http://www.realthairecipes.com Authentic Thai Recipes from Thailand Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:47:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/massaman-curry/ http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/massaman-curry/#comments Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:53:55 +0000 cee http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/massaman-curry/ Massaman Curry (gaeng matsaman - แกงมัสมั่น) is a Southern Thai curry which has a lot of Indian influence. Massaman is an old way of saying "Muslim", for many of the dry spices were carried to Thailand by early Muslim traders. Like Indian curries, this curry is heavy on dry spices and very aromatic. It's typically served with rice or roti, and sometimes with a side of ajaat.]]>

If making your own paste, dry roast the dry spices in a pan on medium heat until fragrant, about 2-4 minutes. It’s best to roast each thing one at a time until fragrant. The chilies should be browned. Roast the shrimp paste wrapped in tin foil for a few minutes too.

Soak the dried chilies until soft, then take out the seeds and inner bits and chop fine.

Pound the paste in a stone mortar & pestle. Start by grinding up the dried spices until powdered, then set aside. Put the chilies in the mortar and pound until uniformly smashed, then add the rest of the ingredients, starting from hardest and driest and working up to softest at the end. Then add the dried spice powder back in and the shrimp paste. Mix well. If using a food processor, just mix it all in together. If using canned paste, skip these three steps.

Cut the potatoes and onions into bite-sized pieces and wash the chicken.

Add the oil to the pan and turn on to medium high. Fry 4 tablespoons of the paste until fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Keep stirring so it doesn’t burn.

Add the whole chicken pieces. Fry until the chicken is sealed on the outside, about 2-3 minutes.

Add 1 cup of the coconut cream (top part of the can if using canned – don’t shake the can). Simmer until the oil separates, about 2-3 minutes. You’ll see reddish oil starting to float to the top.

Add the potatoes, peanuts and onions and the 1 cup of coconut milk. Simmer for a few minutes.

Add the cinnamon, cardamom seeds, cassia leaves. Mix well.

Simmer (and stir well) until the mixture browns and a good deal of oil comes to the top. About 15-20 minutes. If it gets too dry, add some water. Add the fish sauce, palm sugar and tamarind juice at the end. Taste – you may need to adjust the flavor if it’s not salty or sour enough.

Serve with rice or roti. Also is great with ajaat (slightly pickled cucumber salad) on the side.

]]> http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/massaman-curry/feed/ 12 http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/hot-and-sour-soup-with-shrimp/ http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/hot-and-sour-soup-with-shrimp/#comments Tue, 08 Jan 2008 04:34:31 +0000 cee http://www.realthairecipes.com/soups-curries/hot-and-sour-soup-with-shrimp/ Hot and Sour Soup with Shrimp (tom yum goong, ต้มยำกุ้ง) is probably the most famous Thai dish, both inside and outside of Thailand. It's eaten very often here, usually in a type of hot pot with fire underneath. There are hundreds of variations of tom yum, and this recipe includes the two most common versions of Tom Yum Goong.]]>

Prepare all the ingredients. Remove the outer layer of the lemongrass stalks and cut off the end. Cut into 1-2″ pieces and smash with the side of a heavy knife to release flavor. Tear the center vein off the lime leaves. Slice your galangal into thin slices. Cut the tomato into 6 pieces lengthwise. Peel the skin off the shallots and smash lightly. Clean your coriander roots well. Smash the fresh chilies with the back of a heavy knife, or in a mortar and pestle. If using fresh Thai straw mushrooms, slice the bottoms off and cut in 1/2 lengthwise. If making the version with milk: roast the dried chilies until fragrant and browned in a dry wok on medium heat (see note).

Clean the shrimp by peeling off the backs and snapping off the top part of the heads, but leave the fat on at the base of the head (the reddish brown goop). This is very important, as that fat imparts a signature flavor into Tom Yum Goong. Don’t discard it. Then, peel out the legs + intestine underneath, but leave the tails on. Set aside.

Boil the broth on high until it comes to a rapid boil. (see note about broth below). Add the lime leaves, lemongrass, coriander root, galangal, shallot(s) and tomato. Boil for 4-5 minutes until the broth tastes herbal. if you’re using fresh ingredients, 4-5 minutes should be enough. In a separate pan, boil the mushrooms in plain water.

After you’ve boiled 4-5 minutes, add a pinch of salt and the shrimp. Strain the cooked mushrooms and add them to the soup as well. Cook until shrimp turn pink, about a minute.

Add the fish sauce and remove from heat. You will now season the soup.

Add lime juice, chili paste, smashed fresh chilies. Taste the soup. Is it sour? Is it salty? If no, add a bit more, 1/4 teaspoon at a time.

If making the version with milk: Add the milk and dried chilies. If doing this step you’ll need to add a bit more lime juice and fish sauce as the milk tames it down a bit. Add about a teaspoon more of each.

Add cilantro and serve. This soup is best served really hot!

]]> http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/hot-and-sour-soup-with-shrimp/feed/ 21 http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/sour-curry/ http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/sour-curry/#comments Sat, 29 Dec 2007 07:55:14 +0000 cee http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/sour-curry/ Sour Curry (gaeng som, แกงส้ม) is a tart, watery curry which does not have coconut milk. The broth is made sour with tamarind paste and is salted with fish sauce. There are a variety of vegetables which can be used. Sour curry is usually made with ground fish and or shrimp.]]>

Soak the chilies in water until soft. When soft, drain and slice into pieces.

Make the curry paste by smashing the chilies until a paste, then adding the finger root, shallots and finally shrimp paste. Pound until smooth in a stone mortar & pestle, or use an electric blender.

Boil the water, and then add the curry paste. Boil for about a minute, and add the raw fish (with skin still on).

Boil the fish for about 3 minutes, until the fish is white inside and soft. Fish out the fish. Take the skin off and discard. Pound the fish pieces into a paste with the mortar and pestle, or blend in an electric blender until smooth. Add the paste back into the boiling curry.

Add the Chinese turnip and boil for 10 minutes until the turnip is soft and somewhat transparent.

Add the palm sugar, tamarind paste and fish sauce. Make sure the turnip is cooked properly before you do this step.

Add the rest of the veggies and cook for a minute until soft. Remove from heat and serve.

]]> http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/sour-curry/feed/ 2 http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/panang-curry/ http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/panang-curry/#comments Thu, 06 Sep 2007 09:20:32 +0000 cee http://www.realthairecipes.com/soups-curries/panang-curry/ Panang Curry (sometimes written Penang Curry) is a dry curry which is fried in coconut milk, and not boiled. Panang uses the thicker part of the milk, or the cream only. It's typically made with beef, although you can make it with pork or chicken as well. It is usually just meat, and is seasoned with sliced lime leaves and sometimes a few leaves of Thai basil.]]>

The first step is to make the curry paste. Start by soaking the chilies in water until they’re soft. This could take up to a half hour. When they’re soft, cut them open to remove the guts & seeds.

Toast the cumin seeds, cilantro seeds and peanuts separately in a pan over medium heat. Roast each until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes.

Grind up the seeds together in a stone mortar & pestle until powdered. Remove and set aside.

Add your chilies with the salt to the stone mortar & pestle and pound until a paste. This will take awhile — the skins are difficult to mash. Be patient.

When your chilies are a uniform paste, add the lemongrass. Pound until a paste. Then add the galangal and coriander roots, and again, smash until paste.

Add the peanuts, shallots, garlic and your powdered cumin & cilantro seeds. Mash until paste. Add the shrimp paste and pound to mix well. Set aside.

Cut your meat cross-grain into thin slices (about 1.5″ (4cm) long x 1/2″ (1.25cm) tall x 1/8″ (.25cm) thick).

Now, on to frying your curry! Heat up your pan first on medium-high heat, then add 1/2 cup of the coconut cream. It should sizzle right away and boil. Add all the paste and mix well.

Fry the paste. You want to keep the paste dry, but not too dry that it sticks and burns. Keep adding a little bit of coconut milk when it gets too dry, maybe about 1/4 cup every minute or two. Keep stirring so it doesn’t burn.

Keep adding coconut cream about 1/4 cup at a time, every minute or two. You should start to see a lot of oil coming to the top of the curry. This is normal and a sign that you’re doing it right!

Your paste should start to smell really good after 4-5 minutes. You’ll start to see a lot of oil rising to the top, especially where it’s bubbling. When it does, add your meat.

Cook the meat until cooked, add the lime leaves and palm sugar, then keep going about 3-5 minutes so the meat is soft. The consistency of the curry should be similar to the photo. If it’s too dry, add a bit more of the coconut milk. Remove and serve.

Feel free to garnish with shredded lime leaves and a few leaves of Thai basil. Some fancy restaurants serve it like shown with a bit of thickened coconut cream (thickened with a bit of tapioca flour) which you’re welcome to do too!

]]> http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/panang-curry/feed/ 47 http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/green-curry-p-malas-recipe/ http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/green-curry-p-malas-recipe/#comments Thu, 16 Aug 2007 02:33:12 +0000 cee http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/green-curry-with-pork-p-malas-recipe/ Green Curry with Pork is a staple Thai dish. This is the second green curry recipe on the website, this one was taught to me by P-Mala, a cook for over 20 years. Her green curry was raved about, and she invited me over yesterday to learn from her how she makes it.]]>

Prepare the ingredients for the curry paste. Slice the lemongrass into thin rounds, peel the skin off the garlic & shallots, slice the galangal and the magroot skin into thin slivers, and remove the stems from the chilies.

In a stone mortar & pestle, start with the drier and harder ingredients first: add the galangal, magroot skin, lemongrass, peppercorns and salt. Smash together until a fairly uniform paste. This may take a few minutes.

Add the wet ingredients: the garlic, shallots and chilies. Do not add the shrimp paste yet. Smash until fairly uniform. This is homestyle curry, so the curry paste isn’t meant to look perfect like at the market. It’s ok (and even preferred) to have it a bit ‘chunky’, but it shouldn’t be not mixed. See picture for finished product.

When finished, add the shrimp paste and pound until mixed well.

Slice the meat into thin slices (as shown in the picture) and set aside. If using fresh coconut milk, separate the head from the tail (milk from cream) and place in two different bowls. If using canned coconut milk, don’t shake the can. Skim the top cream off and place it in a bowl, and place the rest in another. You’ll probably need to thin out the rest with another can’s worth of water, since canned coconut milk is much thicker than fresh.

Heat a wok over medium-high heat and add 1/2 cup of the coconut cream. It should be the same consistency of cow’s milk. If it’s a lot thicker, thin it down with water. Wait until it boils and the oil separates, this should take about 2 minutes.

Add all the curry paste, and mix well. Keep stirring and flipping the paste so it doesn’t burn. You’ll need to cook the paste for about 3 minutes until it becomes quite fragrant and you begin to sneeze. As the paste dries out, and starts to stick to the pan, keep adding more coconut cream a few tablespoons at a time. Don’t let the paste burn.

When the paste is finished cooking, add the meat and 1/2 cup of coconut cream. Cook the meat on medium heat for 15 minutes. Flip and stir every minute or two to prevent burning. If it’s too dry, keep adding coconut cream or milk. It should be a wet fry, almost a simmer. P-Mala said you’ll start to see a light green film, or oil rise to the top towards the end of the cooking time.

Add the palm sugar, and mix well.

Add the rest of the coconut milk (and water if using canned) and bring to a rapid boil. Then add the eggplants and long chilies, and boil for 2 minutes.

Add the lime leaves and basil, remove from heat and serve.

]]> http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/green-curry-p-malas-recipe/feed/ 24 http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/green-curry-moms-recipe/ http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/green-curry-moms-recipe/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2007 07:15:59 +0000 cee http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/green-curry-moms-recipe/ Green Curry is one of the most famous curry dishes from Thailand. This is Jett's family's recipe, taught to me directly from her mother. Jett's mom is a bit heavy handed on the spice, so if you don't like your food scalding hot, you may wish to lower the chilies down a bit. This curry is quite good, and rivals the best restaurants in Bangkok!]]>

First prepare the ingredients for the paste. Chop each piece into fine bits, to make the pounding easier. Roast the peppercorns on medium heat for about 5 minutes, until fragrant.

In a stone mortar & pestle, start with the lemongrass, and pound until it’s a paste. Then add the lime peel and galangal, and pound until paste.

Add the cilantro roots, salt, peppercorns, and pound until paste.

Add chilies and garlic, and pound until paste.

Add shrimp paste (if adding), and pound until mixed. Set your finished curry paste aside. Mom likes the curry paste to be somewhat gritty, so don’t worry about making a perfect uniform paste.

Separate the coconut cream from the milk, and put into two separate bowls, and prepare all of your ingredients.

Throw 1/2 of your coconut cream (head) into the hot pan. It should sizzle and boil like mad. Let it do this for about 20 seconds, then add all the curry paste.

Keep stirring the curry paste so it doesn’t burn or stick to the pan. If it dries out to much, gradually add more of the coconut cream to the pan, little by little. You want to cook the paste for about 2-3 minutes, until it’s really fragrant and you sneeze. Not joking. You will sneeze. The ingredients inside the paste cook at different speeds, and when the chilies start to cook, the air gets spicy. That’s when it’s done.

Add some more coconut cream and the meat or tofu. Keep stirring until cooked through, and make sure your paste doesn’t burn or stick to the pan. Keep adding coconut cream to slightly ‘boil’ the paste, not so much ‘dry fry’ it. If you run out of cream, start to use milk. If using beef, you’ll need to cook for much longer, until the beef gets tender. If tofu, just a minute to get the flavor through.

Add all the coconut milk and boil for a minute or two. Then add the eggplants and lime leaves.

Boil 1 minute, then add the basil, stir and serve. You may want to garnish with bits of basil to make it look pretty.

]]> http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/green-curry-moms-recipe/feed/ 1 http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/vegetable-soup-with-herbs/ http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/vegetable-soup-with-herbs/#comments Fri, 30 Mar 2007 07:52:58 +0000 cee http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/vegetable-soup-with-herbs/ Gaeng Liang is a very flavorful soup with tons of fresh vegetables and herbs. The main flavors are basil and finger root. While most of the vegetables might be hard to find outside of Thailand, I have included a few substitutions which will work.]]>

First you make the curry paste. Start by smashing the peppercorns in a stone mortar & pestle until they become a fine powder.

Chop the herbs into small pieces, and add in order, smashing until a fine paste between each new herb: finger root, garlic, shallots, then chilies.

Dice the mushrooms into tiny pieces, then add them too, and smash until fine.

Add the salted beans, smash, mix, and set the finished curry paste aside.

Bring the water to a boil in a pan on medium high. Add salt & the curry paste, and stir well.

When the water boils again, add the thai pumpkin and goard.

When the thai pumpkin and goard are soft, add the sponge vegetable. Cook for a minute or two until soft.

Add soy sauce & palm sugar and mix. Add the soft leafy vegetables and basil now. Stir in and when wilted, serve.

]]> http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/vegetable-soup-with-herbs/feed/ 0 http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/clear-mushroom-lemongrass-soup/ http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/clear-mushroom-lemongrass-soup/#comments Thu, 05 Oct 2006 09:21:16 +0000 cee http://thaifood.00ff00.com/recipes/fruit/ Vegetarian Mushroom Lemongrass Soup, or Tom Yum (tom yum het mangsawirat, ต้มยำเห็ดมังสะวิรัติ) is a vegetarian version of Thailand's most popular soup. Tom Yum is very spicy and sour, and usually served scalding hot in a hotpot with a fire underneath. There are many different variations... This one is a clear vegetarian version with mushrooms and tomato.]]>

Add the water to a sauce pan. Crush the lemongrass and cilantro root in a stone mortar & pestle or with the butt of a knife, then add them to the water. Tear the lime leaves to release flavor, and throw them in too along with the galangal.

Turn on your heat to medium high, and bring to a boil. Boil your herbs for about 5 minutes or so, to release the flavors. The color of the water should be a light green when you’re finished.

Add the mushrooms, chilies and knorr cube. Boil for 2-3 more minutes, until mushrooms are soft.

Add the sliced tomato, and cook until soft, probably less than a minute.

Turn off the heat. Add your soy sauce, sugar, and at the very end the lime juice. Taste to make sure the flavor is right… It should be very sour & spicy. You may need to add more lime juice depending on how sour your limes are.

Transfer to a bowl and garnish with cilantro.

]]> http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/clear-mushroom-lemongrass-soup/feed/ 4 http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/mushroom-coconut-milk-soup/ http://www.realthairecipes.com/recipes/mushroom-coconut-milk-soup/#comments Thu, 05 Oct 2006 05:28:34 +0000 cee http://thaifood.00ff00.com/recipes/mushroom-coconut-milk-soup-tom-khaa-het/ Tom Khaa is probably Thailand's second most famous soup, after Tom Yum. It's spicy and tangy but also very creamy due to the coconut milk. Here's a vegetarian version made with mushrooms instead of chicken or fish.]]>

Bring water to a boil. Add galangal, lemongrass, lime leaves and knorr cube. Boil for 5 minutes or so, until flavor comes out. You will need to boil longer if your herbs are not so fresh, and you also may need to increase the amount.

Add the chilies, tofu, mushrooms & coconut milk, and cook for a minute or two. Be careful not to cook for too long, just until mushrooms are finished.

Turn off the heat. Add the soy sauce & lime juice, then garnish with cilantro.

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