Gastro-battical 2018-2019 – Thailand – February 3, 2019

I know some of you are probably tired of listening to my rants of spirituality and love and Buddhist dharma. So I thought I’d take a break from that, if only temporarily, so I can send you some of my latest cooking fun.

I have spent about the last 3 weeks immersed into Thailand culture, cooking and eating together with the family. It has been a rich and incredible experience that I could have never imagined nor planned ahead of time. It’s amazing what happens when you let go and not try to steer the ship all the time. Even though I fulfilled my sabbatical obligation to the college I work for by living in India for two months and learning about their cultural cuisine, I decided to take that intention into Thailand and onward into my further travel as well. This adventure has been so fulfilling for me, its hard to put into words sometimes.

As the date of expiration of my 60-day Thailand visa get s closer, I am observing the full range of emotions and feelings inside of me as it’s time to move along to Cambodia and Vietnam before I head to Indonesia in the spring. I have developed beautiful caring, loving friendships that it’s sad to leave them. It’s hard to believe I’ve been away from home since September 2018 and it just turned February. I am going to write about this and I just wanted to mention it here briefly.

In the meantime, I want to share a couple of my favorite dishes and their recipes for you, as I did when I was in India. One of my favorite Thai dishes in Pad-Thai. I can’t tell you how may times I ate those noodles from street vendors. Some were definitely better than others. And then I made them with Kay… and those were the best I ever had. I’m giving you the recipes. I hope you enjoy!

Pad Thai – Thai Fried Noodles

140 grams medium rice noodles – be aware if they are completely dry or have water in them. If a little wet, do not soak. ¼ cup vegetable oil ¼ cup (40 grams) bean curd, diced 2 tablespoons pickled radish, chopped 2 teaspoons garlic, chopped 1 teaspoon shallot, chopped 4 (60 grams) fresh shrimps, shelled and de-veined – Can use dried shrimps instead. 2 eggs Seasoning Mixture Ingredients 3T fish sauce 3T Palm Sugar 3T Tamarind juice Garnish 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts, pound 2 teaspoons chilies powder 1 cup bean sprouts ¼ cup (1) chives cut Banana blossom, lime, green leaf or Asiatic penny wort, chives as needed

1. Soak medium rice noodles in the water. Lift onto a sieve until drain. 2. In a mixing bowl, mix seasoning mixture ingredients until dissolved. 3. Heat vegetable oil in a wok. Fry diced bean curd until golden. Add shallot, garlic, pickled radish and shrimp until cooked 4. Add medium rice noodles and fry until soften. Add seasoning mixture ingredients. Add egg until cooked. Put aside. Wrap noodles with flat egg sheet. 5. When served, spoon onto a serving plate. Serve with fresh bean sprout, chives, green leaf or Asiatic penny-wort, peanuts, chili powder and lime

The next dish I had was absolutely incredible. It has all the palate sensations that I talk about in my classes. Sweet, sour, salty, spicy, crunchy and chewy. I didn’t make this myself, but I watched it be put together at the end. Kay is an incredibly talented cook with a well-developed sense of taste and I hope everyone gets the chance to learn from her in the kitchen and listen to her spiritual wisdom.

Mee Krob Chao Wang – Royal Crispy Vermicelli

Ingredients: garlic chopped fermented black beans – ground shallots finely chopped eggs – for the nest sugar cane or palm lime juice fish sauce bitter orange zest or lime prawns – cut into small cubes pork and chicken ground or fried tofu for vegetarian raw bean sprouts garlic chives cayenne pepper https://youtu.be/cieDZT_t8t0

For the sauce On medium heat Oil – garlic & shallots – brown until pungentAdd black beansAdd fish sauce, lime juice and sugar to taste Stir and reduce to thick syrup   Rice Vermicelli – 1pack Separate it a bit when dry Quick soak for a few seconds and shake dry Only 30 or so seconds before you fry it in HOT oil until little golden brown – HOT OIL is a crucial part of this technique – Fry the pork until its dehydrated and crispy – golden brown. Fry the prawns separately – used as garnish so not dry. Tofu would need to be crispy too… or else the noodles will get soggy Everything needs to be dry if to be stored for a while Whisk eggs – they need to be crispy strings Using a sieve to get into the hot oil. Pour the sauce over the crispy noodles in wok The pan needs to be low-med heat and mix to coat the noodles Fold gently or else the noodles will be mushy Mix until evenly coated Add Orange zest Put in bowl, turn upside down on a dish Put eggs on top of noodles Garnish with fresh mung bean sprouts Garlic chives Prawns Coriander leaf

 

There are so many egg dishes here in Thailand using chicken, duck and quail eggs. And I’m not talking omelets, though the Thai style omelet is pretty incredible. Since Kay is of Chinese descent, I wanted to share this one with you.

Moo Palo Recipe, Eggs and Pork Fragrant Stew –

สูตรทำไข่พะโล้หมูสามชั้นเห็ดหอม ; khai phalo muu saam chan het haawm- Serves: 8

An all-time classic and a favorite Thai stew, this easy-to-prepare, tasty and fragrant dish was introduced into Thai cuisine by Chinese immigrants.

Ingredients:
400gr pork belly (sliced bacon), cut into 3cm (1.5″) cubes
300gr pork shoulder or tenderloin, cut into 3cm (1.5″) cubes
7 large eggs
300gr firm bean curd, cut into 2cm (1″) cubes
Neutral taste cooking oil for deep frying
10-20 (25gr) dry shiitake mushrooms
1/3 cup (125gr) palm sugar
3 star anise fruits
3 pieces of cassia tree bark, 5cm (2″) each
1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder (phalo powder)
1/4 cup fish sauce
8 cups water
2 tablespoons dark sweet sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce

Garlic coriander paste:
3 medium coriander roots (about 10gr), scraped, washed and finely chopped
5 large cloves garlic (about 20gr), finely chopped
2 teaspoons black peppercorns (about 5gr)
1 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Soak the shiitake mushrooms in 1 cup of boiling water for about 15 minutes.
2. When re-hydrated, strain. Save both the water and the mushrooms and set aside. Remove and discard the hard stalks.
3. Gently place the eggs in a pot and cover with cold water. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to prevent the eggs from cracking. Bring to boil, and let it boil for one minute on medium heat. Then turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let rest for 15 minutes. Transfer the eggs to a cold water bath, and let them cool down. Peel and dry. Set aside.
4. Cut the bean curd into 2cm (1″) cubes
5. Deep fry the bean curd on medium-low heat until the cubes are golden.
6. Remove the bean curd from the oil. Soak the cubes in 1 cup of boiling water for about 15 minutes, then strain and set aside.
7. Thoroughly clean the skin side of the pork belly, and cut into 3cm (1.5″) cubes. Cut the pork tenderloin into cubes of the same size.
8. In a hot wok, without oil, roast the pork belly pieces. The heat will render out the fat.
9. When the pork starts to brown, and there is liquid fat in the wok, then add the pork tenderloin cubes. Sear together until the meat is browned from all sides.
10. Set aside.
11. In a mortar and pestle, pound the coriander roots, the garlic and the peppercorns with a teaspoon of salt as an abrasive. The paste does not need to be very fine. Set aside.
12. In a wok on a low heat, melt the palm sugar. Slowly caramelize it to a deep amber color, being careful not to burn it! You may add a tablespoon of water here and there, to control the rate of caramelization. Now the sugar is nice and brown.
13. Add the garlic-coriander paste, the cinnamon sticks, star anise and the Chinese five-spice powder. Mix well
14. Add the garlic-coriander paste, the cinnamon sticks, star anise and the Chinese five-spice powder. Mix well
15. Add the pork and eggs to the sugar sauce. Mix well.
16. Transfer the pork and eggs to a pot, and cover with a lid.
17. Add the re-hydrated mushrooms and their water.
18. Add fried bean curd.
19. Fill the pot with 4 cups of water.
20. Add the sweet black soy sauce, the fish sauce, the light soy sauce and the oyster sauce
21. Cover, and simmer on low heat for about 1 hour until the pork is soft and the eggs are a nice deep brown color. Skim any oil that floats to the top.
22. Serve hot, garnished with fresh coriander leaves.