Shrimp with Pomelo and Mango Salad

I love Thai food. There is something about their food that is so addictive. I think it is the taste of sweet, sour, spicy and salty of their dishes and not forgetting all the fresh herbs they used in their cooking. One particular dish that I will order is their salad. It can either be green mango, papaya or their pomelo salad. I’ve visited Thailand countless time and there was once I tasted their green mango and pomelo salad at a buffet restaurant and they were so good. Till today I still think of this particular dish and I am recreating it in my kitchen so I can submit it for the AFF event hosted by Lena of Frozen Wings. This salad with the addition of grill shrimps makes a terrific lunch or even as starter to any Thai or Asian-style meal. You'll find it very unique and refreshing, and so will your guests. ENJOY!

Thai Red Curry with Prawns and Green Eggplant

When I have time prepare spices for curry I normally do it in big batches so I can portion them out and freeze it up so each time I want to cook it is ready but nowadays we can get readymade paste from the Asian market without any problem. It does make cooking so much easier and I do keep a jar of it in case of emergency or I ran out of homemade paste. I have the recipe here if anyone of you wanted to make it from scratch. You can use it to cook chicken, duck, beef, pork or any type of seafood and even noodles with it. For today I used the paste to cook this prawn dish.

Thai Panang Curry with Beef and Tofu

Being a Malaysian I love food that are spicy and will strong flavors and curry is one of them. I must have them at least once a week if not I will crave for it. I like making most curry paste from scratch if I can find the time and ingredients but if I am crunching for time I will just use the readymade paste. One of my favorite brands is Mea Ploy and it is from Thailand. I will usually keep a tub of it in my fridge so I can use it if I want to cook something quick. They do have a few types of curry paste but I prefer their Panang curry. They are really good and with great flavors. I used beef this time and they do take bit of time to cook them but if you prefer chicken you can always use it. This dish is great to be serve with some savory rice.

Pad Thai

This is a must order noodles dish for me when I dine at Thai restaurant. Pad Thai is one of the most popular Thai dishes, perhaps second only to Tom Yum Goong. The key to perfect Pad Thai is in the cooking of the noodles - learn how to get them chewy-perfect pad thai sauce which is tangy, sweet and a little spicy. When it's all put together, you'll find there isn't a noodle dish better than world-famous Pad Thai.

Ingredients:

Half packet Thai rice sticks – you can get this from the regular supermarket at the Asian section
4 oz beef tenderloin – slice thinly and marinate with some soy sauce and pepper
14 shrimps – peel and deveined
2 cloves garlic - chopped
2 shallots - sliced thinly
2 cups bean sprout – remove the tails
2 spring onions – cut into 1” length
Some pepper and fish sauce to taste
Some peanuts – for garnish

Basil Chicken/Gai Pad Krapow

Basil chicken has long been my favorite Thai dish. This is something that I cooked often if I have some Thai basil in hand. Thai basil spoil rather fast so I like to finish it up within a few days but many times it did gets black and I have to throw it away. I have to plant my own Thai basil coming summer. It is just too expensive to buy it every other week and then throw half of it away. This dish takes no time to prepare yet the flavor is simply amazing. You can serve it with rice, over noodles or even as lettuce wraps.

Ingredients:

2 pieces chicken breast – remove the skin and fat and cut into tiny cubes
3 cloves garlic - chopped
1 small onion – cut into tiny cubes
3 bird eye chillies – cut small
1 small bunch of Thai basil

Montad Chuame/Cassava In Coconut Sauce

I love Thai desserts. I find Thai desserts have a real fragrant of freshly squeeze coconut milk and pandan leaves. One thing good about living in Malaysia is we can get freshly squeeze coconut milk and this make a great difference in the taste of a dessert. I made this Thai dessert recently. I find the original Montad Chuame way too sweet for me as they cook the Cassava together with loads of sugar and here is my version of Montad Chuame.

Ingredients:

500 grams of peeled cassava
100 grms sugar
Enough water to cover the cassava

Sauce:

1 cup of thick coconut milk
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
½ tsp cornstarch

1. Cut the cassava into big chunk. Put the cassava in a pot, cover it with water and put in the sugar. Cook over low heat until the cassava is soft and translucent. Turn the cassava once during cooking.
2. While waiting for the cassava to cook, make the coconut cream sauce.
3. Combined all the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and bring it up to boil and set it aside.
4. Once the cassava is cook, remove and serve it with some coconut sauce.

Thai-Style Stir-fry Shrimps

Kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass plays a great role in this dish. This is one delicious way to cook shrimps with rich fragrant flavor of kaffir lime leaves. This dish can be served with warm rice or noodles

Ingredients:

10 large shrimps – cut away all the legs and leave the shell and head intact
3 cloves garlic – finely chopped
4 bird eyes chili – finely chopped
1 lemongrass – finely chopped
½ tsp of turmeric powder
4 kaffir lime leaves
1 tsp brown sugar
Salt to taste

1. Heat about 2 tbsp of oil in a pan. Stir in garlic, lemon grass and chilies. Stir-fry until fragrant. Add in kaffir lime leaves, turmeric powder, sugar and salt. Stir well.
2. Add in the shrimp, tossing them around in the pan to make sure they are coated in the sauce.
3. Arrange the shrimp against the base and side of the pan to fry on both sides until lightly brown and the shrimp cooked.
4. Dish out and serve warm.

Note: Do not add any water as the shrimps will discharge some liquid.

Stir –Fry Tom Yam Shrimp

There are so many ready made paste out there now. You can find it in most of the supermarket shelves and it comes in packets or jars. It really makes life so much easier for us if we want to cook some quick meals. I like using Tom Yam paste in some of my cooking. Tom Yam paste is not only for Tom Yam soup but you can use it to make stir-fry, fried noodles and also fried rice. Tom Yam paste can be pretty sour so you have to add some sugar to balance up the taste. This is an appetizing dish and goes really well with rice.

Ingredients:

½ pound of shrimps – shelled and de-veined
One big onion – sliced thinly
2 cloves of garlic – chopped
2 tomatoes – cut into wedges
1 tsp or more sugar
3 tbsp of Tom Yam paste
Salt to taste

1. Heat up some oil in a frying pan; add in the onion and garlic. Stir fry until fragrant and onion soften.
2. Add in the tom yam paste; stir fry for a few second. Add in the shrimps and continue to stir fry until the shrimp changes to light pink color.
3. Add about ½ cup of water and the tomatoes. Continue to stir-fry until sauce thicken. Add in the sugar and salt to taste.
4. Dish out and serve with warm rice.

Chicken Wrapped in Pandan

This is a must order dish each time I visit any Thai restaurant. I just love the sweet smell of the pandan leaves. I made this healthier version by baking it instead of frying it.

Ingredients :

1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, thinly sliced and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 Tbsp finely minced cilantro with roots
1 tbsp of minced ginger
2 tbsp finely minced garlic
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp palm or regular sugar
1/2 tsp of tumeric powder
pandan leaves (screwpine pandanus) - thawed and cleaned


Method :

1. Mix all ingredients except pandan leaves. Marinate for 1 hour or overnight in the fridge.
2. Form pandan leaf into little pockets and fill with a couple pieces of marinated chicken, or simply wrap a few pieces of chicken with pandan leaf.
3. Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree F oven for 20-25 min or until golden brown.

Note : You can deep fry this in a hot oil until chicken is cooked. Drain well and serve immediately.