Great Thai Recipes

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Thai Satay with Peanut Sauce

The national dish of Indonesia and the ultimate street food: skewers of meat, marinated and grilled to perfection, served with a creamy peanut sauce.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Thai
Keyword Culinary 4, Southeast Asian Cuisine, Thai

Ingredients

FOR THE SKEWERS:

  • 1 ½ pounds pork loin tenderloin or shoulder, sliced into thin rectangles (1/4 inch x 1 inch x 2 inches; you should have about 24 pieces)
  • 1 shallot minced
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 tablespoon grated ginger
  • 3 tablespoons chopped lemongrass
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds toasted and ground
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds toasted and ground
  • 1 ½ teaspoons turmeric
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • ½ cup coconut milk
  • Cilantro and basil leaves for garnish (optional)

FOR THE CUCUMBERS:

  • 1 pound Persian or Japanese cucumbers peeled, halved and cut into 1/4-inch slices
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 small shallots thinly sliced about 1/4 cup
  • 2 fresh Thai or serrano chiles sliced into rounds
  • FOR THE PEANUT SAUCE:
  • 1 cup dry roasted peanuts unsalted
  • 2 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice more to taste
  • ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
  • ½ cup coconut milk

Instructions

Prepare the skewers:

  • Put pork in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together shallot, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, fish sauce, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar and coconut milk, and pour over meat. Toss with your hands to coat well. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight. Meanwhile, soak 12 bamboo skewers in water.

Prepare the cucumbers:

  • Put cucumbers in a mixing bowl and season with salt. Add lime juice, sugar, shallots and chiles and toss to coat. Let stand for 15 minutes. Check seasoning, then transfer to a serving dish.

Prepare the peanut sauce:

  • Pulse the peanuts briefly in a food processor just until finely ground. Add the garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, cayenne and coconut milk, and process until well puréed. Transfer to a bowl, then taste and adjust seasoning. Thin a bit with lime juice or water as desired.

Assemble and Cook

  • Thread 2 slices of pork onto each bamboo skewer, keeping the meat as flat as possible. Grill over hot coals, under the broiler or on a stovetop grill pan for 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through and lightly browned. Transfer to a platter and garnish with cilantro and basil leaves. Serve with cucumber relish and peanut sauce.
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Pad Thai

Pad Thai is a Thai noodle stir fry with a sweet-savoury-sour sauce scattered with crushed peanuts. It’s made with thin, flat rice noodles, and almost always has bean sprouts, garlic chives, scrambled egg, firm tofu and a protein – the most popular being chicken or prawns/shrimp.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Thai
Keyword Southeast Asian Cuisine, Thai

Ingredients

Pad Thai

  • 8 ounces Thai rice noodles enough for 2 people
  • 2 Boneless chicken thighs chopped into small pieces
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 4 green onions sliced, keep white separate from green
  • 3 to 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon grated ginger
  • 1 to 2 fresh red or green chilies finely sliced
  • 1 egg
  • 2 to 3 cups bean sprouts
  • Handful fresh coriander/cilantro
  • 1/3 cup roasted peanuts chopped
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • Lime wedges for serving

Pad Thai Sauce:

  • 1 to 1½ tablespoons tamarind paste to taste (available at Asian/Indian food stores)
  • ¼ cup chicken stock
  • 3 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon chili sauce
  • pinch ground white pepper

Instructions

Make Pad Thai Sauce

  • In a small bowl or cup, combine all 'Pad Thai Sauce' ingredients (note: if tamarind paste is very thick, only add 1 tablespoon; if thin/runny, add 1½ tablespoons). Taste-test the sauce, looking for a strong-tasting flavor that is sour-sweet at first and is finished with a salty /spicy aftertaste. Set aside.

Mis en Place Ingredients

  • Bring a large pot of water to boil, then switch off heat. Dunk in noodles and soak 3 to 4 minutes, or until noodles are limp but still firm and a little “crunchy”. Tip: The noodles must remain undercooked at this stage, as they will be fried later. This is the key to chewy ‘ al dente’ rice noodles. Drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Set aside.
  • Toss sliced chicken in 1 tablespoon soy sauce and set aside.

Cook

  • Warm a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil and swirl around, then add the white parts of the onion (reserve green parts for serving), plus garlic, galangal/ginger, and chili. Stir-fry 1 minute.
  • Add chicken and stir-fry until almost fully cooked.
  • Push ingredients aside, making room in the center of your wok/pan and crack in the egg. Stir-fry quickly to scramble (30 seconds to 1 minute).
  • Add the noodles and drizzle over 1/3 of the pad Thai sauce. Using two utensils and a gentle turning motion, stir-fry everything together. Keep heat between medium and high – you want it hot enough to cook the noodles, but not so hot that they’ll burn. Add more sauce every 30 seconds to 1 minute as the pan/wok dries out. Continue stir-frying until sauce is gone and noodles begin to get sticky and ‘glossy’ and taste chewy (‘al dente’ (5 to 7 minutes).

Assemble

  • Turn off heat. Fold in bean sprouts and taste-test. If not flavorful or salty enough, add more fish sauce. If too salty or sweet, add a drizzle more tamarind or a good squeeze of lime. If not spicy enough, add more chili sauce or fresh-cut chilies.
  • Sprinkle over the green onion, nuts, and coriander, and garnish with lime wedges (to be squeezed over before eating). Thai chili sauce can be served on the side for those who like it extra spicy.

Notes

Tamarind paste is made from a sour, dark, sticky fruit that grows in a pod on a tamarind tree. While some cuisines use tamarind paste to make desserts and even candy, in Thai cooking it is used mostly in savory dishes. Classic pad thai sauce is made with tamarind, as are some Thai curries and seafood dishes. Tamarind paste is primarily sour and tangy.
 
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Mango Sticky Rice (Khao Neeo Ma Muang)

The classic Thai dessert known as khao niaow ma muang (mango sticky rice) is famously served as street food in Thailand and at Thai restaurants throughout the world.

Ingredients

For Coconut Rice

  • 1 1/2 cups uncooked short-grain white rice
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Coconut Sauce

  • 1/2 cup coconut milk
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon tapioca starch

Garnish

  • 3 mangos peeled and sliced
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Instructions

  • Combine the rice and water in a saucepan; bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.
  • While the rice cooks, mix together 1 1/2 cups coconut milk, 1 cup sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil; remove from heat and set aside. Stir the cooked rice into the coconut milk mixture; cover. Allow to cool for 1 hour.
  • Make a sauce by mixing together 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and the tapioca starch in a saucepan; bring to a boil.

Assemble

  • Place the sticky rice on a serving dish. Arrange the mangos on top of the rice. Pour the sauce over the mangos and rice. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.