Urban Spice

Thai Food: Simply Mouth-Watering By Julie St. Jean

People in Thailand prepare beautiful food with pleasure, and pay great attention to detail. Their dishes tease our palates with exciting elements of hot, sour, salty and sweet. This balancing act shapes a meal into an interesting mosaic of tastes; it has also reshaped the traditional Canadian fear of exotic foods.

Thai cooking is for anyone who loves layered flavours of fresh ingredients without the fuss of complicated preparations. Due to the growing popularity of Thai cuisine, many ingredients once found only in Asian markets are now readily available in our supermarkets. There has never been a better time to experiment with this quick and healthy style of cooking. Here’s an Asian-spirational menu that will inspire you to prepare more Thai dishes. This meal serves four.

Cucumber Pickle The balance of sour and sweet makes this a refreshing starter to any spicy meal. Or, try it as a condiment on a seafood sandwich.

1 English cucumber 1/2 bunch (3 or 4) green onions 1/2 cup (125 mL) rice vinegar 2 tsp. (10 mL) sugar 1 tsp. (5 mL) kosher salt 2 tbsp. (30 mL) vegetable oil 2 tsp. (10 mL) fresh ginger, minced or grated 1 tsp. (5 mL) hot, red pepper fl akes

Thinly slice unpeeled cucumber crosswise into paper-thin rounds. Thinly slice green onions on a diagonal. Toss together in a large bowl.

Pour rice vinegar into a measuring cup, then stir in sugar and kosher salt until they dissolve. In a skillet, gently heat the vegetable oil until it is hot (but not smoking) over medium heat. Add ginger, and cook for about 30 seconds. Don’t let it brown. Remove from heat and whisk it into your vinegar mixture. Refrigerate until you serve it. Pour the mixture over cucumbers, and toss. Garnish each serving with a sprinkle of hot red chili fl akes. Thai Beef Salad

This recipe uses sake – a Japanese alcohol distilled from fermented rice. Often used to make sauces and marinades, it also tastes great chilled over ice. In a pinch you can substitute dry sherry.

Beef:

1/2 lb. (250g) fl ank steak 1/4 cup (50 mL) soy sauce 1/4 cup (50 mL) sake 1 tbsp. (15 mL) brown sugar 1 tsp. (5 mL) garlic, minced (about two cloves) 1 tbsp. (15 mL) hot chili sauce or sambal olek

Trim excess fat from the steak, and poke holes into the meat with a fork. In a large shallow bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients. Toss the steak into the marinade, then cover it loosely with paper or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for between two and 12 hours. Preheat grill, and remove the steak from your marinade. Over high heat, sear the steak for three to four minutes per side for medium/rare. Cover, and put it aside for fi ve minutes. Thinly slice on the bias. Pour the marinade into a small saucepan, and bring it to a boil. Lower heat, and simmer for fi ve to 10 minutes or until the ingredients are reduced to 1/4 cup of fl uid. Save this for the dressing.

Dressing:

1/4 cup (50 mL) reduced marinade (see details below) 2 tbsp. (30 mL) rice vinegar 2 tbsp. (30 mL) vegetable oil

Bring eight cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Cook rice noodles for one minute. Drain into a colander. Rinse quickly with cold water for 15 seconds. Drain well. Drizzle with vegetable and sesame oil. Toss lightly and, with your hands, spread noodles onto a cooking sheet to cool. Shred daikon and roughly chop fresh mint and basil. Whisk together the dressing ingredients.

Salad:

1/2 lb. (250g) rice noodles 1 tbsp. (15 mL) vegetable oil 1 tbsp. (15 mL) toasted sesame oil 1 head Boston lettuce 2 cups (500 mL) bean sprouts (about 200g) 1 cup (250 mL) daikon radish or Lo Bok 1/2 bunch each fresh mint and basil

To serve, divide the Boston lettuce equally onto four plates, then top with noodles, daikon, bean sprouts, mint and basil. Arrange the sliced beef decoratively on top, and drizzle with dressing. Yum!

Simple syrup: (makes 1 1/2 cups/375 mL) 1 cup (250 mL) sugar 1 cup (250 mL) water 1 lime zested

Sorbet:

1 large ripe mango (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups) 3/4 cup (175 mL) simple syrup 1/2 cup (125 mL) coconut milk

Coconut Mango Sorbet Coconut milk paired with juicy mango makes this sorbet a tropical treat. Garnish with toasted almonds and fresh mint for a gourmet fi nish. Bring sugar and water to a boil. Cook for one to two minutes, or until sugar is dissolved. Meanwhile, zest lime (green part only) with a vegetable peeler, then add it to the syrup. Remove from heat and cool. Using a sharp knife, slice mango along both sides of pit. Score the fl esh lengthwise with a paring knife, then crosswise. Invert the mango so the fl esh side pops out. Carefully remove the diced fl esh with a knife. Clean as much fl esh as possible from the other sides of the pit with paring knife. Purée in a food processor until smooth. Blend in the syrup and coconut milk. Place your processor bowl with the blade into your freezer. After one hour, return the bowl to the base and process. Scrape down sides, then repeat the process, returning the bowl and blade to the freezer, every hour for four to six hours or until frozen. — Julie St. Jean is a chef and regular staff writer for Ottawa Outdoors Magazine.

Delicious Mint Tea

Stay cool with a refreshing glass of Iced Mint Green Tea. It adds the perfect contrast of bitter to balance our Asian-spired meal. To brew the tea, simply pour six cups of boiled water over two bags of mint tea and four bags of green. Let it steep for fi ve minutes. Remove the bags, and let the tea cool. Add lime infused simple syrup (see Coconut Mango Sorbet recipe), and the juice of one lime (about 3 tbsp.). Pour over ice and enjoy. Makes four to six glasses.