Twilight

Tom Yum Kung

Main Ingredient
Shrimp	500 g.
Rice straw mushroom	600 g.
Chilli paste	150 g.
Soup stock	2,500 g.
Citric acid	10 g.
Salt	15 g.
Fish sauce	100 g.
Sugar	20 g.
Lime juice	15 g.
Hot chilli	10 g.

Chilli paste Ingredient
Dried Chilli	10 g.
Lemon grass	40 g.
Shallots	40 g.
Galangal	10 g.
Kaffir lime leaves	5 g.
Vegetable oil	100 g.

* 30 grams = 1oz. , 1kilogram = 2.24 lbs.


Cooking Method
Chilli paste cooking

• Roast the chilli paste mixture and pound until ground then fry with oil and take aside.

• Peel the shrimp except its tail
• Peel the mushroom, divide by two
• Heat the soup stock and mix with all seasonings until boiling, add shrimps and mushroom and boil until done
• Add the chilli paste to favorite taste

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Som Tum

Main Ingredient

• Shredded papaya 400 g.
• Som Tum sauce 120 g.
• Long beans 80 g.
• Tomato 120 g.
• Hot chilli View ingredient detail 5 g.
• Dried shrimp 25 g.
• Garlic View ingredient detail 8 g.
• Lemon juice View ingredient detail 20 g.

* 30 grams = 1oz. , 1kilogram = 2.24 lbs

Cooking Method

• Pound chilli and garlic roughly
• Add papaya, spring beans, tomato and dried shrimp and pound roughly
• Mix Som Tam sauce and season to sour taste with lemon juice and serve with fresh vegetables; cabbage, swamp cabbage and spring beans

Strong point of Som Tum

Low fat and calories. Adequate fibers.

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Thai food introduction

Thai food is internationally famous. Whether chilli-hot or comparatively blands, harmony is the guiding principle behind each dish. Thai cuisine is essentially a marriage of centuries-old Eastern and Western influences harmoniously combined into something uniquely Thai. The characteristics of Thai food depend on who cooks it, for whom it is cooked, for what occasion, and where it is cooked to suit all palates.
Originally, Thai cooking reflected the characteristics of a waterborne lifestyle. Aquatic animals, plants and herbs were major ingredients. Large chunks of meat were eschewed. Subsequent influences introduced the use of sizeable chunks to Thai cooking.


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Preparing Thai Food

>> titbits

A simple kind of titbit is fun to make. You need shallots, ginger, lemon or lime, lemon grass, roasted peanuts and red phrik khi nu chillies. Peeled shallots and ginger should be cut into small fingertip sizes. Diced lime and slices of lemon grass should be cut to the same size. Roasted peanut should be left in halves. Chillies should be thinly sliced. Combinations of such ingredients should be wrapped in fresh lettuce leaves and laced with a sweet-salty sauce made from fish sauce, sugar, dried shrimps and lime juice.

>> dipsmiksing

crushed fresh chillies with fish sauce and a dash of lime juice makes a general accompanying sauce for any Thai dish। Adding some crushed garlic and a tiny amount of roasted or raw shrimp paste transforms it into an all-purpose dip (nam phrik). Some pulverised dried shrimp and julienned egg-plant with sugar makes this dip more complete. Serve it with steamed rice, an omelette and some vegetables.

>> Salad dressingssalaad

dressings have similar base ingredients। Add fish sauce, lime juice and sugar to enhance saltiness, sourness and sweetness. Crushed chillies, garlic and shallots add spiciness and herbal fragrance. Lemon grass and galanga can be added for additional flavour. Employ this mix with any boiled, grilled or fried meat. Lettuce leaves, sliced cucumber, cut spring onions and coriander leaves help top off a salad dressing.

>> Soup Stocks

Soups generally need good stock। Add to boiling water crushed peppercorns, salt, garlic, shallots, coriander roots, and the meats or cuts of one's choice. After prolonged boiling and simmering , you have the basic stock of common Thai soups. Additional galanga, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, crushed fresh chillies, fish sauce and lime juice create the basic stock for a Tom Yam.

>> Curries

To make a quick curry, fry curry or chilli paste in heated oil or thick coconut milk. Stir and fry until the paste is well cooked and add meats of one's choice. Season with fish sauce or sugar to taste. Add water or thin coconut milk to make curry go a longer way. Add sliced eggplant with a garnish of basil and kaffir lime leaves. Make your own curry paste by blending fresh (preferably dried) chillies, garlic, shallots, galanga, lemon grass, coriander roots, ground pepper, kaffir lime peels and shrimp paste.

>> Single Dish

MealsHeat the cooking oil, fry in a mixture of crushed chillies, minced garlic, ground pepper and chopped chicken meat. When nearly cooked, add vegetables such as cut beans or eggplants. Season with fish sauce and garnish with kefir lime leaves, basil or balsam leaves. Cooked rice or fresh noodles added to the frying would make this a substantial meal.

Pad Thai

This Pad Thai recipe is how you actually find it in Bangkok and comes from testing hundreds of different variations from food carts all over the city. Pad Thai is the ultimate street food. While "street food" may sound bad, food cart cooks are in such a competitive situation, with such limited space, ingredients and tools they need to specialize in a dish or two just to stay in business. The best of these cooks have cooked the same dish day-after-day, year-after-year, constantly perfecting it.


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.

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.
Shrimp can be substituted or omitted.
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.



Ingredient


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
1/2-1/4 lb shrimp Optional
1/2 banana flower Optional
1/3 cup tofu - extra firm Optional
1-1/2 cup Chinese chives - green Optional
2 tablespoons peanuts Optional
1-1/3 cup bean sprouts Optional
1 tablespoon preserved turnip Optional

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.

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