Thai

Tod Mun (Thai Fish Cakes) with Cucumber-Peanut Relish /  by Amy Cantu

Print Friendly and PDF

These crispy, spicy fish cake fritters are so fun to eat! They are perfectly sized for a shared appetizer or for the fingers of little children. We made them less spicy for the preschool-set, but feel free to adjust to your fiery tastebuds' delight. The long beans add a bit of extra texture to the fritters, and the cucumber relish infuses each bite with sweetness, tanginess, spiciness, and crunch!

Notes: Since the heat and saltiness of curry pastes and fish sauce can vary a lot from brand to brand, I recommend frying a little tester patty to see how it tastes and then adjusting the seasonings to your liking. Start with the smaller amounts and then ratchet up from there.

Long beans are found in Asian grocery stores, but you can substitute green beans if you can't find them. Fish paste is found at the seafood counter or frozen section of Asian grocery stores. If you can't source already prepared fish paste, you can make your own at home. Buy any firm white fish fillet - grind it up in a food processor or blender with 1-2 ice cubes until you have a fine paste.

Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4-6 as an appetizer

1 lb fish paste
¾ cup long beans, chopped into small pieces
3 tablespoons makrut lime leaves, thinly sliced
1-2 tablespoons red curry paste, to taste
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 egg lightly beaten
2 teaspoons fish sauce or more to taste
Oil for frying
Cucumber Relish (see recipe below)

Make cucumber relish (see recipe below) and set aside while making the fish cakes

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Stir well until ingredients are evenly distributed.

Heat oil over medium-high heat. You will need about 3 inches of oil for frying. Drop a small amount of fish mixture into the hot oil and fry until brown to do a taste test. Different brands of curry paste and fish sauce can vary in saltiness and intensity. Adjust the seasoning to your liking - more curry paste to make it spicier and more fish sauce to make it saltier.

Set cooling rack over a paper-towel lined baking sheet, and set aside. Set a small bowl of water and fish mixture near the stove. Use the water to wet hands. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the fish mixture into your hands (roughly the size of a golf ball), and flatten into a patty (⅓-½ inch thick). Carefully drop patty into the oil, and repeat, being careful not to overcrowd the pot. Fry the patties until they are puffy and brown. Remove from oil and drain on the prepared rack.

Devour Tod Mun while still hot, topped with Cucumber Relish.

Cucumber Relish

½ lb seedless cucumber (such as English or Persian), peeled, small dice, including watery center
½ cup peanuts, crushed with a rolling pin or finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup red jalapeno, seeded, thinly sliced or 1-2 Thai bird chilies, thinly sliced (jalapeno is much less spicy)
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup thinly sliced shallot (about ½ of a large shallot)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well. Taste and adjust seasonings. Cucumbers will release a lot of liquid, which creates a sauce for the Tod Mun. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. 

Audy's Pineapple Fried Rice /  by Amy Cantu

Print Friendly and PDF

My dad’s fried rice is a potluck legend - it arrives onto the table and not five minutes later, it disappears. It doesn’t matter how much he makes, the Pineapple Fried Rice never makes it back home for leftovers. So, count yourself lucky that he’s finally sharing his recipe here!

Notes: Using a non-stick pan or well-seasoned wok will prevent the rice from sticking to the pan. Otherwise, expect a bit of a crust to form on the bottom of your pan, and be OK with a little soaking and elbow grease. If you don’t have a pan roomy enough for a full batch of fried rice (without worrying about rice and pineapple being flung out) fry the rice in two batches. If you overcrowd the pan, the rice will steam and will not cook properly. Not to mention, you’ll have a big mess around the stove!

My dad likes to serve his Pineapple Fried Rice in a hollowed out pineapple. Slice a whole pineapple in half lengthwise, leaving the leafy top attached to one half. Carefully use a knife to carve out slices of the pineapple to hollow out the pineapple half. You now have a festive bowl for your Pineapple Fried Rice! You will have more pineapple than is needed for the recipe - reserve the extra, chill, and serve as a refreshing dessert or snack for later.

For the rice: Day-old rice is ideal, so that it is a little dry and won’t get mushy during the frying process. About 2 cups of uncooked rice should yield 4 cups of cooked rice. If you don’t have day-old rice, spread freshly cooked rice onto a sheet pan or tray and let cool for 5 minutes before proceeding with the recipe. Don’t try to use rice that’s been cooled to room temperature in a covered bowl (there’s too much moisture), but not been refrigerated for at least 12 hours - you’ll end up with weird, goopy rice. Serious Eats recently had a good article about this. Jasmine rice is the preferred rice for Thai fried rice - it’s a fragrant, medium grain rice that will give this dish an authentic flair. You could also substitute medium grain Chinese rice or Japanese rice, but it won’t be quite the same.

Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4-5

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ onion, diced fine
1 shallot, diced fine
1-2 Thai bird’s eye chilies or serrano chilies, diced fine (optional)
2 plum tomatoes, diced with juices reserved
4 cups cooked Jasmine rice (see note above)
1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ cup red bell pepper, finely diced
1 ½ cups fresh pineapple, small dice
1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
2 eggs
¼ cup green onions, sliced
¼ cup cilantro, including stems
⅓ cup cashews, roasted
Sliced cucumber, tomatoes, and limes for garnish (optional)

Heat vegetable oil in a large saute pan or wok over high heat. (If you do not have a large saute pan or wok, divide ingredients in half and make two batches.)

Add shallot and onion to the hot pan and saute for 1 minute. Stir in the chilies and tomato with juices, until saucy and well combined. Add red bell pepper and toss to combine. Add rice and continue to stir and toss for 2 minutes. Add shrimp, continuing to stir for 1 minute.

Make a well into the center of the rice mixture, crack two eggs into the well and scramble lightly. Stir scrambled eggs into rice. Add pineapple, season with fish sauce and salt to taste. Add green onions, cilantro and cashews. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with fresh slices of cucumber and tomatoes on the side. Serve immediately.

Audy's Tom Yum Soup /  by Amy Cantu

Print Friendly and PDF

When I told my sister that we were going to feature some of our dad’s Thai home-cooking on the blog, she enthusiastically said, “Oh Dad makes the BEST tom yum soup!” I think she’s right. I’m hard-pressed to find a better one at any Thai restaurant - with generous pieces of fish, shrimp, and scallops (my favorite). The key to his soup is making sure to get the right balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy - you really do need to taste the soup and adjust the seasonings so that they equally satisfy all four senses. Limes vary in size, acidity and sweetness - so use your tastebuds as your guide and the listed amounts in the recipe as suggestions.

Notes: Thai soups are fragrant and spicy from all the fresh aromatic herbs and chilies. There will be large chunks of galangal, lemongrass, and lime leaves in the final soup that are not meant to be eaten, but are there to flavor the soup. You can fish them out before you serve, or do as the Thais do, and just eat around them. Lemongrass, lime leaves (a.k.a. makrut or kaffir lime leaves), and galangal can be found in the produce section of most Asian supermarkets and some well-stocked grocery stores. If you cannot find lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves, you can substitute strips of lime or lemon zest. You can also substitute ginger for the galangal. It will not have same flavor, but the soup will still taste good. Thai fish sauce or nam pla, can also be found in Asian supermarkets or in the Asian section of a well-stocked grocery store.

My dad uses scallops, salmon, and shrimp for the seafood in this soup. You can use any combination of seafood (mussels and other firm-fleshed fish work well) or substitute cut-up chicken.

Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4-5 generously

¼ cup cilantro (with stems), finely chopped
1-2 fresh Thai bird chilies or serrano chilies, finely diced
1-2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (nam pla), add more or less to taste
2 teaspoons sugar
1 quart chicken stock
2 cups water
1 inch piece of galangal, sliced into ⅛” pieces
4 makrut lime leaves
2 stalks of lemongrass, cut into 2" lengths
1 small yellow onion, cut into 1” dice
1 shallot, cut into 1” dice
½ pound white button mushrooms, sliced into ½” pieces (about 2 cups)
½ pound salmon, cut into 2” pieces
½ pound sea scallops
½ pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Combine cilantro, finely diced chilies, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar into a serving bowl and reserve. Remove outer layer of lemongrass stalk and cut stalk into 2-inch lengths. Using the butt of a kitchen knife, pound and bruise stalks all over.

Pour stock and water into a large pot, add galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and sliced lemongrass; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add onion and shallots and simmer for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and simmer for 3 more minutes. Add salmon, simmer for 1 minute. Add scallops and simmer for 1 minute. Add shrimp and simmer for 1 minute or until just pink and no longer translucent. (Seafood will continue to cook in the hot broth after removing from heat.)

Ladle into serving bowl containing chili and cilantro mixture, and stir to combine. Taste and adjust lime juice (sour), fish sauce (salty), sugar (sweet), and chilies (spicy) as needed. (The soup should taste equally sour, salty, sweet, and spicy.) Serve immediately.

Mango and Coconut Sticky Rice /  by Amy Cantu

Print Friendly and PDF

Time: 1 hour (plus soaking time)
Servings: 4-6

2 cups glutinous (sweet) rice
1 13.5-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk, well-stirred
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, roasted
4 small mangos, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2" cubes (The smaller Ataulfos or Manila mangos are sweeter than the larger Tommy Atkins mangos, and are worth seeking out at Asian supermarkets or well-stocked grocery/specialty stores.)

cheesecloth for steaming (optional)

Rinse the rice in a bowl, using a few changes of cold water until the water is clear. Cover the rice in cold water and let soak at least 1 hour, but preferably overnight.

Drain the rice. Pour 1 cup of water into a saucepan. Add rice to a steamer insert (lined with cheesecloth, if using,) and place inside the saucepan. Cover tightly and steam over low to medium heat for 20-30 minutes, or until the rice is tender and shiny. (Add extra water to the saucepan, if it seems like you need extra time.)

While rice is cooking, in a saucepan bring coconut milk to a boil with sugar and salt, stirring until sugar is dissolved, and remove from heat. Keep mixture warm.

Transfer hot cooked rice to a bowl and stir in coconut-milk mixture. Let rice stand, covered, 30 minutes, or until coconut-milk mixture is absorbed. Rice may be prepared up to this point 2 hours ahead and kept covered at room temperature.
To serve, spoon sticky rice on dessert plates. Top with cubed mango, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.