11 minute read
Drinks
Known as ‘Nam Krajeab’ in Thailand, this drink can be found all around different cities! Roselle drink is a lightly sweet, sour, and refreshing juice. Recommended to drink on a hot sunny day to feel energised again!
3 litres of water 1 tsp salt
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1 cup of dry dates
1 cup of roselle Sieve cloth
400g of sugar
1.Clean the dry dates with water, rinse them.
2.Boil water in the pot, add dry dates and roselle. Cook for 20-30 minutes till the colour is burgundy.
3.Use sieve cloth or strainer to sieve only the juice in the pot.
4.Add sugar and salt in while the juice is hot and let the sugar dissolve.
5.Taste the sweetness of the juice: sour, sweet, and salty.
‘ Nam An Chan’ as known in Thailand, is another healthy and refreshing drink. Butterfly pea pandan has many health benefits such as anti-inflammatory and reducing stress. The aromatic smell of the pandan and colour of the butterfly pea is a marvellous mix.
3 litres of water
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp of butterfly pea flowers
1 tbsp shredded gingers 6 pandan leaves (tie 2 leaves together into the knot, total 3 knots) 300 g of sugar
Sieved cloth
1.Add water into the pot and then add 3 knots of pandan leaves into the water.
2.Boil the pandan water till the aroma of pandan comes out then take all pandan leaves out of the pot, add sugar.
3.Let the sugar cook to sweeten the pandan juice then add salt, lower the heat to medium heat.
4.Add butterfly pea flowers in the pandan juice till the colour is light blue, add in all the gingers.
Tom Yum Mocktail
Tom Yum Mocktail is a refreshing, frizzy, herb drink with a sweet taste of brown sugar. This mocktail is best paired with any Thai dishes. Change the level of spiciness to your likings!
2-3 tbsp of brown sugar
1/2 lime
1-2 pieces of lemongrass (cut into 2 inches long)
1-2 pieces of galangal 2-3 leaves of kaffir lime leave
1 chilli
Ice
A little bit of salt
Soda water
1.Put the brown sugar into a glass.
2.Now put the lime juice into the glass. Pound the lemongrass, galangal to let the aroma comes out.
3.Tear kaffir lime leaves into small pieces to let the aroma come out.
4.Pond a little bit of chilli. If you don't want to be too spicy, you pound just only 1-2 times.
5.Put all the herbs into the mixing of lime juice and salt.
6.Add the ice, pour soda water into the glass. Stir well and decorate nicely with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves.
2 coriander roots, coarsely chopped 2 tbsp baby garlic cloves 1 tsp bird’s eye chillies 1 tsp young green peppercorns, removed from stem
1 tsp holy basil flowers (or 2 tsp holy basil leaves, finely chopped)
2 fingers of krachai (wild ginger), coarsely chopped Pinch of salt
1. To make the paste, pound all of the paste ingredients with a pestle and mortar until relatively fine. You should have around two tablespoons of paste.
2. Add this paste at step 2 of making Pad Chaa With Chicken.
5 dried red Serrano chillies
6 cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
1⁄2 tbsp coriander seeds
1⁄2 tsp cumin seeds 1⁄2 nutmeg
5 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tsp white peppercorns
1 tbsp coriander roots
A pinch of salt 1 tsp toast sliced galangal
1 tbsp toast sliced lemongrass
1 tsp shrimp paste
2 whole shallots
1 tsp toast baby garlic cloves
1. Soak the Serrano chillies in water at room temperature for 45 minutes, then set aside.
To make the curry paste, break open three of the cardamom pods and empty the contents into a shallow pan, along with the remaining dry spices, and toast over a medium-low heat to release the smells and flavours, until the spices just begin to brown.
2. Allow to cool, then grind everything, and set aside. Reserve another three whole cardamom pods, and 2 bay leaves.
3. In a pestle and mortar, pound the soaked chillies, coriander roots, and salt to a coarse paste. (If you don’t have a pestle and mortar, you can also do this in a food processor, but you will need to add a little liquid, which will in turn slightly dilute the flavours.) Add the dried spices, and continue to pound until you achieve a relatively fine consistency.
4. Add toast (galangal and lemongrass), continue to pound, and then add the shrimp paste, and toast (garlic and 2 shallots), and keep pounding until you have a fine paste, then set aside.
Thai dipping sauce, AKA Nam Jim in Thai, is commonly used for Thai appetisers. Nam Jim can be created with different kinds of chillies, types of cooking, and seasonings. My recipes of Nam Jim are easy to adapt to a vegetarian and non-vegetarian version. The portion can be for 3-4 servings. It can last in the fridge for approximately 3 weeks.
Tamarind sauce - vegetarian: 2 tbsp white vinegar 2 tbsp caster sugar 1⁄4 cup palm sugar 200 ml tamarind concentrate
1/4 cup soy sauce
1. Heat the wok at high heat, Add Tamarind concentrate, bring to boil. 2. Then add soy sauce, then palm sugar. After the palm sugar dissolved then add white vinegar and caster sugar. 3. Cook the sauce under the low heat for 5 minutes. Make sure the sauce is reduced and turn syrupy, set aside to cool before serving.
Tamarind sauce - non vegetarian: 2 tbsp white vinegar 2 tbsp caster sugar 1⁄4 cup palm sugar 200 ml tamarind concentrate
1⁄4 cup fish sauce
1. Heat the wok at high heat, add tamarind concentrate, and bring to boil. 2. Then add fish sauce, then palm sugar. After the palm sugar dissolved then add white vinegar and caster sugar. 3. Cook the sauce under the low heat for 5 minutes. Make sure the sauce is reduced and turn syrupy, set aside.
Chilli paste: 1⁄4 cup dried Serrano chillies (Soak the Serrano chillies in water at room temperature for one hour, then set aside) 2 tbsp of chopped garlic 2 tbsp of chopped coriander roots 2 tbsp of chopped shallots 2 tbsp of chopped onions 3 tbsp of Tamarind sauce
Make the chilli paste- half is used for vegetarians and another half for nonvegetarians. Add all ingredients of the chilli paste to the electric blender. Grind them all together to make a smooth paste.
Thai sweet, chilli, tamarind sauce-vegetarian Nam Jim: 1. In a pan, add 1 1⁄2 tbsp of vegetable oil: rapeseed, canola, soybean, or sunflower, then fry half of the chilli paste till it fragrance and lower the heat briefly. 2. Stir to combine, and then bring to the boil again. Add all tamarind sauce. Stir in the salt, then take off the heat and allow to cool.
Thai sweet, chilli, tamarind sauce-non-vegetarian Nam Jim: 1. In a pan, add 1 1⁄2 tbsp of any cooking oil that has less trans fat; it can be vegetable oil. 2. Then fry half of the chilli paste till it fragrance and lower the heat briefly. Stir to combine, and then bring to the boil again. 3. Add all tamarind sauce. Stir in the salt, then take off the heat and allow to cool.
4. Discard the excess chilli oil from the pan, add 3tbsp vegetable oil, and place over a high heat. Add the minced chillies and garlic, and stir until sizzling and fragrant, then add the marinated beef and continue to stir.
5. Add the green beans, krachai, green peppercorns, and kaffir lime leaves, and then the fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and soy sauce. Stir through, then add the water and bring to a simmer. Throw in the noodles and, using tongs or a pair of large chopsticks, toss them around for a minute to prevent them from sticking and to ensure they are nicely coated in the sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning to preference.
6. Remove from the heat, add the holy basil leaves, and toss the noodles once more before serving to make sure they are separated from one another. Including holy basil flowers along with the leaves gives an even deeper flavour. If you can’t get hold of them, just leave them out and use the leaves alone. If you can’t find wild ginger, then a mixture of galangal and regular ginger will come close – use around twice as much galangal as you do ginger.
6. Stir in the holy basil leaves, allow to cook for 30 seconds more, then remove from the heat and serve alongside steamed rice. Decorate the pad chaa with basil leaves and julienne red Serrano chillies.
If you can’t find wild ginger, then a mixture of galangal and regular ginger will come close - use around twice as much galangal as you do ginger.
If you can’t get hold of bird’s eye chillies, or you want to tame the fieriness of the dish, you can replace the bird’s eye chillies in the paste with one larger, milder Serrano chilli, and cut down the number of bird’s eye chillies in the dish itself or replace them with Serrano chillies.
Pad Chaa can also be made with fish, meat, and other protein.
5. In a pan, bring the water to the boil. Add the chilli paste and lower the heat briefly, stir to combine, and then bring to the boil again. Stir in the palm sugar and white sugar, then add the tamarind paste and vinegar, and stir again. Stir in the salt, then take off the heat and allow to cool.
6.To make the spring rolls, briefly soak a rice sheet in water, then lay it on a flat surface. Arrange small amounts of the lettuce, sweet basil, sawtooth coriander, mint, carrot and cucumber in a horizontal line across the centre of the sheet, along with two pieces of the chicken. Roll up the rice sheet, tucking it tightly around the fillings and folding in the sides, until formed neatly into a roll, then use a sharp knife to cut into pieces. Repeat with the remaining rice sheets and fillings, then serve with the dipping sauce.
5. Toss in the bay leaves and the remaining whole cardamom pods, and continue to baste the chicken with the curry sauce to prevent it from drying out, all the while tasting and adjusting the seasoning accordingly. Add the onion, and continue to cook until the potato and chicken are both well cooked through. Take off the heat, sprinkle the coriander leaves over the top, and serve with steamed rice.
Using sweet potato adds a nice flavourful twist to this curry, but you can substitute it for regular potato if you prefer. If you can’t find coriander roots, use the stems instead; likewise, replace palm sugar with white sugar if necessary.
Are you ready to start making unforgettable dishes? Collect your ingredients, and let’s get started!
