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4 Flavors + Heat - In Thai cooking there are four flavors: sour, sweet, creamy and salty. Heat sits
on top of the four flavors. The secret of a good dish is the right balance of the flavors -- you will
find that there are "sweet spots" where the flavor just tastes right.
No Measuring - I remember that I had such a hard time learning to make a cake. Following the
Thai tradition, I refused to kneel to Betty Crocker's specifications. Nobody uses measuring cups in
Thailand. You learn to cook by watching and helping in the kitchen. After throwing away 8 cakes, I
broke down and used measuring cups. It worked.
Personal Taste - You don't need add exactly what the recipe calls for. Rather, the recipe is a
guideline - once you develop your personal taste, do not be afraid to deviate. Because the
intensity of an ingredient's flavor can vary from one time to the next and everyone prefers a
different point along the flavor spectrums, only your tongue can tell you how much more of
something you need to add. Also, if you don't like something, omit it. Simple as that!
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How to Eat
The basic food is meat and vegetable over rice. Just like the five food groups with carbohydrate is
on the bottom of the pyramid, you consume more rice than meat. You take a little bit of meat or
vegetable and more of the rice and scoop them on your spoon.
In the old days, people ate with their fingers. It is kind of funny that scooping rice with your fingers
takes practice. With the western influence, Thais started eating with forks and spoons. Now, you
use your fork to push food onto your spoon and eat off the spoon. When you are done, put your
fork and spoon together on the plate.
Types of Dishes
Many aspects of a Thai meal differ significantly from western meals.
Main Courses: Dishes eaten with rice. Unlike with western food, there is actually no 1 "main
course" in a meal. You will frequently have 1-3 different dishes per person that everyone shares.
The main course can be subdivided into types of cooking:
Yum: literally means to mix. Meat with herbs and spices, vegetable with spices, meat and
vegetables with spices mix with sauce. Some sauces are sour and spicy, some are spicy and
sweet.
Gang Jeude: clear broth soup with vegetable or meat or both.
Gang Ped or Gang: spicy broth with or without coconut milk. The majority of gangs use curry
paste and coconut milk.
Pud: vegetable or meat stir fried.
Tod: pan fried or deep fried, (i.e. Tod Mun is fried fish cakes).
Yang: grilled (i.e. Gai Yang is grilled chicken)
Dessert: Majority of desserts are made of coconut milk, flour and sugar. There are three parts in
making dessert. The first is the flavor of the dessert which could range from different types of flour
to fruits. The second is the syrup which is sugar and water. The third part is coconut milk and a
pinch of salt. Now, you can assemble you dessert. Some are served with crush ice and made a
wonderful summertime dessert.
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Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Breakfast: Breakfast is usually rice soup. There are two ways that you can have rice soup.
However, in my parents' house, breakfast is what we have for dinner in every way. It is the only
meal that we see one another. The menu resembles other houses' dinner. We are usually
elsewhere for dinner.
- Plain rice soup eaten with other dishes. The dishes that accompany rice soup are usually
salty or pickled.
- Rice soup that is cooked in chicken broth with seasonings.
Lunch - One Dish Deal: Served as lunch. For busy people, lunch is usually a bowl of noodles or
a rice plate topped with meat and vegetables.
Snack: Thais snack all day. If you ever get a chance to walk around the streets of Bangkok;
judging from the food carts along the streets, you'll realize that the Thais love food.
© Copyright 1999-2007 ThaiTable and it's principals All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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Thai Recipes
Recipe Overview
Table Of Contents
• Recipe Overview
• Appetizer
• One Dish Deal or Lunch
• Snack
• Soup
• Main Course
• Dessert
• Drink
These Thai recipes are written for you to know how to cook the Thai food that Thais eat in
Thailand every day. These recipes have successfully taught millions of westerners, expatriates
and Thai students abroad how to cook Thai food so that it tastes likefood from home.
While each of these Thai recipes originated from our families, the Bankgok restaurants or
foodcarts we love and the Thai cooks we respect, we have put them through rigorous testing prior
to publishing. Each recipe has been tested, not just by experienced Thai cooks, but by regular
western people learning at home. Creating these recipes, we explored variations in preparation,
cook's taste buds, food knowledge backgrounds, and western kitchens. Please let us know how
they worked for you.
© Copyright 1999-2007 ThaiTable and it's principals All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
www.ThaiTable.com/thai/recipes/index.htm
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An Appetizer
Satay - Satay
Satay is a great barbeque food and fun to eat. Cook Satay sticks right along with your barbeque
chicken or hamburger.
This is an easier, and tastier method for making satay than people generally use in Thailand. For
some reason the style commonly found on the street there has migrated to using condensed milk,
but I prefer it this way. This satay version has fewer, easier to find ingredients and does not
compromise the taste.
4 Servings
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 lb pork
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 cup coconut milk
bamboo skewer
Tips and substitutions
The pork should be yellowish in color. Sometimes there is not enough tumeric in curry powder. If
you like the brighten up the color for presentation, add a dash of tumeric.
Soak bamboo skewers at least half an hour so that the ends do not burn on the grill. Slice
the pork into thin strips (about 1/4 of an inch thick) that will fit onto the skewers. Marinade the
pork and curry powder, sugar, coconut milk and salt for the same amount of time that you soak
the skewers (I do both at the same time). For a shorter marinade time, I massage all the
seasonings into the sliced pork for a couple minutes.
Thread the pork onto the bamboo skewers. When you get the skewers at a restaurant, the meat
is normally stretched out flat. While this looks nice and makes economical sense for restaurants, I
find that stuffing the skewers gives me a moister, tastier result that is tenderer than when it is
stretched tight.
In Thailand, the satay is grilled on a rectangular, narrow charcoal grill that fits just one row of
satay. The charcoal has been burning for a while. It is hot, but not flaming. There should be white
ashes covering the charcoal so that the satay can be cooked evenly without burning.
4 Servings
1 tablespoon tamarind
3 tablespoons sugar
2- tablespoons peanut butter
3
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon red curry paste
3/4 cup coconut milk
Tips and substitutions
In Thailand, people use peanuts ground up in a mortar instead of peanut butter and the sauce is
granular with just a little creaminess. However, I use peanut butter because peanut butter is
essentially finely ground peanuts and more convenient and common in American kitchens. The
peanut butter I prefer is chunky natural, freshly ground (instead of the brands that have sugar or
vegetable oil added). Smooth peanut butter will do too, if that is what you have in your kitchen.
Add the coconut milk to a cold sauce pan and start to heat it up at medium heat. As it is heating,
stir in the curry paste and break the paste into small pieces. Mix well. When you see red oil
simmering to the top, add the peanut butter and the rest of ingredients. Stir and taste. You should
be able to taste the fish sauce, sugar and tamarind flavors. If it becomes too thick, add a few
teaspoons of water to thin the paste.
Serve with satay and cucumber salad. Place the sauce on a flat plate for easy dip, saucer dish is
the best.
Cucumber in vinegar - Ahjaad
This is a good summertime salad substitue. If you keep it in the fridge, it is nice and cold when
you serve it. The acidity of the vinegar plays off well against sweet dishes.
Because of the vinegar, this can sit for days in the refrigerator and stay good.
2 Servings
© Copyright 1999-2007 ThaiTable and it's principals All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
www.ThaiTable.com/thai/recipes/Satay.htm
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Great Pad Thai is dry and light bodied, with a fresh, complex, balanced flavor. I've never actually
seen the red, oily pad thai in Thailand that is common in many western Thai restaurants.
The ingredients listed below can be somewhat intimidating but many are optional. If you would
like to make authentic Pad Thai, just like in Thailand, use all the ingredients.
Pad Thai is another perfect vegetarian dish, just omit shrimp and substitute soy sauce for fish
sauce. Add more tofu if you like.
2-3 Servings
1/2 lime
1 egg
4 teaspoons fish sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground dried chili pepper
ground pepper
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon tamarind
1/2 package Thai rice noodles
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2- lb shrimp Optiona
1/4 l
1/2 banana flower Optiona
l
1/3 cup tofu - extra firm Optiona
l
1- cup Chinese chives - green Optiona
1/2 l
2 tablespoons peanuts Optiona
l
1- cup bean sprouts Optiona
1/3 l
1 tablespoon preserved turnip Optiona
l
Tips and substitutions
By far, the trickiest part is the soaked noodles. Noodles should be somewhat flexible and solid,
not completely expanded and soft. When in doubt, undersoak. You can always add more water in
the pan, but you can't take it out.
In this recipe, pre-ground pepper, particularly pre-ground white pepper is better than fresh ground
pepper. For kids, omit the gound dried chilli pepper.
Tamarind adds some flavor and acidity, but you can substitute white vinegar.
The type of extra firm tofu called for this recipe can be found at most oriental groceries in a plastic
bag, not in water. Some might be brown from soy sauce, but some white ones are also available.
Pick whatever you like.
If you decided to include banana flower, cut lengthwise into sections (like orange sections). Rub
any open cut with lime or lemon juice to prevent it from turning dark.
The original Pad Thai recipe calls for crushed roasted peanuts. Many people in Thailand avoid
eating peanuts because of its link to cancer.
Soak the dry noodles in lukewarm water while preparing the other ingredients, for 5-10
minutes. Julienne tofu and cut into 1 inch long matchsticks. When cut, the extra firm tofu should
have a mozzarella cheese consistency. Cut up Chinese chives into 1 inch long pieces. Set aside
a few fresh chives for a garnish. Rinse the bean sprouts and save half for serving fresh. Mince
shallot and garlic together.
Use a wok. If you do not have a wok, any big pot will do. Heat it up on high heat and pour oil in
the wok. Fry the peanuts until toasted and remove them from the wok. Add shallot, garlic and tofu
and stir them until they start to brown. The noodles should be flexible but not expanded at this
point. Drain the noodles and add to the wok. Stir quickly to keep things from sticking. Add
tamarind, sugar, fish sauce, chili pepper and preserved turnip. Stir. The heat should remain high.
If your wok is not hot enough, you will see a lot of juice in the wok at this point. Turn up the heat, if
it is the case. Make room for the egg by pushing all noodles to the side of the wok. Crack the egg
onto the wok and scramble it until it is almost all cooked. Fold the egg into the noodles. Add
shrimp and stir. Add bean sprouts, chives. Stir a few more times. The noodles should be soft and
very tangled.
Pour onto the serving plate and sprinkle with peanuts. Serve hot with the banana flower slice and
a wedge of lime on the side and raw Chinese chives and raw bean sprouts on top.
As always, in Thailand, condiments such as sugar, chili pepper, vinegar and fish sauce are
available at your table for your personal taste. Some people add more pepper or sugar at this
point.
© Copyright 1999-2007 ThaiTable and it's principals All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
www.ThaiTable.com/thai/recipes/Pad_Thai.htm
Serves 2
Ready in: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
1 package (14 oz.) dried rice noodles (wide and flat, or thin
and flat)
1 egg
Optional Toppings:
Preparation:
1) Place noodles in a pot of boiling water. Cover with lid and allow to soften while continuing
through steps 2 and 3.
2) Place oil in a wok or large frying pan set over medium to high heat. Add the chicken, shrimp,
or tofu, stir-frying until cooked (1-3 minutes). Cooking Tip: When wok/pan becomes too dry,
add a few Tbsp. of water.
3) Crack the egg into the centre of the wok/pan, then stir to quickly "scramble" the egg until
cooked (1/2 minute).
4) Drain softened noodles and add them to the wok/pan. Add the CurrySimple Pad Thai sauce
and continue to stir-fry, lifting and turning the noodles to combine (2-5 minutes).
5) Add the bean sprouts and spring onions (scallions), continuing to stir-fry another minute.
6) Taste test the noodles. If you prefer a stronger tasting Pad Thai, add a little more sauce (1
Tbsp. at a time) until desired taste is achieved and noodles are completely cooked.
7) Finish with a sprinkling of coriander and peanuts (if using), and serve hot.
Note: Leftover sauce should be stored in an air tight container (Tupperware). The sauce is very
concentrated and will last up to 3 months in the refrigerator.
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