Our dear friend Yonah was visiting from Israel, and being that he is such a big fan of my blog I was determined to make him a special dinner. I met Yonah by way of our dear friends, Jeremy and Stewart. The three of them, along with our friend Cathy, rounded out the head count to an even six (my favorite number for a dinner party). I had been thinking about preparing a Thai dinner for a while so I decided that this was the night. Thai food can be a little labor intensive and many dishes need last minute preparation. So I planned the menu to keep it simple with dishes that could be prepared in advance. I had no intention of spending the entire evening in the kitchen…that’s no fun! I planned a couple of Thai appetizers that I put out as our friends were arriving and rounded it out with some venison pâté that I had picked up at the farmers market. When it came time for dinner, most of the food was already prepared except for some green beans I wanted to stir fry. Green beans aren’t very good reheated and stir frying provides a little last minute drama. We served the entire meal at the table and ate “family style”; this is the way it would have been served in Thailand.
This was the menu:
Starters
- Thai Prawns
- Spicy Fish Cakes (Tod Mun) with Cucumber Salad
- Cocktails
Main Course
- Chicken Coconut Soup (Tom Kha Gai)
- Fried Egg Salad (Yam Kai Dow)
- Fried Rice Noodles (Pad Thai)
- Slow Cooked Beef Curry (Massaman Nuea)
- Spicy Long Beans
- Steamed Jasmine Rice (Khao Suay)
- Pinot Grigio
Desert
- Paul’s Almond Cake with Berries and Gelato
- Espresso
Paul’s Almond Cake is not Thai of course, but it was a perfect end to the meal, and everyone loves it. Nearly everything else on the menu except for the beans was prepared ahead of time. Here are some of the recipes. I left out the Pad Thai because I think it warrants a separate blog entry (plus it can be a little complicated). The Mussaman Beef is common and easy to find online, as are numerous recipes for Green Beans. If I get enough requests, I would be happy to share them here. These dishes were some of the highlights from our dinner with Yonah.
Thai Prawns
This is a simple recipe that everyone loves. It has been a party regular with me for a long time, and has resulted in numerous requests for my presence at various pot lucks over the years. You can save time if you buy the cooked and peeled tail-on tiger prawns. This is for 1 pound of prawns. I always seed the Thai chilies as they can be too hot for many people (you can always add more if you need to).
- 1 lb. cooked prawns
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2-3 Thai chili peppers, minced
- ½ teaspoon red curry paste
- 2-3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
- Just combine all the ingredients and adjust to taste as needed. Be careful when handling the chilies; do not touch your eyes or any sensitive area of your body after using them…Yowza! Just pour the sauce over the prawns and cover and refrigerate. If you are cooking the prawns, do not overcook! The lime juice in the sauce will "cook" them some more if they are sitting long enough. I have made this up to the day before without a problem. You might want to add the cilantro before serving for a more attractive presentation.
Thai Spicy Fish Cakes (Tod Mun)
These tasty appetizers are easily made ahead of time and even frozen. Store them in a zip lock until ready to reheat.
- 1 pound fish filets (no bones)
- 3 tablespoons red curry paste
- 4 tablespoons fish sauce
- 4 eggs
- 6 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 12-14 leaves Thai Basil, very thinly sliced
- Oil for deep frying
- Add all the ingredients except the oil in a food processor and blend until smooth. Get your oil hot, and make the paste into patties that are about 2 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick. Working with wet hands makes this job easier. Deep fry until golden-brown then drain on paper towels. These are great fresh out of the oil, but you can store in an airtight container and reheat them. I made these the day before and they also freeze well. Serve them with cucumber salad.
Cucumber Salad
This is a “must have” to accompany the Spicy Fish Cakes. The cool crunchy sweetness perfectly balances the spiciness.
Sweet and Sour Cucumbers
- ½ cup white vinegar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 cucumber, quartered and thinly sliced (I prefer the English Cucumbers)
- ½ medium red onion, thinly sliced
- Chili paste (optional)
- Boil the vinegar, sugar, salt and water until the sugar and salt dissolve. Pour over the sliced vegetables. This can be made ahead of time. I like to plate with a dollop of chili paste.
Chicken Coconut Soup (Tom Kha Gai)
This was one of the best parts of the meal, and can be easily made ahead of time.
Thai Chicken Coconut Soup (Tom Ka Kai) Ingredients - 2 cans coconut milk
- 6 thin slices of galangal root, lightly crushed
- 2 stalks lemon grass, lower ½ only, trimmed into 1 inch pieces, slightly crushed
- 5 fresh kaffir lime leaves, torn in half
- 1 whole chicken breast, boned, skinned and sliced into bite size pieces
- 5 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ cup lime juice
- 1 teaspoon, red curry paste
- 2 green Thai chilies, chopped
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves
Instructions - Combine one can of coconut milk, with the galangal, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves in a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Add chicken, fish sauce, and sugar and cook (stirring occasionally) until chicken is cooked through. Stir in the other can of coconut milk, curry paste and heat until boiling. Remove from heat, and add lime juice and chilies a little at a time, tasting it as you go. You don’t want it too spicy or too sour. Adjust seasoning, adding more sugar or fish sauce, to get that perfect balance of salt, sweet, hot and sour. You can heat this before serving and plate it individually or in a tureen or soup pot. Garnish with the cilantro leaves just before serving. I sometimes add mushrooms along with the chicken. You will need to let your guest know that they can’t eat the lemon grass, galangal or lime leaves; they are only there for flavor and are not really edible.
- 2 cans coconut milk
- 6 thin slices of galangal root, lightly crushed
- 2 stalks lemon grass, lower ½ only, trimmed into 1 inch pieces, slightly crushed
- 5 fresh kaffir lime leaves, torn in half
- 1 whole chicken breast, boned, skinned and sliced into bite size pieces
- 5 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ cup lime juice
- 1 teaspoon, red curry paste
- 2 green Thai chilies, chopped
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves
- Combine one can of coconut milk, with the galangal, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves in a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Add chicken, fish sauce, and sugar and cook (stirring occasionally) until chicken is cooked through. Stir in the other can of coconut milk, curry paste and heat until boiling. Remove from heat, and add lime juice and chilies a little at a time, tasting it as you go. You don’t want it too spicy or too sour. Adjust seasoning, adding more sugar or fish sauce, to get that perfect balance of salt, sweet, hot and sour. You can heat this before serving and plate it individually or in a tureen or soup pot. Garnish with the cilantro leaves just before serving. I sometimes add mushrooms along with the chicken. You will need to let your guest know that they can’t eat the lemon grass, galangal or lime leaves; they are only there for flavor and are not really edible.
Fried Egg Salad (Yam Kai Dow)
I love this salad! The eggs are deep fried in oil, which gives them an incredible flavor. You can assemble the greens in the morning, and fry the eggs before the guests arrive as it can be a little messy.
- 5 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
- 2 green Thai chilies, seeded, and minced
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Oil for deep frying
- 5 eggs
- 1 carrot, cut into julienne
- 1-2 med tomatoes cut into bite size pieces
- ½ red or yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup, red onion, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 small head green leaf, torn into bite size pieces
- Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients, and cover and set aside. Clean and chop all the vegetables, and plate on a large platter in an attractive manner; cover and refrigerate. Heat about one inch of oil in a wok to about 350 degrees. I am assuming you know that you need to be careful when working with this much hot oil. Break the eggs into a small bowl without breaking the yolk. Gently slip the egg into the oil. You may want to use a chop stick to “corral” the egg from spreading out too much in the oil. When it is browned and puffy on the edges, remove with a strainer, or slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels. Repeat the process with the other eggs. When you are ready to serve, cut the eggs into quarters or smaller if you prefer and put over the salad. Pour the dressing over the salad just before serving.
I started the rice cooker before the guests arrived so the house smelled like jasmine rice when everyone arrived. I also made a centerpiece with herbs chilies, citrus and some of the other ingredients I used in the meal. It was great to have it handy and it looked good on the table, not to mention a great conversation piece. When I prepare a Thai meal, I love it when the house smells of jasmine rice and exotic seasoning, garlic and chilies. A meal like this requires a trip to the Asian market and a little research. When I first became interested in Thai cuisine back in the early 80’s, there were only a couple of Thai restaurants in the city and a couple in the South bay…that was it. It was very hard to find any Thai cookbooks, and the internet was not around yet. I was lucky to have a friend from Thailand who taught me, and I made a trip to Thailand to inspire me. If any of these dishes sound good, I hope you will try them. Any one of them would make a great accompaniment to a meal made up of you own favorites. Except for the pâté we had before dinner and the dessert and espresso we enjoyed afterwards, we stayed true to the Thai theme. I am not sure whether I can get Paul to share his recipe for almond cake with us or not; I will have to see if I can talk him into contributing that to the later blog. If I can it will be one more dish that we will all share at some later date…
Enjoy!
OH YUM OH YUM!