RECIPES
BasiaWith my next post, I'd like to say a few words about Thai cuisine. Sadly, I've never had the chance to go there myself and find out firsthand how this cuisine tastes. All I can do is open a cookbook of Thai recipes and dream that maybe someday…
Here is some information about this delicious cuisine.
Thai cuisine has been influenced by Indonesian, Chinese, Indian, and Malay cuisines. In addition, European merchants had an influence on it too. They brought spices to Thailand, e.g. chili, which is used very often.
This cuisine is considered healthy, fresh, and low in fat, because most dishes are prepared in a wok. Lots of herbs are used, such as basil, lemongrass, and cilantro, as well as ginger and garlic. A very important seasoning is Thai fish sauce, and the main ingredients of the dishes are rice and noodles. The most common drink served with meals is water, along with wine, beer, or Thai whiskey.
chili
In Thai cuisine there are generally no fixed mealtimes. People eat often and a little at a time, in the form of snacks. Food can be bought everywhere and it's generally not very expensive. If you do look for a main meal, it's the evening meal. Various dishes are eaten then, in no particular order, and what matters most is that they go well together. A mild dish is balanced by a spicy one, a boiled one by a fried one, and so on. Soups, salads, and sauces are often served. At the end of the meal, desserts and fruit are served, like durian or papaya.
A meal in Thailand is an occasion for getting together and talking. Food is eaten with a knife and fork, unless it's noodles, for which chopsticks are used. Sometimes, though, fingers are the best way to eat. You should always leave a little food on your plate, because an empty plate is considered impolite in Thailand. The host might think he didn't prepare enough food.
I hope that I was able to introduce you to this delicious cuisine, at least a little, even if only in a very brief overview. Personally, Thai dishes, like Asian dishes in general, are something that really draws me in and that I love. I like this combination of flavors, which are sometimes strange and unusual to me.
From time to time I'll try to share a tasty Asian recipe with you. I'm sure many of you already adore this cuisine. I'm also curious whether you like Asian food, what you like most about it, what bothers you about it…
While preparing this text, I used the book "Asiatisch kochen" published by Lingen.
10 comments
Comments that readers left on my Polish blog flowerek.com between 2010 and 2015, translated from Polish. New comments are closed.
In my opinion it's the weirdest taste in the world… sweet-sour-hot dishes. For example, they make stir-fried noodles like the Chinese do in a sweet sauce, but then they pour something sour over it plus a hot pepper sauce, then sprinkle it with crushed peanuts and almonds. It's a really strange taste at first for a Pole, but you can get used to it and even come to like it. I don't really love it, though. I prefer dishes that are either hot, or sweet, or sour, not everything in one.
Eva, you're right. The flavor combinations are strange to the average Pole and bold for any non-Asian, but in my opinion that's exactly what's so "addictive" about this cuisine. Of course I don't like everything, but overall I like it.
I'm curious what you'll say about my recipe, which I'm making right now.
It's my favorite cuisine. That's exactly what fascinates me about it, that everything is different. So many spices and herbs that we don't know in our part of the world. Hardly anyone knows what lemongrass, Thai basil, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, or shrimp paste taste like on their own, let alone being able to imagine all of them combined.
Not on my blog, but here:
http://fotoforum.gazeta.pl/72,2,777,57280329,57349720,0,2.html?v=2
I posted 70 Thai recipes. A few that I tried aren't preserved in this thread, but that just shows how crazy I am about it.
Tiessa, thanks for the link and the reading material. The recipes sound interesting and tasty :) I fixed the mistake, thanks for "pointing it out" :) Sometimes (sometimes too often) it happens to me :(
Chinese, on the other hand, I love. I often make it at home too, because it's easy and everyone likes it. My favorite is stir-fried noodles with chicken and shrimp. I like the regular flour-and-egg noodles best, but stir-fried rice vermicelli is good too. And here's how it's made.
CHOW MIEN – stir-fried regular (egg/flour) noodles with chicken and shrimp
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noodles 300 g
1 chicken leg
300 g medium-sized shrimp – raw
two eggs
soy sauce (2 tablespoons)
alcohol (either white wine or rice wine) – 2 tablespoons max
two carrots
a quarter of a head of white cabbage
chives or green onion
salt
pepper
Cook the noodles al dente, rinse them, drizzle with a little oil, toss, and set aside to dry.
Take very small pieces of boneless chicken (leg), drizzle with a little oil and soy sauce, add crushed garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and if you like ginger (but literally just a tiny bit, because it can ruin the taste). Let it sit for a while, then stir-fry it in oil.
Make an omelet out of a couple of eggs and cut it into strips.
Fry the peeled shrimp, or rather just sear them, because they have to be raw inside and only pink on the outside (overcooked shrimp are tough and rubbery). If they're too big, you can cut them in half lengthwise. I prefer halves.
Cut the carrot into thin slices and then into strips, kind of like homemade noodles, 5 cm long.
Shred the cabbage very finely into thin strips.
Chives (a type of Asian onion; here in Canada you can get it in Chinatown, but if you can't, you can replace it with green onion, though the dish will lose some flavor) cut into strips (5 cm).
Using a very small amount of oil, first stir-fry a small portion of the chopped carrot, then add some cabbage and pour the alcohol over it – about a spoonful. Keep stir-frying, tossing gently so the noodles fry but don't get overcooked. Add the fried chicken pieces, add the seared shrimp, stirring constantly. Pour soy sauce over it for color. Keep tossing gently. Add pepper and salt. Add the rest of the cabbage and carrot, the chives, and the omelet strips. Toss and take off the heat. The frying is very quick, literally a few minutes. Remember that the noodles can get overcooked if you fry too long or stop tossing – the vegetables should be crunchy, not overcooked either.
With MSG (monosodium glutamate) it's simply divine, but I don't recommend it because it's poison, and it's the reason I learned to cook Chinese food myself, since I don't eat at restaurants that use MSG, and those are mostly Chinese ones. If someone doesn't like shrimp, it's just as delicious with only chicken. Sometimes I also make it with only shrimp.
Eva, I love Chinese too. I make a similar version of your recipe and really like it. This reminds me to make it again. Thanks :) MSG, if I understand correctly, is some kind of thickener, right? When I need one, I use potato flour or cornstarch.
MSG looks like salt… it adds flavor, but that's all it does…
MSG is pure monosodium glutamate, so I skip it.
Oh, Basia, I'd love Chinese food in all its forms, please :)
As the head (and cook) of a family of pasta lovers, I'm asking for something with chicken in a kid-friendly version
and spring rolls. And best of all if you come over to cook it and I'll just cheer you on :)
And.. my child is pestering me about shrimp. So if you have an idea for a shrimp dish, please share. And Eva's Chow Mien is already written down…
Or Fried Rice with Shrimp… simple and delicious.
Rice (preferably round-grain, e.g. Chinese)
Raw shrimp
Egg
green peas – a handful
green onion
For adults I pour rice wine or white wine over it.
Wash the rice until the water is no longer cloudy white. I have a so-called rice cooker, but if you cook it in a pot, the ratio is 2 parts cold water to 1 part rice… it can't be sticky, it should be loose and slightly undercooked, almost. It's best fried when it's completely cold.
Sear the shrimp. Make an omelet and cut it into small pieces. Pour a little oil into a wok or a big frying pan (I usually use the oil from frying the shrimp), then add the rice and keep tossing so the rice doesn't stick to the pan, pour soy sauce over it (and a bit of alcohol in the adult version), and keep tossing lightly the whole time… add the seared shrimp, sprinkle with cooked peas, add the omelet pieces and finely chopped green onion.