Thai Cuisine Recipe

Another Thai variant of a Chinese dish. These are pork mushroom and carrot parcels, we called them 'Dim Sum' but our Chinese friends say the correct name for this type of starter is 'Chow Mei'. Served as a starter or a snack, each parcel is approximately 3cms across.

Ingredient for Pastry

200 gms. Wheat Flour ( Enough for 40 )
2 Tablespoons Oil
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Eggs

Ingredient for Filling

100 gms Pork Mince
3 Shitake Mushrooms
2 Carrots
1 Spring Onion
30 gms Coriander Leaves
1 Egg
2 Teaspoons Salt
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
4 Garlic Cloves
2 Tablespoon Cassava Starch (Or corn starch)

Preparation for Pastry
1. Put the salt, sugar, and flour into a bowl and mix it.
2. Beat the eggs together and mix into the flour.
3. Knead it until it forms a dough.
4. Set the dough aside for 20 minutes, it should be covered with a damp towel to prevent a skin forming.

Preparation for Filling
1. Soak the shitake mushroom for 5-10 minutes.
2. Chop shitake mushroom, carrots, spring onions, coriander leaves, and garlic,into small pieces. It is easier to blend it in a food processor.
3. Add the blended mix into the pork mince and add the egg, salt, oyster sauce and cassava starch, and mix well.

Assembly
1. Cut the dough into very small balls.
2. On a slightly oiled or floured surface, roll the dough into small circles (approximately 6cms diameter).
3. Spread the filling evenly over the dough.
4. Lift up the edges into of the dought to form the sides - this will squeeze the filling into the centre.
5. For best results pleat the edges of the pastry to form pleated sides of the parcels.

Cooking and Storing
Add this point you can freeze them on a floured tray, or cook them straight away.
To cook them, place them in a Chinese steamer and steam for 10 minutes.

Serve With
Mint
Coriander
Lettuce
Sour sauce

Suggestions
If you like hot spicy food, you can insert a piece of red or green chilli into the centre of the parcel before eating it.
Another recommended way to serve them, is drissled with fried garlic and bacon in its oil, this is shown in the photograph.

This version of Tom Yum soup (the popular Thai spicy soup) is eaten in the North of Thailand, it is made with chicken rather than the shrimp (tom yum gung) eaten in the south and coast. If you prefer chicken its a good spicy soup.

Ingredients for 2 People
150 gms Corn Fed Chicken
8 Bird Chillies
2 Garlic Cloves
20 gms Lemon Grass
20 gms Galanga
4 Kaffir Citrus Leaves
2 Teaspoons Salt
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
3 Tablspoons Tamarind Water
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
50 gms Straw Mushrooms
300 ml Water

Preparation
1. Put water in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Chop the lemon grass and galanga into 3cm lengths and add to the pot to make a soup base.
3. Pound the garlic and bird chillies and add into the soup.
4. Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces, then add to the soup and cook for 3 minutes.
5. Cut the straw mushrooms into half and add to the soup.
6. Add the fish sauce, salt, tamarind water, lemon juice, and kaffir leaves into the soup and cook for an additional 30 seconds.

Serve With
Hot fragrant Rice

In China these are made using Wonton skins: a flour based dough processed with lye to change the texture of the flour. However at home in Thailand we make our own pastry without using Lye. This recipe is much better than the frozen Chinese parcels you can buy in the supermarket, the fresh spring onion and coriander really makes a big difference.

Ingredients for 2 People
100 gms Wheat Flour
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Oil
150 gms Pork Mince
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Pepper
3 Garlic Cloves
20 gms Coriander Leaves (approx 2 sprigs)
20 gms Spring Onion (approx 1 spring onion)

Preparation
1. Whip the egg, put into flour and add the oil.
2. Mix this into a flour dough, it is better not to overwork it - knead it only enough to make a dough. Leave the dough for 5 minutes to rest.
3. Blend the pork, garlic, spring onion, light soy sauce, salt, pepper and coriander in a food mixer.
4. Take the dough, roll it into a sausage shape and chop off little pieces (approx 5 gms) from the end.
5. Roll each piece into a ball using your hands, then using a slightly oil rolling pin, roll the ball into a thin flat circle of pastry.
6. Put the meat filling into the centre, fold over the pastry and pleat the edges to form a parcel.
7. Pre heat a fryer or deep pan of oil to 190 degrees celsius (high).
8. Drop the parcels into the oil and fry for 2-3 minutes until the pastry has just browned and the meat cooked.
9. Remove and place on kitchen paper to remove any oil.

Serve with
Sukiyaki dipping sauce or chilli sour Chinese sauce and coriander, mint and chilli. Or you can just eat them plain.

Kang Kon Chinese is a popular green leaf vegetable of China, that has spread to Thai cuisine. This dish is essentially a stir fry of pork, seasonings and this Chinese vegetable. It is quite difficult to obtain in Europe, a suitable alternative is spring cabbage. In Bangkok it is often served with plain rice soup for the late night revelers coming back from the discotheques. This originates from neighboring China and is a mild dish.

Ingredients for 2 People
100 gms Kang Kon Chinese
200 gms Pork Meat
2 Cloves Garlic
A Pinch White Pepper
1 Tablespoon Oil
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Teaspoon Salted Fermented Soya Beans
1 Teaspoon Sugar

Preparation
1. Slice the pork into strips.
2. Crush the garlic
3. Cut of the kang kon chinese into 4 cm pieces, clean it and put it on the plate.
4. Put the oil in hot pan until very hot. Stir fry dishes require a hot pan and short cooking time.
5. Fry the pork for a minute.
6. Add the garlic and other ingredients and fry it for few seconds. The aim is to flash fry the vegetables without letting them go soggy.

Serve With
Hot fragrant rice or rice soup.

Thai food can be overwhelming, with lots of strange ingredients and foreign vegetables. So here we have a very simple and very tasty recipe using sardines! We used sardines in oil, but you can also use sardines in tomato sauce, in which case you don't need the tomato puré. This should be served with fragrant Thai rice, but can also be served along with salads.

Ingredient for 2 People
2 Cans of Sardines in Oil
2 Teaspoons of Tomato Puré
20 gms Lemon Grass
20 gms Coriander Leaves
50 gms Onion
2 Red Chillis
2 Bird Chillis
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce

Preparation
1. Remove the sardines from the can.
2. Mix the oil from the can with the tomato puré in a small mixing bowl.
3. Slice the onion, lemon grass, and chilles, and add to the bowl.
4. Add the fish sauce and lemon juice and mix all the ingredients together well.
5. Pour over the sardines.
6. Chop the coriander put around the edge of the sardine plate.

Serve With
Hot rice or salads.

This is a great 'gloopy' noodle dish. The noodles are drenched in a sticky salty, slightly sweet and very very delicious sauce. Use pork with a little fat for extra flavour.

Ingredients for 2 People
300 gms Flat Rice Noodle
1 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Oil
150 gms Pork
300 ml Water
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
1 Chicken Stock Cube
2 Tablespoons Cassava Starch (Use corn starch if you can't find it)
100 gms Broccoli

Preparation of Noodles
1. Soak the noodles in water for 20 minutes.
2. Put the oil, dark soy, sugar, and fry with noodle until the noodles are cooked.
3. Set aside on a plate.

Preparation For Soup
1. Boil the water and add the chicken stock cube, light soy sauce, and fish sauce to form a sauce.
2. Add the pork to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add the cassava starch to 70 ml of cold water and add to the sauce pan and stir to thicken the sauce.
4. Chop and clean the broccoli and add to the sauce pan. Turn off the heat.

Condiments to Serve With
Flaked Chilli Powder
Vinegar with Chopped Chillies
Sugar
Chopped or Pounded Peanuts

How to Serve
Place the noodles on a deep rimmed plate.
Spoon the sauce, broccoli and meat over the top.
The sauce should pool a under the noodles (which is why you need a deep rimmed plate).
Each guest can select which condiments to use on their dish.