HOT AND SOUR CURRY WITH SHRIMPS | kang som koong + kai jeaw cha-om

Thai Recipe Ingredients

* 8-10 medium sized shrimps, cleaned, peeled and deveined

* 200 grams fish fillet (any meaty white fish)

* 4 tablespoons hot and sour curry paste

* 4 tablespoons of tamarind juice

* 3 tablespoons of fish sauce

* 1 teaspoon of palm sugar

* Lemon juice

* 1 bunch of acacia leaf [thai : cha-om] (optional)

* 3 eggs (optional, to make acacia omelette)

Thai Food Preparations

1. Put the fish fillet in a boiling water and wait until it cooked. Then take out (debone, if necessary), and crush the cooked fish in a mortar with hot and sour curry paste until mixed well. Remove and set aside.

2. Heat water in a pot, wait until boiling. Add the hot and sour curry paste and season with fish sauce, tamarind juice and sugar till tasteful.

3. Add the shrimps and acacia omelette (optional, see below). When the soup boiling, remove from heat. Add lemon juice as desired taste. Transfer to a serving bowl, and serve with steamed rice.

Acacia Omelette (kai jeaw cha-om) : this recipe is optional. However, thai people love to eat this omelette with hot and sour curry. (If you cannot find acacia in your local grocery store, you may try to use other fresh vegetables instead.)

1. Wash cha-om and nip the leaves and young leaves then cut into 1-inch portions.

2. Add the beaten eggs in a bowl, and also add the acacia. Stir until all mixed well.

3. Heat oil in a wok. Add the beaten eggs with acacia in the wok, fry until cooked and golden, then remove and drain. Slice into cubes.

(For 2 Serving)

Shrimp in Dried Red Curry | choo chee koong

Thai Recipe Ingredients

* 8-10 shrimps, cleaned, peeled and deveined

* 3 tablespoons red curry paste

* 1 tablespoon fish sauce

* 1 tablespoon sugar

* 2 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced

* 400 grams coconut milk

* 1 red chilli,thinly sliced

* 3 coriander leaves (for garnishing)

* cooking oil

Thai Food Preparations

1. Heat oil in a wok over medium -high heat, add coconut milk and red curry paste. Fry until aromatic and until the oil has clearly separated from the coconut milk.

2. Add the shrimp, and season with fish sauce and sugar.

3. Stir fry until the shrimp is cooked, then add kaffir lime leaves and stir for another 1 minute.

4. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with red chili, and coriander leaves. Serve immediately with steamed rice

FRIED EGG IN CLEAR SOUP|kang jued kai num

Thai Recipe Ingredients

* 200 grams ground pork

* 100 grams vermicelli noodle (optional)

* 6 eggs, beaten

* ¼ cup oil

* 1 tablespoon. crispy fried chopped garlic (for topping)

* ½ cup thin sliced onions

* 6 cups chicken stock or water

* 1/ 3 cup fish sauce

* 1/8 teaspoon white pepper

* 300 grams chinese cabbage, cut into well pieces

* 2 spring onions cut into 1 inch long pieces

Thai Food Preparations

1. Heat oil in a wok over low heat, and add beaten eggs, fry until golden brown ( about 2 minutes on each side) and set aside, then cut into small strips.

2. In a pot, bring the chicken stock (or water) to boil. When boiling, add pork and stir until cooked.

3. Add onion, chinese cabbages and spring onions, the egg strips,and the remaining ingredients.

4. Remove to a serving bowl. Before serving, garnish with crispy fried chopped garlic on top of the bowl.

(For 2 Serving)

Pad Thai Noodles with Shrimps

I first ate this in a small street café in Ko Samui, an island off Thailand. It was so supremely good that my husband videoed it in close-up so that I could recreate the whole thing at home. I did, and here it is – every bit as good, I'm glad to say. If you have trouble tracking down dried shrimps.

Serves 2 as a main course

Ingredients:

4 oz (110 g) rice noodles (medium width, about 1/8 inch/3 mm thick)
2 level tablespoons dried shrimps
6 oz (175 g) raw headless tiger prawns (if frozen, thoroughly defrosted)
3 tablespoons groundnut or other flavourless oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 medium red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
½ medium red onion, thinly sliced into half-moon shapes
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
juice 1 large lime (about 2 tablespoons)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

For the garnish:

2 heaped tablespoons fresh coriander leaves
2 oz (50 g) natural roasted unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped or crushed in a pestle and mortar
2 spring onions, chopped, including the green parts

You will also need a deep frying pan with a diameter of 10 inches (25.5 cm), or a wok.

How to cook:

The way to tackle this is by having all the ingredients on the list prepared and assembled in front of you. First of all place the dried shrimps in a jug, cover with some boiling water and soak for 10 minutes, then do the same with the noodles, placing them in a bowl and making sure they're totally submerged in boiling water. After this time, drain the noodles in a colander and rinse them in cold water, then drain the shrimps. Now, to prepare the prawns, peel off and discard the shells, then you need to de-vein them. To do this, make a slit all along their backs using a small, sharp knife and remove any brownish-black thread, using the tip of the knife to lift it out. Now chop each prawn into 3.

When you're ready to start cooking, heat the oil in the frying pan or wok over a high heat until it is really hot. Then, first add the garlic, chilli and red onion and fry for 1-1½ minutes, or until the onion is tender, then, keeping the heat high, add the soaked dried shrimps and the prawns and fry for a further 2 minutes, or until the prawns have turned pink and are cooked. After that add the fish sauce and the lime juice, then stir this around for just a few seconds before adding the noodles. Now toss them around for 1-2 minutes, or until the noodles are heated through. Next add the beaten egg by pouring it slowly and evenly all over. Let it begin to set for about 1 minute, then stir briefly once more until the egg is cooked into little shreds. Then mix in half the garnish and give one final stir before serving absolutely immediately in hot bowls with the rest of the garnish handed round to be sprinkled over.

Hot and Sour Thai Chicken Broth

Lower fat

This recipe, given to me by Sarah Randell, Editor of the Collection, is based on a version of Tom Yum soup – a spicy, clear, refreshing broth found on the menu of most Thai restaurants. This one is made with chicken but it is also delicious made with tiger prawns – and what's more, it is low in fat. The Thai fish sauce is used to season the soup but make sure you buy a good-quality version, such as Squid, as some less authentic brands are excessively salty. This soup is also nice made with Japanese miso stock.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 skinless chicken breasts (6 oz/175 g each)
2 pints (1.2 litres) chicken stock
a small bunch of coriander leaves (½ oz/10 g)
2 small red bird's eye chillies
1 stalk of lemon grass, roughly chopped
a small piece (1 inch/2.5 cm) of ginger, peeled and sliced
2 medium, ripe tomatoes
3 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced (including the green parts)
2 oz (50 g) fresh, shelled peas
2 oz (50 g) sugar snap peas, cut in half
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
1 tablespoon tamarind purée
juice of a large lime (about 2 tablespoons)

How to cook:

First of all, you need to pick all the coriander leaves off the stalks and then cut 1 of the chillies in half lengthways and deseed it. Next, put the chicken stock into a large saucepan and add the coriander stalks, halved chilli, lemon grass and ginger. Bring the mixture to the boil, give everything a stir, then cover and leave to simmer very gently for 15 minutes to allow the Thai flavours to infuse the stock. You can make this stock in advance but add the rest of the ingredients shortly before serving.

Meanwhile, place the tomatoes in a bowl and pour boiling water over them and leave them for 1 minute before draining. Next, skin the tomatoes and cut each one into quarters, then remove the seeds and cut each quarter into three lengthways, so you end up with thin slices. Now cut each chicken breast in half widthways and then slice each half into five or six long thin strips and then slice each of these in half lengthways so you end up with thin slivers of chicken. Now strain the stock into a colander set over a bowl and discard the flavourings. Next, return the stock to the pan and when it is back to simmering point, stir in the thin slivers of chicken, and half of the spring onions. Stir and then cover again and leave the chicken to poach gently for 5 minutes or until it is cooked through. Meanwhile, trim and halve the remaining chilli, remove the seeds, and then finely slice it, making sure you wash your hands afterwards.

Next, add the peas, sugar snaps, sliced chilli, fish sauce, tamarind and lime juice to the soup, stir and gently simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the peas are just tender but still retain their bite. Stir the slices of tomato in at the last minute and then divide the coriander leaves among four deep bowls. Ladle the piping hot soup on top, sprinkle with the remaining spring onions and serve immediately.

Thai Prawn Curry with Pineapple

This lovely recipe from The Oriental's Cookery School in Bangkok has been slightly adjusted to accommodate Western ingredients without, I think, losing its authenticity. It's incredibly simple and easy and it really does taste exotic and unusual. If fresh tiger prawns are not available, you can buy them from the freezer cabinet in large supermarkets.















Ingredients:

1 lb (450 g) uncooked fresh or frozen tiger prawns in their shells
1 lb (450 g) fresh pineapple, cut into ¾ inch (2 cm) chunks
2 x 400 ml tins coconut milk

For the curry paste:

4 dried red chillies, soaked with the juice and zest of 1 lime for 30 minutes
1 level tablespoon lemon grass, finely chopped
1 inch (2.5 cm) cube fresh ginger
5 garlic cloves, peeled
7 Thai shallots, peeled (or normal shallots if not available)
1 level teaspoon shrimp paste (if not available use 2 anchovies)
½ level teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons Thai fish sauce

To garnish:

2 kaffir lime leaves (if available)
2 medium-sized red chillies, de-seeded and shredded into hairlike strips

You will also need a wok or a very large frying pan

How to cook:

If the tiger prawns are frozen, defrost them by emptying them into a colander and leaving them for about an hour to defrost. Then cook the prawns (either fresh or frozen) in a frying pan or wok. Add the prawns in their shells to the hot pan and dry-fry over direct high heat for about 4-5 minutes, turning and tossing them around whilst you watch their beige and black stripes turn pink.

After that remove them from the heat and when they're cool enough to handle, peel off the skins, then make a slit all along their backs and remove any black thread. Now keep them covered and refrigerated until you need them.

To make the curry paste, all you do is put everything into a food processor or blender, then switch on to a high speed and blend until you have a rather coarse, rough-looking paste. Remove the paste and keep it covered in the fridge until you need it.

When you're ready to make the curry, empty the contents of the tins of coconut milk into a wok and stir while you bring it up to the boil, then boil until the fat begins to separate from the solids. This will take about 20 minutes, and if you listen carefully you'll hear a sizzle as the fat begins to come out and the whole thing is reduced. Ignore the curdled appearance. Now add the curry paste, give it 3 minutes' cooking time, enough for the flavours to develop, then add the prawns and the pineapple and let them heat through gently for another 2 minutes. During that time, shred the lime leaves by placing one on top of the other, then roll them up tightly and cut into very thin shreds. Serve the curry with lime leaves and chilli strips sprinkled over, and some Thai fragrant rice as an accompaniment.

Turkey with a Hint of Thai

This Thai-influenced recipe was invented because – you've guessed it – I had quite a lot of cold turkey to use up. But because we enjoyed it so much, I would recommend making it with some ready-cooked chicken if there's no leftover turkey to hand.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 lb 4 oz (570 g) cooked turkey or the same quantity of ready-cooked chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 level teaspoon cumin seeds
1 level teaspoon fennel seeds
1 level dessertspoon coriander seeds
3 cardamom pods
1½ tablespoons groundnut or other flavourless oil
1 large onion, peeled, halved and cut in thin slices
2 stalks celery, chopped into ½ inch (1 cm) pieces
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped small
2 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
1 inch (2.5 cm) piece of root ginger, grated
1 level teaspoon ground fenugreek
1 level teaspoon ground turmeric
1½ level tablespoons plain flour
1¼ pints (725 ml) vegetable stock made with Marigold Swiss vegetable bouillon powder

To serve:

2 rounded tablespoons half-fat crème fraîche
1 level tablespoon fresh chopped coriander leaves

How to cook:

Begin by dry-roasting the cumin, fennel, coriander seeds and cardamom to draw out their full flavours. To do this, place them in a small frying pan or saucepan set over a medium heat and stir and toss them around for 1-2 minutes, or until they begin to look toasted and start to 'jump' in the pan. Now transfer them to a pestle and mortar and crush to a powder.

Next, add the oil to a large frying pan and, when it's very hot, turn the heat down to medium and fry the onion and celery for 4-5 minutes or until well browned at the edges. Then add the garlic, chillies and ginger and cook for a further minute before adding the crushed spices, fenugreek, turmeric and the flour. Stir well, then add the turkey (or chicken) and stir again to coat all the pieces with the mixture.

Next, add the stock gradually, stirring yet again, then, as soon as it all comes to simmering point, turn the heat down and let it cook very gently for 25 minutes with the lid on. After that, stir in the crème fraîche and serve the curry with basmati or Thai rice, with the coriander leaves sprinkled over as a garnish.