These exotic and beautiful recipes from Thailand are sure to give your weeknight dinners a new definition.
Courtesy: Chef Ram Kumar, Benjarong
Som Tam Fa-Rang
Chiang mai’s original spicy prawn and Thai guava salad
Ingredients
75 g prawns
50 g Thai guava or ordinary guava
25 g onion
25 g coloured capsicum
25 g cherry tomatoes
For dressing
10 g coriander stem (chopped)
10 g fresh red chillies (chopped)
10 g garlic (chopped)
25 ml fish sauce or fish stock
25 ml sugar syrup
25 ml lemon juice
To garnish
Whole cashew nuts
Fresh coriander leaves
Method
- Cut onion and capsicum diagonally and halve the cherry tomatoes.
- Cut the Thai guava lengthwise.
- Make the dressing by mixing all the above mentioned ingredients.
- Boil the prawns. Set aside.
- Mix the all the ingredients and add the dressing.
- Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and golden fried cashew nuts.
Tom yum goong
Classic Thai sour and spicy soup flavoured with lemongrass, galangal, and bird’s eye chillies
Note: Tom yum soup always tastes better with fresh river prawns. The soup is often eaten with rice.
Ingredients
3 prawns
15 g roasted chilli paste
10 g button mushrooms
8 g galangal or ordinary ginger
10 g lemon grass
5 g bird eye chillies or red chillies
1 kaffir lime leaf
10 ml fish sauce or fish stock
5 g sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
Coriander leaves to garnish
300 ml stock water
Method
- Boil stock water in a pot.
- Cut lemon grass into pieces, 5-6 inches long. Pound the lemon grass, just to bruise it, to release the flavour.
- Add lemon grass, galangal, bird eye chillies, kaffir lime leaf to the stock water and let boil for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add the fish sauce, roasted chilli paste, prawn, button mushrooms and bring it to the boil.
- Add sugar and lemon juice and remove from the heat and garnish with hand full of coriander leaves.
Kaeng Ped Phak
Traditional Thai red curry with vegetables
Ingredients
180 g Thai red curry paste (available at supermarkets)
40 g broccoli
40 g baby corn
30 g zucchini
20 g bottlegourd
20 g bamboo shoots
30 g carrot
30 g cauliflower
15 g sweet basil
1 fresh red chilli
Salt to taste
12 g palm sugar
220 ml fresh coconut milk
Method
- Add red curry paste in a pan and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant.
- Add all the vegetables and simmer until vegetables are cooked through.
- Add fresh coconut milk, palm sugar, salt and cook until well blended.
- Add sweet basil and remove from the heat.
- Garnish with chopped fresh red chillies and serve hot with rice.
Chiang Mai Punch
Tropical blend of pineapples, oranges and strawberries with ice cream
Ingredients
180 ml pineapple juice
100 ml orange juice
4 fresh strawberries
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
1 tsp sugar
Method
Blend all the ingredients along with vanilla ice cream in a blender and serve in a tall glass.