and sugar. Stir until blend. Adjust the taste to your flavor. Serve this dipping sauce on the side with fresh cucumber, green beans etc and sticky rice.

[Mama Mangia]

"Beef Larb"

Ingredients / Beef & Marinade
1 flank steak (usually weighs about 1 lb or a bit more)
2 tablespoons of thin soy sauce

Ingredients / Larb
2 tablespoons sliced shallot
2 tablespoons finely chopped spring onion
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
3 tablespoons roasted rice powder (khao koor--see below)
2 tablespoons coarse ground Thai chile (be sure to use real Thai ground chile)
3 tablespoons lime juice
2-3 tablespoons fish sauce

Method
Coat your steak in the thin soy sauce and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Some chefs like to add a bit of fish sauce to this, but we like to use just soy sauce. Barbeque your steak over charcoal.

Make your khao koor: Heat a medium sized wok or skillet at medium/high, and add a couple of tablespoons of uncooked jasmine rice. Keep in movement until the rice starts to turn golden brown. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Grind to a fairly coarse powder in a spice mill, or a mortar and pestle, or a pepper mill or a good clean coffee grinder (all of these work well but keep in mind that a coffee grinder tends to grind too fine--the powder should retain some "texture").

Put your cooked beef into a mixing bowl. Add the larb ingredients except the mint leaf, and mix well. Taste and season as desired. You might want more or less ground chile and/or fish sauce, etc. Serve with fresh green beans, and freshly-steamed sticky rice (or if you prefer you can use Thai jasmine rice). Serve with mint leaves on the side, to be eaten with the beef.

The usual way to eat this is to get a small ball of sticky rice in the fingers and use it to pick up a little lawb, then eat it with the raw veggies. You can also use a fork and spoon as a lot of Thais do.