Ingredient: salt

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Khao Soi

Posted on by Alf Birnecker

Thai cooking lesson – Khao Soi (ข้าวซอย)

Khao soi is a dish of the northern Thai cuisine massively popular in the area of Chiang Mai. It originates from Yunnan, the southern province of China, whose people migrated from there via Myanmar and Laos to Thailand at the end of the 19th century. Those people, as well called the “Chin Ho” were predominately muslim, which is the reason it’s mostly served with chicken or beef.
The version of the dish shown here is with egg noodles and coconut milk like eaten in the western half of Northern Thailand and very similar in the cuisine of the Shan People who primarily live in Myanmar.

Print Recipe
 Khao Soi
Khao Soi Recipe
Cuisine Thai
Servings
Ingredients
Khao Soi Curry Paste
Khao Soi
Cuisine Thai
Servings
Ingredients
Khao Soi Curry Paste
Khao Soi
Khao Soi Recipe
Instructions
Khao Soi Curry Paste
  1. Ingredients for Khao Soi Curry paste in about the right amounts for a badge which lasts for several times cooking Khao Soi. From the yellow curry powder shown in the glass you will need about 2 table spoons. The dried red chilis are soaked in water.
    Khao Soi Curry Paste Ingredients
  2. Roast the dry spices (coriander, cumin and cardamon seeds, black pepper) in a pan / wok.
    starting preperation of Khao Soi Curry Paste
  3. Grind up the roasted dry spices with pestle and mortar or a blender and put aside.
    grind up roasted dry spices
  4. Grind up the rest of the ingredients (garlic, soaked red chilis, ginger, onions, galangal, lemon grass, tumeric, salt) with pestle and mortar or in a blender.
    grinding spices with pestle and mortar
  5. Add the ground up dry spices and grind it up all together
    adding the roasted spices to the mortar
  6. Add a good amount of oil to a pan and fry the contents of the mortar or blender until the color changes to a darker hue and a fragrant smell develops. Turn off the heat and put it aside. The paste is ready.
    preparing Khao Soi Curry Paste
Khao Soi
  1. Put water in a pan or pot and bring to boil. Add the chicken legs and boil them for about 5 minutes and turn them around during the process. This is done to keep the skin intact in the further cooking process. Keep the water you boiled the chicken in.
    quick boil the chicken legs
  2. Here the ingredients with the quick boiled chicken
    Ingredients for Khao Soi
  3. Add curry paste to your liking (depending on how spicy you like the Khao Soi to be) to a pan big enough for all ingredients. Heat it up and add 4 tea spoons of yellow curry powder.
    Adding yellow curry powder to the paste
  4. The next step is adding the chicken to the pan
    adding chicken
  5. Fry the curry paste together with thhttps://www.thaicookingkohtao.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-ultimate-recipe/img/arrows.pnge chicken. In this case we added some onions, which is a variation of the dish. You can as well leave them away.
    fry the curry paste together with the chicken pieces
  6. Add about 150ml of coconut milk and add some of the water from boiling the chicken until the chicken in the pan is just covered. Add salt.
    adding coconut milk
  7. Boil it on medium heat until the chicken is cooked (about 15 to 20 minutes). During that time you can prepare the egg noodles like described in the following 2 steps.
    boiling on medium heat
  8. Meanwhile boil the main part of the egg noodles in a different pot until cooked.
  9. Deep https://www.thaicookingkohtao.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-ultimate-recipe/img/arrows.pngfry the smaller part of the egg noodles
    frying egg noodles
  10. ...and remove them and let the oil drip off.
    take out the fried noodles
  11. Add sugar, another 250ml of coconut milk and taste it. If it's not spicy enough for you, add some more curry paste. Season it to your taste. Originally it should be a balance between sweet, salty and spicy. At the end a tea spoon of fish sauce.
    add sugar
  12. Serve: Put the boiled noodles first in the bowl, followed by the chicken with the curry sauce. Add the red onions and spring onions, coriander and lime.
    Khao Soi Recipe
Curry

Red Curry Paste

Posted on by Alf Birnecker

DIY Red Curry Paste – พริกแกงแดง

If you are already able to do the Green Curry Paste this will be a piece of cake. The only difference is the color of the chilies. Thai cooking can be so simple :-)!
If not, don’t worry. It is as easy as it looks. And if you can’t handle spicy food just use less paste for the dish you are preparing.

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 Red Curry Paste
Red Curry Paste Cover
Cuisine Thai
Servings
Ingredients
Cuisine Thai
Servings
Ingredients
Red Curry Paste Cover
Instructions
  1. Here the ingredients for the Red Curry Paste in the right relation to each other. Just add a good pinch of salt
    Cooking Class Red Curry Paste 1
  2. Put all ingredients, including (sea) salt in a mortar.
    Cooking Class Red Curry Paste 2
  3. Grind the ingredients into a fine paste - et voila: Red Curry Paste
Curry

Massaman Curry

Posted on by Alf Birnecker

Cooking Lesson – Massaman Curry (มัสมั่น)

Massaman Curry is a relatively mild, but rich Thai curry which is actually a Thai interpretation of a Persian dish. You can find is as well on many menus written as Matsaman, Mussulman or even Muslim Curry since it is believed that the name refers to the Muslims.
Where the dish really originates from is disputed. Some think it is coming from Central Thailand, namely the court of Ayutthaya. Others believe that it is a Southern Thai dish, influenced by Malay and Indian cuisine.
The most common variety of Massaman Curry is Massaman Curry Chicken with other varieties being beef, duck, mutton and goat. Porc is not very often used, since it is “haram”, meaning forbidden, for muslims.
The Massaman Curry paste is quite different to the other common curry pastes in the Thai cuisine. This is due to the use of rather non typical spices in the paste like Cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cumin, star anise, bay leaves, nutmeg and mace. These ingredients came from the Malay Archipelago and South Asia, a trade route dominated at the time by Muslim traders from the middle east. These ingredients were then combined with local produce spices which are used in the other Thai curry pastes like dried chili peppers, lemongrass, coriander seeds, shrimp paste, galangal, white pepper, shallots and garlic.
If you are a curry fan check out our other curry recipes like Phanaeng Curry, Green Curry and Yellow Curry. If you did the cooking class with Joy you should be able to prepare them after the recipe shown.

Print Recipe
 Massaman Curry
Cooking Lesson: Ingredients Massaman Curry
Cuisine Thai
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Cuisine Thai
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Cooking Lesson: Ingredients Massaman Curry
Instructions
  1. Heat up the oil in a suitable pan or wok
  2. Add onions and potatoes and fry them until the onions are soft
    potatoes and onions
  3. Add the curry paste and mix it all up
  4. Add the chicken cubes and keep stirring
    Added Curry paste and chicken
  5. Add some of the coconut milk (200ml)
    Add the coconut milk
  6. Add salt and some water until everything is covered.
    Add water and salt
  7. Bring to boil and simmer it until the potatoes are cooked - if necessary add more water and coconut milk
    Cook until potatoes are soft
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Steamed fish with Lime Sauce

Posted on by Alf Birnecker

Cooking Class Recipe:

Pla Kapong Nueng Manao (ปลากระพงนึ่งมะนาว)

Steamed fish with lime sauce is really easy to cook, looks impressive and tastes like heaven. There are only a few ingredients necessary and these are easy to get in the western world.
Pla (ปลา) is the Thai word for fish. Pla Kapong (ปลากระพง) is usually translated into English as Snapper. The only problem is, that the fish sold on the markets and offered in restaurants as white snapper is in reality a Barramundi or Asian Sea Bass. This fish is very popular all over Asia and northern Australia and is now becoming much wider distributed.
However, this Thai dish tastes very good as well prepared with a red snapper, grouper or similar fish. Nueng (นึ่ง) means “steamed” and Manao (มะนาว) means “lime”. You will find this dish in every single good sea food restaurant in Thailand. It is worth remembering the Thai letters or at least the Thai pronunciation of the dish: The best and most authentic restaurants in Thailand do not have the menus in English or English speaking waiters.

Now have fun with cooking!

Print Recipe
 Steamed fish with Lime Sauce
Cooking Course Steamed Snapper With Lime
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Thai
Servings
Ingredients
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Thai
Servings
Ingredients
Cooking Course Steamed Snapper With Lime
Instructions
  1. Add 2 cups of water to a pan or wok which fits the whole fish and bring to boil
  2. Put the fish prepared how you learned in the cooking class in the pan / wok.
  3. If necessary add water so the fish is covered and add ginger. Put a lid on and let it simmer for 10 minutes
    Phase photo cooking course
  4. While the fish is cooking prepare the sauce
Sauce
  1. Chop garlic and ginger together so they are mixed and put in a bowl.
  2. Add Salt, Sugar, Fish Sauce and Lime juice and mix all together
Final preparation
  1. Sprinkle celery on fish, close the lid and let it boil for another 10 min.
    Cooking Course Steamed Snapper With Lime
  2. When the fish is cooked, take it out of the pan and place it together with some soup from the pan onto a large plate
  3. Pour the sauce over the fish and garnish with celery, spring onions and slices of lime
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Spring Rolls

Posted on by Alf Birnecker

Cooking Class – Popiah (ปอเปี๊ยะ)

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.
Cooking Class - small variety spring roll
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.

Print Recipe
 Spring Rolls
Spring Roll Cooking Lesson 01
Course Snack
Cuisine Thai
Servings
Ingredients
Course Snack
Cuisine Thai
Servings
Ingredients
Spring Roll Cooking Lesson 01
Instructions
  1. defrost the spring roll sheets (pastry)
    Spring roll pastry
  2. Soak the glass noodles for about 10 minutes
  3. Heat oil in a wok or pan
  4. Add all the vegetables and stir fry them for a short time
  5. Add sugar, soy sauce, salt and glass noodles and stir until glass noodles are cooked
  6. Put aside at let cool down a bit
    Spring Roll Cooking Lesson
  7. Take the spring roll sheets out and start wrapping them like learned in the cooking class
    Cooking class rolling spring rolls
  8. Deep fry the spring rolls
  9. Get rid of excess oil and serve
    Spring Roll Cooking Lesson
Soup

Tom Kha

Posted on by Alf Birnecker

Cooking Class Recipe – Tom Kha (ต้มข่า)

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:

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 Tom Kha
Tom Kha Gai
Servings
Ingredients
Servings
Ingredients
Tom Kha Gai
Instructions
  1. Ingredients for one shown on a plate: Chicken, mushrooms, baby corn, carrots, kaffir lime leaves, spring onions, lime, galangal, cherry tomatoes, garlic, red onions
    Cooking Class Tom Kha
  2. Add coconut milk to a sufficient sized pot.
  3. Add the galangal, chopped lemon grass, chopped onion, baby corn, carrots, garlic and some water.
    Cooking Class Tom Kha
  4. Bring to boil.
  5. Add sugar, salt, chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes and the rest of the coconut milk.
    Cooking Class Tom Kha
  6. Boil until chicken is cooked and add kaffir lime leaves, spring onions, black pepper, lime juice and if you like some coriander
    Cooking Class Tom Kha
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No Name

Posted on by Alf Birnecker

Thai Cooking Class – No Name Vegetable (โนเนมผัก)

Hardly found in any restaurant outside of Thailand, this cooking class is about a Thai snack, which is very popular with westerners, visiting the island destinations in the South of the country. The dish literally has no name in Thailand. It is a snack originating out of times of poverty, when people scrambled to make a living. This dish was made out of scraps. The name is probably not older than a few decades. It probably was named when American soldiers on leave from the Vietnam War were asking for the name of the dish. The Thai script in the title sounds “No Name Pak” with “Pak” meaning “vegetable”.
In our recipe for the cooking class is already mentioned in the ingredients “… and more vegetables of your choice” which can be taken face value – just experiment with any scraps you have at hand. They work as well with minced meats like pork and chicken and as a more sophisticated variety with prawns.
This snack is served with some tomatoes and lettuce. As a sauce you are usually given the same sweet chilly sauce which accompanies spring rolls when ordered in a restaurant. On our picture the sauce is a homemade sweet chilly sauce which preparation we will show you in another Thai Cooking Class recipe. If you like, you can prepare the curry paste yourself: Red Curry Paste

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 Cooking Class No Name
Cooking Class No Name Ingredients
Course Snack
Cuisine Thai
Servings
Ingredients
Course Snack
Cuisine Thai
Servings
Ingredients
Cooking Class No Name Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Have your ingredients ready. The 2 little bowls on the plate are the Red Curry Paste and the finely chopped lime leaves. Behind the plate you see the tempura and rice flour.
    No Name ingredients
  2. Add all the vegetables, egg, red curry paste, salt and sugar into a bowl. If you are vegan, just leave the egg away.
  3. Add tempura and rice flour
  4. Add a little bit of cold water and mix well
    No Name Thai Cooking Recipe
  5. Heat up the cooking oil in a pan
  6. Add more flour if it is too wet and start spooning it into the hot oil. Just take spoon full and scoop the mixture off the spoon with another spoon or fork.
  7. Fry until golden brown
    Cooking Class No Name frying
  8. Serve with sweet chilly sauce and decoration to your liking
    No Name Serving Example
Soup

Tom Yum Goong

Posted on by Alf Birnecker

Cooking Class – Tom Yum (ต้มยำ)

In this cooking class we will prepare the most common variety of Tom Yum: Tom Yum Goong (Shrimp).
This soup dish originates from Laos and central Thailand. It is a popular choice in neighboring countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore. By now it is well known all over the world.
The name literally translated from Thai language means “to boil” (Tom) and Yam is the name of a spicy and sour salad. The dish for this cooking class has indeed hot and sour flavors. Fragrant herbs and spices are generously used in the broth.
Due to it’s combination and balance of herbs and spices appealing to an entire array of different tastes ranging from spicy over sour and bitter to salty, it could be considered to be “The Thai signature dish”.

Fun fact: Tom Yum Goong is the title of one of the best known Thai action movies although it was marketed in the US as “The Protector”, in the UK as “The Warrior King” and in Germany as “Revenge of the Warrior”.

have fun with your Tom Yum cooking class!

 

Print Recipe
 Tom Yum Goong
Cooking Class Tom Yum Goong
Cuisine Central Thai, Thai
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Cuisine Central Thai, Thai
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Cooking Class Tom Yum Goong
Instructions
  1. Ingredients for Tom Yum Goong
  2. Bring prawn heads with water to boil in a pot and simmer for 30 min. Pour through a strainer. If you are using already peeled prawns just skip this step.
    Tom Yum Goong / boil prawn heads
  3. Add lemon grass, galangal, garlic, baby corn, carrots, tomatoes and Onions to stock/ water and boil for a while. Already add as well salt and sugar to taste.
    Tom Yum Goong phase pic
  4. Add chilly paste, kaffir lime leaves and mushrooms and let it boil until the mushrooms are cooked
    Tom Yum Goong
  5. Last but not least you add the prawns and let it boil just a little bit longer
    Tom Yum Goong
  6. Turn off the gas when the prawns are cooked and add the celery and spring onions. If you like the taste, add some coriander as well. Now squeeze some lime juice in to taste.
Curry

Phanaeng Curry Chicken

Posted on by Alf Birnecker

Thai Cooking Lesson – Phanaeng (พะแนง) Curry Chicken

The Phanaeng (or Panang, Penang) Curry is originating from central Thailand and the recipe goes back hundreds of years. The word Phanaeng comes from the Khmer language meaning cross, mostly used for a cross-legged seating position. Traditionally the chicken was placed in a cross legged position upright on the grill. The chicken was bathed in the curry paste with grounded peanuts and then brushed with the same mixture over the whole cooking process. Later the process was simplified by cutting up the chicken in large pieces and, instead of being prepared on the grill, it went to the pot where it was cooked in the sauce. In this cooking lesson you will learn how to cook the Phanaeng Curry Chicken or, if you are vegetarian, Phanaeng Curry can be prepared as well as a vegetarian dish with Tofu.
At home you can use the now widely available ready made pastes. However, more tasty is of course to make your Phanaeng Curry Paste from scratch.

Print Recipe
 Penang Curry Chicken
Cooking Class Penang Curry
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Central Thai, Thai
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Servings
person
Ingredients
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Central Thai, Thai
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Servings
person
Ingredients
Cooking Class Penang Curry
Instructions
  1. Ingredients for one portion. As you can see there is quite a bit more curry paste than a tea spoon. One tea spoon is for a European palate with very little tolerance for spicy food. Just start with a tea spoon and add more if you like it more spicy. You can always add more paste until the very end of the recipe. Just keep in mind that you can't reverse the process :-). As for the vegetables the amounts can vary as well according to taste.
  2. Fry the curry paste with the oil in a wok
    Phanaeng Curry Chicken Recipe
  3. Add coconut milk until all the paste is covered
    Phanaeng Curry Chicken Recipe
  4. Bring to boil
    Phanaeng Curry Chicken Recipe
  5. Add baby corn and carrots and a bit of water. Add oyster sauce, sugar and salt. Bring to boil again.
  6. Add chicken and stir it in.
    Phanaeng Curry Chicken Recipe
  7. Add sliced lime leaves and pineapple and bring to boil and add more coconut milk and fish sauce
    Phanaeng Curry Chicken Recipe
  8. Add the sliced long beans and chilly peppers
    Phanaeng Curry Chicken Recipe
  9. Serve with rice
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Phad Thai

Posted on by Alf Birnecker

Thai cooking with Joy recipe:

Phad Thai – ” ผัดไทย “

A stir fried rice noodle dish found on literally every single night market in Thailand. Phad Thai is a real street food classic. It is pretty much a national dish, though not with a very long history. It became popular in Thailand during, and after world war II.
The recipe shown here is with the original preparation of the Tamarind Sauce, like taught in our Thai cooking lessons with Joy. It is possible to substitute this with the commonly available Tamarind paste.
Recently the Tourism Authority of Thailand published a video about this popular Thai dish:

The phase pictures in the recipe show preparing the sauce for about 4 portions at once, while the phase pictures for the Phad Thai itself show the preparation for only one portion.  To have a good result, please don’t do more than  one portion at a time or the noodles will stick together.

Print Recipe
 Phad Thai - " ผัดไทย "
Cooking Class Phad Thai Goong
Cuisine Thai
Servings
People
Ingredients
Phad Thai Sauce
Phad Thai
Cuisine Thai
Servings
People
Ingredients
Phad Thai Sauce
Phad Thai
Cooking Class Phad Thai Goong
Instructions
Phad Thai Sauce
  1. Mix tamarind with some water and use only the liquid, like learned in the cooking course, put aside. On the pic are the ingredients: Tamarind and the finished Tamarind Sauce, Palm Sugar, Red Onions and Salt.
    Phad Thai Sauce Ingredients
  2. Heat cooking oil in a pot and fry the red onions in it until golden brown.
  3. Add tamarind sauce, palm sugar and salt. Mix well.
  4. Add water, bring to boil and put aside
Phad Thai
  1. Ingredients
  2. Fry the garlic and add the egg(s) and stir until a little solid.
  3. Add Phad Thai Sauce with the noodles. Make sure that the Phad Thai sauce covers the noodles. Bring to boil and let it simmer until the noodles are cooked. At this point most of the liquid should have evaporated
  4. Add Cabbage and Carrots. Mix well.
  5. Add prawns, bean sprouts and chives. Stir well. Add soy sauce and be careful not to overcook the prawns.
  6. Ready to serve