Thai Cuisine Recipe

This is the Thai version of muffins, they are made with rice flour, scented very gently with rose or other flower water and steamed rather than baked. To cook this you will need foil or paper cups, the dough mixture is runny and needs to be held in a cup during cooking. You can see from the pink muffin sliced in half in the picture above, that the mixture forms light moist muffins.

Ingredients for 4 Muffins
125 gms Rice Flour
125 gms Sugar
125 ml Rose Water
1 Teaspoon Fresh Yeast
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
Food Colouring (Optional)

Preparation
1. Mix the yeast with the rice flour, add the rose water little by little and mix until the flour is soft.
2. Add sugar, and the remaining rose water and the baking soda.
3. At this point you can add 5 drops of food colouring. Or even divide the mixture into sections and colour each section separately.
4. Stir the mixture well and place in a covered bowl, leave for 1-2 hours for bubbles to form.
5. The mixture should be thick but still fluid. Fill each paper or foil cup to just below the top, the mixture will expand during cooking.
6. Place in a Chinese steamer for 10 minutes. You can check they are cooked by sticking a tooth pick or fork into the centre and if it comes out clean it is cooked inside.
7. Serve cold.

This curry comes from the Muslim area of Thailand, the south, near the border with Malaysia. It is a chicken curry, made with rice and coconut milk, served with a spicy ginger side sauce. Imagine Paella crossed with Thai spices and that is very close to the style of this dish.

Ingredients for 2 People
200 gms Chicken Legs
350 gms Thai Rice
1 Teaspoon Curry Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Coconut Milk
2 Tablespoons Oil
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
400 ml Chicken Stock

Preparation
1. Clean the chicken legs and score the meat with two or three deep cuts to help it cook.
2. Put the oil into a frying pan and fry the chicken legs until the chicken is part cooked and the skin is browned.
3. Add the coconut milk, salt, curry powder and cinnamon, into the pan and mix it together for a few seconds over the heat.
4. Turn off the heat.
5. At this point you should move the chicken and sauce into a pan suitable to cook the rice in. In Thailand we use automatic rice cookers, and we simply move the chicken and sauce into the rice cooker, however a boiling pan will work equally well.
6. Add the rice, add the chicken stock, the chicken stock must completely cover the rice and submerge it by 2cm or more, if it does not, add water or more stock.
7. Cook on a low heat until the rice has absorbed the liquid and is completely cooked.

Serve With
Ginger sauce
Cucumber
Tomato

Ingredients for Ginger Sauce
20 gms Ginger
5 Small Bird Chillies
3 Garlic Cloves
2 Tablespoons Soya Bean Sauce
1 Teaspoons Salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce

Preparation for Ginger Sauce
1. Mix all ingredients in a food processor and blend until fine.
2. Serve, yes it's that simple.
3. This sauce can be kept in the fridge and will last months, it is a common condiment for several Thai dishes, so you may wish to make up a batch and store it.

This is a green curry made with minced chicken and small green aubergine. Those green beads you can see in the photograph are the aubergines, but don't worry, large peas will work too. This dish is also made with fish mince, and served with hot cooked. A shared dish of the curry is placed in the center of the table and each guest takes spoonfuls of the sauce onto their rice. Note, you can eat the citrus lime leaves.

Ingredients for 2 people (Medium Hot)
200 gms. Chicken Mince
50 gms. Green Curry Paste
400 ml Coconut Milk
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Teaspoons Sugar
50 gms. Small Green Aubergine
5 gms Basil
2 Red Chilles
2 Kaffir (Citrus) Leaves

Serve With
Hot Rice
or Rice Noodle

Preparation
1. Put a medium sized pan on the heat, add the coconut milk and cook for 1 minute.
2. Add the green curry to the pan and stir it untill mixed, bring to the boil.
3. When the curry is boiling, add the chicken mince using a teaspoon. The aim is to make round ball shaped mince balls.
4. Cook for 10 minutes until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
5. Add the fish sauce, salt, sugar, red chillis, aubergines, citrus leaves, basil (basically all the other ingredients) and stir it for a few seconds over the heat to warm them through.
6. Turn the heat off and serve it warm with hot rice or rice noodle.