In this cooking lesson we are preparing one of the Thai versions of a worldwide popular starter and snack: Popiah, which is the name for spring rolls in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.
Spring rolls are rolled and filled appetizers which come in a large variety. Its origins are from China. The Chinese chūn juǎn (春卷) literally translated means “spring roll” and comes from a pancake filled with fresh spring vegetables.
The popiah we are preparing in this cooking class is the fried one, the most common variety in Thailand. If our cooking students are interested, we teach as well the tiny snack variety shown in the picture. Other varieties of Popiah are “Salad Rolls”. This is often the choice or our more health oriented vegetarian students. The difference to the spring rolls described here is merely that it’s rolled in a different pastry and not deep fried. This way to prepare spring rolls is more common in Vietnam, which is the reason that the pastry used is called “Vietnamese spring roll pastry”. It actually is just rice paper.
For now have fun with the popiah cooking class.
The recipe for this cooking class is the most common variety of Tom Kha, which is Tom Kha Gai, or Chicken Galangal Soup.
In case you already had a look at our Tom Yum cooking class recipe you know that Tom (ต้ม) means “cooked” in Thai language. Kha (ข่า) means Galangal, as well known as Thai Ginger of Galgant. But this is not what most foreigners remember when they have eaten this famous Thai dish. It is the creamy coconut milk which is the base for this soup. The coconut milk softens the heat of the spices and gives you a nice afterburn in the throat.
Now let’s go to the hands on experience with the recipe for this cooking class:
Ingredients for one shown on a plate: Chicken, mushrooms, baby corn, carrots, kaffir lime leaves, spring onions, lime, galangal, cherry tomatoes, garlic, red onions
Add coconut milk to a sufficient sized pot.
Add the galangal, chopped lemon grass, chopped onion, baby corn, carrots, garlic and some water.
Bring to boil.
Add sugar, salt, chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes and the rest of the coconut milk.
Boil until chicken is cooked and add kaffir lime leaves, spring onions, black pepper, lime juice and if you like some coriander
Thai Ginger Chicken is a Chinese influenced Thai dish with high popularity all over the country and in Laos. Phad King is as well prepared with a variety of other meats like pork and beef or as well vegetarian with tofu. The most important ingredient is the Ginger which gives this Thai dish it’s unique characteristic taste. It is served with rice.
Print Recipe
Thai Ginger Chicken
The pictures show a slight variation of the recipe with no mushrooms, but sweet corn and a few other amendments. Feel free to experiment yourself since ingredients for every recipe in the world are not written in stone, but a very important thing in good cooking is choosing the freshest ingredients.
