Thai Cooking at Home, 2005 - 2006

Susan in FL · January 31, 2005

Horray! Like they say on the larb thread, it's always good to know someone else has lost her larbinity. :biggrin:

snowangel · January 31, 2005

Susan's pic of her pad thai reminds me of another favorite noodle dish -- guay teow (not sure of the phonetics of this one, I've seen it spelled a ton of different ways). Basically, fresh wide rice noodles, greens, meat or seafood with a "gravy." I know (I do recall a recipe for this in Hot Sour Salty Sweet). Gravy, as I recall, is a mix of soy sauces, etc., although I have seen it made with oyster sauce.

My memories of this dish are especially fond. Many years ago, when I was a lass of about 10, our friends Gordon and his wife taught my mother and I to scuba dive. We were members of the TSAC and every Sunday morning, we would leave Bangkok early and drive to Pattaya for a day of diving. Before Gordon and I would get on the boat, we would each down a plate of these noodles made with squid, with lots of nam pla and hot peppers. When I crave comfort food, this is one that comes to mind. Fortunately, I have really easy access to fresh rice noodles. This is a fast one-dish meal.

Behemoth · January 31, 2005

Susan's pic of her pad thai reminds me of another favorite noodle dish -- guay teow (not sure of the phonetics of this one, I've seen it spelled a ton of different ways). Basically, fresh wide rice noodles, greens, meat or seafood with a "gravy." I know (I do recall a recipe for this in Hot Sour Salty Sweet). Gravy, as I recall, is a mix of soy sauces, etc., although I have seen it made with oyster sauce.

I think I know that dish, as I order something similar pretty often at my thai place. (Yes, I go there about least twice a week...) But I am confused about the name.

What DT calls "gwi dtiaw haeng" is done with this dried noodles and no gravy, then there is "gwio tio neua" that is a soup. Those are the only noodle dishes with similar-sounding names. Then he has one in gravy that sounds like what you describe which is "raat nar muu". I've been wanting to try that one because the picture looks amazing, but one of the ingredients is yellow bean paste which I can't seem to find.

ScorchedPalate · January 31, 2005

I could be way off base, but I thought that "Gkuay Dtiow" and its variants just meant "noodles".

E.g.,

- Beef Noodle Soup (Gkuay Dtiow Neau Nahm: Noodles/beef/water)

- Stir-Fried Noodles with Soy (Gkuay Dtiow Pad Seeyew: Noodles/stirfried/soy)

Can anyone verify or clarify?

~A

snowangel · January 31, 2005

I was speaking more of Guay Teow Rad (Rat?) Na Nua (beef), gai (chicken) or whatever. Yes, you are correct, guay teow as I recall refers more to the noodle than the style in which is prepared, but I could be incorrect, or my terminology could be very much "street" Thai.

snowangel · January 31, 2005

Further note: nam means with water (or brorth) and hang means dry.

As an example. I hearken back to those nights when my parents would be out for dinner. Sister and I would listen for the bell of the noodle cart. She always wanted Bahn Mi nam (with broth) and I wanted mine Bahn Mi heng (dry). The heng was cooked in broth, but the bowl of noodles and assorted odd meat parts and veg was not served with a scoop of broth.

jrt · February 1, 2005

I will probably get voted off this thread for this non-authentic "rice" but I served it as an appetizer and just did not want rice. It was still yummy served on a bed of mixed greens! It is the Spicy Chicken and Thai Basil dish (using shrimp as suggested) from Kasma's website.
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After seeing your picture, I had to make this dish myself. It was my first time on Kasma's site, and I came across her method for steaming Jasmine rice, so I decided to go down the entree route and try her method out (I've never liked my simple method much, and I've never met a rice cooker I really liked).

The result was fabulous. I can't believe how incredibly well the rice turned out -- I will never, ever cook rice another way unless I have a seriously good reason to believe it will compare. I was shocked; it tasted like rice at some of the best meals in my memory.

The shrimp were great, too, but a ricepiphany is (for me at least) a wonderful thing. All that basil was delicious, and the whole dish paired wonderfully with an albarino.

Thanks so much for the link, ScorchedPalate. I've been cooking Thai food routinely for a long time, but tonight it really clicked.

patti · February 1, 2005

Horray! Like they say on the larb thread, it's always good to know someone else has lost her larbinity.
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I don't know, since my pic doesn't look like the others I've seen, maybe I've still got my larbginity and this was only 'oral'. :laugh:

bilrus · February 1, 2005

I will probably get voted off this thread for this non-authentic "rice" but I served it as an appetizer and just did not want rice. It was still yummy served on a bed of mixed greens! It is the Spicy Chicken and Thai Basil dish (using shrimp as suggested) from Kasma's website.
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After seeing your picture, I had to make this dish myself.
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This is one of my favorite Thai dishes in general. I use the recipe from Hot Sour Salty Sweet. I prefer my own version to those in most Thai restaurants because I can control the spice and especially the sweetness. I made this with chicken a week or two ago and posted it elsewhere and your pics have made me want to post the pic again so i can jump into the Thai fun:

snowangel · February 1, 2005

About a week ago, a friend and I got together at my house to make larb (larb-making lesson for her). She had purchased lime leaves from the local market. But, we used the leaves off my tree. What was interesting is that mine were much more pungent, and had a much more oily quality. (This should probably be on the kaffir lime tree thread, which I am too lazy to search for right now) Wonder why?

Further, we also had a curry making lesson. Late last summer, when the frost was threatening, I looked at my Thai and holy basil plants in the garden, it was beautiful and seemed like such a waste to let the frost take it, even though I have easy access to both at our local Asian markets.. Once cut, it seems to have no "shelf" life, nor does it dry well at all. So, I shoved it into the food processor, minced ithem (separately), added some oil (it wasn't olive; perhaps just plain veg oil?), rolled it into a log and froze it. Bingo! Retained the quality that I was looking for. Kind of wish I hadn't minced it, but just bathed whole leaves in oil before freezing.

little ms foodie · February 1, 2005

jrt, are those Palace Kitchen coasters I see???

Too funny as tonight Dayne made Wok seared Albacore with coconut curry from Tom's Seattle Kitchen book. I know this isn't traditional Thai but damn it was good!

Edited February 1, 2005 by little ms foodie (log)

little ms foodie · February 1, 2005

Horray! Like they say on the larb thread, it's always good to know someone else has lost her larbinity.
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I don't know, since my pic doesn't look like the others I've seen, maybe I've still got my larbginity and this was only 'oral'.
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:shock: :blush: :biggrin:

jrt · February 2, 2005

jrt, are those Palace Kitchen coasters I see???
Too funny as tonight Dayne made Wok seared Albacore with coconut curry from Tom's Seattle Kitchen book. I know this isn't traditional Thai but damn it was good!
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Palace? Naturally. :smile:

That curry looks great.

Susan in FL · February 2, 2005

Beautiful photos, you guys!

I don't know, since my pic doesn't look like the others I've seen, maybe I've still got my larbginity and this was only 'oral'.
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Sounds like a Clinton defense to me. :hmmm: :raz: :biggrin:

I'm guessing from the pictures of chicken larb that I've seen that either dark meat is usually used, or raw chicken is the starting point, rather than cooked, because mine doesn't look exactly like other pictures.
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To set joking aside and get back to that... I believe you're right that your picture looks different than most others because you started with cooked white meat, and it often starts with raw whatever and/or a darker meat. But no doubt, it's delicious anyway!

...Kasma's site, and I came across her method for steaming Jasmine rice, so I decided to go down the entree route and try her method out (I've never liked my simple method much, and I've never met a rice cooker I really liked).
The result was fabulous. I can't believe how incredibly well the rice turned out -- I will never, ever cook rice another way unless I have a seriously good reason to believe it will compare. I was shocked; it tasted like rice at some of the best meals in my memory.
The shrimp were great, too, but a ricepiphany is (for me at least) a wonderful thing. All that basil was delicious, and the whole dish paired wonderfully with an albarino.
Thanks so much for the link, ScorchedPalate. I've been cooking Thai food routinely for a long time, but tonight it really clicked.
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I read that and was interested in trying her method for Jasmine rice. I have been using the Hot Sour Salty Sweet method. I think I was especially thick-headed when I was reading it. Do I understand correctly that a bowl sits in the steaming section of a steamer and in that bowl is the rice AND hot water? With her emphasis on not boiling the rice, it threw me that the rice would be cooking in water.

Snowangel, I really enjoy your contribution to this thread, including your stories. I hope you continue to share your experiences and knowledge.

Susan in FL · February 2, 2005

Our Postponed Thai Quail Dinner

The two table sauces besides fish sauce were Chile-Vinegar Sauce, left over from the night before, and the second batch of Vietnamese Must-Have Table Sauce that I've made since this kick for Thai began. I just love the Must-Have Sauce! In case anybody is interested and doesn't have the book:

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/4 cup Vietnamese or Thai fish sauce

1/4 cup water

2 teaspoons rice or cider vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1 small clove garlic, minced

1 bird chile, minced

Several shreds of carrot (optional)

The marinade flavored the quail nicely. Even though they marinated 24 hours longer than planned, they still had the quail flavor that we like so much.

patti · February 2, 2005

I really love the appetizing pictures y'all are posting. Susan, that quail looks divine!

Yesterday I paid a visit to my local Asian market and was very pleased by the outcome. I asked the shopkeeper a few questions about making larb, specifically which kind of rice she used for toasting, and she got a zip lock bag and made a trip to the back of the store to give me a sample of her sticky rice of choice. It was so sweet of her. Also, she was friendlier and more helpful than she's ever been. I usually feel like she just wants to get me out of the store with my purchases, but not this time. She made my day, as did another customer, who joined in the larb making discussion. On the downside, I asked if they had Tiparos fish sauce (per snowangel's recommendation in another thread, I think) and she pointed it out to me. I'd have never known it was Tiparos because all of the writing (I thought) was in Thai. Once I got home and examined the bottle more carefully, I did find an English ingredient list: Anchovies, brine, sugar. :angry: I guess Tiparos makes more than one variety of fish sauce, because I know snowangel specified NO SUGAR. Phooey.

Susan in FL · February 2, 2005

The Tra Chang Brand recommended by many, including Kasma Loha-unchit, has 1% sugar in it, or at least my bottle does. Sugar is in my bottle of Lobster Brand, too. I really like both of them. So if it tastes good to you, I would say go with it!

I just love it when I have an experience like you described in a specialty food store. Similarly, when Russ went into one of our Thai markets and she was out of Kaffir lime leaves, she picked some of her own tree and gave them to him! After something like that, we make it a point to go back and do business with them again.

snowangel · February 2, 2005

I'd have never known it was Tiparos because all of the writing (I thought) was in Thai. Once I got home and examined the bottle more carefully, I did find an English ingredient list: Anchovies, brine, sugar. I guess Tiparos makes more than one variety of fish sauce, because I know snowangel specified NO SUGAR. Phooey.
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The plot thickens. I was at the asian market about 3 weeks ago, and was almost out of fish sauce, so picked up another bottle.

The interesting thing is that my market carries two kinds of Tiparos. One that has a label with Tiparos in english, and one with a label all in Thai (with a little photocopied piece of paper stuck to it with the nutrition/ingredients, but no other English). The stuff in the bottle with the all-Thai label

So, I have just done a side-by-side taste testing. While it is hard to do an exact tasting, as the older bottle was darker in color (that's what happens after they are opened) and had salt at the bottom. they tasted exactly the same (and I did rinse my mouth out between tastings, although the older bottle (the one with English on the label) did taste a bit stronger, which would make sense since it has been opened longer.

So, in conclusion, I'm puzzled as to whether the labels are correct, or if they do have two different formulations.

This is an interesting piece on fish sauce.

Time for me to get off my braising kick and get on to a Thai food kick.

ScorchedPalate · February 3, 2005

This is an interesting piece on fish sauce.

Not to keep being Kasma's PR agent, but she has 3 really interesting fish sauce articles on her site. I think I also recall her saying in class that Tiparos isn't really a good brand for Thai cooking, as its flavor profile is more filipino than thai. [Edited to say: Yes, I know this makes no sense, as Tiparos is a Thai brand...] I have never tried it myself, so obviously I defer to those who have. :smile:

~Anita

Edited February 3, 2005 by ScorchedPalate (log)

bilrus · February 5, 2005

I posted this on the Dinner thread but thought I'd add it here too. I know it's not completely authentic Thai, but it is defintely in the family.

Tonight I made a recipe that I never really liked but my wife did. It is recipe from Cooking Light - Glass-Noodle Salad with Chicken and Shrimp. In thinking back about the recipe I had the same complaint that I had with so many Americanized Thai type recipes. Too sweet!!! Even from Cooking Light the recipe had 1/2 cup white sugar and 3 tbs brown sugar. I dropped it down to 3 tbs white and 2 tbs brown and added an extra chopped serrano and some red pepper flakes - it made a world of difference.

And to touch on the previous discussion - I also took a look at my bottle of Tiparos. It looks like this:

Ingredients - Anchovies, Salt and Water.

patti · February 5, 2005

I made larb again, but this time with pork. I think my picture taking skills need work, because this larb was much tastier than the picture looks. I might've used a few too many Thai chiles, but yum, it hurts so good.

Both of my local Thai restaurants serve larb with cabbage wedges instead of lettuce, so that is also how I served it (wedges not pictured). The toasted sticky rice I made this time, was MUCH tastier than the regular medium grain white rice I used last time. Or, maybe I toasted it better. Don't know, but will be sure to use sticky rice from now on.

Would it be wrong to crosspost this on the larb thread, or at least the picture? I was afraid to post my chicken larb picture there last time because it looked so pink and not right.

About the fish sauce. I've now used both Golden Boy (aka Baby) fish sauce and Tiparos and I have no complaints about either. It's all good.

Bilrus, that Glass Noodle Salad with Chicken and Shrimp looks scary good.

snowangel · February 5, 2005

Would it be wrong to crosspost this on the larb thread, or at least the picture? I was afraid to post my chicken larb picture there last time because it looked so pink and not right.
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Do post it on the larb thread. Time to bump that one up again.

snowangel · February 6, 2005

We had pad thai tonight, with chicken (I'd have preferred shrimp, but Heidi is allergic to them). I used the recipe in Hot Sour Salty Sweet.

My knowledge of this dish is that sometimes it is prepared with tamarind juice, and sometimes rice wine takes its place. My memory, confirmed with my friend Gordon, is that soy sauce is not particularlly common in this dish in Thailand. He also confirmed that sometimes tamarind, sometimes rice wine (usually in equal proportions with fish sauce).

Further, my recollection is that I prefer the version with rice wine.

So, sometime in the next couple of weeks, I will prepare this dish again, using the rice wine version.

Just goes to show another meaning for the word "authentic." But, all versions have rice noodles. Tofu, bean sprouts, eggs, and the garnishes/accompaniments seem to be pretty universal.

Daniel · February 9, 2005

Cooking thai food for someone who only eats seafood.. I have the shrimp tom yum.. Making a fried bass. Anyone have any other things to make.. Would scallops satay be good.

peanutgirl · February 11, 2005

Daniel... everything I've seen you post always looks great! You post some very creative / interesting combos. Why not experiment with the scallop satay and let us know if it worked out?

As another suggestion for the scallops though... hubby & went out recently to our local Thai place and I had scallop pad Thai. Humungous scallops, seared and plentiful atop the noodles. I had to bring some home :smile: . It was delicious.

Sorry if this is too late for your dinner.

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