Thai red curry chicken

Ingredients
2 Tbsp corn oil
1 Tbsp Thai red curry paste
12 oz chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch strips
4 oz green beans, cut to 1 inch lengths
2 small (Japanese) eggplans, cut into 1 inch cubes
3 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
3 cups canned unsweetened coconut milk
1 Tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions
Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat
Add curry paste, stir until fragrant (about 1 minute)
Add chicken, stir 2 minutes
Add greenbean and eggplant pieces, stir 1 minute
Add broth, coconut milk, and fish sauce - bring to a boil
Reduce heat, simmer until vegetables are tender (about 12 minutes)
Season with salt and pepper
Stir in basil and serve

Phad thai

Ingredients

4 cups
Thin rice noodles, soaked for 3 minutes
50 g
Pork, diced
3
Eggs
100 g
Firm tofu
250 g
Bean sprouts
50 g
Chinese chives cut into short lengths
1 tbsp
Chopped shallot (small red onion)
1 tbsp
Chopped garlic
1 tsp
Dried chilli powder
1/2 cup
Ground roasted peanuts
4 tbsp
Sugar
3 tbsp
Fish sauce
4 tbsp
Tamarind juice or vinegar
1/4 cup
Water
8 tbsp
Cooking oil
Fresh vegetables to serve: bean sprouts, Chinese chives, banana buds, lime wedges

Preparation
In a wok, fry the shallots and garlic in 3 tbsp of oil over medium heat until fragrant. Add noodles and water, stir until tender. Season with sugar, fish sauce and tamarind juice/vinegar. Stir well, then push the noodles to the side of the wok.
Add 3 tbsp of oil to the same wok, add the pork, tofu and chilli powder. Sauté until the pork is done the toss well with the fried noodles and push the mixture back to the side of the wok again.
Put 2 tbsp oil into the wok, break the eggs in and stir until done. Toss again with the noodles, add the bean sprouts and Chinese chives. Stir until the bean sprouts are cooked - about 1 minute.
Transfer to individual plates and sprinkle with roasted peanuts. Serve with fresh vegetables on the side and a squeeze of lime juice.

Cook's Notes
A lot of oil is specified but it may not be necessary to use all the oil in the recipe. Add a little at a time, when the noodles appear to be drying up. **Make this recipe vegetarian by replacing the pork with shrimps, peeled and deveined, or by increasing the amount of tofu and beansprouts.

Nam tok kai

Ingredients:
3 serrano chilies
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 1/2 lb flank steak
1/4 lb red onion; sliced
4 green onions
1/4 cup lime juice; plus:
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon ground roasted chilies *
2 tablespoon ground toasted rice **
1 red lettuce leaves 1 coriander sprigs
1 mint or basil leaves

Instructions:
1. Remove the stems, but not the seedes, from the chilies. Slice the chiles crosswise into pieces 1/8" thick. Place the sliced chiles and vinegar in a small serving bowl. Let it stand for at least 15 minutes.
2. Grill the beef to the desired doneness, preferably over charcoal. Slice it across the grain into strips 1/8" thick and 1 to 2 inches long. Put these in a large ceramic bowl.
3. Peel the red onion, remove the root portion, and slice the onion vertically into thin strips. Slice the green onion diagonally into thin pieces. Add both types of onion to the beef.
4. Add the lime juice, fish sauce, ground chilies, and ground rice. Mix well
5. Arrange a single layer of lettuce leaves on a serving platter, and place th beef mixture on top. Garnish with sprigs of coriander and mint or basil leaves.
6. Serve at room temperature, the vinegar sauce (from Step 1) and rice.
* Use small hot chilies about 3 to 4 inches long. Roast whole chillie stems and all, in a dry wok or skillet until the color changes to dark red or brown depending on the chilies used. Be careful not to let them burn. When the chilies have cooled, remove the stems and seeds. Place the chilies in a food processor or blender and grind using short pulses. Pre-ground chilies are also commercially available, but often lack the "bite" of home ground ones and may be more expensive.
** Place uncooked rice in a dry wok or skillet and heat over moderate heat until deep golden brown,s tirring frequently to keep from burning and to allow it to develop a uniform color. Watch the rice carefully after it begins to change colorand stir constantly because it can burn easily at this stage. When it is auniform deep golden color, remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Grind it to a fine powder in a blender or a spice grinder. This can be made in advance and kept in quantity so that there is always a supply on hand, but it is also easy to make up while preparing the dish.

Yam Woon-Sen Gung

Ingredients - For the Soup1/2lb fresh prawns, de-veined and shelled1 tablespoon chopped garlic1 cup soup stock2 ounces Woon-Sen (bean thread noodles, soaked in warm water for about 15 minutes.1/4 cup fish sauce - nam pla1 cup sliced cabbage or kale2 spring onions thinly sliced, including the green segment1/4 cup whole coriander plant --including the root, choppedAbout 1 teaspoon Thai pepper powder

For the Marinade1 tablespoon fish sauce - nam pla1 tablespoon seasoning soy sauce1 tablespoon minced garlic1 teaspoon Thai pepper powder1 teaspoon rice flour

Method

1. Mix the marinade ingredients,

2. mix with the raw prawns3. set aside and leave to marinate for 3 or 4 hours.1. Soak and drain the noodles.2. Bring the stock to a boil

3. add all the ingredients except the noodles,

4. allow to boil until the prawns turn pink4. Remove from the heat, pour into a serving bowl

5. add the noodles

Som Tam Thai

Papaya salad is almost as much a staple part of my diet as rice is. For sure if I eat out and am not given any som tam, I will soon after be found at a roadside food vendor, correcting the deficiency.
If you lived on a diet of som tam and not much else, it is highly unlikely you would ever become fat.
Some restaurants use mango instead of papaya. Generally though I find mango to be too acidic for this purpose.

Ingredients to serve 4 people
1 medium sized green papaya, 4 small plum tomatos, 1 carrot, 10ml tamarind juice, 25ml lime juice, 2 cloves garlic, 50gm prik kee noo, 10gm brown sugar, 25ml nam pla, 25gm dried shrimp, 50gm unsalted roasted peanuts.
Peel the papaya and shred the green flesh (if you don't have a suitable implement for the purpose a coarse cheese grater may work).
Also peel and shred the carrot.
Put the shredded papaya and carrot in the fridge.
Soften the dried shrimp in a few mls of boiling water.
Pound the garlic and the prik kee noo together in a pestle and mortar.
Separately pound the peanuts together with the shrimp, but only until coarsely broken up, not reduced to dust or paste.
Mix the tamarind, juice, lime juice, fish sauce and the sugar.
Chop the tomatoes into quarters.

Thai food

Thai Tom Yum Soup
This typically Thai soup is a blend of lemon grass, lime and fish sauce. It may contain pieces of shellfish, pork, beef or chicken. Oriental fish sauce - or nam pla - imparts a characteristic flavour. It is made by layering fresh anchovies and salt in wooden barrels and leaving them to ferment. Fish sauce and lime leaves are obtainable from oriental stores.
1.25 litres (2 pints/ 5 cups) fish
3 lime leaues (fresh or frozen)
1 stalk lemon grass, crushed
1 -2 chillies
250g(8oz) squid, cleaned and cut into rings
2 cloves garlic, chopped stock
2 tablespoons fish sauce
185g (6oz) peeled prawns
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves

1. Put the fish stock, lime leaves and lemon grass in a pan and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes.

2. Cut the chillies into rings, discarding the seeds unless you want a fiery hot soup! Add the chilly rings to the pan with the squid, garlic and fish sauce and cook for a further 10 minutes.

3. Add the prawns and heat through, then stir in the lime juice and salt.

4. Pour into individual bowls and sprinkle with the coriander. Serves 4.