Top Food Blogs

Sunday 25 May 2014

Red Curry of Vegetable Soup

This is so easy, filling and delicious. Perhaps not an authentic Thai dish, but if you have all the ingredients which you will do if you are a fan of Thai food, it takes no time at all to make.
I served it with a dollop of yoghurt and some pappadams for a change, definitely not Thai !
A great hearty meal for a winter Sunday night.
Play around with the vegetables, but use a starchy one as it will help thicken the soup.


2 cups chicken stock ( vegetable is fine too )
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
2 tablespoons red curry paste
1 small sweet potato, peeled and chopped into smallish even pieces
1 large zucchini sliced and quartered
1 onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
handful of chopped coriander
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
plain yoghurt
Lime leaves, finely sliced
pappadams
Rylstone olive oil

Fry the curry paste in the oil until fragrant.
Add the chopped onion and garlic and stir until translucent. Add the chicken stock and coconut milk and combine together.
Add the sweet potato first and simmer gently until nearly cooked. Then add the zucchini and chopped coriander. Lastly add the seasoning, brown sugar, fish sauce and salt. Taste and adjust if necessary.
As the vegetables are cooking the liquid will thicken. Simmer gently until all vegetables are soft.
If you feel its too thick add some more stock, too thin, cook a little longer.
Serve with yoghurt and poppadoms and garnish with lime slices.




Sunday 18 May 2014

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

These tasty morsels are a treat for all the family. Basically a fancy way to serve chicken, perhaps a bit of work involved but they look fabulous and go along way.
You can use tenderloins, breast or thigh. I prefer thigh because they are a moister cut of meat, better for barbequing. You could also use beef or pork for a change.
The peanut sauce recipe makes about 2 cups, so you can make quite a few satays to go with it.
The meat I also prefer to be cut in longer thinner strips, before threading onto the skewers.
If you choose the buy your meat already cut in cubes, give them a gentle bash with a meat mallet to flatten slightly. If you don't  they can take a long time to cook all the way through.
Westerners seem to prefer to use peanut butter to crushed peanuts. I have used both methods. The peanut butter version is thicker and creamier, the crushed nuts a little crunchy and lighter in consistency

1 kilo Chicken thigh fillets thinly sliced
Wooden skewers ( soaked in water to stop them burning )
1/2 cup Coconut milk
2 tablespoons finely chopped Lemongrass
1 tablespoon Turmeric powder
1 tablespoon Coriander powder


Peanut Sauce

1 cup unsalted peanuts
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon tamarind puree ( you may use lemon juice )
3 tablespoons sweet thai chilli sauce or chilli powder to taste
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup water


Alternative Peanut sauce

1 cup  crunchy peanut butter
1 small onion finely chopped
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tablespoon tamarind puree
2 tablespoons Red Thai Curry Paste
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup water

Slice the thigh fillets thinly. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade together some salt. Place the sliced chicken into a plastic bag with the coconut milk mix and leave to marinate for at least an hour. This could also be done the night before.

Thread onto the wooden skewers at one end  leaving more than half free to keep from the flame of the barbecue.

Sauce
Which ever sauce you like the look of.....
Place the ingredients into a food processor all together and blend. You can keep any left over in a screw top jar in the fridge. You may need to add some more water when reheating to serve.
Also fabulous with noodles. Play around with the ingredients for alternatives.
Peanut Sauce made with fresh peanuts 
Peanut Sauce made with Peanut Butter

Tuesday 6 May 2014

My Favourite Restaurants in Bangkok

For those of you who are visiting Bangkok, there are so many wonderful restaurants to enjoy. The eating scene is amazing and the variety huge. If you choose to look on Trip advisor many of the top rated restaurants listed are not necessarily Thai. Taking groups there for a food experience is about eating the food of Thailand, from the street food to the upmarket, it is varied, delicious and so inexpensive.
Interestingly for me when I analyse my favourites the chefs have all spent time outside of Thailand and perhaps the dishes are a little more Asian fusion.
Many of the dishes on menus here are not even on the menu in these restaurants. If they are it is a very different slant on a concept.
If you are having a stopover on the way to or from Europe, stay and enjoy this exciting city and the myriad of things that are on offer there.

Soul Food Manakorn

The chef Jarred Wrisley spent time in the States and opened this small but fabulous restaurant and cocktail bar in an old shophouse in Thonglor.
Small plates, the best way to enjoy the dishes in most Thai restaurants is to share and then you can sample all the delights on offer.
Southern Style Samosas, Sticky Tamarind Ribs and Burmese Pork Belly to name a few of my favourite dishes. There are also seasonal specials on offer and fabulous cocktails.

BTS Thong Lo (Train )
56/10 Soi Thonglor
Sukhumvit 55


Paste

This visit was my first time to this restaurant and we went twice.
The chef operated a restaurant in NSW Australia before returning to Thailand with his Thai wife to open Paste. The food is a mix from different regions of Thailand
Delicious, everything is very good and the cocktails are irresistible.
Try the Paste My Thai vodka with spicy chilli mint and ginger ! Yum
Try Crispy Rice Crackers with Prawn Pork and Candy Relish
Tamarind and Caramel Twice Cooked Kurobuta Pork Belly
Crispy Free Range Duck with Northern Thai Makhween Pepper drizzled with Orange and Star Anise
Innovative and creative cuisine.

120/6 Soi Song Phi Nong
Sukhumvit 49


Issaya Siamese Club

I love this restaurant and have recommended it to many people. It is the home for internationally renowned Ian Kittichai. It is set in a beautiful 90 year old  Indo Portugese Thai villa with a tropical garden in central Bangkok.
The whole concept is lovely and the restaurant is listed in Asias top 50. There is  a private dining room upstairs and large indoor and outdoor verandas downstairs. The food is a mixture of classic and modern presented with charm and the culinary flair you would expect from Ian Kittichai. Service is impeccable and all the staff speak very good english. Too many great eats to list here, but a must for your visit to Bangkok.

4 Soi Sri Aksorn
Chua Ploeng Rd
Sathorn


Nahm

Also listed on top 50 Asia, and the top 50 in the World, this restaurant is another fabulous must go to. The  Australian born, chef David Thompson, owned and operated Darley Street Thai in Sydney in the early 90's which won him Best Thai Restaurant for 8 years and Sailors Thai in the Rocks in 1995.He then embarked on Nahm London which won him a coveted Michelin award, the only Thai restaurant to win this award. Nahm Bangkok, was opened four years ago and continues to be of a consistently high standard.
A mix of  ancient traditional  and modern Thai recipes, with again beautiful fresh produce with some different ingredients this food is for serious gourmets. Robust flavours with lots of spice for those who love their Thai. It is situated in the very chic Metropolitan Hotel, which all adds to the sophistication of the space and experience.


Metropolitan Hotel
27 South Sathorn Rd
Thung Maha Mek
Sathorn