sorry, no thai puns.

Yes, no comment, other than "Hey, here is another pretty successful Thai recipe", one that might perhaps benefit from being strained before re-adding the vegetables.

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thai green curry.

10 green Holland peppers
1 green bell pepper
3 stalks lemon grass, bottom part only
2 large shallots
2 heads garlic, peeled (that’s right, heads)
a 1-inch piece of galangal, peeled
1 tsp shrimp paste or vegetarian boullion if you're aiming vegan
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cilantro stems

1 can coconut milk
1 small eggplant
1 courgette
1 tsp fish sauce or 1 tbsp good soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
5 kaffir lime leaves

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spicy basil tofu.

Mm yes, no time for elaboration, this was just a surprisingly authentic-tasting version of Spicy Basil Anything.

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spicy basil tofu. 

400g tofu
cornmeal or semolina for making a thin non-stick coating
your favorite frying medium

6 cloves garlic
1 small onion or the equivalent amount of shallots
2 tsp fresh cilantro roots/stems
2 stalks fresh lemongrass (the lower 3 inches of the stalk, tough outer leaves discarded), chopped
2 tsp of fresh galangal root (laos)
2 tbsp peanut or coconut oil
1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes (or less, mine were pretty mild...the original recipe calls for 8-10 dried red chiles)
1/2 tsp salt

2 or 3 bell peppers, red or yellow, sliced
1 fresh red Holland chile, sliced
1 small sweet onion, sliced
black pepper

2 tbsp fish sauce or good soy sauce
2 tsp brown sugar

one seriously big handful of Thai holy basil, or failing that, reglar ol' basil

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yawni.

Damn, I know I've mentioned these beans several times out here before, usually in the context of something like "Andy makes some awesome green beans", and then I go on and make whatever version I end up making which is not these.

And the reason why is: every time I've ever wanted to make Andy's version, he's not been around to tell me how to do it. And in that respect this time is no different, in fact it's even more so no different, I guess you'd call that "even less different", but critically one of the respects in which this time is in fact quite different would be: I successfully re-created the legendary beans all by my oneself. I had witnesses here to verify the exaction of my incisiveness.

Yes that's a cat hair on the jar lid. I promise there's none inside the jar and also probably not in the beans.

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roasted runner beans with thai bean paste (nam prik pow) or any mild-medium sambal.

2 tbsp coconut oil
4 shallots, sliced
400g runner beans, cut into thirds
2 tbsp Thai chile/soybean paste (nam prik pow) or Indonesian sambal badjak
salt to taste, this will depend on your sambal

Oven at 150°C*, melt the oil for a minute or two, then throw everything else in there and mix it around until everything's coated with everything else. Bake uncovered for 45-60 minutes, turning every 15 or 20. Adjust seasoning and serve warm or at room temperature.

* More like 210°C or 215°C, at least 200°C. But our oven only goes to 150°C before shutting off.

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funky, funky.

Soccer game this morning, final score: Sun 1, My face 0.

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Made this again plus this again last night, both great as written and should be made more often. And great together.

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bluetooth.

Downside: hangover. Upside: blueberry whole-wheat waffles. Upside: Scrabble. Upside: Rosemary's Baby. Upside: more Scrabble. Upside: Thai coconut-turmeric soup thingie, which is still easy and good.

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whole wheat blueberry waffles.


3 eggs, separated
2 tbsp raw sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 and 1/4 cup goat's milk yoghurt (or regular yoghurt as long as it's pourable)
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder 

Grease and preheat both sides of waffle iron on medium heat for 3 minutes. Beat the yolks, sugar, vanilla and oil together in a medium bowl. Add half of the yoghurt and stir. Add dry ingredients and the remaining yoghurt. Mix until just blended. Set aside. Beat egg whites till stiff and fold into the batter. Pour 1 1/4 cups of batter into the center of the waffle iron. Cook for 1/2 to 1 minute. Flip to the other side and cook 2-3 minutes. Remove gently with a fork.

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cellophane.

One of the best Thai things we've made in a long time, and super easy.

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glass noodle shrimp hotpot.

1 pinkie-sized piece of fresh turmeric, peeled and minced fine, or 2 tsp ground turmeric
1 and 1/2 cups coconut milk
2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
2 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp palm sugar
1/2 pound or 1 cup shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 handful sugar snap peas or snow peas
1 handful fresh spinach, chopped

100gr cellophane noodles

1 cup basil leaves, chopped
cilantro, chopped

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codebreaker 2.

Unexpected various leftover ingredients in fridge required a bit of Googling (how unusual!) to translate them into something sensible. This was a Nigella recipe that solved for X in a way we barely had to mess with, and it was delicious...nowhere near as sweet as you'd think. Here are the barely-messed-with results.

UPDATE: Downgrading this from Thoroughly Repeatable because...we didn't finish the leftovers. Since when do you not eat a leftover curry? They (the leftovers) just weren't compelling.

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sweet potato and shrimp curry with mango and scallions.

2 tbsp oil
2 scallions, chopped
2 tbsp red Thai curry paste, or a bit more to taste
1 400ml can coconut milk
300ml chicken stock (made from concentrate)
1 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
1 large sweet potato, cubed
2 cups/400gr shrimp, deveined
juice of 1 lime
150g mango, diced
3 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

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i object.

Andy just returned from two weeks in Bangkok, where he (among other things like playing some gigs, hitting the beach, rubbing up on well-oiled ladyboys, etc.) took a Thai cooking class for something like 4 euro. Exploiter. His hotel room cost 4 euro per night as well. Actually it sounded like everything cost 4 euro. Tonight he just about vaporized us with his fancy new "authentic" Thai techniques. Turns out that in order to make "authentic" Thai food, you need to utilize a badass ninja-like technique they call Song Of The Transparent Cleaver:

















Yes, thank you, ninjas aren't from Thailand, got it. Andy is a good reminder that it's possible to have a very rich and powerful food life and not blog about it. Who else do I (or you) know that has a jar of homemade berbere sitting around?






















Tonight he made tom yum, and the soup was almost literally dynamite, spicy as seven well-oiled ladyboys and just generally the best homemade version I've had of it. Ancient Chinese Secrets? Yeah: not cooking the soup for very long at all, 10 minutes tops. Using a few more aromatics (kaffir leaves, Thai basil) than a real Thai recipe calls for because the versions we get of these things are so barely aromatic by the time we get them. Mostly, it turns out that the secret ingredient to authentic tom yum soup, in addition to ruthless wielding of the Transparent Cleaver, is this:






















It's a chili paste that smells exactly and alarmingly like shrimp shells. I say alarmingly because there's no shrimp or fish product in the ingredient list.






















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kablooey.

Bit of crash 'n' burn over the past couple days, plus an upset tummy that doesn't care what it eats. Of course, I made a kilo of salmon on Saturday that is absolutely the last thing I'm interested in eating at the moment. Thinking about trying to Sichuan it into something exciting, but salmon is not really a Chinese fish, is it. I'll let you know if it works.

Photo: some more pictures from the Down With Hip-Hop Rally have turned up. BTW, I'm supposed to be dressed as DJ Aaron Funk, also known as Venetian Snares, a dude who always struck me as totally bogus. I've just never understood all the excitement over his little charade. Here he is in "action":


















See? Gross. BTW, here's a recipe completely "adapted" from Chez Pim.

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crispy catfish and green mango salad.

500gr pangafilet
enough oil for deep frying

1 cup green mango, julienned
½ cup shallots, thinly sliced
½ cup cilantro, chopped
¼ cup green onion, finely sliced
¼ cup of unsalted, roasted peanuts
2-3 tbsp lime juice
4 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp palm sugar
3 tiny green Thai chiles, finely chopped

Cook the filets on a piece of baking paper in a 200C oven for 25 minutes. Set aside until cool.
Use a fork to fluff the cooked fish, lay the fluffed meat out on a plate to dry.
Heat oil in a large pan until hot, fry the fish fluff in batches until golden brown, being careful not to break up the fish too much in the pan.

In a large bowl, toss all the salad ingredients together, tasting for a good balance of sour and sweet. Toss the crispy catfish into the salad just before serving.

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