Thai Mania

If you know me, you know Thai Food is my favorite thing.Ever.

But cooking it is a challenge that I actually hate.

It's expensive, time consuming and it doesn't always work.

It's one complicated monster...

This week I made Thai food 2 nights in a row:

once for friends & then again to test a few things.

Here's what I need to remember:

when frying rice noodles don't let them cook very long on the hot pan.

Add sauce so the noodles don't glue themselves to each other.

Cook the egg, sprouts, tofu separately and add later.

Also, try the peanut pad thai recipe below, it looks awesome.

Green curry is too easy (but recipe listed is a great one),

so try this curry next time:
Yellow Curry

...

Okay. Now this is for anyone:

The Southeast Market on 9th south and 422 east is my happy place.

The employees are sooo helpful and the produce is crazy cheap.

Going there will inspire you to infuse Asia into all your cooking.

Plus they have all the taiwanese treats that I crave

(seaweed, dehydrated mangoes, horsebeans, hichews, bubble tea, pumpkin seeds).

However they don't have little plastic bags for your produce.

That even grosses me out a little!!

Here's a pic of the the finished product:

Green Curry

Pad Thai

Lettuce Wraps

& Corn Fritters.

Garnish with cilantro, peanuts, sweet chili sauce and asian hot sauce!

...

Recipes listed below, except for the lettuce wraps.

I just fry up gr. turkey, fish sauce (to taste), cilantro.

Pile meat and rice into romaine lettuce.

Simple and always delish.

I'm not making Thai again unless I have a sous chef cuz this menu gives me a panic attack.

Everything has a million ingredients and has to be cooked at the same time.

You wanna see something comical, watch me cook this alone.

AKA ripping my hair out, cursing, spinning in circles, chopping, burning, tossing etc.

It's so frustrating. I'm officially throwing in the thai towel...

I wonder what I'll find to cook instead.

Peanut Pad Thai
Ingredients
2/3 cup Evaporated Milk
1/3 cup smooth or chunky peanut butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
8 ozs. dried, thin rice noodles
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 fresh lime, cut into wedges, divided
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 ozs. small shrimp or 1 boneless chicken breast, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large egg, beaten
2 cups fresh bean sprouts
1 bunch green onions, sliced (about 3/4 cup), divided
1/2 cup chopped peanuts, divided
Directions
PLACE evaporated milk, peanut butter, soy sauce and ginger in blender; cover. Blend for 30 seconds or until smooth. Set aside. Makes 1 cup. SOAK rice noodles for 30 minutes in hot tap water; drain. Noodles will be flexible but not soft. COMBINE water, sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, juice of 1 lime wedge (1 teaspoon) and cayenne pepper in small bowl. HEAT oil in large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until shrimp turns pink. Stir in noodles, stirring quickly to keep from sticking. Pour ketchup mixture over noodles; cook for 2 minutes or until sauce is absorbed, stirring constantly. PUSH noodles to side of skillet. Add egg to skillet, stirring until cooked. Stir in bean sprouts, 1/2 cup green onions and 1/4 cup peanuts until mixed. Mound mixture on large serving plate. Pour 1/2 cup peanut sauce down center of noodles and sprinkle with remaining green onions and peanuts. Squeeze 2 lime wedges over noodles and garnish with additional wedges. Serve with remaining peanut sauce.
SERVING SUGGESTION: Serve Peanut Sauce with grilled chicken satays or chicken fingers.*


Green Chicken Curry
Yields 4 servings
Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 stalk lemongrass, white bulb only
1 tablespoon ginger, chopped
3 tablespoons Thai green curry paste
2 kaffir lime leaves
2 cans cooking coconut milk
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 lime, juiced
Fresh Thai basil leaves
Fresh cilantro leaves
Lime wedges, for garnish
Directions
Place a large, deep skillet over medium heat and coat with the oil. Saute the onion and green peppers for 3 minutes to soften. Split the piece of lemongrass down the middle and whack it with the flat side of a knife to open the flavor. Add the lemongrass, ginger, curry paste and lime leaves to the skillet and stir for 2 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk and chicken broth. Lay the chicken pieces in the mixture to poach; add a pinch of salt. Stir together and simmer over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Squeeze in the lime juice and shower with basil and cilantro; serve in dinner bowls with lime wedges.


Corn Fritters
Yields 12-15 small corn fritters
Ingredients:
1 cup regular white flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 fish sauce
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 eggs
1 cup medium/firm tofu, cubed
1 cup frozen corn
4 spring onions/scallions, sliced
1 loose cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/3 tsp. turmeric
1-2 slivered kaffir lime leaves
TO SERVE: 1 bottle Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
TO FRY: 1 cup canola oil for deep-frying
Preparation:
Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Add the fish sauce and soy sauce. Whisk together.
Add tofu, corn, onion, cilantro, bell pepper, chili, turmeric and lime leaf slivers. Stir together.
Mix the baking powder with the flour. Now add this dry mixture to the wet a little at a time, stirring to blend it in and form a thick mixture. Taste-test it for salt, adding up to 1 Tbsp. more fish sauce, or soy sauce if not salty or flavorful enough.
Heat the oil in a wok or small frying pan over medium-high heat. When bubbles begin to rise from the bottom of the pan, try dropping in a 1/4 tsp. of the mixture. If it sizzles and begins to cook, the oil is ready. If not, the oil needs to heat a little longer.
When oil is ready, drop a heaping tablespoon of the mixture into the oil - this will be 1 fritter. Allow fritters to cook at least 1 minute before disturbing - or until they have a more solid form - then gently turn them over. Fritters are done when they're golden-brown on both sides. Remove from oil and allow to drain on an absorbent towel or paper.
Serve with Thai Sweet Chili Sauce for dipping. ENJOY!