Thai style salad with stewed beef

Thai salads are spicy, fresh tasting and glorious. They are vibrant, colourful and full of flavour. Seared beef is a common Thai salad ingredient. We love to have a hot, fiery, fresh tasting seared beef salad every now and then. Other than the preparation of the salad ingredients, is a swift and easy weekday supper. 

But every now and then you crave something a little different. As we are still in the middle of Winter, we've been enjoying lots of casseroles, curries and stews with slow cooked and tender meat. So we got to thinking, what would a Thai salad be like with a slow cooked and tender beef instead of quickly seared?

This dish was the result of our experimentation. Much of the credit goes to Him Indoors, my stalwart life partner and joint head chef. I don't profess to say that this dish is authentic. Hence the "Thai style" moniker. It is an imagining of a Thai salad with a few twists. The first being the slow cooked beef. The second being the dressing, which although it includes a number of classic Thai ingredients, would be highly unlikely to include Oyster Sauce. It was chosen as it so beautifully complements beef.

This recipe will require overnight marinading. So please note that there are definite stages to this recipe. Stage one is the marinading overnight, so you need to plan ahead. Then there is the second stage, the stewing, which will take a fair amount of time. Then the third is preparing the salad and dressing. You will need to plan when you want to make this dish accordingly.

Hopefully you will like this new recipe. Please get in touch with your impressions, thoughts and feedback in the comments below.

Happy cooking and happy eating!

Thai style salad with stewed beef

Serves 2

Ingredients:

350g sirloin steak cut into 1" (2.5cm) cubes

For the beef marinade:

1 stick lemongrass, peeled and very finely sliced

50ml fish sauce

For the beef stew:

1 stick lemongrass, peeled and cut into chunks of 1" (2.5cm)

1 birds eye chilli, chopped

1 400ml can coconut milk

For the salad:

8 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 yellow pepper cut into slices/chunks

a handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped roughly

a handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped roughly

1 to 2 Thai shallots, sliced finely

For the dressing:

1 lime, juiced

1 birds eye chilli, chopped finely (deseeded if you don't like your food too hot)

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 1/2 tbsp palm sugar, crushed/ground

Method:

Prepare your beef by cutting to size and then marinading overnight with the fish sauce and lemongrass in the fridge in a non-metallic container. A plastic sealable container would be perfect.

The next day, drain away the marinade and discard the first stick of lemongrass. Put in a saucepan with the second stick of lemongrass, the chilli and the contents of the can of coconut milk. 

Put on the hob and cook on a simmer for 40 minutes. 

Drain away the coconut milk and pick out the lemongrass. 

Prepare your dressing, ensuring it is thoroughly mixed. The oyster sauce and palm sugar will be difficult to mix. Either whisk up or put in a jar and shake vigourously. Leave for 10 minutes or so for the flavours to combine.

Assemble the salad, by mixing up the tomatoes, red onion, peppers and herbs, piling the beef on top and then dressing.

Enjoy immediately before the herbs get soggy.

Some thoughts and tips about Thai Curries... A Quick Post

I am not an expert on Thai food. I wish I were! I'm pretty great at eating it - it's my favourite food. But I'm an enthusiastic amateur when it comes to cooking it. I've watched lots of the dishes being cooked and read up on them, so I think I know a little bit.
 

I was recently asked by a friend for some alternatives to the regular Red or Green curry. So here are my thoughts.

Massaman Curry is dark, spicy and hot. So it generally suits beef, lamb or brown chicken meat (thighs/legs with bone in). Often it has potato added to give the dish more substance. I like to do this as the spicy sauce goes really well with the more plain taste of the potato.

Orange Curry has turmeric, lemongrass and spices, so is not quite so strong. You could make a curry with chicken, fish or prawns. This is not the same as Sour Orange Curry (Kaeng Som) which is a thin soupy stew which is made from seafood or fish.

Red or Green curry many of us have tried to make. Trying to make your own paste will give you something special - but it is time consuming and getting all the ingredients can be difficult. Even if I go to a Thai or Chinese Supermarket, I am not guaranteed to get hold of Thai Sweet Basil. You cannot substitute with Italian Basil, it is not the same. And I will warn you now that chopping galangal, even into chunks to put into your food processor, isn't easy - it's like wood!

If you make your own paste, I would only suggest you make enough for one meal. If you make double, you have to pour oil over the top and put in a sealed non-metallic container in the fridge and use within 5 days. It will lose vibrancy of colour over time.

You can get really quite good ready made pastes from the Chinese or Thai supermarket. Mae Ploy is a good brand. There are quite a few restaurants that actually use this paste, so I don't think there is any shame in using it. 

One word of advice: PLEASE don't bother with the Sharwoods/Blue Dragon/Amoy/Loyd Grossman jars of Thai curry sauce - very bland and unsatisfying.

You can easily make a lovely vegetable Thai curry, and even if you are making a fish/meat curry, I would suggest you add some vegetables. The tiny little Thai (Pea) Aubergines are typical, but can be hard to find. You could substitute the small cream Aubergines (eggplants), chopped into chunks. Chunks of chopped capsicum pepper may not be traditional, but work well. Squash would be another tasty and healthy choice, as would French beans (though they will take quite a long time to soften). Even baby corn, cut in half on the diagonal would give some pleasant colour and an alternative texture. Go with what you like! 

You need some Coconut milk/cream. For the method I will set out below, which is the most traditionally Thai method, but not the easiest, you will need tinned coconut milk. Thai makes are the best - Aroy D is available even in some branches of Tesco. PLEASE DO NOT SHAKE IT!

You scoop the thickest cream off the top and heat until it splits. Then fry the paste for 1 min before adding the rest of the coconut milk. Heat through, then add your other ingredients. If you are using meat, it goes in first, with the veggies following suit. Beef may need 25-30mins cooking to become tender. Chicken will need at least 15 mins to be safe. If using prawns, fish or seafood, they will need a similar cooking time to the veggies (10mins), so could all go in together.

Once the ingredients are cooked (depends on whether using meat, fish or just vegetables), you can stir in a final flourish of fish sauce and lime juice.

If your coconut milk doesn't have thick cream on the top or you just don't fancy heating it until it splits, use a neutral oil to fry the paste - groundnut or vegetable will be great. Fry the paste for 1 min before adding the rest of the coconut milk. Heat through, then add your other ingredients.

Another way is to buy powdered (dried) coconut milk/cream. Reconstitute with water, then use oil to fry the paste.

Thai curry just HAS to be served with Thai Jasmine rice. It is worth searching out because of its wonderful aroma. Steamed for 10-12 minutes, it is a the perfect accompaniment!

Do any of you have any other tips for Thai curries?

Kao Sarn, Brixton Village: an authentic local Thai restaurant

Thai food is popular in the UK, there is no denying. But is that because we genuinely crave its challenging flavours, or because we've got used to a sanitised version of the cuisine where a dash of curry paste from a pot and a glug of coconut milk makes us feel we've eaten something exotic? Well, whatever your thoughts on the popularity of Thai food, if you want to strip away the panderings to western palates of workaday pubs serving Thai food and supermarket jars of red and green curry sauce, this is the place.

Having visited Thailand and experimented at home regularly with making various dishes, I now feel that I have some idea for what tastes authentic and what does not. My own efforts don't always measure up, but then, when you are working from a Som Tam recipe (Spicy Papaya Salad) calling for 10 chillies to make the dressing, you might also balk at true authenticity!

Situated under the railway bridge in Brixton Village, this is a small restaurant which has gained quite a reputation. Not for being a showy place for fine dining, but rather an informal cafe style place with no frills but good food. Having been brought on a Gastronomic tour of Brixton by Food I Fancy blog's lead author and founder Tash, I was keen to investigate! (Tash's excellent Food I Fancy blog cab be found here http://www.foodifancy.com/) 

Because Tash was such an easy going host, I was given the choice of eating outside or inside. Perhaps it is my age, but my circulation isn't what is used to be. I am cursed with cold, often numb, extremities. I love my fingers and toes, but often doubt if they are still connected. So given the choice, I plumped for inside. Other diners may want to note that the management kindly provide fleecy blanket wraps for those eating outside. It's a nice touch, and when I am more in touch with my inner granny than I currently am (we are in the semi-denial phase), then I perhaps would accept with greater willingness. 

So, once inside it was time to check out the menu. Typed out on both sides of a single sheet of A4 and laminated, the menu is a small, select assortment of the most popular Thai dishes with a few additions. I found it hard to choose and there were several dishes, both starters and mains that I was in two minds about. If I'd had a bigger appetite, we would have liked to have sampled much more of the menu. 

Moo Ping £4.90

Marinated grilled pork skewers with a tamarind, chilli and palm sugar sauce

One of the guiding principles of Thai food is that the main 4 flavours should all be in balance with one another. So the marinade, once cooked, takes on a caramel sweetness, with a touch of spice. The dipping sauce has a tangy flavour just on the sour cusp of the more familiar sweet and sour taste you'd find in standard shop bought Thai sweet chilli sauce and the chilli, although sparingly added packs enough punch to bring the whole dish together. This dish was a treat, and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Goong Tod £5.90

King Prawns in batter with dipping sauce 

This was quite good, without going overboard. The prawns were a decent size. The dipping sauce was NOT a shop bought See Woo special, but a homemade blend with subtlety and sophistication. My criticism is that I had expected a lighter and fluffier batter. But then, if I had eaten this somewhere else, I would probably have been pleased with it. It's funny how elastic your expectations can be. Given how good the skewers were, this paled by comparison, and were just a little greasy.

Yum Woonsen £6.90 

King Prawn, Minced pork and glass noodle salad

Glass noodles are thin noodles, less than 1mm in diameter which rather than being made out of rice or flour, are made of mung bean flour. As a result, when cooked they are practically transparent, hence their name. They have a somewhat springy texture which makes them more pleasing and less bland than plain rice noodles. The salad dressing was a mingling of fish sauce (nam pla), lime juice, palm sugar and, of course, chilli. On ordering I was asked how hot I wanted it, and given the option of hot or medium. Since I am obviously of Indian ethnic origin (being a cup of tea shade of brown all over), it is often assumed I have the chilli defences of a typical Indian person (lead lined mouth, asbestos lips and flameproof stomach). This was one of the many lessons of travelling around Asia which has stayed with me in particular. So I asked how hot the medium is. Our waitress (who I believe is the lovely Gisele) assured me 'hot enough'. It was; hot enough to give the dish kick but not overpower it. In other words, hot enough to send you swiftly to down a glass of water, but not so hot that your nose is streaming. This was a great dish, with herbs, red onion, cooked pork mince and king prawns combining in a wonderful yin-yang balance.  

Massaman beef curry with steamed rice £6.90

Massaman curry originates from the southern region of Thailand. In the south, coconut milk is used for the curry gravy. In the cooler north, this is not the case. "Massaman" translates as 'Muslim' since the people of the south are generally of the Islamic faith. A good Massaman curry will have a deep, cooked-in spicy flavour, thick gravy and chunks of meat which are tender and gently cooked. This was a lovely example of the dish, which I have had both in the UK and in the Muslim south of Thailand. Served with steamed rice, this was a super lunchtime dish. A few wedges of perfectly cooked potato complemented the beef perfectly. 

Many other diners elected for the Pad Thai, and few left any food on their plate. Perhaps the version here is a good one, but this may have to be investigated on a future visit. Sadly no-one ordered the Gai Yang, Khao Neau, Som Tam, the half chicken with sticky rice and papaya salad (£11.50) which we had thought about, but were not quite feeling hungry enough to tackle. We had wanted to see what the dish looked like, but were denied on this occasion. 

Many dishes were served with 'Tai Dow'; a fried egg on the top. Cooked so it is "Just Done", the centre is soft, allowing the egg to be broken over the noodles or rice, providing eggy runny goodness. I am partially allergic to eggs, and so I passed on that, but it was good to see something very familiar from my travels brought to the UK. Him Indoors became particularly fond of 'Tai Dow' and surprised many street food stall holders in Thailand with his order. 

Since we had met for a fairly early lunch, we did not have any alcohol, electing instead for the hot homemade ginger tea (£1.90) and hot homemade lemongrass tea (£1.90). They were warming and pleasant, although I admit I have had better fresh lemongrass infusions elsewhere. Both are available as cold teas if you would prefer. 

Tap water is provided without having to ask by the glass. A much appreciated touch. Particularly when dealing with a goodly amount of birds eye chillis!

This is a very busy place. It is in demand throughout the day. Our staff were very competent, and kept on top of our orders and requests at all times. Other reviewers have made comment about the service received, and I have to say I have no complaints at all. Service was swift, effective and well judged. When glasses of (free) water ran dry, we only had to ask once to be refilled. They had no hope of remuneration in doing so, and I have found the task far more difficult in posher, more highly regarded restaurants.

The restaurant has a BYOB policy, so you can have a very pleasant meal with wine for an absolute song. Currently there is no corkage charge. Seriously! So fill your boots! I recommend a Gruner Veltliner, Gewurtztraminer or Orvieto Amabile. I have tried all of them with spicy and/or chilli adorned food and have found them to be great accompaniments. 

My overall verdict is that this is a place to go for a highly enjoyable and authentic meal. You may need to prepare yourself for a small and intimate restaurant with basic surroundings. If it is luxurious surroundings you desire, go somewhere else. Obviously you will end up paying far more. However, for a special evening out (first date, anniversary, proposal), I would completely understand your choice. 

Tash of FoodIFancy blog and I paid hard earned cash (of the folding variety) for our meal.

Kaosarn

Brixton Village Market
London
SW9 8PR

Tel: 020 7095 8922

 

How to make Thai inspired steamed fish

I originally posted this recipe on facebook, long before I ever thought of doing a blog. At that time, I'd just come back from my Summer holidays to Italy and France and was looking for ways of making low fat delicious food since I had to lose the points I'd piled on whilst on holiday.

Since I am now recently returned from the land whose cuisine inspired this dish, Thailand, land of smiles, I thought it might be a good time to post this to my blog. I had steamed fish whilst on my travels in Thailand; they steam the fish whole with lots of chili and lime. The results are incendiary but immensely satisfying!

Picture: Steamed whole fish at Phu Lae Restaurant, Chiang Rai, Thailand

I'll confess that I've always been a little scared of cooking fish. That's because, much like the rhyme about the 'little girl with a little curl right in the middle of her forehead' when the dishes come out good, they are very, very good and when they are bad, they are horrid. Overcooking is, to my mind, the biggest disaster in fish cookery. It is also the sin I commit the most often. So I invented this dish to avoid that problem. Steaming does not involve the direct application of heat to the fish, which is why it gives you the most leeway with cooking time. Pan-frying gives none; it is either cooked perfectly or overdone. I am not alone in the use of steaming as a method of cooking for fish. Although out of favour in the UK, it is common in China and across the south east of Asia. The benefits are, as I say, it avoids overcooking, but it also maintains the integrity of the fish, and does not involve copious amounts of fat.

Here are the ingredients:

2 fillets of haddock (around 350g total) - You could use any fish you like, though

1 2cm piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into rounds

2 chillies sliced in half

1tbsp chopped coriander

1 lime - juiced

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp soy sauce

half a clove of garlic chopped into tiny pieces

Mix up all the ingredients except for the haddock into a large bowl. Once mixed, put the haddock on top, skin side up. Move around so that the filletted side comes into contact with the other ingredients. Marinade at room temp for 5-10 mins (the time it takes for the water in your steamer to come to the boil).

I have both a metal steamer pot and a bamboo steamer, but only the metal pot was big enough to fit the fish into. If you have a bamboo steamer with a bottom big enough to fit a china plate on, that would be the perfect utensil for the job. I had to improvise - so I used a piece of doubled up foil bigger than the bottom of the steamer with the edges rolled up to hold in all the juices.

Once the water in the pan is boiling, empty all the marinade ingredients onto the foil or plate. Place the fish skin side up on the plate or foil. Put the lid on. 

Steam for 8-10 mins. Scrape off marinade ingredients before serving. 

Serve with rice or salad, although I served it with a rice salad!

First posted by Snigdha Nag on facebook on Tuesday, 17 August 2010 at 10:57

How to make Mango Sticky Rice

Ma Muang Khao Niaow ("niaow" rhymes with a cat's miaow) translates as mango with sticky rice (ma muang is mango, khao is rice, niaow - sticky). It is a classic Thai dessert. I've seen it prepared by the chefs at Mango Tree in London (at a Thai festival), read various recipes, eaten it in London and had the real thing in Thailand. Trouble is, no-one seems to agree on the recipe! So what's a girl to do?

The best example of the dish I had was in a night food market in Bangkok, on Soi 38 Sukhumvit (which translates as Alley number 38 off Sukhumvit Road), a bustlingly busy night market loved by hard-working Thais with no time to cook their own dinners and a handful of dedicated backpackers, notable from their relaxed gait and more-than-superficial tropical tans.

Picture: Ma Muang Stall, Soi 38 Sukhumvit, Bangkok, Thailand

So I'm going to do my best to approximate this dish. I went to London's Chinatown in search of Thai mangoes. I knew that the type sold in supermarkets right now, which tend to come from the Caribbean and thereabouts are lovely fruits, but do not have the intense sweetness needed for this dish. At time of writing in the UK the prevalent mango available is the Kent mango. Not as stringy as some of the other American/Caribbean mangoes - and just the kind of thing I would use for a dinner salad or fruit salad, but not right for this dish. So after a little searching I found exactly what I wanted in Loon Fung on Gerrard Street;  a Thai mango. OK, it was a little steep at £3.22 (I truly wish I were joking, but sadly, no) but after trying many varieties of mango from all manner of tropical climes, I knew this was going to be the only one which would match the ripe, sweet mellowness of the Bangkok delight I am trying to re-create. Apparently the name for this delightful mango is 'Naam Dok Maai' (flower nectar mango) - a totally appropriate description. You will know you are buying the right type of mango if what you buy resembles the 'Paisley' shape from Paisley pattern material - the shape is a classical mango shape.
Anyway, despite misgivings over the hefty price tag (if you knew what a bargain hunter I am, you would get it!),  I parted with the cold hard cash. If you are not willing to part with £3.22 for a single mango (which I would TOTALLY understand), then I advise you to get the small Indian/Pakistani mangoes with yellow skin - varieties include 'honey' and 'alfonso'. You are looking for a non-fibrous, thin skinned, intensely sweet mango..... I think I am getting a tad obsessed....!

Picture: A very expensive mango
 

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 small mug full of glutinous rice
1 + 3/4 small mugs full of water
1 very expensive Thai mango (but I'm not bitter!)
1 can coconut milk
3 tbsp palm sugar (use brown unrefined sugar if you can't find this ingredient)
1 pinch salt / 1/3rd tsp salt
fried split mung beans (topping) - Hard to find, but truly authentic!

Method:
The small mug of rice needs to be soaked in the first water in a bowl for as long as you can manage. I soaked mine for 3 hours. Overnight will most likely give you are more authentic results.

After soaking add the other 3/4 mug of water plus 1/4 can coconut milk.

Either put in a pan and bring to the boil for 12 minutes or until the liquid more or less disappears or cook in a the microwave. I've seen two lovely Thai ladies cook their sticky rice in the microwave on youtube, so don't sweat the 'is that authentic' issue. Besides, I cook all my rice in the microwave as it guarantees that it cooks by steaming/absorbtion.

If using microwave, then cook in a plastic rice cooker / lidded glazed pottery pot for 10-12 minutes.

Make the sauce by heating up the remaining coconut milk, salt and sugar together in a small pan. 

Picture: Freshly ground palm sugar, coconut milk and sea salt ready to make the sauce

When hot and well-combined, the sauce is done!

Prepare the mango. Cut into 3 thirds - one with the stone and 2 without, then remove the flesh from the 2 non-stone pieces by spooning out the mango goodness and then by using knife to trim the good bits from the stone piece. Cut all the mango into small bite sized pieces.

Picture: Step 1 of mango preparation; cutting into thirds

 Picture: Step 2 of mango preparation; harvesting and chopping the mango 'meat'

Serve a pile of the sticky rice with sliced mango. Pour sauce thoroughly over both. Top with friend mung beans if available. If not no topping or toasted sesame seeds would be great.

Picture: the finished pudding!

It is a dish which is well worth the effort.
Enjoy!