Pork and prawn balls in noodle soup

This is a really lovely soup and very quick to make too (well, after the meatballs have chilled for half an hour in the fridge!).  Very clean tasting broth with lime and ginger, and great textures with the soup, meatballs and noodles - and then fresh spring onions and chillies layer the flavour even more.

Especially quick if you are using up left over pork and prawn mixture after making sesame toasts. And also if, like me, you're using a ready mixed pack of stir fry veg and 'straight to wok' type noodles.

I'm not really sure about quantities here as I used up leftovers, but you'll need to make the full amount anyway as it uses a whole egg. The mixture freezes really well though so if you don't use it all at once, it will freeze for another day, or you could make some pork and prawn sesame toasts.  

Here's how to make the paste:

400g total weight of pork tenderloin and prawns (I used half and half but it doesn't have to be precise)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon each salt and white pepper

small handful of coriander leaves, chopped

2 teaspoons soy sauce

one egg, beaten

Whizz the pork first in a food processor to mince, then add the prawns and just pulse as it will come together very quickly. Add the garlic, salt and pepper and coriander leaves and pulse again.

Add the soy sauce and beaten egg and mix by hand to combine.

This is the mixture for the sesame toasts so if you have that already you now need to add a few other things. I had probably a quarter of this quantity left and added the following:

1 red chilli, chopped

1 spring onion, chopped

a good pinch of sugar

a tiny splash of fish sauce

Mix all the ingredients together, then make little balls and put on a plate in the fridge to chill for around 30 minutes. The mixture is quite wet so I didn't make balls as such, just sort of little blobs.

For the soup itself - and again these aren't precise quantities so just add to taste and adjust as necessary  - I used the following for two portions

a bit less than half a litre water

about half a Knorr chicken stock cube

a piece of ginger, perhaps 2 cm or so, sliced

juice of half a lime (it was a really juicy one so you might need more)

a good splash of fish sauce, perhaps half a tablespoon

about half a teaspoon of sugar, perhaps a little more

a big handful of veg from a packet of stir fry veg (or use a mixture of cabbage, book choy, bean sprouts or whatever you like)

rice noodles

to serve: coriander and mint if you have them, sliced red chilli and spring onions

Bring the water to the boil in the pan and add the stock cube then the ginger, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar and simmer for three or four minutes.

Drop in the meatballs / blobs and simmer for another five minutes.

Add the vegetables and rice noodles and simmer for a further two to three minutes.

Ladle into bowls and top with the fresh herbs, if using, and the sliced chillies and spring onions. Add another squeeze of lime if needed.

This is so delicious I really hope you try it. Let me know what you think!

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2 great condiments to liven up vegetables ...

... and the best 'Zen lunch' guaranteed to do the same for me.

A lovely toasty sesame salt to sprinkle over plain rice, green vegetables, roast chicken and more. And a really good easy soy and sesame sauce that is great on plain steamed veg.

First, the sesame salt, which will keep for a week or two in an airtight container.

All you need is:

3 tablespoons sesame seeds

1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat a frying pan over a medium-low heat, add the sesame seeds and salt and toast until golden brown, stirring or shaking the pan constantly. It will take maybe five minutes.

If you've got more time, the flavour will be even better drawn out more slowly, toasted over a very low heat for perhaps 10-15 minutes.

Once toasted, crush in a mortar or grind in a spice mill and transfer to a jar.

The lovely soy and sesame sauce is even easier and you need just these few store cupboard ingredients:

2 tablespoons dark soy sauce (if you only have light soy then stir in a teaspoon of brown sugar to dissolve before using)

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

4 teaspoons white or rice vinegar

Mix it all together in a bowl. Any left over will keep covered in the fridge for a few days.

And then - for me today - it all comes together in one restorative, soothing 'Zen lunch' of steamed rice and broccoli with the sauce spooned over and topped with some sesame salt.

All is well.

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Chinese-style char siu BBQ pork

One of the many things I love about Thailand and actually about South-East Asia as a whole is the sheer number of celebrations and festivals throughout the year. Festivals from different religions and different cultures can all be celebrated - the more the merrier! It's now a habit that whenever I hear of a fete or festival day I mark it in my diary. This week not only sees the start of  the Year of the Horse on 31 January but also the French Fete de la Chandeleur on 2 February, or crepe day, to mark Candlemas.

Since I don't write about French food - although I do love it and do cook it and will be having crepes next Sunday - I'll concentrate on something good to eat to celebrate Chinese New Year and having made this BBQ pork every Chinese New Year for about five or six years, it is now my traditional new year dinner.

I'm not sure why I never make it any other time of year as it is really easy and is not only good served just as it is hot from the oven with some steamed rice but also so good used in other dishes including stir fried noodles or fried rice or in sandwiches such as a Vietnamese banh mi. (Chinese) new year resolution: cook more BBQ pork.

This does need several hours or overnight to marinate so don't start making it thinking it will be quick.

Serves four, or fewer but with leftovers ...

8 tablespoons light soy sauce

1 heaped teaspoon Chinese five-spice

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic

4 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1lb pork tenderloin

First combine all the ingredients except the pork in a bowl and whisk or stir until the sugar is dissolved

Trim the pork of any big bits of fat and silverskin, place in a dish and pour over the marinade. Turn the pork so it's all covered.

Cover the dish and put in the fridge for a few hours or preferably overnight, turning the meat a couple of times during that time.

Preheat the oven to Gas 8 / 230C / 450F.

Line a roasting tray with foil and place the pork staight onto the foil or on a rack in the tray if you have one. Keep the marinade for basting.

Roast for 15-20 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to Gas 4 / 180C / 350F.

Turn the pork and cover with half the remaining marinade and cook for another ten minutes then turn and cover with the rest of the marinade.

Roast for another 10-15 minutes until cooked through but still a tiny bit pink.

Take out the pork and put it on a board to rest, covered, for a further ten minutes.

Serve straight away, in slices with rice and green vegetables, or cool and keep in the fridge to use in other recipes.

Happy new year!

Xin Nian Kuai Le， 新年快乐

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Kao pad gai - fried rice with chicken

Everyone loves a kao pad, a fried rice.  It's got to be one of my favourite everyday meals and it's obviously easy as easy can be to make, right?

Well, you'd have thought so. I definitely did as having watched my friend cook hundreds of the things in the restaurant in Thailand it looked simple enough, and when she showed me step-by-step how to make it, this is all I wrote down (if you can call this scrawl writing) as it seemed so obvious!

And then when I got back to the UK and went to make it, I just couldn't get it to work. It was ... fine ... but it wasn't right.

I've practiced a bit since then and it really is easy to make - but there are a few more things to be aware of to get it right than I had scribbled on my note.

I think the main things are firstly the importance of using cooled rice rather than freshly cooked as the steam and heat of the fresh rice is too wet to stir fry and, secondly, not being scared of cooking relatively quickly with quite a high heat. You just can't make this over a low heat, it won't work.

I'm making my kao pad today in the traditional way, keeping it quite plain with onion, spring onion and garlic the only veg. I'm also using chicken but you can use whatever you want - pork, seafood, even sausage pieces, or any vegetables of your choosing. I think mushroom fried rice works really well. Lots of versions of kao pad add a few pieces of chopped tomato too.

There are no exact measurements here, but do get everything you need prepared and to hand before you start cooking.

For one, you'll need

cooked rice - this is best when it's a day old and slightly dry and the grains are nice and separated. Cook and when cool keep in the fridge until you need it, or just cook the rice in the morning and leave out, covered, to use later

cooking oil

about a quarter of a white onion, or a few slices, chopped

one garlic clove, flattened and chopped

a smallish piece of chicken, perhaps a third of one breast, sliced and chopped into small pieces (it needs to cook quickly)

soy sauce

fish sauce

about a third of a chicken stock cube

a pinch of sugar

one egg

a couple of spring onions, sliced

coriander or chopped chives to garnish

cucumber slices and lime wedges to serve

fish sauce and red chilli for the nam pla prik

Heat your pan over a medium heat, add some oil and when hot sauté the onion and garlic for a minute until translucent.

Turn the heat up to medium high and add the chicken.  Keep turning it as it cooks so that it quickly all goes white. If juice is coming out of the chicken you may not have your pan or oil hot enough - it needs to seal quickly. Cook for a few minutes.

Then add the rice, again turning it quickly in the pan to separate the grains and get them all hot through. Add a few dashes of soy sauce and one of fish sauce, crumble in the piece of stock cube and sprinkle over the sugar. Keep turning the rice mixture the whole time and cook for a couple of minutes.

Push the rice mixture to one side and add a bit more oil. After a few seconds to allow it to heat up crack the egg into this space and let it cook a little (I count to 15), then mix in to combine the scrambling egg with the rice.

Keep turning, then add the sliced spring onions and cook for another 30 seconds.

Turn it out into a bowl, or pack the rice into a small plastic dish, put a plate over the top, and turn over to get the lovely traditional rice serving shape. Scatter with chopped chives or coriander leaves if using and serve with cucumber slices and lime wedges for squeezing over.

Best served also with some nam pla prik - just a little fish sauce in a bowl with sliced chillies.

Many people like to eat this with a fried egg on top - fry your egg in more and hotter oil than you would for an English breakfast egg so that the edges go crispy.

I had this a couple of days ago for lunch - a mushroom fried rice cooked without egg but with a teaspoon of nam prik pao (so no need of extra chillies that day) and a topped with a fried egg.

However you make it, it's bound to be delicious ... let me know what you put in yours.

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Chilli paste in oil - nam prik pao

So good and so versatile - if you like Thai cooking you've probably got a jar of nam prik pao somewhere already.  It's both a cooking ingredient and a condiment. It's used in soups including tom yum, and you can add a small spoonful into all sorts of soups, stir fries and curries or stir it into a fried rice or noodle dish. Once you start using it, you'll be adding this to everything ... shepherd's pie, cheese on toast, who knows?

I have just had a quick snack of some plain rice with a teaspoon of chilli paste stirred through it and that on its own tasted great. For a very quick lunch or supper it works even better with a fried egg on top.

Or instead of plain rice, a quick mushroom fried rice with chilli paste and an egg! Yum!

This isn't a true nam prik pao which is made from roasted chillies and takes hours and hours to make; its a much simpler chilli paste in oil.  It doesn't have the subtlety and depth of flavour of a true roasted version, but it's easy to make and certainly easy to use.

These quantities made half a small jar ... but a little goes a long way! In a covered jar it will keep  in the fridge for a few months.

3-4 tbsp vegetable cooking oil

3-4 cloves garlic depending on size, chopped

2 shallots or 1/4 white onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp crushed dried red chillies

1 tbsp cayenne pepper or chilli powder

3 tbsp fish sauce (or 2 of fish sauce and one teaspoon of shrimp paste)

3 tbsp light brown sugar

juice of one lime

2 tbsp water

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and then fry the onions and garlic until light brown and on the edge of going crispy. Remove the onions and garlic from the pan into a separate dish and turn the heat off but leave the oil in the pan.

Mix all the other ingredients together in a pestle and mortar.

Then add the onions and garlic, pounding together (but gently) to break down the garlic and onion as much as possible. It won't combine perfectly and you will still have separate bits of onions, but it combines the flavours.

Put the frying pan back on a low heat and then add the chilli mixture. Simmer for 3-4 minutes and then taste - add more water if it is too thin, more oil if you want it more oily and taste it too for flavour.  I added another tablespoon of sugar and half a tablespoon of fish sauce at this stage. (My next jar, made since this post, I added just a splash of water and half a tablespoon of fish sauce - you really need to taste, taste and taste again!).

Simmer for a further 3-4 minutes until the paste is caramelised, dark and glossy-looking.

Cool enough to pour into a jar then cool completely before sealing and storing in the fridge.

Did you make this? And what did you then make with it? Let me know ...

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Burmese spicy cabbage

Healthy, detox-y, budget-y and delicious spicy Burmese cabbage.

Not Thai (obviously), and not really my recipe either - I found it online and have since adapted it but I think it's originally from one of the Leon cookbooks.  However, this is way too good not to share, and it's great to eat this time of year.  Clearly I'm not on a detox (should have moved that glass of red out of shot!) but I am on a budget and wanting to eat vegetables and clean, spicy flavours after all the festive gorging on rich foods.

This will serve four as a side dish -  I love it just with plain grilled or roasted chicken, but it would also be good as a main course in its own right served with rice.

approx 400g of any cabbage

1/2 - 1 red chilli (a normal one, not a birds eye one!)

a piece of ginger

2-3 cloves of garlic

a few spring onions

around 50g roasted peanuts (or add toasted flaked almonds right at the end)

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 tablespoon fish sauce

100 ml hot water

juice of half a lemon

2 tablespoons cooking oil

coriander leaves or, like me, the coriander stalks that I had leftover in the fridge

1. Slice the cabbage thinly and chop the red chilli

2. Chop the spring onions, garlic, ginger and peanuts and set aside in a bowl (they all go in at the same time).  I also added the chopped coriander stalks, but if you have leaves these will go in later

3. Pour 100ml hot water into a measuring jug and add the turmeric, stirring until smooth, then add the lemon juice and fish sauce

4. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan and add the cabbage and chilli

5. After 2-3 minutes when the cabbage has just started to wilt, add the spring onions, ginger, garlic and peanuts (and coriander stalks if using) and cook for a further 2-3 minutes

6. Pour in the liquid and cook for a couple of minutes more and if you are using coriander leaves, add these right at the end of the cooking time

7. Taste and add another squeeze of lemon at the end if it needs it

DELICIOUS!

If you try this recipe, do let me know what you think.

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(sort of) Thai iced coffee / coffee ice cream

I can almost guarantee that this is the Best Hangover Cure Ever.  Sweet, cold, and caffeinated. However, it is also pretty clear that I made this (badly) and took photographs (badly) whilst being slightly hungover myself so, dear reader, you're going to need a bit of imagination here.

This coffee has brought me back to life many mornings in Thailand - there's something extra special about buying it from the street sellers who serve it in a plastic bag with a straw and drinking it whilst meandering along in the heat. I did briefly consider putting mine into plastic bags but given that I was having trouble making it at all, I thought I'd keep it as simple as possible.

All you need to make two servings (with enough to make ice cream as well) is to make half a pot of very strong (double or triple strength) coffee.  Or use instant, I'm sure it would work fine. I don't think this is authentic for Thai iced coffee but I once read somewhere that Vietnamese iced coffee is made using cardamom pods too, so I like to crush a couple of pods and add to the pot to brew with the coffee.  I'm not sure you can taste the cardamom but I like the ritual of adding it.  Once made, leave the coffee to cool to room temperature.

Put half a cup of the cooled coffee into each glass and add approx two tablespoons of condensed milk per person, and mix  well.  Add lots of ice and a slosh of cold milk.  Taste and add more coffee, condensed milk, ice and milk as needed. It needs to be very strong and very sweet and very cold.

Here's how not to do it - pouring the coffee over ice and not mixing the condensed milk properly.  I poured it all back out into another glass and mixed it properly before pouring back.

Anyway, on this occasion it didn't really matter what it looked like - it WORKS! And it's delicious of course in the summer too.

Or how about making coffee ice cream?

Put 600ml double cream and a tin of condensed milk (397g) into a big bowl with another quarter of a cup (or a couple of tablespoons) of the cooled strong coffee, and whisk with an electric whisk until fluffy soft peaks are created.  Pour into a tub and put in the freezer overnight.

And that's it.  Really good and really easy.

If I get the iced coffee looking a bit better next time I make it, I'll add another picture.  

And given that today is New Year's Eve, that time could well be tomorrow ... in the meantime, happy new year everyone!

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Lemongrass vodka / lemongrass lychee martini

Less a Recipe, more a Reminder!

With three weeks until Christmas there's still time to put some flavours into booze to infuse away, then strain and bottle to give as presents.

I've had the sloe gin underway since autumn, have an apple schnapps brewing and am thinking of starting the annual 'Christmas Whiskey' soon - full of really seasonal flavours. If you need last-minute inspiration in a few weeks' time, vanilla vodkais probably best as it infuses so quickly and still looks good with the vanilla pod in the bottle.

Lemongrass vodka is as simple as it gets - three and a half weeks ago I put vodka into a clean jar along with four stalks of lemongrass, chopped. I put four because I had four, and would have put more if I'd had more - so just use what you have.

Some additions create really strong infusions but the lemongrass vodka has a lovely subtle aroma and flavour that I think will be perfect for all sorts of long drinks and cocktails.

It's now time to bottle and label ... or perhaps not!  I've got time to make more after all and want to try making a very simple sort of martini.

For one: half fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add three measures (using the cap of the shaker) lemongrass vodka and one measure juice from a tin of lychees.

Shake well and strain into a martini glass. Squeeze in the juice from a small wedge of lemon and then rub the lemon around the rim of the glass.

Add a tiny twist of lemon peel and a lychee to garnish.

Oh, and talking of martinis just gives me an excuse to quote a warning from Dorothy Parker:

'I like to have a martini,
Two at the very most,
After three I'm under the table,
After four I'm under my host.'

Beware!

Tried this recipe? Let me know what you think.

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Pla neung manao - steamed chilli lime fish

Now this is what I want (what I really, really want) for dinner - something like this:

A whole steamed fish with chillies and garlic in a lime sauce, brought steaming and simmering to the table in a fish shaped serving tray ... one of my very favourite dishes.

But ... I don't have a fish shaped dish, or even a whole fish- and I need to make dinner with what's available at my small local supermarket.

It's surprisingly easy to make a very delicious version using white fish fillets and steaming the fish in parcels of foil in the oven. And with all the warming chillies, this is as perfect for a midweek winter supper in London as eaten on the beach in Thailand!

To serve two, you'll need

2 fillets of white fish

2-4 garlic cloves

4-6 bird eye chillies (it IS a spicy dish, but obviously use chilli to your own taste)

2 tablespoons fish sauce

the juice of 1-2 limes

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tsp stock granules or 1/2 a stock cube

coriander to garnish

rice and steamed green vegetables to serve

1. Pre-heat the oven to Gas 7 / 220 C / 425 F

2. Tear off two large pieces of foil and place a fish fillet diagonally across each.

3. Chop the garlic and chillies finely and spread over the fish.

4. In a small bowl, mix together the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and stock cube (don't worry if the stock cube/granules don't dissolve as they will do as it cooks).  Tuck the ends of the foil up to start creating the parcels and pour the sauce equally into each parcel around the fish.

5. Crimp the edges of the foil together, creating a parcel bigger than the fish so there's room for it to steam inside, and place on a baking tray in the pre-heated oven.

6. Cook for 15-20 minutes until cooked through.

7. Serve sprinkled with coriander and slices of lime, alongside rice and green vegetables.

Do try this! I want everyone to know how easy it is to make a simple version of pla neung manao at home.

Let me know what you think ...

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Sweet hot Thai chilli sauce

I'm off to see a friend's new flat this afternoon and want to take a little housewarming present.

This quick and easy sweet chilli sauce will be perfect - I think almost everyone likes it and it's good to have a jar in the fridge to liven up grilled fish or chicken, or to serve with spring rolls, or have with poached eggs - or just about anything, to be honest!

There's plenty of time to make a quick batch which can then cool down while I get ready to go out ...

A note about measurements.  Where I've used a tablespoon, it is a measured 15ml tablespoon.  It can be easy to put in too much cornflour mixture so err on the side of caution and add a little more water if it looks very cloudy when you tip it into the pan and doesn't disperse when stirred in.  The cup I used holds 300ml water, but I judged the fractionals by eye so the liquid volumes weren't precisely measured.

To make a couple of jars or, like me, one bottle as a gift and a bowl for your own fridge, you'll need:

1 teaspoon salt, ideally coarse

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2-1 tablespoon dried crushed chillies (a full tablespoon is quite spicy)

3/4 cup distilled white vinegar (or rice vinegar)

1 and 1/4 cups white sugar

a splash of water (probably 1-2 tablespoons)

1 scant tablespoon cornflour dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

First, crush together the salt, garlic and chilli flakes, then add to a medium sized pan with the vinegar, sugar and water.

Bring to a boil and boil steadily for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Reduce the heat and stir in the cornflour mixture, then cook for a further three-four minutes.

Remove from the heat and pour into a heat proof bowl.

You can just cover this tightly when it's cool and keep in the fridge or, after a few minutes when it's cooled slightly, transfer to your chosen bottles, jars or dishes.

It will keep for about two weeks stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

Hope you like this recipe - let me know what you think.

NOTE: last time I made this it went really thick, and I've no idea why! However, I put the bottle to stand in some hot water for a few minutes and it then became thinner and pourable again. 

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Kao tom - rice soup

An everyday breakfast or light meal, kao tom is a lovely nourishing rice soup - ideal plain for those a little under the weather or with added flavours for a really delicious but simple dish.

I'm currently staying for a few days to help my papa while he recovers from a bad fall.  It's a beautiful crisp autumn day and I made him a kao tom with chicken this morningto get the day off to a  good and nurturing start.

Of course I had a bowl myself too - and included an egg in mine.  The egg is optional and as it is put in the bowl right at the end before pouring over the broth it is just very lightly cooked.  So it's up to you of course how you feel about eating your eggs 'rare'!

You need cooked rice for this, so do make that first - it'll be really annoying to start cooking and then realise you don't have it to hand ...

Serves two

Stock cube (I used about 3/4 of a chicken knorr cube)

One peeled garlic clove, just flattened slightly

A little chicken (or pork or seafood or whatever you fancy) - I used about half a chicken breast chopped into small pieces

Cooked rice for two people

2-4 spring onions, chopped

Coriander (I couldn't get any fresh coriander here, so used 1/2 teaspoon of coriander from a jar, but just omit if you don't have any)

An egg per person (optional)

As usual, the dish comes together quickly, so get the ingredients out first.

Boil the kettle and then add enough water to a saucepan (the easiest way to measure is to pour into the bowls you'll be using then tip into the pan - and then add a bit more).

Add most of a stock cube and the garlic clove and bring to a simmer, then add the meat and/or fish and cook for around 3-4 minutes (timings will depend on what meat or fish you're cooking and how big the cubes of meat are).

As I wasn't using fresh coriander, I also added the jarred coriander to the pan while the chicken was cooking.

Add the cooked rice towards the end of the meat's cooking time and simmer a little longer.  When I was shown how to make this soup, I was told to cook until the 'rice gets big', as it will swell a little more as it cooks in the broth.

After maybe a minute, add the spring onions and take off the heat, and add some coriander if using.

Crack an egg into each bowl for those that are having egg.

Spoon the chicken and rice into each bowl first and top with the hot broth.

Delicious served with garlic fried in its skin, or simple condiments of sugar and dried chillies to taste.  Or just plain as it comes if you're ill or have an upset tummy!

The egg is lightly poached in the broth and adds beautiful golden swirls of yolk to the soup when broken.

I hope you like this recipe!  Do let me know if you tried it ...

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Larb moo - spicy pork salad

This spicy salad is perfect for a light lunch or supper, or served with rice to make a more substantial meal.  It's really easy to make - being more about assembly than cooking.  I like very spicy food, so do use less chilli if you're less of a fan.

Serves 2-4 depending on greediness and what else you eat with it ...

1/8 cup risotto rice (to make roasted rice)

300g tenderloin pork, minced

2-3 limes

1/2 knorr stock cube, or a teaspoon of stock granules

1 spring onion, chopped

1/2 red onion (or shallots), chopped

handful each of mint leaves and parsley, chopped

1 tbspn crushed dry chillies

2 tbspn fish sauce

red chilli, sliced for garnish

little gem lettuce leaves, to serve

Let's make the roasted rice first.  The salad will still be yummy without it, but it adds a really authentic texture to the dish.  I think this is usually made with sticky rice but, as I don't have any, I use ristotto rice (my reasoning being that risotto rice is also quite starchy) and it works fine. I'm pretty sure normal rice would work too - worth a try before buying anything specially anyway!

1. Heat a pan, and pour in the rice.  Keep turning and stirring it on a low heat until it turns light brown (in about ten minutes).

2. When it's cool (burning grains are so not fun), crush until fine - a pestle and mortar is good, a hammer or rolling pin would do. I use a coffee bean/spice grinder which makes it really easy!

Get the other ingredients together ....

... and chop and slice the onions, herbs and chilli.

I use tenderloin of pork as it's what I was originally taught to make the dish with, and for the same reason, I like to mince it by chopping it.  You could just throw it in the food processor - I tried this today for the first time and it worked perfectly.  Or, of course, you could just buy mince in the first place.

3. Heat a pan (I just used the same one as the rice had been in) and when hot tip in the minced pork and squeeze over the juice of one lime.

4. Keep stirring until the pork is thoroughly cooked which will take 5-10 minutes - but don't overcook it.  Add the stock cube or granules in the last couple of minutes.

5. Tip the pork into a bowl and stir in the spring onion, red onion, mint and parsley, and mix together.

6. Add the roasted rice powder, dried chillies, lime juice from the remaining 1-2 limes (to taste) and fish sauce and mix again.

Served in little gem lettuce 'cups' and garnished with red chilli - this is easy to eat and really fresh tasting.

I would love to know if you liked this recipe, or if you tried it with different meat, or amended it at all ... do let me know.

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Son-in-law eggs

Son-in-law eggs are delicious – boiled eggs which are then fried and served  in a sweet and sour sauce topped with fried crispy shallots and (optional) chillies.

This is is such a tangy tasty dish –  and really colourful and pretty too. Sunday supper sorted!

It’s not a precise recipe – limes vary as to how much juice they contain, chillies vary in heat and fish sauce differs in saltiness between brands.

Do just taste and taste and taste to get the sauce a perfect balance of salty, sweet and sour for you.  

The chillies are because I like to include some spiciness too, but are  entirely optional.

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To serve two, you’ll need:

cooked rice, ready to serve (if using)

cooking oil - use rapeseed or grapeseed or sunflower if not (something that will heat to a high temperature and not impart its own flavour)

2 soft boiled eggs (put the eggs into a pan of boiling water that’s also had a pinch of salt added and boil for six minutes, then remove from heat and run under cold water to stop them cooking further - and when cold, peel the eggs)

2 shallots or a quarter of an onion, very finely sliced

1 red chilli, sliced (optional)

1 clove garlic, chopped

the juice of one juicy lime

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp water

sliced spring onions and coriander leaves to garnish

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Get everything prepared and ready to go - put the lime, fish sauce, sugar and water into a bowl and the chopped coriander leaves and spring onions into another.

Put a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and when hot add the cooking oil.

The oil needs to be hot before you add the eggs or they could stick.

Add the eggs and the onions and fry for a few minutes until the onions are starting to brown at the edges and the eggs browned all over.

It’ll take maybe 3-5 minutes and you need to keep turning it all - the eggs do NOT like being fried and will spit hot oil so be careful.

Add the chilli (if using) to the onions for the last minute or so.

When browned, removed the onions/chilli mixture to one space and the egg or eggs to another, ready to add later.

Put the pan back over the heat and add a little more oil and/or a splash of water as the garlic goes in next and it likes a gentle entry. Don’t let the garlic stick - add a little more water if needed.

After 30 seconds or so when the garlic starts to release it’s gorgeous scent, add the sugar-fish sauce-lime-water bowl and bring slowly to the boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for a minute or two - if you want a thinner sauce, add more water, if you want it to thicken more perhaps cook for longer or increase the heat.

When done, it’s just about assembling the dish.

Put the rice onto a plate, add the egg/s and slice them in half. pour over the sauce and top with the onions and chillies.

Garnish with sliced spring onion and chopped coriander leaves (if liked) and a few slices of red chilli (again, if liked!).

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Eggs in purgatory

Spoiler alert! This isn’t Thai, not even ‘ish’, just not at all. It’s Italian I think, well it comes straight from Nigella Lawson’s Nigellissima but it’s just such a good recipe I want to share it.  One of my favourite weekend brunch recipes of all time and it’s going in as the first entry into a new category, ‘Rest of the World’.

Super simple too, you just need:

olive oil

one clove of garlic, minced

1/4-1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

approx half a 400g pack or tin chopped tomatoes

1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt, preferably flakes

one egg

a couple of teaspoons of Parmesan, plus a little more to serve

baguette or toast, to serve

Add a splash or olive oil to a pan, add in the garlic and chilli flakes and stir over a medium heat for about 30 seconds to a minute.

Tip in the chopped tomatoes and salt, and bring to a bubble.

Crack the egg straight in and sprinkle the Parmesan over, leaving some of the yolk still exposed.

Turn down to a simmer, partially cover with a lid, and leave for about four minutes (maybe have a quick check after three minutes).

A little black pepper and another sprinkle of Parmesan and it’s done – scoop the egg and tomatoes out with a ladle and serve in a bowl.

To be honest I only did that today as it looked nicer for the pictures – normally I just eat it straight from the pan!

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Kai jeow - Thai omelette

A rainy Sunday calls for possibly the most comforting of all comfort foods, a savoury Thai omelette served with rice and a chilli dipping sauce.

Quick and easy to make, I like it best made with a little ground pork and spring onion, but occasionally have it plain, when its simplicity is somehow also luxurious. For a more substantial veggie option, fry some sliced peppers and mushrooms in place of the meat.

I’d put the rice on to cook first so it’s ready to serve as soon as the omelette is cooked.

With that underway, make the nam prik sauce, which will keep in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to two weeks and goes with almost everything – plain rice, grilled meats, baked fish, noodle dishes and many, many more.

There are probably a million different variants of this sauce, so do adjust the lime juice, fish sauce or sugar to your own taste.

4 tablespoons fish sauce

juice of 1-2 limes

4-6 sliced birds eye chillies (today I used two green and then two normal red chillies as I didn’t have birds eye)

1-2 teaspoons sugar

2 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly to dissolve the sugar.

Note: to be honest, you can make an extremely good sauce with literally just fish sauce and some chopped chillies - and this is what I usually make as it really couldn't be any easier.

And now for the kai jeow.  This makes one.

cooking oil

a little ground/minced  pork (maybe 1-2 tbspn)

two eggs

fish sauce

soy sauce

one spring onion, chopped

white pepper

coriander

Heat a wok or frying pan and add quite a bit of oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

When the oil is very hot add the pork if using and cook for two or three minutes.

While the meat cooks,  break two eggs into a bowl and add a couple of dashes each of fish sauce and soy sauce, the chopped spring onion and a shake of white pepper.

Beat the egg mixture until frothy – you want as much air in it as possible – and then pour it into the very hot oil, where it will start to go fluffy.

Cook until brown and slightly crispy on one side, then turn and cook until the other side is browned too but the inside still soft.  Just fold in half if you don’t want to try to flip it all at once.  I tried and broke this one, but hey ho.

Make the rice look nice by packing it into a little plastic bowl (china doesn’t work for me, only the plastic one), putting the plate on top and turning it out.

Add the omelette on top, sprinkle with chopped coriander, and serve with the nam prikdipping sauce.

So is this the most comforting of all comfort foods?

Let me know what you think …

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'Mince and noodles'

This is a very good dish to have up your sleeve – easy, tasty, and a great addition to the list of Things To Make With Mince.  I  first had this at my sister’s house in Norfolk, and copied down the recipe – which I have since lost, but it’s so easy I just make it the way I remember it.  If I can find where it came from I will both credit the cookbook of course and check to see if the way I make it is in fact the same as the original recipe. Oh, and perhaps give it a name too!  But for now, ‘that lovely mince and noodle thing’ it is.

The mince and noodles are quite rich and dense, so this dish does need some freshness by serving it with a quick salad. I normally just slice or speed-peel anything salad-y that’s around so today used carrot, mangetout and spring onions, although I did wish I’d had some cucumber too.  Some slices of red chilli and a good squeeze of lemon juice completes it.  Served with prawn crackers and home made sweet chilli sauce (see earlier recipe), this makes a very satisfying dinner.

To serve two

250g beef mince

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon garam masala (or curry powder)

1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper

2 tablespoons plain flour

1 tablespoon cooking oil

2 sticks celery

2 cloves garlic

approx 300-400 ml stock (I used a whole Knorr cube)

noodles (pre-cooked or cooked as per instructions)

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1-2 teaspoons dried chilli flakes

chopped coriander

Salad, prawn crackers and sweet chilli sauce to serve

Put the mince, soy sauce, garam masala, salt, pepper and flour into a bowl and mix together.  My flour looks a little pink in this picture as I keep a tub of plain flour seasoned with salt, pepper and smoked paprika to use in recipes or to coat lovely things like haloumi before frying.  Just scrunch it all together and then leave for a few minutes.

Dice the celery sticks and chop the garlic, ready to use, and in a small dish mix together the vinegar and chilli flakes.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the mince, stirring whilst cooking until browned.

Add the celery, garlic and stock and simmer for 15-20 minutes

Add the noodles for the last few minutes of cooking time to heat right through. I used the pre-cooked ‘straight to wok’ type but some wide rice noodles would work really well and be a little lighter.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar/chillies mixture.

Turn out onto a platter or serving dish and scatter with chopped coriander, and serve with the salad, prawn crackers and sweet chilli sauce.

Have you tried this? Let me know what you think or any suggestions in the comments box.

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Yam moo grop - crispy pork belly salad

Moo grop is the delicious pork belly that can then be used in so many dishes (if you can manage not to just eat it hot and freshly cooked, that is) … and I’m going to have to work on cooking that properly as today I used strips of pork belly and really over-cooked them.

They still tasted good though in this spicy salad that we had with rice. I know that for a fact as we dived in and started eating and completely forgot to take any pics!

So you’ll have to trust me on this one, that these pork belly strips, when over-cooked were still good … (no I’m not posting a pic of them when cooked!). I rubbed salt into the scored rind, and massaged in a little soy sauce, Chinese five-spice and a tiny drop of olive oil.

And that those bits of rice and carrots looked totally different and much prettier at the start of dinner than they do at the end.

Anyway, if you can cook some pork belly with lovely soft meat, and crispy skin, and then cut it into cubes (and not just eat them there and then) … do try putting them into this salad.

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I've made it again! 

This time I cooked the pork belly much better ... 

into the remoska - but you could put them in the oven covered with foil

oh my goodness, delicious

Yes, I did remove most of the fat ...

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If you’re serving with rice,  then cook the rice first so it’s all ready to go when you’ve assembled the salad.

For two people, I used:

approx 400g crispy pork (2 slices pork belly each)

1 pretty huge carrot, or of course use two normal sized

Half a white onion

2 tomatoes

2 sticks of celery

3 spring onions

And for the dressing:

4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1.5 teaspoons sugar (I only had granulated but caster would be better if you have it)

2-3 birds eye chillies depending on how spicy you want it!

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Shred the carrot, finely slice the onion, and slice the tomatoes, celery and spring onion …

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Here's the salad the second time I made this ... and the dressing ...

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In a bowl mix the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar until the sugar dissolves and then add the chillies.

Add most (or as much as you like) of the dressing to the salad and with clean hands toss it all together to properly combine.

Serve in a big pile on a plate with perhaps some coriander if you have any and if liked to garnish, and with rice, and with the remaining dressing in a bowl in case people want more.

Next time I make this, I’ll make sure to get a picture.

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I did! And here it is ...

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Thai-style roast chicken - sort of gai yang

There’s so many reasons for choosing to cook what we do every night for dinner – often it’s planned, or something needs using up, or it’s just what you fancy.

But tonight … tonight I chose to cook this purely and simply because I wanted to chop it up.

Yup. I just really wanted to chop a whole chicken bones and all with my cleaver and see if I could do it ‘Chinese style’ rather than neatly carving it.  And that is the reason we are having roast chicken tonight.

Oh … and because I have some cucumber dipping sauce left over from the weekend I think will go well with it.

So, easy delicious roast chicken.  Just put into a bowl – or straight into a remoska if you also have one (I love mine – plus my oven’s on the blink):

1 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp white pepper

1 tsp ground coriander

6 drops doTerra lemongrass essential oil OR

1 stalk of lemongrass (outer tough part removed, cut into a few pieces + bashed with a rolling pin)

Zest of a lime

4 tbspn fish sauce

2 tbspn oil

Mix it all together and rub over and into the chicken (if using lemongrass stalk just throw it in the roasting pan).

Then cook until done! It takes about 90 minutes.

And then the exciting bit! I looked at a few videos and read some instructions and attempted to chop it all up.

Definitely the fun bit!

Serve with rice and sweet chilli sauce and cucumber sauce if – like me – you have some to use up.

Any day is better for being a roast chicken day …

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Chilli cashews

Spicy, salty, warm cashews and a cold beer to go with some Saturday night box-sets?  Yes please!

Any nuts will be tasty if you don’t have cashews, it’s just that cashews are the traditional ones for this more-ish Thai bar snack and to my mind work best.

Measurements aren’t really needed here but this will be enough for one or two.

So … put the wok or frying pan on a medium-low heat whilst getting the ‘ingredients’ together, and of course do adjust to taste.

scant tablespoon oil

around 200g cashews

a clove of finely chopped garlic

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1/2 tsp each salt and sugar

Add the oil to the pan, and when hot, tip in the cashews, garlic and chilli flakes, and stir-fry until the cashews are browned, probably around 3-5 minutes.

Keep the heat medium to low so the garlic and chilli don’t burn.

Once the nuts are brown, remove from heat, add the salt and sugar to taste and mix well.

And then just try to wait until they’ve cooled down a little before eating!

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Tod mon pla - Thai fishcakes

Working on a recipe to recreate my favourite tod mon pla is an ongoing labour of love.  I make them obsessively, trying things out and changing ingredients and quantities, then stop for a while before taking up the challenge again.

Having needed a break from the last round of experimenting, I haven’t given them a go for a couple of years.  I’ve previously tried making them with egg and with coconut milk, I’ve used different fish, I’ve even made a non-fish version with pork as well as made endless variations of the cucumber and peanut sauce.

I love the little slices of green beans hidden in tod mon pla, but for a while couldn’t work out how to get them to be slightly more well cooked, still with a bite, but not crunchy.  I now blanch the sliced beans before using.  An added benefit of blanching green vegetables is that it means they stay a really bright green, which is a great trick for keeping green veg in stir fries looking fresh too.

It may well be my life’s work to refine these hot morsels of deliciousness!  Here’s where I am with them today.

Makes 8 fishcakes.

1/2 lb / about 225g white fish

1 tbspn red curry paste

1 tsp fish sauce

1 green chilli

1 tsp sugar

zest of 1/2 –  1 lime

squeeze of lime juice

handful of coriander leaves, chopped

a few green beans, sliced in very fine rounds

oil for frying

Put a pan of water on to boil for the green beans.  

Then put all the fishcake ingredients (except the beans!) into a food processor, if using, or mortar or other heavy bowl for pounding if not.

Mix or pound until smooth – but be careful if using a food processor as it will come together really quickly and you don’t want it pureed.  Turn the mixture out into a bowl.

As soon as the water comes to the boil, drop in the slices of green beans for around 20 seconds, drain and rinse in cold water to stop them cooking any further.

Add the beans to the mixture and combine.

Then just roll into eight little patties – squeezing out any juice – and flatten.  They can be cooked straight away or, as I did, popped in the fridge for half an hour or so to firm up a little more.

While they firm up, make the cucumber dipping sauce.  Quantities are up to you! The only things I think you really need for this are:

cucumber

green chilli

carrots

rice or white wine vinegar

sugar

peanuts

Today I also used a spring onion and a piece of ginger.

Chop all the vegetables really finely (or get the food processor to earn its keep again).

Combine approx two parts vinegar with one part sugar, but do keep tasting until you like it, perhaps adding a little more sugar, and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the chopped vegetables and top with crushed roasted peanuts, either as they are, or toasted in a dry pan first.

Today, I also added a splash of soy sauce at the end.  So just experiment and see what you like.

Back to the fishcakes …

Heat a wok or frying pan and then add quite a bit of vegetable cooking oil, around 3 tablespoons, as they should be almost deep fried.

Add the fishcakes to the hot oil, cooking in batches if need be, and cook for 1.5 – 2 minutes each side.

Drain on kitchen paper and eat immediately with the cucumber dipping sauce.

And then please let me know what you think in the comments box below!

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