Thai I

A number of Covid-friendly meals are really quite dull. As I’m holed up in Northern Thailand at the moment, I thought it might be a good idea to include some local recipes for those who a) are interested and b) have the ingredients. The essential ingredients are fish sauce, palm sugar (but brown sugar is a good substitute), kaffir lime leaves (if fresh, you can freeze), soy sauce, curry paste (or you can actually make your own curry paste from scratch, but then there are a lot more essential ingredients), cans of coconut milk, fresh and dried chili peppers, fresh ginger (which lasts a surprisingly long time in the fridge) and oyster sauce. If you have a fresh herb garden or pots of fresh herbs, then coriander and Thai basil need to be some of your subjects in your floral kingdom.

Nam prik num

I adore this green chili dip. I’ve had it just with white rice and loved it. I’ve also had it as an amazing accompaniment to Chiang Mai sausage. Here’s a recipe. Here’s a second one. Here’s one that includes the option of using aubergines in place of the chilis, I guess for people who don’t like to feel the delicious burn of spice. In general, blacken some garlic, shallots, and green chilis and mash them together with a mortar and pestle. Add fish sauce, palm (or brown) sugar, and lime juice to taste.

Fish with chili and basil

I learned a variation of this recipe at Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School back in 2007. They used deep-fried fish, but I prefer to sautée a white fish and then use this sauce to cover. Take 2-3 shallots, 6-8 cloves of garlic, and enough hot chili peppers to make you think twice (you can always serve this sauce on the side). Bird’s eye chili peppers are great. Crush and chop them all and fry in oil until the garlic starts to brown. Add a tablespoon of fish sauce, a tablespoon of soy sauce, plus around 3-4 tablespoons of chicken stock or water. Fry for a minute. Now add 3/4 cup chopped basil and 1/2 cup chopped coriander. Stir and fry for a minute. Take off the heat and pour over your fish. (Deep-fried tofu is nice under this sauce, too!)

Chicken with ginger

When they say “chicken with ginger”, they mean something closer to “ginger with chicken”. Don’t assume for a minute that you can cook this with the little knob of ginger that you have left at the back of the fridge; you can’t. You need a cup of shredded ginger. A full cup.

So, here we go: get together about 300 grams of chicken breast or thigh meat (that’s around 3/4 pound) chopped into bite-size pieces, 6 cloves of garlic (or more), one small onion, a cup of shredded ginger, two big chili peppers (sliced), a half cup of stock and around a cup of spring onions (the white and the green, cut into inch-long pieces). Dump some neutral oil in a wok on medium to medium-high heat and chop the onion into whatever size you feel like eating at the end. Crush and chop the garlic. Toss the garlic and onion into the wok and stir, cooking until the garlic starts to color. Add the chicken, stir, and let it turn white. Add the cup of ginger once the outside of the chicken is cooked. Then add the sauce: 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 3 tablespoons oyster sauce, and 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Mix and stir for a minute, then add the stock/water and the chili peppers. Fry for a little bit longer. When the chicken is done, toss in the spring onions, give it a few stirs and let it cook for a final 30 seconds, then shut off the heat and serve.

Penaeng curry

My favorite Thai curries are khao soi, gaeng hanglay, and this one. Penaeng curry is not soupy like the green and red curries that you likely know best. You can use either penaeng curry paste or red curry paste for this dish.

Cut up 300 grams of chicken or pork (around 3/4 pound) or use a few cups of miscellaneous vegetables that you are keen on. With cans of coconut milk, what you’ll likely find is that it separates. This is just fine. The hard stuff is your coconut cream; the softer stuff is the coconut milk. Fry the coconut cream in a wok, stirring continuously, until the oil separates out. You’ll notice the oil at the edges. Now add around 4 tablespoons of the curry paste, but more if you like it spicier and less if you are more squeamish. You can even start with two tablespoons and see how you feel about the flavors. Mash the paste around with the spoon and combine it well so that you are frying the paste with the coconut cream and oil. When it gets fairly fragrant, add the meat or veg and cook until the outside of the meat is finished or until the veg is a bit -but not completely- cooked (if you are using a variety of veg densities, you will have to stagger the addition of vegetables… potato takes ages to cook compared to peas). Now add the rest of the can of coconut milk/cream and get it to a boil again. Add two tablespoons palm sugar or brown sugar (or even white sugar) to the sides of the wok so that it melts right in. Also add 2-3 tablespoons fish sauce and a few kaffir lime leaves (discard the stem and either tear up or slice the leaves). Stir. By now the meat should be cooked through, but you can check if you have doubts. Add about 1/4 cup Thai basil leaves (or just regular basil leaves) and stir a final time. Serve. Garnish with a handful more of basil leaves if you want it to be particularly visually appealing. A sliced red chili pepper is another graceful decoration.