Thai cooking -Amy Larson

Summer Rolls

Summer rolls are tasty, healthy and fun. You can serve it as a starter or a meal on its own. The possibilities for fillings are endless! This is just a basic recipe to get you started. Add and omit things according to your own taste. Kids can help too.

• Package of 8.5 inch rice paper wrappers (try an Asian market—usually they come in a round package the same shape as the wrappers)

• Some vermicelli noodles (very thin noodles—also available at an Asian

• Lettuce leaves (Romaine hearts work well)

• Shredded or julienned carrots

• Bean sprouts

• Any herbs you like: mint, cilantro, basil

• Green onions

• Sliced grilled chicken breasts

Fill a shallow dish with warm water. Immerse one sheet of rice paper in the water until it is pliable and most of the texture from the dry wrapper is gone. Transfer rice paper to paper towels or moist dish towel to absorb excess water. Leave 1 inch uncovered on the edge closest to you and start layering on the ingredients. Use less filling than that you should. If you overstuff the wrapper it will tear. Fold wrapper once over the filling, then fold in the sides and continue to roll tightly to the end. Keep rolls covered with a damp towel. DO NOT REFRIGERATE. Best if eaten within half an hour.

There are a lot of options for dipping sauces. Here are a few I like. MAKE SURE TO TASTE AND ADUST AS NECESSARY FOR YOUR LIKING.


Spicy peanut dipping sauce

Heat in a small saucepan over medium heat:

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Add and cool, stirring for 5 seconds:

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small fresh Thai chili pepper, seeded and minced

Add and cook, stirring until thickened, about 4 minutes:

1 cup water
¼ cup soy sauce
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter, preferably unsweetened
1 tsp. packed light brown sugar, or to taste
3 Tbsp. chopped unsalted roasted peanuts

Remove from heat and stir in, if desired:

1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh mint leaves

Serve warm or at room temperature. This sauce will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 1 week.

Sweet chili dipping sauce

¼ cup rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
¼ cup hot water
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 lime, juiced
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. red chili paste

Green Papaya Salad
(Som Tum Thai)

Som Tum is a hit with almost everyone who has a chance to taste it. It is traditionally made using a mortar and pestle. If you don’t have a mortar or pestle, mince the Thai chili and garlic and combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. I find that it’s a bit easier to mix everything in a Ziploc bag. That way, you can thoroughly mix all the ingredients without getting anything else dirty.

Shredded carrots or cucumbers can be substituted for shredded green papaya. It’ll just be a cucumber or carrot som tum instead of a papaya som tum. This should have the sweet, sour, hot and slightly salty explosion of flavor right when you put it in your mouth. The level of heat will depend on how many chili peppers you use. If you don’t have fresh peppers on hand, go ahead and use the crushed red pepper flakes that you can get from any grocery store.

1 pound shredded green papaya (use a julienned shredder if you have one)
2 Thai chilies (add more pepper if you want it hotter!)
1 small clove of garlic
2 strings long bean (cut into 1 inch lengths) ( optional)
1 tablespoon chopped roasted peanut
5 cherry tomatoes (cut in half) ( any type of tomatoes will do)
1 ½ tablespoon palm sugar (or white sugar)
1 ½ tablespoons lime juice
1 ½ tablespoons fish sauce

Serve this salad with any grilled meat or fish and rice, and your mouth will thank you!

Tip: Fresh peppers can be washed, stems removed and then stored in the freezer.


Laap (or Larp) Chicken

This very typical Lao dish may also be made with Beef, pork, turkey or fish. This is a very healthy dish that’s packed with flavor. You can cut back on herbs that you don’t like or don’t have readily on hand. This is supposed to taste savory and somewhat sour with the mingling of the different aromatic herbs. You can also put all the ingredients in a Ziploc bag and mix it up that way.

1 lb. skinless boneless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp ground toasted rice
2 stalks of green onions
3 Tbsp coarsely chopped Mint (optional, but adds zing)
3 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
11/2 Tbsp Asian fish sauce
1 tsp finely minced white part of lemongrass (optional)
1 tsp finely minced galangal (optional)
1 to 2 small (1-inch) fresh Asian chilies such as bird or Thai, minced (optional- for heat)

Directions:

1. Cook chicken breast in however way you would like it cook. Most recipes will ask for ground meat to be cooked with a little oil on the stovetop. To keep it healthier, I prefer meat grilled or cooked in the oven.
2. Slice chicken into thin slices, or chop into a small, mince-meat-like consistency.
3. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and serve with a plate of fresh veggies.

How to make ground toasted rice
1. Toast rice (straight from the bag) in a dry, small heavy skillet over moderately high heat, stirring constantly, until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes (rice will smoke).
2. Grind to a coarse powder in an electric coffee/spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle.
3. Store in a container for future use. If you store it in the freezer, it’ll last for a very long time.

Pad Thai

This is a great website to look at before you start cooking your Pad Thai. The author of this blog did a great job at explaining the ins and outs of making a great Pad Thai.
http://chezpim.typepad.com/blogs/2007/01/pad_thai_for_be.html
However, it does not give exact measurements (my style!), so here is another one with exact measurements:
http://www.importfood.com/recipes/tstirfryNoodle.html

Check out this website for the recipe. I know it seems like a huge list of ingredients, but you can cut out anything you can’t get, don’t like or plain just don’t have. Having said that, following are bare basic ingredients that you’ll need:

1. Rice Stick Noodles (Pho Noodles)
2. Garlic and shallots (if you don’t have shallots, try using diced onions or the white part of the green onion stalk)
3. Fish sauce (if you want, you can add half soy sauce and half the fish sauce)
4. Something sour (tamarind or vinegar)
5. Something sweet (sugar or palm sugar)
6. Chicken, shrimp and/or tofu
I also add something spicy (red pepper flakes work just fine)

Be sure to mix up your sauces first and give it a taste. It should taste a little salty mingled with sweet and sour flavor. Have the sauce sitting near your stove and slowly add it to your noodles. Be sure to taste your noodles (for you might not need all the sauce) especially if you’re cutting back on the one or more of the ingredients. The unused sauce can be store in the refrigerator for future pad thais.

Tip: I find that I have better control if I use tongs to stir the noodles during cooking. Also, a cheap wok will last you for years and works for the best for making delicious Pad Thai.

This is an ImportFood.com online Thai recipe. Here you can conveniently purchase authentic, quality ingredients imported from Thailand. We hope you enjoy our website and it helps you enjoy cooking Thai food!
Pad Thai is often called the signature dish of Thai cuisine. There are several regional variations, indeed it has been said that Thailand has not only a different curry for every day of the year, but also a different pad Thai for every cook in Thailand! This is our variation, and please see our street vendor photos & video (below) for others. For a very simple, fast, easy-to-prepare Pad Thai, please click here for an instant version--you can start with that and add more ingredients to change the flavor as well.

This recipe requires 1 cup of dry roasted, unsalted peanuts. For best preparation, coarsely break them up in a stone mortar and pestle.

Pad Thai

Ingredients
8 ounces Chantaboon rice noodles. These should be soaked at room temperature for an hour or more depending on how soft you prefer the noodles. It may take some experimentation to determine your preference, start with warm water.
5-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped.
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
1/4 cup dried shrimp or 1/2 fresh cooked shrimp
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup regular sugar (or crushed palm sugar but it doesn't make much difference).
2 teaspoons tamarind concentrate mixed with 5 teaspoons water (this makes tamarind juice)
1 medium egg, beaten
1/4 cup chopped chives
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, coarsely broken up.
1 cup bean sprouts
1/2 cup tofu that has been diced (1/2" cubes), marinated in dark sweet soy. "Firm" tofu works best.

Method
Heat a little cooking oil in a wok and add the garlic and shallots, and briefly stir fry until they just shows signs of changing color. At this point one option is to add chicken meat and cook a bit longer, if you prefer chicken pad Thai. Add the remaining ingredients except the egg and the bean sprouts, and stir fry until the noodles soften (about 5 minutes). As you stir the noodles, periodically throw in 1-2 tablespoons of water, and after 2-3 minutes add 1 tablespoon of rinsed, salted radish (optional). Continuing to stir with one hand, slowly "drizzle" in the beaten egg to form a fine ribbon of cooked egg (if you don't feel confident with this make an egg crepe separately, and then roll it up and slice it into quarter inch wide pieces, which you add to the mix at this point). At this point, a very tasty but optional addition is a small handful of dried shrimps. Add the bean sprouts and cook for no more than another 30 seconds. Remove from the pan to a serving platter.

Garnish
Mix a tablespoon of lime juice with a tablespoon of tamarind juice and a tablespoon of fish sauce, and use this to marinade half a cup of uncooked bean sprouts, half a cup of chopped chives, and half a cup of very coarsely ground roasted peanuts. Sprinkle this mixture on the cooked pad Thai. Cut several limes into segments and also slice up some cucumber into rounds then halve the rounds. Put the lime segments and cuke segments around the serving platter.

Pad thai is served as above. You may add Thai chili powder, sugar and crushed peanuts at the table.