Real Thai Recipes » Yum (Thai Salads)

Wing Bean Salad

cee — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:42:04 +0000

Slice the fresh coconut meat into match-stick size strips, about 1″ (2cm) long. Remove the skin of the shallots and slice thinly.
Roast the coconut on medium heat in a dry pan until light brown. Keep stirring so it doesn’t burn. Set aside on a flat plate to cool.
If your peanuts are not already roasted, dry roast them now like you did the coconut. Crush the peanuts with a stone mortar & pestle or the side of a heavy knife.
Fry the shallots in enough vegetable oil to cover them on medium heat until golden brown. Be careful not to burn. Remove before dark brown as they will continue to cook for a minute or two once removed from the pan. (You can cheat here and buy pre-fried shallots in a container at many Asian groceries.)
Fry the chilies in the oil until browned.
Boil the eggs in water until hard-boiled, about 10 minutes. Replace the hot water with fresh cold water to stop the cooking. Peel and slice however you wish (halved, quartered, or sliced thin like shown).
Clean the shrimp by peeling off the heads and legs, and removing the “vein” (intestine), but leave the tail on.
Trim off the ends of the wing beans and boil whole in salt water for less than a minute — just enough time to turn a darker green. You want them to still be crisp & crunchy. Rinse in cold water and slice into 1/4″ pieces (as shown).
Heat the coconut milk in a pan until boiling. Add the shrimp and cook until pink. Turn off heat and add the palm sugar, tamarind paste, roasted chili paste, lime juice, fish sauce, peanuts and coconut. Mix well.
Add the wing beans and mix. Remove to a plate and arrange the eggs along side. Garnish with the fried shallots and chilies.

Fried Egg Salad

cee — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:32:22 +0000

Mix the fish sauce, sugar, soup base and lime juice well in a bowl.
Chop the garlic, chilies and coriander fine.
Fry the eggs in a very hot pan with a good deal of oil until crispy, about 1 minute. It helps to ladle the oil over the top of the egg to cook both sides at the same time. Set aside and allow to cool a bit.
Put the eggs in a plate and cut into quarters. Mix the garlic, chilies and coriander together into the sauce.
When ready to eat, pour the sauce over the eggs. Don’t let it sit long or the eggs will get soggy.

Sausage and Tomato Salad

cee — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 07:06:57 +0000

Cook the sausages or hot dogs in boiling water for a few minutes.
Slice on an angle, and rotate 1/4 way each cut, like shown in picture.
Prepare all your other ingredients.
Mix together in a bowl and serve.

Northeastern Glass Noodle Salad

cee — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 04:19:09 +0000

Toast the raw rice for a few minutes on medium-high until golden brown. Keep flipping them every few seconds so they don’t burn.
Pound the toasted rice in a stone mortar & pestle until powdered (see pic).
Toast the chili powder for a minute or two on medium-high until slightly darker and fragrant. Stir constantly. This can be quite dangerous if left forgotten on the stove — the smoke which is produced is quite spicy and can hurt your nose & lungs if left for too long!
Slice the shallots into thin rounds. Slice the scallions into 1/2″ (2cm) long pieces. Cut the long coriander into tiny pieces. Tear off the leaves of the mint and wash well. Set aside.

Soak the noodles for about 10 minutes until soft. Boil the water in a saucepan and cook the noodles for about 10 seconds. Remove and put into a bowl.
Add the chili powder, sugar, lime juice, toasted rice powder, fish sauce (or soy sauce), mint, scallions, shallots and long coriander to the bowl. Stir well.
Serve with a wedge or Chinese cabbage. You can top with small dried chilies too, if you want.

Northeastern Pork Salad

cee — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 06:27:00 +0000

Toast the raw rice for a few minutes on medium-high until golden brown. Keep flipping them every few seconds so they don’t burn.
Pound the toasted rice in a stone mortar & pestle until powdered (see pic).
Toast the chili powder for a minute or two on medium-high until slightly darker and fragrant. Stir constantly. This can be quite dangerous if left forgotten on the stove — the smoke which is produced is quite spicy and can hurt your nose & lungs if left for too long!
Boil the water in a saucepan and add the pork. Break apart and stir very gently until it’s cooked through. Strain and add to a bowl. Let it cool to slightly warm or room temperature.
Slice the shallots into thin rounds. Slice the scallions into 1/2″ (2cm) long pieces. Cut the long coriander into tiny pieces. Tear off the leaves of the mint and wash well. Set aside.

Add the chili powder, sugar, lime juice, toasted rice powder, fish sauce, mint, scallions, shallots and long coriander to the bowl. Stir well.
Serve with a wedge or Chinese cabbage. You can top with small dried chilies too, if you want.

Son In Law Eggs

cee — Sun, 06 May 2007 04:29:18 +0000

Boil the eggs: put the eggs in cold/room temp water on the stove, and make sure they are at least 1″ under the surface of the water. Bring to boil and boil for 7 minutes on medium-high. Don’t do a rolling boil, or the shells will crack. When finished, switch the water with cool water and leave for a few minutes to cool down. When cooled, peel and set aside for frying.
While the eggs are boiling, you can start with the rest of the steps. First is to dry-roast the chilies. Take the chilies and put them in a pan on medium-high and toss every few seconds. The air might get a bit spicy so make sure you have a window open or a fan on or something. Brown on each side and set aside.
Now you can make the sauce. Start by creating the tamarind paste out of the tamarind and hot water. Squeeze it in a small bowl with your fingers until you’re left with a paste and seeds/fibers. Remove the seeds/fibers and then strain the rest to get rid of the bits. Add to a sauce pan.
Heat on low until warm, and add the palm sugar and fish sauce. The palm sugar will melt in the heat. Cook until it’s melted and mixed well, and then simmer on low for about 5 minutes until darker brown. Set aside.
Frying time! In a wok add about 2 tablespoons of oil, and heat to high. Drop in the shallots and stir constantly (don’t stop even for a second or they will burn!) until lightly browned. Strain and remove.
Add a tablespoon more of oil, lower your heat to medium/high, and add your eggs. The recipe is for ‘deep fried’ eggs, but actually you don’t need to waste your oil to submerge them. Just keep turning the eggs so they evenly brown all over. When golden brown, strain and set aside.
Cut your eggs into quarters or halves, and arrange on a plate. Drizzle the sauce on top, and top with the fried shallots, roasted chilies and fresh coriander.

Canned Tuna Yum

cee — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 03:09:38 +0000

Drain the oil or water out of the can, and smash the tuna into medium size chunks (see picture to the right).
Add lime juice, fish sauce, chilies & shallots. Mix well.
That’s it! Easy!

Green Papaya Salad

cee — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 03:08:03 +0000

First prepare the papaya by peeling the dark green skin. Then, hold the papaya in your hand, and smack the fruit lengthwise with a good sized knife. You want to create 1/2″ or so deep cuts into the fruit. Do this over and over until you’ve created a good amount of cuts. Watch your fingers! Then, cut the papaya lengthwise to produce long strips. You can also buy tools which can create long shreds, or even use a cheese grater (the big holes). Thai people use the knife method though!
In a ceramic mortar & pestle, add the whole garlic cloves and chilies. Pound with the pestle a few times to mash, then add the long beans.
Pound a few more times, and add a pinch of papaya. This helps mix the garlic & chilies. Pound some more.
Add the palm sugar, fish sauce or salt and pound more. Make sure everything is well mixed.
Add the tomato, chopped into large pieces. Pound more, but not as hard. Add the lime juice, dried shrimp and the rest of the papaya. Pound about 10-15 times while mixing with a spoon. You want to evenly coat the papaya with the juices while pounding the flavor into the papaya, but don’t pound so hard that the papaya disintegrates. Add the peanuts, mix and serve.