Thai Style Pomelo Salad

One thing that drives me absolutely insane with supermarkets and markets in Melbourne (and maybe it is everywhere else too!) is the unreliability that when you go there, the food you want will be there! And it's not just with the seasonal exotic produce either. Sometimes, you want scallops in the half shell and they're not there, or coriander, and it's not there. What's wrong with you people!!

Pomelo is one such case, though granted, i doubt it sells much in Melbourne. Before i went to thailand I'd never eaten it before, but now i keep my eye out in south east asia for it whenever i'm there. For the uninitiated, pomelo tastes much like a less intense version of a grapefruit. But it's not about the flavour so much as the texture, to me. Beneath the giant fruit's skin (they're like bowling ball size!) is a grapefruit sized mass of segments, each segment containing little balls of juice!It's truly a delight to eat.

Grilled Chilli Chicken on Mango Salad and Coconut Rice

Happy holidays everyone! Christmas is only three days away, which means i have to get my fill of non-christmassy foods on my own before I'm drowning in pork, turkey and that general sense of lethargy that a full tummy brings! So here i present: Grilled chilli chicken on mango salad and coconut rice! A winning combination of sweetness, creaminess and spice.

Green Mango Salad with Chargrilled Chicken

 Finally! Just over 12 months ago today i arrived back in Melbourne from my first trip to Thailand. I arrived rested, exciting, and... craving! My trip to Thailand consisted of binge consumption of four things: Red pork curry (made...tick!), pad thai (made...tick!), mango and sticky rice (made...tick!), cocktails (made....tick!) and papaya salad (not yet made!). It's soooo hard to find green papayas here in Australia, but this week as i was walking through Coles i noticed green mangos! With no hesitation i piled three into my basket and trundled for the cashier, eager to race home and make this salad.

 If you have not had green mango or green papaya before you might feel put off by the thought, but don't. There is no strong sourness or bitterness imparted by the unripe fruit. Instead, it's more about the texture. Crisp and fresh like cucumber but firmer and less watery. With the combination of the refreshing mango sticks and the salty/sour/spicy dressing, this dish is a killer summer salad which i will continue to make so long as i can get my hands on green mangoes and papayas. 

Raat Nar Gai - Charred Rice Noodles and Chicken with Thickened 'Gravy'

One thing that really surprised me on my trip to Thailand was that despite trying it 5 or 6 times, i never did find a Pad Thai as good as the really good ones you can find here, or indeed even as good as my own! Maybe it was my own personal tastes but i found most of them too gluggy, too sweet and too saucy. I didn't try any other noodle dishes, but i wish i tried this one over there.

The key to making this dish stand out is the charring of the noodles. I learned after making this that you really need to make sure you don't overload the wok with noodles, and really don't be afraid to leave them to the point of almost burning. The small amounts of charred noodles that i DID manage to make had a wonderfully smokey flavour that was sadly absent from most of the noodles. Next time!

Neua Pat Bai Grapao - Stir Fried Minced Beef with Chillies & Holy Basil

So finally i have cooked something from the second cookbook that i picked up in Thailand, Thai Street Food by David Thompson. Very fast and simple to cook with easily accessible ingredients (except perhaps Holy basil to some, check your Asian grocer), this dish reminds me so much of the small amount of street food that i did have in Thailand. Pungent and strong in flavour, it begs to be devoured in a rush, so that you can go back for more! 

Thai Pork Red Curry

So first recipe inspired by my trip to Thailand is this red curry. A lot of the food i had in Thailand, i thought we had pretty good representation of here: pad thais, curries, the Thai salads. But the red curries in Thailand were so much better than what you can get here! Unfortunately it's a lot of work to produce the fresh coconut milk that makes them taste so special, so tinned will have to suffice. Don't use paste from a jar- it lacks the depth and subtlety of character that a fresh paste has.

Beef Massaman

So this will be my last post for a fortnight or so whilst i go on a jaunt to Thailand! Pad Thai here i come! In the spirit of Thai, i thought i'd cook many people's favorite Thai curry, the Muslim derived Beef Massaman. Mild, creamy and sweet, with large chunks of ever-so-tender beef and potato, massaman is one of my favorite curries overall. The addition of a bit of extra tamarind in this recipe adds a little to the complexity of flavour, balancing heat, saltiness and sourness.

On a side note, i also planned on posting the recipe to raspberry and white chocolate macaroons. Unfortunately, my first attempt at these delicious snacks did not turn out so well. I can't get the shells off the baking paper!!!

Pad Thai

Late July i'm jetting off on my first trip to Thailand (that is like SO 2004 right?) and i can't wait! Over the last 2 or so years i've tried to perfect my pad thai, and tonight is the closest i have gotten yet. Whilst the practices used in making the pad thai are pretty standard, this is not the easiest dish to make. A lot of intuition goes into knowing when to add ingredients, and most importantly, when the noodles are ready to add.

The recipe which i originally used gave the guideline 'the noodles can be added when they are flexible, but haven't enlarged'. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, the noodles stay in this 'twilight' state for about 10 minutes! If worst comes to worst, add the noodles earlier rather than later, and then keep testing and adding water to the wok before putting in the egg. The constant stirring will make the noodles a bit more 'gluggy' but the result will still turn out much better than overcooking the noodles in the first place. After a few takes, you'll get a better idea of when to add the noodles.

On a side note: i love tamarind? A partner once bought me a box of dried tamarinds as a snack, and despite their unappealing look (dried dog poop anyone?) the sticky sweet/sour flesh inside is delicious. If you are ever on Victoria St Richmond, pick some up from a grocer.

Pineapple Fried Rice

I love fried rice! I could eat mountains of it. My favorite fried rice is actually the standard stuff you get in any westernized Chinese restaurant in Melbourne with the peas, tiny shrimp and little pieces of Chinese sausage. Yum!!! But Thai style fried rice is much more a meal on its own. The sweetness of the pineapple permeates through the rice, providing a depth of flavor along with the shrimp paste. And tacky though it may be, it just looks mouth watering seeing it piled into a pineapple bowl!

Ingredients

• 2 cups jasmine rice, cooked and then kept in refrigerator overnight
• 1 pineapple
• 3 long chillis
• 5 spring onions
• 1 medium bunch coriander
• 2/3 cup cashew nuts, crushed
• 1 tbsp dark soy
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 250gm prawn meat 
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1egg

Method

Cut the pineapple in half lengthways.

Cut out the flesh as best as possible and chop into small chunks. Scoop out any remaining flesh and discard.

You should be left with 2 pineapple bowls and a bunch of pineapple chunks

Finely chop the chillis, garlic, coriander and spring onions, slicing a little bit as well for garnish.

Chop the prawns into large pieces.

Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat.

Add the chillis and garlic and stir fry until fragrant.

Add the prawns and par cook

Add the rice and stir through. 

Make a well in the centre of the rice and crack the egg into it and quickly stir through the rice.

Whisk the shrimp paste, soy and fish sauce together briefly.

Add the pineapple chunks, cashews soy, fish sauce and shrimp paste to the rice and mix through.

Taste for seasoning and add more soy if necessary.

Remove from the heat and fold through spring onions and coriander.

Serve in the pineapple bowl garnish with more spring onions and chilli.