An (Office Lunch) Affair to Remember

Cooking for my workmates is not an entirely new undertaking for me. As a member of the (now defunct) office "lunch club" I cooked regularly for at least three of them.

So, when asked to make lunch for the office I agreed without much hesitation. Late last week invitations were sent out to our entire floor for a Thai Green Curry lunch to be prepared by me. I was hoping a dozen or so would say yes of which 90% would actually turn up. Little did I know...? What have I gotten myself into? Lunch for 30+ of my colleagues? I must be out of my mind!

It both excited and terrified me to take on this challenge. I didn't sleep well the night before thinking about...no, make that worrying about it. My quiet confidence earlier on was slowly transforming into terror as the time drew near. But I'm not one to back down on a (cooking) challenge.

It was an office lunch affair to remember indeed (for me anyway, and for the right reasons).

Everyone seemed pleased as they tucked into their lunch boxes of curry and rice. My apologies to those who had to hang around waiting for the rice to cook - we'll plan better next time.

Thanks largely to

Vicki

Julie

and

Tramy

who made sure yesterday's event (almost) went without a hitch. It certainly was no mean feat for us to have pulled it off. Thanks also to my good friends Patrick and Pilar for lending me their wok.

Next up, an Italian feast to be hosted by Giulio! Watch this space!

Thai Green Curry Chicken

A bit of oil

2 chicken breast sliced

2 tablespoons green curry paste (reduce to just one if you want it milder)

3-4 Kaffir lime leaves cut into very fine strips

1 can coconut milk (use coconut cream if you want a richer sauce)

Red capsicum sliced finely

1 zucchini cut in large wedges

Basil leaves (as much as you like)

Fish sauce to taste

Palm sugar to taste

1. Heat up a bit of oil in a pan.

2. Stir fry the green curry paste for about a minute.

3. Add the Kaffir lime leaves.

4. Add the chicken and stir fry until all the pieces turn white.

5. Add the coconut milk and simmer until the chicken is done.

6. Season with fish sauce and palm sugar.

7. Add the zucchini and the capsicum and cook until done to your liking.

8. Add the basil leaves and take off the heat.

9. Serve with steaming hot jasmine rice.

Thai Beef Salad (Yam Neua)

It is probably pretty obvious by now how fond I am of Thai cuisine. If you're not convinced yet here's another family favourite that you'll hopefully like as well.

Warm Thai Beef Salad was one of the dishes that got me hooked to Thai cuisine. My idea of what salad should be was totally turned upside down after trying Yam Neua. Salad, which I thought was supposed to be a cold and an unexciting, not very filling nor satisfying, side dish, is one of the main attractions in the Thai gastronomy and a great one at that!

Typical of Thai dishes, this salad also requires you to put together ingredients with very strong flavours of their own but when combined together contributes a nuance to the final taste that it can be pretty difficult to use substitutes.

Coriander root, for example, is a pretty unconventional ingredient that I think has no other alternative (apart from other parts of the coriander plant). Mint is another. Lemon is just not good enough as a stand-in for lemongrass.

Although a food processor can do a decent job in making the dressing I still suggest you acquire a proper mortar and pestle (if you haven’t got one yet) to do this dish. It is a worthwhile investment as you can use it to make all sorts of pastes to add to your cooking repertoire.

You do not have to stick to the selection of salad vegetables I’ve listed in my recipe. Feel free to add or take off ingredients to suit your taste. Also, the levels of sweetness, spiciness, sourness and saltiness can be adjusted to your liking by adding more or less of the dressing ingredients. The dressing can also be used as a marinade for other meats like lamb, pork, chicken or even fish.



Thai Beef Salad

A couple of steak pieces of your choice

Dressing
3-4 pieces coriander root
1 lemongrass - white part only chopped finely
6-8 mint leaves
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 birds eye chilies
Juice of 2 limes
2-3 tablespoons of palm sugar or white sugar
2-3 tablespoons fish sauce

Salad
Iceberg lettuce
Bean sprouts
Cucumber
Spanish onion
Snow peas
Coriander leaves
Mint leaves

1. Combine all the dry dressing ingredients in a mortar and pestle and pound until it turns to paste.
2. Add the remaining ingredients. Adjust the saltiness, sweetness, sourness and spiciness according to your taste.
3. Using some of the dressing marinate your steak for at least half an hour. Set aside the rest of the dressing.
3. In a large bowl combine all your salad ingredients.
4. Barbequing the meat adds more flavour to the final dish but pan frying can work just as well. Heat up a pan on very high heat. Rub the meat with a bit of oil before frying. You decide then how done you want your meat to be. Let your steak rest for a few minutes before slicing.
5. Place the sliced meat on top of your salad. Pour the remaining dressing over the salad. Enjoy on its own or serve with other barbequed meats.

Som Tam/Som Tum (Thai Green Papaya Salad)

EatingAsia has inspired me to purge my collection of cookbooks/food magazines. You see, my idea of bedtime reading is either a cookbook or a food magazine. Over the years I have accumulated quite a collection as a consequence.

During this purging I stumbled upon a Thai cookery book (Lemongrass & Sweet Basil by Khamtane Signavong) that I bought about a year ago but never read/used. In it was a recipe for Som Tam/Som Tum (Thai Green Papaya Salad) that I’ve been meaning to try to prepare at home.



I was never fond of ripe papaya. I find its green papaya more appealing and full of potential. There's the traditional Filipino green papaya pickle called achara. It is also the preferred ingredient for tinola rather than sayote. And no adobo sa gata (San Pablo, Laguna version using duck or water buffalo meat) would be complete without this versatile ingredient.


Anyway, before I get sidetracked, the focus of this post is Som Tam/Som Tum which I made for the first time a few nights ago. Green papaya is quite difficult to source Down under but thankfully my parents have couple of trees bursting with fruit in their tiny garden. The other ingredients needed for this dish are readily available in the typical Pinoy pantry.

This salad is good as an entree or as a side dish. For dinner that night we had it with lechon kawali (roast pork).

Som Tam/Som Tum - Green Papaya Salad (Lemongrass & Sweet basil – Khamtane Signavong)

3 cloves garlic
3 bird’s eye chillies
30g roasted peanuts
30g dried shrimps
8 cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons palm sugar
4 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice
250g sliced green papaya
4 snake beans

1. Using a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic, chillies, peanuts and dried shrimps to a fine paste.
2. Mix the paste with the cherry tomatoes, fish sauce, palm sugar and lime juice.
3. Mix well then add the green beans and papaya. Stir to mix without breaking up the papaya.

4. Serve with some grilled or barbequed meat or fish.

At home – Thai Green Curry Fish

Thai curries have become a staple in my household as much as any other Filipino meal not only because of its rich and complex flavours but more so due to its uncomplicatedness in preparation and cooking.

Nothing beats fresh, of course, but when it comes to Thai curries store bought pastes actually do a decent job in creating a pretty authentic meal. What matters more is the freshness of the other ingredients rather than the curry paste.

The recipe below uses fish but you can substitute any meat of your choice. You just have to adjust the cooking time as fish cooks much quicker than meat.

The secret in making this dish is getting the freshest fish you can find. I have been disappointed so many times when buying seafood from the major supermarket chains. I suggest you go to a fishmonger you can trust. Ask them what’s the freshest of the day. Any white fleshed fish would do (snapper, cod, sweet lip, etc.)


Thai Green Curry Fish

A bit of oil
2 tablespoons green curry paste (Mae Ploy tastes best – reduce the amount if you want it less spicy)
3-4 Kaffir lime leaves (you can julienne these if you want but I prefer them whole)
1 can coconut milk (use coconut cream if you want a richer sauce)
Red capsicum
1 Zucchini cut in large wedges
2 fillets of white fleshed fish cut into large chunks
Basil leaves (as much as you like)
Fish sauce to taste
Palm sugar to taste

1. Heat a bit of oil in a pan.
2. Stir fry the green curry paste for about a minute or two until it becomes really fragrant.
3. Add the Kaffir lime leaves and stir fry for another minute.
4. Add the coconut milk and cook until it starts to break (meaning oil separating from the coconut milk).
5. Add the fish sauce and the palm sugar.
6. Lower the heat then add the fish pieces. Cover the pan and simmer for about 5 minutes.
7. Add the zucchini and the capsicum and cook until done to your liking.
8. Add the basil and cook for another minute.
9. Serve with steaming hot jasmine rice.

Lunch Club - Thai Red Curry Pork

Thai curries would have to be the easiest curries to make in the world (just as long as you’re happy to use pre-packed curry pastes). It fits perfectly with Lunch Club in that it does not require a lot of preparation and long cooking time.

Usually, the curry paste packet (or bottle) has got a recipe printed on it already. For my first attempt I did follow what the packet says. I then adjusted the recipe to my taste later on.

Here’s how I do my version of this curry:

Kidpawan’s Thai Red Curry Pork

Ingredients

500-750grams of lean pork sliced thinly for quick cooking

2 tablespoons of Thai red curry paste (get the Mae Ploy brand if you can find it)

A bit of oil

3-4 Kaffir lime leaves julienned

Red capsicum (as much as you like)

1 bunch snake beans (string beans can be substituted)

Basil

A bit of palm sugar

Fish sauce to taste

Stock

Procedure

1. Heat up the wok. Add a bit of oil. Stir fry the pork pieces until they change colour. Preferably you do this in batches (depending on the size of your wok) so the meat are fried properly rather than steamed. Set this aside.
2. Add a bit more oil to the wok. Stir fry the curry paste for about a minute or two.
3. Add the pork back into the wok and stir fry for another minute.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir fry. The curry is done when the beans are cooked to your liking.
5. Serve with jasmine rice.

Baan Thai, Darwin

I’m not really a big fan of hotel dining. I believe you miss out a lot on experiencing the place you’re visiting if all you eat is hotel food. So, whenever I get the opportunity I would venture out of the hotel in search of some local specialties.

Thai is a very popular cuisine around Australia and Darwin is no exception. You’re actually bound to find good Asian food in Darwin due to it’s large Asian population.

I always make it a point to visit Baan Thai every time I’m in Darwin. And I tend to have the same set of dishes every time.

Fish Cakes

Papaya Salad

Seafood with Basil

The photo below does not give justice to how the food tasted. All 3 tasted delicious! Each had a nice balance of sweet, salty, sour and spiciness. Extra points to the Papaya Salad which tasted really fresh!

8 out of 10! It’ll probably be close to 10 if I ate at the restaurant!