Thai Cuisine Recipe

One of my favorite drinks in Thailand is a melon ice drink, similar to commercial drinks, however this one is made with fresh fruit rather than synthetic flavour and tastes all the better for it.

Ingredients
1-2 Kgs Sindria (Sweet Red Watermelon)
500 gms Ice
2 Thirsty People

Preparation
1. In a food processor blend the ice until it is finely broken up.
2. Chop the red part of the melon. Remove excessive seeds, but it isn't necessary to remove every one.
3. Add the melon chunks to the blender.
4. Blend a little more until the melon is puried and well mixed with the ice.
5. Serve in tall glasses with a straw.
A wondeful simple way to enjoy fresh fruit.

Soft rice soup is very common in Thailand, it's made by boiling rice overnight until it becomes soft, more like a fine pureé than a rice dish. There are many easier ways to make this dish though. In Thailand we have instant Jog in packets, you can also buy Rice Semolina in supermarkets in the west, this can be used to make Jog and another way is to make rice soup and liquidize it with a hand blender.

Ingredients for 2 People
100 gms Rice Semolina
1 Chicken Stock Cube
500 ml Water
1/4 Teaspoon White Pepper
1/2 Teaspoons Salt
1 Tablespoon Chopped Coriander Leaves
1 Tablespoon Chopped Celery
40 gms Pork Liver

Preparation
1. Clean the pork liver and slice it. Cook in boiling water for 3 minutes and set it aside.
2. Into a saucepan, place the rice semolina, 500 ml water and bring to the boil.
3. Add the chicken stock cube and salt. Boil and stir for 10 minutes.
4. To serve, place the rice into a bowl, add the pork liver, chopped coriander, celery and a dash of white pepper. This is served with the usual Thai condiments, of flaked dried chillies, some fresh soya beansprouts and thin slices of ginger. All of these add the flavours and if you can, it's best to add a little of each.

Serve With
Soya Beansprouts
Chop Ginger
Flaked Chillies
Fried Garlic

The green topping on these pancakes is made from Bi Tua (pandan), the sweet reed with the bubblegum like flavour used in many Thai desserts.

Ingredients
100 gms Rice Flour
230 ml Water
80 gms Cooked Thai Rice
50 gms Shredded Coconut
1/2 Teaspoon Salt

Preparation
1. Mix all the ingredients together until smooth.
2. Warm a mini pancake pan on a medium heat.
3. Rub oil onto the surface with a piece of oiled kitchen paper.
4. Pour a little mixture into each dimple and over with a lid for 1 minute. You want them nearly cooked.

Ingredients for Topping
200 ml Evaporated Milk
100 ml Coconut Milk
1 Tablespoon Wheat Flour
1/2 Salt
5 Tablespoons Sugar
2-3 Tablespoons Bi tua Water

Preparation
1. Mix all the ingredients together in a saucepan and cook through very slowly until it thickens.
2. Spoon the mixture onto the pancakes, then finish cooking the pancakes with the mixture on top.

Saying this chicken is boiled is not the full story, it is first pan fried to get some flavour from the browning, then simmered slowly in a stock, and finally served up with a delicions spicy dark sauce. It’s healthy chicken but with an unhealthy taste!

Ingredients
500 gms Chicken Breast with Skin
1-2 Coriander Root
2-3 Garlic Cloves
1/2 Teaspoon Peppercorns
3 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Butter
500 ml Water
1 Chicken Stock Cube

Preparation
1. Clean the chicken breast and add the light soy sauce.
2. Into a mortar, mix the garlic, coriander root, peppercorns and pound until ground up. Add this to the chicken, mix it well together so that the chicken is covered and leave to marinade for 30 minutes.
3. Put the butter into a pan, fry the chicken in this starting skin side down until the skin is browned, then turn it over and brown the other side. The aim is to just add some flavour, not to cook the chicken.
4. Place the chicken, water and stock cube in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to simmer. Simmer until the water has reduced by half.
5. During the last 10 minutes of cooking you can use this stock to cook side vegetables like baby corn, carrots or mushrooms if you are serving these too.
6. Remove the chicken, slice, place in a serving bowl with some of the stock and the following sauce.

Ingredients for Sauce
5 Chillies
1 Garlic Clove
1 Teaspoon Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce

Preparation
1. Mix chillies, garlic, sugar and salt in a mortar and pound it until the mixture is ground up, then add the dark soy sauce.
2. You can spoon this sauce over the chicken, as I’ve done for the photograph, or if some of your guests don’t like spicy chilli, you can serve it as a side sauce.

There are several similar Thai recipes that consists of a salty thing added to coconut milk to make a rich salty sauce. The saltiness in this one comes from the yellow beans. Many of these recipes are popular in Thailand, but they don’t really translate to the west, I think it’s because the taste is nice but the sauce isn’t much to look at.

Ingredients
250 ml Coconut Milk
5 Tablespoons Yellow Bean Sauce
100 ml Tamarind Juice
2 Tablespoons Sugar
100 gms Pork Mince
50 gms Shrimp Mince
1 Tablespoon Sliced Red Onion
1 Tablespoon Sliced Chillies
1 Tablespoon Chopped Coriander Leaves

This sponge mixture is flavours with bi-tua leaves to give a green colour and bubble gum like flavour, so typical of bi-tua dishes. It’s better to use bi-tua flavouring for this because it’s concentated, but if you cannot get it, shred bi-tua in water and squeeze the leaves carefully to get as concentrated a flavour as possible into the water, then filter out the pulp so that only the green water is used.
To make a more interesting photograph, I’ve cut the sponge into cubes, but that is optional.

Ingredients
170 gms Unsalted Butter
170 gms Castor Sugar
4 Large Eggs
160 gms Cake Flour (With raising agent)
4-5 Drops Bi Tua Flavour

Preparation
1. Leave the butter to soften at room temperature.
2. Blend the butter with the sugar to form a smooth creamy mixture.
3. Add 2 of the eggs and whisk in until smooth, it’s better to use an electric whisk to get as much air into the mixture as possible.
4. Add the remaining eggs and whisk again.
5. Add the flour a little at a time, whisking in until smooth.
6. Finally finish by adding the bi-tua flavour. If the mixture is too loose, add a little more flour, you want a soft creamy paste at the end.
7. Line a cake dish with greaseproof paper, pour in the mixture. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 45-50 minutes at 180 degrees celcius.