Thai Cuisine Recipe

A universally popular well wort the time needed to prepare it, this mixture of seafood, coconut milk and seasonings is steamed in small cups made of banana leaf. It is possible to use aluminium foil or small cup-cake tins or small heatproof bowls instead. Rather than a number of small cakes, you can also make one large cake about 1 in (3 cm) thick, in an 8x8 in (20 x 20 cm) heatproof cake or brownie dish, and then slice it into

Ingregients (serves 6)
3/4 cup (180 ml) coconut cream

1 teaspoon rice flour

4 oz (100 g) fresh shrimp or prawns, peeled and deveined, cut into small pieces

4 oz (100 g) squid, cleaned and cut into tiny pieces

2 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 1/4 cups (300 ml) coconut milk

1/2 cup (20 g) finely chopped Thai basil leaves (horapa)

2 tablespoons very thinly sliced kaffir lime leavesCoriander leave (cilantro) to garnish

1 thinly sliced red chili

Banana leaf cups 2 in (5 cm) square (see instruction) or heatproof cake pan

Spice Paste
10-15 dried chilies, slit open length-wise, deseeded and soaked in water
3 colves garlic
4 slices galangal
1 teaspoon grated kaffir lime rind
2 teaspoons chopped cilantro root
5 black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon died shrimp paste, roasted
1 teaspoon chopped krachai (optional)

Preparation
1 mix coconut cream with the rice flour and bring to the boil, stirring until thickened. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool for topping.
2 Grind the Spice Paste ingredients in a blender or a mortar and pestle. Mix the Spice Paste with the fish, shrimp, squid, egg and fish sauce. Then add the coconut milk, a little at a time. Add half the basil and kaffir lime leaves and mix in.
3 Place one of the remaining basil leaves in the bottom of each cup or at the bottom of a heatproof baking dish, fill with the seafood mixture, cover adn steam for 15 minutes.
4 Remove the cups from the steamer, and top each one with a little of the boiled coconut cream, coriander leaves, kaffir lime leaf and sliced chili.
5 Return to the stamer, cook for 1 minute, then remove from the steamer

Banana leaf cups Instruction
1. To make the banana leaf cups, cut out two circles 4 in (10 cm) in deameter from banana leaf.

2. Placing one on top of the other, make a fold along the outer edges of the circles and secure it with a toothpick.

3. Make 3 more folds equal distance apart and secure with toothpicks.