I still have some lemon grass and pork left over so I am making Thai pork and vegetable curry today. I just finished typing the recipe. I find that most of the Asian dishes that I make are easy if you prepare and measure all the ingredients ahead of time. The French call this mise en place and it's actually something that I try to do when ever I am cooking. It keeps me from forgetting to add some vital ingredient.
I also typed up the recipe for Red Fried Rice. That should give you a nice start on making some Thai food at home.
Cancun Canuck you might try the Pork and Vegetable Curry it's tasty and pretty easy. I have a wok but hardly ever use it, I use a large fry pan. First heat the pan, then add the oil, when the oil is hot (it will start to shimmer) then add the food.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Gaen Ped Moo- Pork and Vegetable Curry
1/4 cup vegetable oil (preferably peanut oil)
3 tablespoon red curry paste
1 cup lean pork, loin or butt, cut into thin slices 1/2" by 2 "
2 tablespoons fish sauce or Worcestershire sauce (salsa inglesa)
1 stalk lemon grass (te de limon), chopped
1/2 cup cabbage,chopped and soaked in cold water
1/2 cup green beans, cut into 1 1/2" lengths,soaked in cold water*
1 cup dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in hot water, stemmed and cut into strips**
5 fresh,red Serrano chillies, seeded and cut into strips***
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
12 mint leaves, chopped
Heat the oil in a wok and fry the red curry paste for 3 minutes, stirring until the colour and odor change. Add the pork, fish sauce,and lemon grass. Stir fry for 5 minutes. Drain the cabbage, beans and mushrooms and add them to the wok. Fry another 3 minutes. Sprinkle with chili strips. Stir fry for an additional minute. Sprinkle with sugar. Mix well. Remove to a serving bowl and garnish with the mint leaves.
4 servings.
notes:
* I usually use frozen green beans that I have thawed if the fresh green beans don't look so good. Green beans are called ejote here, and habichuelas in Spain.
** I don't like shitaki mushrooms so if that is all that is available I use regular fresh mushrooms or portobellas
*** I buy the closest to ripe Serranos, when they are just turning colour, let them sit out overnight until they turn red. The red ones available at the grocery store are usually too ripe and fall apart.
I have made this with twice as much vegetable and it's excellent.
3 tablespoon red curry paste
1 cup lean pork, loin or butt, cut into thin slices 1/2" by 2 "
2 tablespoons fish sauce or Worcestershire sauce (salsa inglesa)
1 stalk lemon grass (te de limon), chopped
1/2 cup cabbage,chopped and soaked in cold water
1/2 cup green beans, cut into 1 1/2" lengths,soaked in cold water*
1 cup dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in hot water, stemmed and cut into strips**
5 fresh,red Serrano chillies, seeded and cut into strips***
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
12 mint leaves, chopped
Heat the oil in a wok and fry the red curry paste for 3 minutes, stirring until the colour and odor change. Add the pork, fish sauce,and lemon grass. Stir fry for 5 minutes. Drain the cabbage, beans and mushrooms and add them to the wok. Fry another 3 minutes. Sprinkle with chili strips. Stir fry for an additional minute. Sprinkle with sugar. Mix well. Remove to a serving bowl and garnish with the mint leaves.
4 servings.
notes:
* I usually use frozen green beans that I have thawed if the fresh green beans don't look so good. Green beans are called ejote here, and habichuelas in Spain.
** I don't like shitaki mushrooms so if that is all that is available I use regular fresh mushrooms or portobellas
*** I buy the closest to ripe Serranos, when they are just turning colour, let them sit out overnight until they turn red. The red ones available at the grocery store are usually too ripe and fall apart.
I have made this with twice as much vegetable and it's excellent.
Kao Pad Tamada- Red Fried Rice
3 tablespoons vegetable oil (preferably peanut oil)
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 onion,finely chopped
1 cup cooked shrimp
2 tablespoons fish sauce (Nam Pla) or Worcestershire Sauce (Salsa Inglesa)
3 cups cooked rice, chilled
3 tablespoons tomato ketchup
Garnish
6 green onions cut into tassels
1 small cucumber,peeled and sliced
3 tablespoons coriander leaves, chopped
Heat the oil in a wok. Lightly brown the garlic. Add the onions and stir-fry until golden. Add the shrimp and the fish sauce and heat through. Stir in the rice and toss until everything is well mixed. Pour in the ketchup and stir well.
Remove to a platter, garnish with the green onion tassels (sometimes the green onions here aren't very pretty so I just garnish with either green onion slices or chives), ring with cucumber slices and sprinkle the coriander leaves over the top.
The recipe says it makes 3 servings, I have halved this recipe and still had left overs when serving 3 people!
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 onion,finely chopped
1 cup cooked shrimp
2 tablespoons fish sauce (Nam Pla) or Worcestershire Sauce (Salsa Inglesa)
3 cups cooked rice, chilled
3 tablespoons tomato ketchup
Garnish
6 green onions cut into tassels
1 small cucumber,peeled and sliced
3 tablespoons coriander leaves, chopped
Heat the oil in a wok. Lightly brown the garlic. Add the onions and stir-fry until golden. Add the shrimp and the fish sauce and heat through. Stir in the rice and toss until everything is well mixed. Pour in the ketchup and stir well.
Remove to a platter, garnish with the green onion tassels (sometimes the green onions here aren't very pretty so I just garnish with either green onion slices or chives), ring with cucumber slices and sprinkle the coriander leaves over the top.
The recipe says it makes 3 servings, I have halved this recipe and still had left overs when serving 3 people!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Steamed chinese buns
I had a can of red bean paste in my pantry getting old so I made steamed buns filled with red bean paste last week. Today I was reading the back posts on Rachel's incredible food blog called Coconut and Lime and I found a recipe for red bean buns. Since I'm lazy, I'm going to just link to her recipe.
I have two recipes for steamed buns, one with yeast like Rachel's and another one made with baking powder. I like them both equally well.
I have two recipes for steamed buns, one with yeast like Rachel's and another one made with baking powder. I like them both equally well.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Changes in eating habits
I have been meaning to post about our eating plan, I don't want to call it a diet, since it's really a lifelong change, and who wants to spend their entire life on a diet? not us!
Prevention Magazine has an article online called Top 10 Cholesterol Fighting Foods, I like Prevention Magazine, they have always struck me as practical and sensible. So two of the changes that I have made is that I am incorporating a cup of beans into our daily food regime. It's been easy so far. I have been adding more spinach to our diet, we already enjoy it in Saag Paneer, and of course Spinach Salad. I cooked spinach with lemon juice and garlic the other day.
I tend towards using a lot of garlic as a matter of course in my cooking, but I'm thinking that I need to roast a few heads to use as a spread.
Of course, my post on the Thai food that I made makes it seem like a lie, but I really only ate a little of everything. The pork that I used happed to already be in my freezer, it was lean tenderloin, so I don't feel too badly. The shrimp are a no-no, but once again we really only had a few, since they were mixed in the Pad Thai and the Red Fried Rice.
Prevention Magazine has an article online called Top 10 Cholesterol Fighting Foods, I like Prevention Magazine, they have always struck me as practical and sensible. So two of the changes that I have made is that I am incorporating a cup of beans into our daily food regime. It's been easy so far. I have been adding more spinach to our diet, we already enjoy it in Saag Paneer, and of course Spinach Salad. I cooked spinach with lemon juice and garlic the other day.
I tend towards using a lot of garlic as a matter of course in my cooking, but I'm thinking that I need to roast a few heads to use as a spread.
Of course, my post on the Thai food that I made makes it seem like a lie, but I really only ate a little of everything. The pork that I used happed to already be in my freezer, it was lean tenderloin, so I don't feel too badly. The shrimp are a no-no, but once again we really only had a few, since they were mixed in the Pad Thai and the Red Fried Rice.
Thai food extravaganza
La maestra had mentioned that she loved Thai food and missed eating it. Lindi had mentioned that she loves Thai food and missed it too. Thai is Husband's favorite food.
What does that mean? We had Thai food today. It was a lovely group, La Maestra, her lovely granddaughter Gita and our neighbors and friends Lindi, Pablo and of course Husband and I. Mr. Dog was very interested too, but he only got a tiny taste of the satay. We had starting with the bowl in the upper right (one o'clock) pickled cucumber salad, chicken satay, peanut sauce for the satay, green banana curry,pork and vegetable curry, a small bowl of chopped peanuts to add as needed, pad thai, and red fried rice.
Here is a closer look at the table.
Here is a close up of the pad thai.
This is the red fried rice. Ketchup is what makes it red.
This is the pork and vegetable curry. Those red strips are serrano peppers that I bought at the supermarket and let riped to red. I picked the ones just showing a little colour and left them out for a day to ripen.
Here is the chicken satay. I love how Husband lined the dish with a fresh banana leaf.
Husband was really involved in making this feast. I don't know if he meant to be, but he grilled the meat, made a lovely Thai Limeade, and prepared the pickles. He also did a lot of other stuff, it was so nice working together in the kitchen.
We also had some nice wine and tropical ice cream supplied by our guests.
Pablo and Gita had never had Thai food before so I told them that was perfect because they had nothing to compare it to. La Maestra remarked that it had been years since she had any Thai food, and come to think of it Husband hasn't had any since we moved here. So I had their memories of great Thai food to compete with, I think Lindi and I have had Thai food the most recently. It was a lovely meal. I'll type up the rest of the recipes this week
What does that mean? We had Thai food today. It was a lovely group, La Maestra, her lovely granddaughter Gita and our neighbors and friends Lindi, Pablo and of course Husband and I. Mr. Dog was very interested too, but he only got a tiny taste of the satay. We had starting with the bowl in the upper right (one o'clock) pickled cucumber salad, chicken satay, peanut sauce for the satay, green banana curry,pork and vegetable curry, a small bowl of chopped peanuts to add as needed, pad thai, and red fried rice.
Here is a closer look at the table.
Here is a close up of the pad thai.
This is the red fried rice. Ketchup is what makes it red.
This is the pork and vegetable curry. Those red strips are serrano peppers that I bought at the supermarket and let riped to red. I picked the ones just showing a little colour and left them out for a day to ripen.
Here is the chicken satay. I love how Husband lined the dish with a fresh banana leaf.
Husband was really involved in making this feast. I don't know if he meant to be, but he grilled the meat, made a lovely Thai Limeade, and prepared the pickles. He also did a lot of other stuff, it was so nice working together in the kitchen.
We also had some nice wine and tropical ice cream supplied by our guests.
Pablo and Gita had never had Thai food before so I told them that was perfect because they had nothing to compare it to. La Maestra remarked that it had been years since she had any Thai food, and come to think of it Husband hasn't had any since we moved here. So I had their memories of great Thai food to compete with, I think Lindi and I have had Thai food the most recently. It was a lovely meal. I'll type up the rest of the recipes this week
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