Thai dishes for home (part 4)

Thai cuisine is world famous. The dishes have a refined taste, fresh ingredients, they are nutritious and healthy.

Another enjoyable feature of Thai dishes is that they are easy to make yourself. Chris Vercammen, a Belgian expat in Chiang Mai, sent us a number of recipes that you can also prepare at home.

The ingredients are available in Dutch and Belgian supermarkets. This should not be a problem for expats in Thailand. It is also very cheap.

Chili Soup with Kumara

Ingredients:

• 1,5 l chicken broth
• 3 stalks of lemongrass
• 1,5 tsp dried lemongrass (to soak)
• 3 fresh red chillies halved
• 10 slices of fresh ginger
• 5 to 6 coriander plants (wash roots and remove leaves and finely chop)
• a large kumara (sweet potato)
• 1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
• 185 ml coconut milk.

Preparation method:
In a large saucepan, bring the stock with the lemongrass, chillies, ginger and coriander roots to the boil over a medium heat. Add the Kumara, in 2 cm cubes and let it simmer for 15 minutes without a lid.

Remove the lemongrass, ginger and coriander roots. Let the soup cool slightly and then puree in a food processor or blender. Pour the soup back into a clean pan and stir in 125 ml of the coconut milk and the fish sauce. Cook over a medium heat for 4 minutes while stirring and stir 2/3 of the reserved coriander leaves through the soup.

Serve the soup in bowls, garnished with some coconut milk and the rest of the coriander leaves.

Tip:
If no plants with roots are available, use the stems of the coriander.

Tamarind shrimp from the wok

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of tamarind paste
• 125 ml water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 stalks of finely chopped lemongrass
• 2 fresh finely chopped red chillies
• 500 g medium shrimp
• 2 green (unripe) mango peeled and sliced
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of lime juice

Preparation:
Spoon the tamarind paste into a bowl of water and let it sit for about 20 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving the liquid, sieve and set aside. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan over high heat. Add lemongrass and chillies and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the prawns and fry for 2 minutes until they change colour.

Add the mango, coriander, sugar, lime juice and tamarind juice. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes until the prawns are cooked through.

Tip:
Lemongrass can also be replaced with finely chopped lime zest.

Chicken in oyster sauce

Ingredients:

• 2,5 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 500 gr chicken fillet in cubes
• 4 fresh green chillies (cut into 1cm pieces)
• 3 slices of ginger
• 90ml oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon of sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 spring onions (cut diagonally) 2 tablespoons coriander finely chopped

Preparation:
Heat oil in a wok or frying pan over high heat and add the chicken, chillies and ginger and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes until the chicken is golden brown.
Stir in the soy sauce, sugar, garlic and salt and stir-fry for a further 4 minutes. Sprinkle the spring onions and coriander over the dish and serve immediately.

Tip:
You can also use freshly ground chillies from jars and replace soy sauce with Maggi.