It has been a long time that I have not posted anything in Kiko’s Kitchen..I became so busy with work and a lot of travel lately so didn’t have the chance to cook new recipes. Anyway, last weekend I get to enhance my cooking skills further by attending a real Thai Cooking school. I went to Chiang Mai, Thailand for a holiday and I took the opportunity to be in a cooking school as this tour is quite popular in Chiang Mai.
The name of the school is Baan Hongnual. I was picked up in my hotel around 9 am and met my Teacher, Yam together with the owner of the school Ms. Amporn. That day was Thai public holiday so the owner had to personally pick me up. Talk about VIP service right? 🙂
I was asked by Yam what food I want to cook from some selection. I decided to prepare the most popular dish of Thailand namely Pad Thai, Tom Yum Goong, Gaeng Khew Wan Moo and Som Tam. We then headed to the local market to buy some fresh ingredients as well as Yam giving me a brief background of Thai cooking and common ingredients used.
After the market tour, we went to the school. I was asked to wear an apron and a Chef’s Toque. I felt an apprentice chef that day. Then, we went to the preparation area of the kitchen.
My first recipe is Pad Thai, a popular noodle dish.
To cook Pad Thai, you need the following ingredients:
300 g narrow rice noodles
1/2 kg. bean sprouts
3 eggs
50 grams pork, cut into small strips
6 pcs medium sized prawns
1 cake soy bean curd
1/2 cup ground roasted peanuts
1 tsp ground dried chillies
1 tbsp shallot minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks spring onion cut into 2 inch strips
1/2 cup cooking oil
4 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tbsp tamarind juice or vinegar
1/2 banana blossom (optional)
In a skillet, heat the oil. Add the garlic and shallots. When yellowed, add the pork until cooked. Set aside in the pan. Break the eggs and fry it in the same pan. Cut into smaller pieces using the spatula. Combine with the earlier ingredients. Push these ingredients aside. Put the noodles, the mixture of soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, tamarind juice and cook until noodles are ready. You could know if it is cooked when you break the noodles using the spatula and it breaks easily.
Combine all the ingredients together and put the spring onions, dried chillies (or chopped fresh chillies) and a handful of the bean sprouts.
Serve in a big plate and sprinkle with ground peanuts and dried shrimp. Put more bean sprouts and garnish with the banana blossoms and sliced lime.
Tom Yum Goong (Tom Yum with Prawns).
Tom Yum is one of the most recognized Thai recipe worldwide and it is very easy to prepare.
Ingredients:
100 g. prawns
2 cups of water or the stock from shirmp peelings
2 tomatoes, sliced into quarter
3 pcs straw mushrooms, cut into half then lengthwise
2-3 pcs lime
2 coriander, chopped for garnishing
2 stalks lemon grass
1 pc. galangal chopped thinly
5 pcs. fresh chillies, chopped
3 cloves garlic crushed
1 pc. onion, cut in half then into quarter
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2-3 tsp Thai chili paste
Do the following:
Put the prawn shells and heads in a pan with water and bring to a boil. Strain the stock discarding the peelings.
Do the following steps next:
– Cut the lemon grass stalk into 2 inch strips. Cut until the purple color inside of the stalk cannot be seen. Only those stalk with the purple color in the middle will be used. Discard the rest of the stalk
– Combine the prepared chillies, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal and garlic.
– In a small bowl, combine together soy sauce, sugar, salt, lime juice and Thai Chili paste.
– Boil the pan with shrimp stock and add all the ingredients until done.
– Add the prawns and cook for about 30 seconds then remove from heat.
– Pour into a bowl and garnish with spring onions or coriander.
Gaeng Keow Waan Kai (Chicken Green Curry)
I like this dish because it is very rich in flavor and not as spicy as the other Thai food but is a bit sweet and with the distinct flavor of basil which I really like in dishes.
Ingredients:
100 grams sliced chicken (lean meat)
1-2 tbsp green curry paste
1/2 cup sliced round eggplants
2 kaffir lime leaves sliced in small pieces
10-15 leaves sweet basil (can add more up to your preference)
1 red chili (remove the seed and slice thinly for garnishing)
10 grams (about 10 pcs) small eggplant (others call bitter eggplant)
3 cups coconut milk (2 cups coconut cream+ 1 cup water)
1/2 cup coconut cream
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
– In a wok, pour the coconut cream, add green curry paste and bring to a boil, stirring well.
– Add the sliced chicken and lime leaves. Stir until the chicken is cooked.
– Add the sliced eggplants and keep stirring for about 3 minutes
– Add coconut milk and bring to a boil over medium heat then add the fish sauce, sugar and taste
– When eggplants are cooked, remove from heat and pour in a bowl. Garnish with basil and red chili
– Serve with cooked rice.
Som Tam (Papaya Salad)
Som Tam is a very good tasting salad and is commonly sold along the streets or Thai restaurants. Some people call it Papaya Pok Pok Salad because you literally pound the ingredients in a mortar and pestle.
Ingredients:
100 g. green papaya, peeled and shredded
5 cloves garlic
3-5 chillies
1-2 string long beans (sitaw) cut into 1 inch long sizes
1 tbsp dried shrimps
1 tomato cut into bite sized pieces
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 pcs lime (remove the seeds)
1 tps sugar
2 tbsp roasted peanuts (unsalted)
To prepare, pound the garlic, chili and long bean until crushed using a deep mortar and pestle. Add fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. Add the papaya, dried shrimp, roasted peanuts, tomatoes and continue pounding until slightly flat. You can add more fish sauce, lime juice or chillies up to your taste preference.
Serve in a plate.
Normally Som Tam is combined with Barbecue Pork or chicken and served with sticky rice.
At the end of my cooking I get to taste all the food I prepared. It made me so full but I felt good having to prepare authentic Thai recipe.
I would love to share it with my friends and family soon.
Wanna taste it?
Kiko's Kitchen 