Thai Fried Banana

Bananas are often underrated as a dessert, but not in thai cuisine after making this yummy recipe. This dessert is best made while your guests are waiting at the table, means you can actually prepare it in no time at all. Try these toffeeish hot bananas with some cold vanilla ice cream or some sprinkle of coconut milk.

Serve:                4

Preparation time:        12 minutes

Adapted from "Easy Thai Cookbook" by Sallie Morris

Ingredients:

Bananas:                         4 fresh
Butter:                            50 grams
Brown/palm sugar:          4 heaped tbsp
Lime:                              2 (juices)
Coconut milk:                 4 tablespoon

Method:

1)Peel the bananas and either slice each one diagonally into 2 inches thick slices or slice lengthways and then halves again for softer result.
2) Melt the butter in a frying pan or wok and add the banana slices. Fry them both the sides at medium flame until golden and soft.
3) Sprinkle in the sugar and stir over the heat until it is dissolved and thickens to a syrup. Squeeze over the lime juice.
4) Transfer the banana and sauce to a sundae dishes or a plate and drizzle the coconut milk on the top.
5) Serve hot.

BON APPETIT..

Stir-Fry Chicken With Cashew Nuts

A favourite combination of sweet, almost creamy, cashews roasted to bring out  their nuttiness and stir fried with the tenderest chicken breasts. Subtly flavored with fish and oyster sauce with just a hint of garlic make this recipe stand out among other stir fries.

"Gai Pad Mamaung Himmaparan" is it's Thai name.

Adapted from  Easy Thai Cookbook By Sallie Morris

Serves:        4

Preparation time:            25 minutes

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts:                 2 (225 grams each) sliced into strips
Garlic:                                2 cloves (crushed)
Onion:                                1 finely sliced
Cashew nuts:                      1/3 cup roasted
Fish Sauce:                         3 tablespoon
Oyster Sauce:                     1 tablespoon
Spring Onion:                     4 (cut into short length)
Salt to taste
Black Pepper (freshly grounded)
Sunflower oil:                      3 tablespoon

Method:
1) Dry roast the cashew and assemble all the other ingredients.
2) Heat some oil in a wok, toss chicken and garlic. Stir fry until the chicken piece are tender and golden.
3) Add all the other ingredient and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Check the seasoning
6) Serve hot as a side dish or starter.

BON APPETIT..

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Nothing like a Chinese sweet and sour dishes, here the chicken is stir fried gently then simmered with colourful red and green vegetable, flavoured with tomato and sharpened with  rice vinegar and sweetened with sugar to form a rice tasting sauce. Its called "Pad Priew- Waan Gai" in Thailand

Adapted from  Easy Thai Cookbook By Sallie Morris

Serve            4
Preparation time:   25 minutes

Ingredients:

Chicken breast:        2 (225 gram each), sliced in strips
Onion:                      1/4  small (finely sliced)
Red bell pepper:       1/4 finely sliced
Green bell pepper:    1/4 finely sliced
Cucumber:                2.5 cm (finely sliced)
Cherry tomato:         4 (halved)
Spring onion:           4 (cut in short lengths)
Tomato puree:          1 teaspoon
Rice vinegar:             1 tablespoon
Fish sauce:                1 tablespoon
Sugar:                       1 teaspoon
Chicken stock:          4 tablespoon
Sunflower oil:            4 tablespoon
Black pepper:            freshly grounded

Method:
1) Assemble and cut all the ingredients.
2) Heat some oil in a wok, when hot stir-fry the chicken pieces for 3-5 minutes until they are tender.
3) Add all the other ingredients along with the stock, if needed to make a sauce, cook for 3-4 minutes. Adjust the seasoning.
4) Serve warm.

BON APPETIT..

Thai Style- Grilled Pomfret in Hot & Sour Chilli Sauce

Last week my hubby gifted me a nice cookery cook on Thai cuisine from Thailand. I was totally delighted and was so eager to try out new recipe very soon. Today's recipe is my first trial from this book. It’s a grilled pomfret with hot and sour chilli sauce which I am going to make today. It’s called “Pla Pow" in Thai. Whole pomfret is smothered in garlic, coriander and oyster sauce, then grilled to a deep caramel colour and served with flavoured jasmine rice.  I am using the hot and sour chilli sauce for marinating as well to give it a tangy taste. Hope you enjoy cooking the recipe as much I do making them.

Minimally adapted from " Easy Thai Cookbook" by Sallie Morris

Serve:          2
Preparation time:            30 minutes (Including marination)

Ingredients:
Pomfret:                                 2 small or medium
Coriander stem:                      4 (2 inches long)
Garlic:                                    2 cloves
Black pepper:                        1 teaspoon (freshly grounded)
Oyster Sauce:                        4 tablespoon
For hot & sour chilli sauce
Fish Sauce:                            5 tablespoon
Lime juice:                             5 tablespoon
Red chilli:                              1-2 (finely sliced)
Palm/ brown sugar:               2 tablespoon
Mint leaves:                          1 small handfull
Mint leaves and lime wedges to serve

Method:

1) Rinse and dry a cleaned fish and slash the skin 2-3 times each side for marinating.
2) Pound the coriander and garlic using pestle and mortar. Add black pepper and oyster sauce.
3) Marinate the fish with the mixture both sides.
4) Blend all the hot and sour chilli sauce ingredients together and set it aside.
5) Add 2-3 tablespoon of sauce on marinated fish and reserve rest to serve with the grilled fish.
6) Marinate for 15-20 minutes
7) Place the fish on a lightly oiled grill pan. Cook for about 4- 5 minutes each side , turning once during cooking on a medium flame.
8) Serve it hot, garnish with mint and lemon wedges. Enjoy it with rice and prepared sauce.

BON APPETIT....

Chicken & Bok Choy In Oyster Sauce

I had this recipe bookmarked for long time and finally today got a chance to make this as all the ingredients are handy and available. Any South Asian Stir fry are always quick and health. You cannot miss on the fragrance of the garlic and ginger when fried in butter to get that extra flavor over the vegetable or any meat for that matter. Bok choy and chicken are going to be a terrific combination with oyster sauce. Traditionally, oyster sauce is made by slowly simmering oysters in water until the juices caramelize into a thick, brown, intensely flavorful sauce. This thick, brown sauce with a sweet, salty, and earthy flavor is adding body, flavor and color to the dish.

Serve         2
Preparation time:                         45 minutes (Including Marinating)

Ingredients


 Chicken breast:              200 Gram
 Bok choy:                  2 Small
 Garlic:                       1 Clove (chopped)
 Ginger:                      1/2 Teaspoon (finely shredded)

 Oyster sauce:             1 Tablespoon
 Sesame oil:               1/2 Teaspoon

 For Marinade
 Salt:                                1 Pinch
 Light soy sauce:        1 Teaspoon
 Cornstarch:               1 Tablespoon
 Oil:                           1/2 Teaspoon
 

Method

1) Rinse the chicken and wipe it dry. Cut into thin slices.
2) Put the chicken in a large bowl and add soy sauce,salt and cornstarch. Mix well.
3) Add the oil. Mix thoroughly and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4) Heat the pan and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add garlic, once it is fragrant, add the bok choy. Fry till the cabbage is cooked. Keep warm.
5) In the pan, put 2 more tablespoons of oil. Add ginger, once it is fragrant, add the marinated chicken. Stir fry until meat is done.
6) Add cooked bok choy, oyster sauce and mix well.
7) Bring to a boil once, turn the heat off and add Sesame oil. Serve hot with white or brown rice of your choice.

BON APPETIT...

Phad Phak (Thai Stir fried vegetable)

Stir frying is a pair of Chinese cooking techniques for preparing food in a wok. The term stir-fry was introduced into the English language by Buwei Yang Chao, in her book "How to Cook and Eat in Chinese', to describe the chǎo technique. The two techniques differ in their speed of execution, the amount of heat used, and the amount of tossing done to cook the food in the wok. Making a stir fry is one of the easiest, cheapest, and quickest ways of creating a great healthy and satisfying meal. By choosing a wide range of veggies, you can not only get a great mix of important micronutrients that fill the nutritional gaps in diets,  but they also make the dish look vibrant and colourful.

Adapted from Hip Asia by Taj- Connemara

Serve:   4
Preparation Time:  20 minutes

Ingredients:
Broccoli:                100 grams
Zucchini:                100 grams
Baby corn:             100 grams
Asparagus:             75 grams
Haricot bean:          125 grams
Button mushroom:   75 grams
Chinese cabbage:    75 grams
Bok Choy:              75 grams
Oyster Sauce:         75 grams
Pimentos:                60 grams
White pepper:         1 teaspoon
Vegetable stock:     1 cup
Garlic:                     50 grams (chopped)
Oil for stir frying

Method:

1) Heat oil in a wok. Saute garlic till light brown.
2) Chop vegetables in dices and add to the wok. Toss well
3) Add oyster sauce, white pepper and pimentos
4) Add vegetable stock and stir-fry the vegetable till cooked.
5) Serve hot with a bowl of brown rice.

BON APPETIT..

Crispy Golden Broccoli In Chili Honey Sauce & Sesame Garnish

Broccoli is very low in calories, provides just 34 cal per 100 g. However, it is rich in dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants that have proven health benefits. Broccoli is an important calcium source for those who don't consume dairy products. With so many benefits and much more this dish is super quick to make and is really tasty to accompany any of your rice or noodles.

Adapted from Kai Asia

Ingredients:

Broccoli Floret:                    150 grams
All purpose flour:                  2 tablespoon
Corn flour:                            2 tablespoon
Pimentos:                            30 grams ( Substitute:  Red bell pepper)
Sesame Seed:                     11/2 teaspoon (toasted)
Vegetable oil
Salt to taste

For sauce
Dry chilli Flakes:                  1 teaspoon
Black peppercorn:               1/2 teaspoon (crushed)
Garlic:                                 1 teaspoon (chopped)
Honey:                                1 tablespoon
Vinegar:                              1 teaspoon
Tomato ketchup:                 1 tablespoon

Method:

1) Blanch the broccoli florets and drain well.
2) Sprinkle the broccoli with flour and corn flour. Toss well. Heat some vegetable oil and shallow fry till crisp. Else you can bake it as well.
3) Combine all the sauce ingredient except garlic.
4) Heat 1/2 teaspoon of oil and add garlic. Add diced pimentos/ bell pepper on high flame.
5) Toss the crispy broccoli and sauce with pimentos. The sauce will have a sweet, spicy and tangy flavour.
6) Toss the sesame seed dry in a hot pan. Mix a little with the crispy broccoli and preserve few for final garnish. Check the seasoning.
7) Arrange on a serving plate and garnish it with remaining sesame seed.
8) Serve hot.

BON APPETIT..

Steamed Bok Choy in Lemon Butter Garlic Sauce

Sign up for a Chinese Cooking classes and at some point you're likely to find yourself happily shredding leaves and chopping up the stalks of a bok choy plant. It is cultivated in China since ancient times, bok choy is found in soups and stir-fries, appetizers and main dishes. Bok choy is one of the popular leafy-vegetables very low in calories; it is very rich source of many vital vitamins, minerals and health-benefiting anti-oxidants. 100 g of bok choy provides just 13 calories. It is one of the recommended vegetable in the zero calorie or negative calorie category of foods which when eaten would add no extra weight to the body but in-turn facilitate calorie burns and reduction of weight. Let's get cooking  :)

Adapted from Kia Asia
Serves:      2
Preparation time 25 minutes

Ingredients:

Bok Choy:                       200 grams
Butter:                              1 tablespoon
Garlic:                              1 tablespoon (finely chopped)
Corn flour:                        25 grams
Salt to taste
White Pepper:                  1 teaspoon
Lemon Juice:                    2 tablespoon
Flakes of garlic fried golden for garnish

Method:

1) Blanch the Bok Choy.
2) Heat some butter, saute garlic . Dilute the corn flour in water and add.
3) Keep stirring to make a sauce of thick consistency. Add more water if required.
4) Season it with salt and pepper.
5) Add fresh lemon juice and mix well.
6) Arrange the bok choy on a serving plate. Spoon the sauce over it.
7) Garnish it with golden fried garlic  flakes and serve hot.

BON APPETIT...

Crispy Tofu In Thai Chilli & Basil

This week will be great for all diet food followers and south Asian food lovers. I will be experimenting with south Asian food in my blog. Today's basic ingredient is "Tofu", also called bean curd, is a food made by coagulating soy juice and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. Tofu originated in ancient China. Tofu and its production technique were introduced into Korea and then Japan. Tofu has a low calorie count, relatively large amounts of protein, and little fat. It is high in iron, calcium and/or magnesium.

Recipe minimally adapted from Kai Asia by The Gateway Hotel

Ingredients:

Tofu:                       100 Grams
Corn Flour:             2 tablespoon
Thai chilli paste:       1/2 tablespoon
Sugar:                     1/4 tablespoon
Garlic:                     1 tablespoon (finely chopped)
Sweet Chilli Sauce:  1 tablespoon
Onion:                     1 medium (diced)
Basil leaves:             1 sprig (few of them fried)
Vegetable oil

Method:

1) Cut tofu into small dices.
2) Coat with corn flour and shallow fry till crisp.
3) Heat some oil in a pan and add garlic, toss diced onion basil leave for 1-2 minutes.
4) Add chilli paste, sugar, sweet chilli sauce.
5) Mix well and garnish with fried basil leaves.
6) Serve hot.

BON APPETIT..

Cool Cabbage salad with roasted coconut dressing

Salad has been always an important part of everyone's life. Today I am trying to make a cabbage and capsicum salad with roasted coconut and tomato dressing. Cabbage is a good source of beta-carotene, vitamin C and fiber. Cabbage is used in many ways, ranging from eating raw and simple steaming to pickling, stewing, sauteing or braising. It has always been a major part of any diet program. Adding colorful capsicum enriches the salad nutritional value as well makes it more scrumptious. It's a super simple and quick recipe with only four major ingredients.

Ingredients:

Chinese cabbage:              4 big leafs ( Substitute: Normal cabbage)

Red Capsicum:                  1/4 ( fine Julienne) 

Yellow Capsicum:              1/4 ( fine julienne)

Desiccated Coconut:          1 table spoon

Tomato:                             2 large

Salt to taste

Freshly grounded pepper

Olive Oil

Method:

1) Take out the middle vein and cut the cabbage leafs in big square. Keep aside.

2) Cut the tomato in half and take out the seed. Brush a little of oil and roast it in the oven for 15 minutes. 

3) Once cold take out the skin and puree it.

4) Dry roast the desiccated coconut for 30 second on a hot pan.

5) Heat 1/2 table spoon of olive oil in a pan and toss the capsicum for 1 minute on high flame. Add cabbage and toss again. Add roasted tomato puree and  roasted coconut. Season it with salt and pepper.

6) A colorful and healthy salad is ready to go with any meal.

BON APPETIT...