I’ve always enjoyed ordering Thai iced tea at restaurants. Thai tea is black tea mixed with orange blossom water, star anise, crushed tamarind seed or red and yellow food coloring. It is usually mixed with condensed milk, giving it a sweet, milky contrast to the bitterness of the tea.

The individual coffee maker produces a strong serving of whatever you’re brewing – tea or coffee. If you don’t have one of those, I’ve also heard that you can brew the tea like you would brew coffee, using your coffee machine. Or you can cold brew the tea by letting 2 tablespoons sit in room temperature water overnight, then draining the liquid.

Recipe: Thai iced tea

Makes 2 (12 oz.) cups of tea

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons of Thai tea
3 tablespoons of condensed milk (more if desired)
Individual coffee maker
7-8 ice cubes
Mint for garnish

Procedure:

1. Brew 2 cups of water.

2. Add 1.5 tablespoons of condensed milk into each mug.

3. Fill individual coffee filter with 2 tablespoons of tea and place on top of mug.

4. Slowly fill the filter 1/3 of the way with boiling water. Wait about 20 seconds, then fill the entire cup. Place the lid on and wait a few minutes until the water has dripped though.

5. Repeat with second mug.

6. Stir. Fill a glass with ice and pour tea mixture over it. Garnish with mint.

What a delicious beverage to welcome spring with! Give it a try!

I recall going into a Thai restaurant with my friend S about 5 years ago. Like any other smart New Yorker, she looked up a Thai place in Manhattan. We ordered Pad Thai there and I distinctly remember being disgusted at our noodles! We both swear that the major ingredient was ketchup. Major fail!

Interestingly, when I asked her if she remembered the name of the place, she said it was Topaz. I was so surprised because they have such good noodle dishes now! I never would have imagined that a place could turn themselves around like that. It’s a good lesson in not banning a restaurant forever based on one experience.

This was such a fun learning experience, as I discovered a new ingredient: tamarind. I bought a block of it and made it into a paste, though you can buy it in powder form as well. It was quite easy to do- just add 4 cups of boiling water, then let it cool to room temperature. Then mix it in a large bowl to loosen the tough parts, then run the liquid through a colander. You will have a paste in the end, that resembles ketchup. You can save the rest for next time.

Recipe: Shrimp Pad Thai
Makes 3 generous servings

Ingredients:

8 oz. of dry rice stick noodles
1 cup of mung bean sprouts
1/2 pound of fresh shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1/2 bunch of Chinese chives, sliced into strips
3 stalks of scallions, sliced into strips
1/4 cup of ground peanuts
3 tablespoons of tamarind paste
2 long red peppers, sliced into strips
3 teaspoons of palm sugar
2 teaspoons of fish sauce
2 teaspoons of paprika
2 large eggs
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 finely chopped shallot
1 lime
Wok (preferred, but I don’t have one and it was fine)

Procedure:

1. Place noodles in a bowl large enough to submerge the noodles completely. Place in lukewarm water for at least 45 minutes.

2. Make the sauce by combining tamarind, fish sauce, palm sugar and paprika in a small pot over a low flame. Taste and adjust seasonings, depending on your preferences. (I added about 1/2 cup of water). Turn off heat and set aside.

3. Heat up a wok (or pan) on really high heat with some oil. Saute garlic and shallots together. Add chives, red pepper and scallions.

4. Add noodles to the pan. Stir in sauce.

5. Add shrimp until cooked through. Add half of bean sprouts (optional).

6. Create a well on the side and add eggs. Add ground peanuts. Mix together gently.

7. Remove from heat. Serve with a lime wedge and more bean sprouts.

Notes:

Noodles: I only soaked mine for 15 minutes due to fear of mushy noodles and that was a bad idea since I ended up having to cook it in the pan for an additional 20 minutes, causing my other ingredients to dry out.

Space: Make sure you have enough room in your pan for everything. Mine was overcrowded and hard to get everything to cook evenly.

Chives: Recently, I learned that Chinese chives are an essential ingredient in a traditional Pad Thai dish. The chives got really rough and gross after being in the pan for a while. I prefer not to use it again.

Continuing with my Thai meal from my last post, I’m going share a recipe for chicken satay with peanut dipping sauce. K did a great job putting the skewers on and grilling the chicken while I was running around making the entree . It made me happy that everyone seemed to enjoy the meal!

A while back, long before I started blogging, my friend J gave me this cookbook called Kao’s Thai Cuisine for my birthday. It contains some really easy to follow and delicious recipes. I finally got to use a recipe from the book. Thanks again, J!

As I mentioned previously, this was also the first time I cooked with fresh lemongrass. It resembles a thicker version of scallions, but just bigger. The flavor is a mix between the citrus acidity of lemon and the oniony taste of shallots. Amazing! I definitely would love to explore cooking with  lemongrass some more. What are your favorite uses for lemongrass?

Recipe: Thai style chicken satay skewers
From Kao’s Thai Cuisine cookbook

Ingredients:

1 pound of boneless chicken (or beef)
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 stalk of fresh lemongrass
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon of seeded and finely chopped red chile peppers
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1 teaspoon of sugar or honey
1/2 teaspoon of fish sauce
15 skewers

Procedure:

1. Cut chicken into 2 inch strips.

2. In a food processor, combine oil, lemongrass, garlic, red chile peppers, curry powder, sugar and fish sauce. Blend until smooth.

3. Pour over chicken and marinate for at least 2 hours.

4. Thread chicken onto skewers and grill. Serve with dipping sauce.

Recipe: Peanut butter dipping sauce
From Kao’s Thai Cuisine cookbook

Ingredients:

1 cup of chunky peanut butter
1 cup of coconut milk
1/2 cup of milk (any kind)
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
3 tablespoons of dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons of tamarind paste
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
1 tablespoon of chopped lemongrass
1/2 teaspoon of curry powder
1/2 teaspoon of ground dried chile peppers
1 2 inch cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat and saute garlic, onion, chile peppers, kaffir lime leaves, curry powder and lemongrass for 2-3 minutes.

2. Stir in coconut milk, milk, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, tamarind paste, fish sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice and peanut butter. Mix well.

3. Reduce heat and cook, stirring frequently until sauce thickens, about 30 minutes. (Be very careful sauce does not stick to bottom of pan).

And now, you can make yourself a complete Thai meal – chicken satay, green papaya salad, for appetizers and green curry, red curry, or pad see ew for the entree. Making it at home is not only healthier, but much cheaper too. So, dear readers – what are you waiting for?

Last time I made green curry, I added too many bamboo shoots, causing the curry to be extra sour (gross). This time, I got rid of bamboo shoots altogether and focused on slow cooking a flavorful curry. I achieved this goal by slow cooking the curry for about 3 hours total. The end result was a thick, hearty, harmoniously flavored curry that I am super excited to share about!

I made this dish, along with some chicken satay and green papaya salad for a Thai themed meal for some friends. It was also my first time using fresh lemongrass. (More on chicken satay and lemongrass later.)

I refrained from making my own curry paste from scratch, just to make life easier! Just the other day, I read on Bittman’s site that he uses the canned version too.

Recipe: Red curry with prawns and Japanese eggplant
Makes 3-4 servings

Ingredients:

2 (13.5 oz) cans of coconut milk
3/4 pound of fresh prawns (peeled and deveined)
4 Japanese eggplant, diced (will use 2 at a time)
1 cup of Thai basil (half chiffonade, half whole)
8 tablespoons of fish sauce
1 (4 oz) can of MAESRI brand red curry paste
2 tablespoons of sugar
5 Kaffir lime leaves
1 stalk of lemongrass (cut in half, horizontally)
3 whole pieces of deseeded Jalapenos (optional)

Procedure:

1. In a large pot, saute half of the Japanese eggplants in oil (peanut oil, if possible) over high heat.

2. Once the eggplant pieces have crisped on the outside, add red curry paste. Cook on over medium heat for about 2 minutes. This step is very important, as it will awake the curry’s flavors.

3. Stir in kaffir lime leaves, along with chiffonade basil.

4. Add coconut milk, sugar, and fish sauce. Add lemongrass.

5. Lower heat to the lowest possible setting. Cover and let simmer for two hours (at least).

6. Bring curry to room temperature and refrigerate overnight. The curry should have thickened.

7. Add curry back to the pan. Add the remaining half of eggplant, as well as whole leaves of basil.

8. Cook on low heat for another 45 minutes. Add prawns last and cook for 10 minutes.

What to do and what not to do when following this green curry recipe:

Do buy Maesari canned brand of green curry. It is cheap and you only need a small can to make a whole batch!

Do not dump the entire 12 oz. can of bamboo shoots into the pot even though the recipe doesn’t call for any of it. (Even more points if you don’t rinse out the acidic juice that is in the can.)

Do pat yourself on the back for finding a way to incorporate not one, but two of your CSA ingredients (potatoes and eggplant) into a dish.

Do not add Yukon gold potatoes to your curry. Why? What does this remind you of?

It has a striking resemblance to mangoes. D’oh.

This dish was quite delicious overall, despite the issues mentioned above. I would highly recommend it! It contained just the right amount of heat and the flavors went really well together. The longer you slow cook this dish, the better it tastes!

aaaaaaack! Did you miss me? Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July! Now, onto the recipe!

After having green papaya salad at a Thai restaurant, I thought it might be fun to try making it at home. And it also made sense to pair it as the appetizer to go with the noodles. The chopping took a while, but it was well worth the effort. The crunchy, refreshing papaya + jicama was refreshing against the fresh cilantro and fresh mint. Sprinkling of chopped peanuts on top added a good layer of contrast in texture!

Did you know that a green papaya has a star center? The seeds were interesting. It reminded me of packing peanuts – light and fluffy!

Speaking of peanuts, the only peanuts I had were the ones in the shell. I spent 20 minutes peeling them one by one, and then dicing it into bits. No fun!

What you see here, is Pad See Ew, a Thai dish made with dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, garlic, broad rice noodles, Chinese broccoli, egg, and some form of thinly sliced meat.

It sounds easy enough. But to my surprise, I had the most difficult time finding the noodles!

This dish is a result of harassing about five different people in my life. From calling C in Chicago to ask where she bought her noodles, to mapping out a game plan to make a run to Chinatown during my lunch break (which did not happen), exchanging 10 emails back and forth with Y (she even called her mom!), to having my coworker ask a restaurant if they’d sell just the noodles (they said they didn’t have them, which is weird), not to mention that I had to run to four different grocery stores three separate times!

But in the end, my efforts were not in vain. I was determined! Thanks to everyone who helped me! And the noodles tasted delicious!!

And when I finally found “noodle rice skin” at a random place not so near my place, I was so excited that I bought 3 packages. And they were only $.99, though I have seen signs for $.69 at other places. But I’m not complaining!

I added carrots, onions, and Thai chilies, mostly for color. Be careful when measuring out the sauces, and remember that a little goes a long way! My noodles came out a bit darker than I’d like, so I adjusted the amounts in the recipe below. And I forgot to add eggs again.