5 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp finely ground dried shrimps

Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Directions:

Using a mortar and pestle, pound chilies and garlic to coarse texture. Add papaya, green beans, tomatoes and pound 1-2 minutes longer, mixing with a spoon while pounding. Add dried shrimps, peanuts, dressing and mix well. Serve immediately with cabbage and lettuce leaves. Goes well with Thai style BBQ chicken and steamed sticky rice.
Makes about 4-1/2 cups of salad, about 4 servings.

Prawn Salad
(Pla Gung)

This recipe can also be made with squid or scallops, or any combination of prawns, squid and scallops. If using squid, use only the body tube. Slit the body and press flat, score diagonally, and cut into 2 inch squares.

Ingredients

1 lb Prawn tails
3 cups Water 2 tbsp Lemon grass chop coarse
1 tbsp Lime leaves chop coarse
1 tbsp Coriander leaves chop coarse

2 tbsp Lime juice
2 tsp Palm sugar
1 tsp Garlic chop fine
1 tsp Ginger chop fine
1/2 tsp Black pepper ground

1/2 cup Green onions sliced
1/2 cup Mint leaves

Directions

Bring water to a boil and add lemon grass, lime leaves and coriander. Boil for five minutes.

Drop in prawns and cook 1 minute. Remove and rinse under cold water.

Combine lime juice, palm sugar, garlic, ginger and black pepper in a bowl. Mix to dissolve sugar.

Pour dressing over prawns and toss to coat. Add green onions and mint leaves, toss to mix.

Yield - 3 cups

Yam Yai

Line a serving bowl with the lettuce leaves, then toss the other ingredientsand place on the lettuce, garnish with cilantro/coriander leaves, lime leaves, thinly sliced shallots, and julienned spring onions.

½ cup of lime juice
¼ cup of peanuts
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons [rice] vinegar or nam makham piag (tamarind juice)
2 tablespoons nam tan paep (palm sugar)
1 tablespoon prik ki nu daeng haeng (dried red chilis), ground
1 tablespoon khao koor (toasted rice)

In a dry skillet or wok, toast the peanuts until light golden brown, allow to cool and crumble (a few sharp blows with the flat of a cleaver should suffice, and avoid turning them into peanut butter, as the use of a foodprocessor is inclined to).

Toast 2 tablespoons of uncooked long grain rice (either white or brown, totaste), and then when cool, grind to a coarse powder (khao koor).

Combine the ingredients to form the dressing, and place in a small bowl.

Thai salads are not served 'dressed', this being left to the diners. If available you could also add a few of the different Thai dips (nam prik kiga,nam prik kapi are suitable for vegetables, and can be adapted to vegetarian/vegan life styles without serious loss of authenticity).

Sweet & Sour Tofu Salad

Thai/Farang Salad

• 8 dragon shrimp (fresh water shrimp, 2-3 to the pound)
• 1 pound of shrimp (16-20 to the pound)
• 1 pound of ham
• ¼ pound of bologna, sliced
• ¼ pound of sliced roast pork
• ¼ pound of shaved beef
• ¼ pound cooked chicken, sliced
• cup nam pla (fish sauce)
• cup nam manao (lime juice)
• cup ton hom (green/spring onions)
• cup hom daeng (shallots/purple onions), thinly sliced
• ½ cup prik ki nu (bird's-eye chillies, mixed red and green), sliced
• 12 tablespoons khing (ginger), minced
• 12 tablespoons bai chi (coriander/cilantro including the roots), chopped
• 6 tablespoons kratiem (garlic), minced
• 4 tablespoons nam si-ew wan (sweet dark soy sauce, or use oyster soy)
• 4 tablespoons sesame oil
• 4 tablespoons chilli oil
• 2 tablespoons khao koor (see method)

Directions

First prepare the khao Koor - place about 5 tablespoons of uncooked longgrain whit rice in a wok over medium heat, and toast gently until light brown.Allow to cool and then grind to a coarse powder in a mortar and pestle, or spicegrinder.

Next cook the shrimp: the jumbo shrimp should be grilled or barbecued untilpink. To avoid burning this is best done with the heads and carapaces still on.Thais eat almost the whole shrimp (including some of the shell), so would servethem like this. You may prepare to remove the head and legs, shell (except thetail), and de-vein them. Set them aside. The smaller shrimp are best dry-toastedin a wok over medium heat, tossing continuously to avoid burning until pink.Again they are best de-headed, shelled and cleaned after cooking.

Slice the cooked meat into half inch strips, and then cut any long piecesinto smaller bite sized pieces. Tease the chicken apart with the tines of afork.

Cut the white bulbs from the spring onion, and then slice the green partsthinly.

Place the chicken, sliced meat, and small shrimp in a large bowl. In amixing bowl combine the remaining ingredients and then pour them over the mixedmeats and shrimp. Toss to thoroughly coat and leave to stand for at least anhour before serving.

Place the tossed ingredients on a large serving platter, surround with acircle of alternating tomato segments and slices of cucumber, and place thejumbo shrimp like the spokes of a wheel, heads innermost then garnish withcoriander/cilantro and mint leaves.

Serve with steamed rice.

serves 12/16

will keep 3/4 days in a refrigerator.

Thai Desserts

Directions:

Wash and rinse the sticky rice well. Add enough water to the rice so until the water is about 1/4" above the rice surface. Cook rice in an automatic rice cooker or in a bowl in a steamer. Do not open the rice until fully cooked (about 20-25 mins).
Heat, on low, 3/4 cup of coconut milk in a small saucepan. Add sugar and 1/2 tbsp salt to the coconut milk and cook until dissolved. Remove from heat and pour into cooked rice. Stir to mix well and set aside to let stand for about 15 mins.
Heat the rest of coconut milk and add salt.
Stir until the salt is dissolved.
This makes the topping sauce.

To serve, place sliced mangoes on a side of a serving disk. Spoon some seasoned sticky rice on the other side. Top the rice with 1 or 2 tsp of coconut sauce and serve.
Makes about 6 servings.

Bananas in Coconut Milk

6 bananas
12fl oz/375ml/ 2 cups coconut milk
2tbs/30 ml granulated sugar
0.5 tsp/2.5ml salt

Peel the vananas and chop into 2in/5cm segments. In a saucepan, heat the coconut milk with the sugar and salt, and cook gently until the sugar dissolved. Add the banana pieces and cook gently for 5 minutes. Divide the mixturee into 6-8 small bowls and serve warm.

Baked Coconut Rice Pudding

Banana Rice Pudding

Another Thai Style Banana

Oranges in Syrup

Boua Loy

The unusual ingredient for Boua Loy is glutinous rice flour. Beside that we will also need some brown (if possible) sugar, or some even healthier sweetener. Also an egg, some coconut milk and a bit of salt.

We will have to make some dough from the rice flour and the trick is to get this dough just right. You start out with some of the flour that you mix with some water in a big bowl (OK, not THAT big - just a bowl.) and mix it well until you have something that resembles a dough.

It will probably be rather sticky to your hands if you touch it. Now start to knead it by adding small amounts of the flour, until the dough transforms into a big blob that you can knead without it sticking to your fingers any longer. Then it's right.

Now form little balls of about half an inch from the dough. This is a nice job while you watch your favorite soap (it you like that stuff, that is). I don't really know how much flour you have to start with (in ounces or grams) but I usually plan the ingredients so that I end up with about two hands full of these little balls.

Now you boil some water and give the little dough balls into it. They will magically float up when they are done. Take them out, drain them, and put them into some boiling coconut milk. Add sugar and a little salt 'till it's just right for your sweet tooth.

I like to add an egg or two. I put them into the still boiling coconut milk whole without stirring so that they are poached.

That's it for this little mouth teaser - the feel of the little balls in your mouth is really unusual and - yes - funny.

Filled Custard
(Kanom Sod Sai)

Ingredients for the filling:
- 2 cups of finely shredded coconut
- 1 cup of palm sugar (naam^taan-pip")
- 1/2 cup of water
Ingredients for the wrapping:
- 2 cup sticky rice flour
- 1 cup of warm water
Ingredients for the topping:
- 1 3/4 cups of coconut milk
- 1/2 cup rice flour
- 2 teaspoons of salt

Procedures:
1. The filling: mix the ingredients and cook them until it looks right.
2. The wrapping: mix the flour with warm water. Use your hands to beat it until it is well blended. Make balls of 1/2 inch diameter before flattening it thin enough to wrap the filling ball.
3: The topping: Mix the ingredients and heat it at medium temperature. Constantly stir it with spatula until it begins to set.
4. Put the wrapped ball in a small paper cake cup and top it with the topping.
5. Steam all these cups for about 10 minutes. Serve when it is a bit cooled off.

Khanom Thuay

Ingredients

2 cups of rice flour
1 cup of sugar
2 cans of coconut milk (16oz each)
1 teaspoon of salt

Procedures

Save two tablespoons of the flour and mix the rest with water, 1/2 can of coconut milk, and some water to make medium-blended mixture. Also mix the rest of the coconut milk (1 1/2 cans) with salt and the two table spoons of rice flour. Pour the first mixture in small cups (about 1 inch diameter). Make sure to leave about 1/4 of the cup for the topping. Steam the cupped mixture for about ten minutes before adding the topping mixture. Continue steaming the cups for another 10 minutes. Take the steamer our of the heat and let it cool down to room temperature.

When serving, use a small and thin spatula to take out the dessert. From the side, there are two layers of the cup-shaped dessert. The "body" should have a dull white color while its topping should be whiter. The "body" tastes sweet as constrasted with the topping , which is salty.

In China or Japan, these kinds of tiny cups are plentiful. In the US however, it is not easy to get them. I used to see them on sale at some Thai grocers. In Thailand, they also use cups which are wide with a shallow depth (shaped like of cocktail cup). Deeper cups may have effect on the combination of the tastes of the "body" and the topping. The preparer needs to adjust accordingly the amount of the two.

Coconut Custard

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