Beef Curry Noodles (pokus)

Ingredients

• 1400g boneless beef shank, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce, divided
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar or 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup red curry paste (I use the whole can; if your heat tolerance is lower, you can use half or ¾ of a can. Watch out if you use red curry paste that comes in a plastic tub; it tends to be much spicier than the type that comes in a can.)
• 2 heaping tablespoons of Madras-style curry powder (If I can’t find a Thai brand, I use Roland.)
• 1 tablespoon turmeric powder (This is kind of optional since there’s already turmeric in the curry powder. But additional turmeric results in a curry with more vibrant color.)
• 2 cups water
• One 400g can coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• One large shallots, peeled and thinly-sliced lengthwise, or 2 medium onions
• About 200g bean sprouts
• About 200g green beans, cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
• About 220 g of dried flat rice noodles
• 4-6 large eggs

Instructions

1. About 10-12 hours before you plan to eat this dish, put the beef, red curry paste, curry powder, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, brown sugar, and turmeric in your slow cooker; stir until the beef cubes are thoroughly coated with the seasonings. Pour the water on top. Turn on the slow cooker and set to low (120°C). Leave the slow cooker on, undisturbed, for 10-12 hours.
2. About half an hour before the cooking time for the beef ends, soak the dried noodles.
3. At this point, open the coconut milk can, and gently stir the coconut milk into the beef mixture along with the remaining fish sauce; set the cooker to either the lowest setting or warm.
4. Now, boil the eggs to desired level of doneness.
5. While the eggs are boiling, make crispy fried shallots. Put the oil and sliced shallot in an unheated small pan. Place the pan on medium heat and stir almost constantly. The shallots will sizzle slowly then turn crispy and golden brown in about 5-7 minutes (keep an eye on them; they burn easily). Once that’s done, transfer the fried shallots to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside.
6. By this time, the eggs should be done. Remove them from heat.
7. Put lots of water into a large pot and bring it to a boil.
8. While waiting for the water to boil, peel and halve the eggs; set aside.
9. Once the water is boiling, blanch the bean sprouts and sliced green beans separately; set aside.
10. In the same pot of boiling water, blanch the noodles until they’re soft enough to eat (but don’t overcook!), drain, and divide the noodles among 4-6 serving bowls.
11. Divide the blanched bean sprouts and green beans equally among the bowls. Spoon the beef curry over the noodles and vegetables. Arrange the eggs on top. Sprinkle the reserved fried shallots over the whole thing.
12. Serve immediately with extra fish sauce, limes, and red pepper flakes on the table for people to season their noodles to taste.

Fried Rice With Blistered Green Beans and Basil Recipe

Notes:

For best results, use Chinese-style medium-grain rice, jasmine rice, or sushi rice. Rice should either be cooked fresh, spread on a tray, and allowed to cool for 5 minutes, or, alternatively, transferred to a loosely covered container and refrigerated for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil, divided
• 2 cups cooked white or jasmine rice (350g) (see note above)
• 225g green beans, trimmed and cut into 3 cm pieces
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced ( 30g)
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons; 5g)
• 1 to 3 Thai bird chilies (adjust according to taste), thinly sliced, plus more for serving
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) Asian fish sauce, plus more for serving
• 1 large egg
• Kosher salt
• 30g roughly torn Thai or sweet Italian basil leaves
• Freshly ground white pepper
• Sugar, to taste
• 1 lime, cut into 4 wedges, for serving
• 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced, for serving

Directions

1. 1.
   If using day-old rice, transfer to a medium bowl and break rice up with your hands into individual grains before proceeding. Heat 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large wok over high heat until smoking. Add half of rice and cook, stirring and tossing, until rice is pale brown, toasted, and has a lightly chewy texture, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Repeat with another 1/2 tablespoon oil and remaining rice.
   
2. 2.
   Add 1/2 tablespoon oil to now-empty wok and heat over high heat until smoking. Add green beans and cook, stirring and tossing occasionally, until deeply blistered and charred. Add scallions, garlic, and chilies and cook, stirring and tossing constantly, until aromatic, about 30 seconds.
   
3. 3.
   Return rice to wok. Add soy sauce and fish sauce and toss to combine.
   
4. 4.
   Push rice to the side of wok and add remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil. Break egg into oil and season with a little salt. Use a spatula to scramble egg, breaking it up into small bits. Toss egg and rice together.
   
5. 5.
   Stir in basil leaves. Season to taste with salt, white pepper, and sugar, and serve immediately with lime, cucumber, and extra fish sauce and sliced chilies if desired.

Satay Sauce

• 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp - 275ml coconut milk (1 small tin)
• ½ cup peanut butter (or use one cup fresh shelled peanuts)
• 2 tbsp Ketjap Manis (sweet soy sauce) 

• Step 1
  Place a saucepan on moderate heat.  Add the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer.
  
• Step 2
  Add some red curry paste
  
• Step 3
  Add the ketjap manis, (that’s a sweet soy sauce). And mix well over low heat.
  
• Step 4
  If you have time, for the peanuts, place them in a tray And roast for approx 15 minutes at 350°F – 180°C.  Remove from oven, peel the skins and crush the nuts using a mortar and pestle.
  
• Step 5
  If you don’t have time, use peanut butter. Add the peanut butter to the sauce and mix well over low heat.

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Serves: 3.5 cups

Ingredients

• One 400gm-ounce can of full-fat, unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 ounces (approximately ¼ cup) of Thai red (mom’s preference and mine too) or Massaman curry paste (milder but flavorful)
• ¾ cup unsweetened (natural) creamy peanut butter (Do not use regular peanut butter or anything with added emulsifiers. It must be the type of natural peanut butter that comes with natural peanut oil on top and no sugar added. I often use Smucker's.)
• ½ tablespoon salt
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar (Do not use white wine, red wine, balsamic, or anything else — not even rice vinegar)
• ½ cup water

Instructions

1. Put everything into a medium heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a very gentle boil over medium heat, whisking constantly.
2. Let the mixture simmer for 3-5 minutes over low heat; be careful not to let the mixture scorch at the bottom of the pot.
3. Take the pot off the heat, let the sauce cool down to room temperature (or slightly warmer), and serve the sauce with satay or fried tofu.

Notes

This peanut sauce keeps in a glass container in the refrigerator for weeks. Refrigerated sauce will thicken up considerably. All you have to do is thin it out with a little bit of water to desired consistency, reheat, and serve. The sauce also freezes beautifully. I prefer Maesri red curry paste. But you can also use Mae Ploy red curry paste (it's hotter). A lot of people like to use massaman curry paste, and you can do that too. Originally, Mom used roasted peanuts, ground up in a mortar and pestle. For those who feel the use of natural peanut butter in this recipe is blasphemous, please feel free to go that route. But then, what is unsweetened, natural peanut butter if not roasted peanuts ground up into a paste? For those living in areas of the world where commercial natural peanut butter is not available, please grind up 12 ounces of roasted peanuts using whatever means most convenient for you. Then use the peanut paste in the same manner as peanut butter as directed.

 Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shelled peanuts (3 ounces; 85g)
• 1 tablespoon palm or light brown sugar (1/2 ounce; 15g)
• 3 medium cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) vegan Thai red or Massaman curry paste
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) tamarind concentrate
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil
• Dry chili flakes, to taste (optional)

Directions

1. 1.
   If You Have a Mortar and Pestle (Recommended): Toast peanuts on a rimmed baking sheet in a 375°F oven or toaster oven until deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool. Combine sugar and garlic in the mortar and pound with the pestle into a smooth paste. Add peanuts and pound to form a chunky paste. Add soy sauce, curry paste, and tamarind concentrate and firmly stir with a circular motion until a homogeneous chunky mixture is formed. Add vegetable oil and stir to combine. Add water to thin to a pourable but still thick consistency. Adjust heat with chili flakes, if desired.
2. 2.
   If You Have a Food Processor: Toast peanuts on a rimmed baking sheet in a 375°F oven or toaster oven until deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool. Combine peanuts, sugar, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until a chunky paste is formed. Add soy sauce, curry paste, tamarind concentrate, and oil and process until a chunky homogeneous mixture is formed. Pulse in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until sauce reaches a pourable but thick consistency. Adjust heat with chili flakes, if desired.
3. 3.
   Sauce can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Pad Ka-Prao

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 pound of ground pork, beef, or chicken (You can do what I do here which is chop up 1 pound of skinless chicken breasts with a cleaver. You get better texture that way.)
• 7 (26g) large cloves of garlic, peeled
• 7 (16g) bird’s eye chilies (or however many you can tolerate)
• 1 large shallot (20g), peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons thin/light soy sauce or seasoning sauce (such as Golden Mountain aka "the Green Cap" sauce")
• 1 tablespoon dark sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 cup holy basil leaves, packed

Instructions

1. If you have a mortar, pound together the garlic, chilies, and shallot until you get a coarse paste. If no mortar, either chop them all up with a cleaver on a chopping block or pulse them into a coarse paste in a mini-chopper.
2. In a skillet, heat up the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the paste to it and fry until fragrant.
3. Add the meat to the skillet and break it up with the spatula into small pieces.
4. Add the remaining ingredients (except the basil leaves), correcting seasoning as needed.If you think you'd like it even sweeter, either add about a teaspoon of palm or brown sugar or double the amount of dark sweet soy sauce
5. Once the meat is cooked through, check the amount of liquid in the skillet. If it’s too dry, add a little bit of water or sodium-free broth.
6. Before taking the skillet off the heat, add the basil leaves to the mixture and give it a couple of stirs. We only want to wilt the basil with the residual heat that is still in the pan so as not to mute the fragrance of the fresh holy basil leaves.
7. Serve over rice. A Thai-style crispy fried egg on top and a tiny bowl of nam-pla prik would be nice.

Thai Noodle Stir-Fry

Ingredients

Serves 2

50 g glass noodles, dry
170g chicken or other protein, marinate in 1 tsp soy sauce or fish sauce while you prep other ingredients
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
½ Tbsp soy sauce
½ Tbsp Golden Mountain Sauce or Maggi
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 small onion, julienned
2 eggs
1 cup cabbage, bite-sized
⅓ cup carrots, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced
1.5 tsp sugar
¼ tsp ground white pepper
1 tomatoes, wedges, seeds removed
1-2 green onions, green part only, 1/2-inch pieces on a bias

 Instructions

 Soak glass noodles in room temperature water for 10 minutes until soft and pliable. Drain, then cut the noodles with scissors to shorten them.

Mix together oyster sauce, soy sauce, Golden Mountain Sauce in a small bowl. 

Heat oil in a wok or a large saute pan, when hot, add garlic and onions and cook until garlic starts to turn brown. Add chicken, and cook just until the pieces are well separated. Push everything in the pan to one side, add a little more oil in the empty space, and add eggs. Let the eggs set about half way, then scramble and mix with the chicken. When eggs are done, add cabbage, carrots, and half a tablespoon of the sauce mixture; toss quickly just to mix. Add noodles, followed by the sauce, sugar, and white pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until the noodles are done and have absorbed all the sauce.

Add tomatoes and green onions, toss just to heat through for 10-15 seconds. Remove from heat and plate.

Burmese Chicken Stew

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 4 medium bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (approximately 900g)
• 3-4 plump garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced (approximately ½ cup, lightly packed)
• Fresh ginger (the younger, the better), peeled, sliced, and julienned (approximately 1 cup, lightly packed)
• One medium white or yellow onion, peeled and cut lengthwise into ½-inch slices
• 2 Tbs light soy sauce
• 1 and ½ tablespoons fish sauce or 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/8 cup, packed, light brown sugar
• 2 Tbs Chinese cooking wine or brandy
• 1 flat  tablespoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ tablespoon cornstarch or tapioca starch
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup water

Instructions

1. Set a large skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the chicken thigh, skin side down. Leave the chicken alone until you get a good sear on the skin side.
2. In the meantime, quickly whisk together the remaining ingredients except the ginger, garlic, and onion.
3. Once the chicken is browned on the skin side (it doesn’t have to be cooked through), flip them so that the skin side is now on top. Drain off the excess fat.
4. Scatter the julienned ginger and sliced garlic on top of the chicken and pour the seasoning mixture over the chicken. Reduce the heat to medium and close the lid. Forget it for about 20 minutes (see instructions in the post on how you need to give the stew a stir if you’re not using a heavy-bottomed pot).
5. Add the sliced onion into the skillet, close the lid, and let the stew cook for another 20 minutes.
6. Serve warm over steamed rice.Jasmine rice is highly recommended!

Chicken satay with peanut sauce

Ingredients

for the peanut sauce

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 shallot, peeled and finely diced
• 1 red chilli, deseeded if you prefer
• 1 tbsp crushed garlic
• 1 tbsp crushed ginger
• 4 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
• 1 tsp tamarind paste
• 1 tsp dark sweet soy sauce
• 100 ml (3.5fl oz) coconut cream
• 50 ml (1.8fl oz) water

for the satay skewers

• 500 g (17.6oz) chicken thighs, skinned and deboned
• 3 shallots, peeled and coarsley chopped
• 2 garlic cloaves, peeled and coarsley chopped
• 3 cm knob of galangal (or root ginger) peeled and grated
• 2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed and white part finely chopped
• 1 cm knob of tumeric root peeled or 1tsp ground tumeric
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp palm sugar or dark brown sugar
• 1 pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 0.5 chilli, deseeded and chopped
• 4 tbsp peanut oil or groundnut oil for brushing 

 

For the satay skewers:

 Slice the chicken into thin strips and set to one side. Grind together the shallots, garlic, galangal, lemongrass, turmeric and the remaining spices in a food processor or a pestle and mortar until you have a rough paste. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, sugar and pepper. Add the fish sauce and chilli and combine. Mix the paste with the peanut oil and add to the chicken, tossing to coat well. Cover with cling film and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight, to allow all the various flavours to develop. Soak 16 bamboo skewers (approximately 15cm long) in warm water (this will prevent them scorching) half an hour before you are ready to cook the chicken. When you are ready, thread the marinated chicken onto the skewers until they are three-quarters full, but be careful not to overcrowd each skewer.Brush the griddle pan with oil. Allow the griddle pan to get very hot and, when ready, gently lay the satay sticks onto it. Baste the chicken with oil occasionally during cooking. Grill the chicken until it has cooked through and has begun to pick up a few crispy brown-black spots, about 5–7 minutes, turning frequently. If you are cooking the satay sticks on the barbecue the time may vary depending on how hot the coals are.


For the peanut sauce:

Place a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the oil followed by the shallot, chilli, garlic and ginger. Sauté for 2–3 minutes until the shallots are softened and the oil begins to take on the red colour of the chilli. Add in the peanut butter and stir, breaking it down. It should start to melt. Now add the tamarind paste and dark soy sauce and stir well. Pour the coconut cream and water into the saucepan and stir for 3–4 minutes, until the peanut butter has been incorporated into the satay sauce. Simmer the mixture on a low heat for around 1–2 minutes, then turn off the heat. Serve warm with the chicken skewers.

Mussaman beef curry

Less than 30 mins preparation time
Over 2 hours cooking time
Serves 6-8


Ingredients

For the tamarind water

60g tamarind pulp (available at Asian grocers)

150ml warm water

For the curry paste

10 dried red kashmiri chillies, seeds removed, roughly chopped

2 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp green cardamom seeds (from about 20 green cardamom pods)

16 cloves

1 x 5cm piece cinnamon stick

2 large pieces blade mace (muskatovy kvet)

3 tbsp vegetable oil

200g shallots or onions, roughly chopped

25g garlic cloves, peeled, roughly chopped

1 tsp shrimp paste (available at Asian grocers)

25g fresh root ginger, roughly chopped

2 lemongrass stalks, tough outer leaves removed, soft inner core chopped

120ml coconut milk

For the curry

1.5kg/3lb blade or chuck steak, cut into 5cm/2in chunks

600ml/1 pint coconut milk

6 black cardamom pods (available at Asian grocers or online)

1 x 10cm cinnamon stick

1 tsp salt

300g waxy new potatoes, such as Charlotte

8 shallots, peeled, halved

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 quantity tamarind water (see recipe above)

1 tbsp palm sugar (available at Asian grocers; substitute golden caster sugar if unavailable)

75g peanuts, shells removed, roasted

1 handful fresh Thai sweet basil leaves (optional), to garnish

Preparation method

For the tamarind water
Place the tamarind pulp into a bowl and cover with the warm water. Work the pulp between your fingers to break it down, and so that the seeds are released. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve, reserving the liquid and discarding the fibrous material that is left behind.

For the curry paste
Heat a dry, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. Add the dried chillies and fry for 1-2 minutes, shaking the pan frequently to prevent the chillies from burning, until the chillies are lightly toasted. Transfer the chillies to a spice grinder or mortar.

Return the pan to the heat and add the coriander, cumin and cardamom seeds, cloves, cinnamon and blade mace and fry for a few seconds, shaking the pan frequently, until the spices darken slightly and release their aromatics. Add the toasted spices to the spice grinder or mortar and grind or pound to a fine powder.

Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and garlic and fry slowly over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until caramelised. Add the shrimp paste and spice mixture and fry for a further 2-3 minutes.

Transfer the mixture into a food processor, add all of the remaining curry paste ingredients and blend to a smooth paste. Set aside.

For the curry
Place the beef into a heavy-based pan with 350ml of the coconut milk and an equal amount of water. Add the black cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and salt, then bring to a simmer and partially cover the pan with a lid, leaving just a small gap for the steam to escape. Cook for two hours, stirring occasionally, until the beef is just tender.

Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut into 2.5 x 2.5 x 1cm pieces.

Remove the lid from the curry and discard the black cardamom pods and cinnamon stick. Stir in the rest of the coconut milk, the potatoes, shallots, the curry paste, fish sauce, tamarind water and sugar and simmer gently, uncovered, for a further 25-30 minutes, or until the potatoes, shallots and beef are tender. Stir in the peanuts.

To serve, spoon the curry into serving bowls and scatter over the basil, if using.

Thai cucumber salad

2 cucumbers peeled, halved lengthways and de-seeded

35g caster sugar

50ml rice vinegar

(2 hot chillies, finely diced)

2 shallots, finely diced

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

40g roasted peanuts, chopped

½ tbsp fish sauce


Cut the cucumber in to 5mm slices

Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar and toss the cucumber slices in it. Fold in the chilli, shallot and coriander.

Sprinkle with the peanuts and fish sauce just before serving.

Beef Rendang

Start by making the Rendang paste:

100g grated fresh coconut - or unsweetened dessicated coconut
8 dried Kashmiri chillies
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
225g shallots
30g garlic - roughly chopped
50g peeled galangal or ginger
6 hot red birds eye chillies - seeded and roughly chopped

How to do it:
Heat a dry, heavy based, frying pan over a medium heat. Add the coconut and stir for a few minutes until it is richly golden - don't let it burn.
Tip into a food processor and leave to cool.
Meanwhile, put the dried kashmiri chillies, coriander seeds and cumin seeds into a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder.
Add this to the processor with the rest of the spice paste ingredients and 100ml of water. Blend to a smooth-ish paste.

With that done, we can get on with the Rendang!

To serve 6 you will need:

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1.5kg of chuck steak (braising steak in the UK) - cut into 5-6cm chunks
1 quantity of rendang spice paste - as above
800ml canned coconut milk - don't buy the reduced fat stuff
4 fat lemon grass stalks - bruised - (just bash them lightly)
12 dried kaffir lime leaves - crumbled
2 x 7.5cm cinnamon sticks
125ml Tamarind water - all you do is soak the 60g of pulp in 125ml of hot water and leave for 5 minutes. Break up the pulp with your fingers and then strain the syrupy mixture through a fine discarding the fibrous material and seeds.
1 tablespoon of palm sugar (sold as a golden/tan paste) - or you can use brown sugar, palm sugar will taste better in this dish.

How to do it:
Heat the coconut oil or vegetable oil in a large, heavy based frying pan. Add the beef and fry briefly until it has changed colour but not browned. Add the spice paste, coconut milk, lemon grass, lime leaves and cinnamon sticks and 1 and a half teaspoons of salt.

Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, add the tamarind water and leave to simmer, uncovered for 2 and a half hours, stirring occasionally, and more frequently towards the end of cooking, until the beef is tender and the sauce has reduced and thickened.

Remove the lemongrass from the rendang and stir in the palm sugar and season to taste.
Serve straight away with some Jasmine rice.


http://www.aglugofoil.com/2010/09/beef-rendang.html