How to Crack a Coconut

Some people try to get into a coconut by banging on it with a hammer. Others suggest poking holes in the eyes to drain the liquid before hammering. This sounds like a good idea, but if you have tried it before, you may have discovered it isn't quite so easy. The eyes are small and the surrounding shell quite thick and hard. After much effort to jab them with a sharp object or puncture them with a nail, you may end up with a slow trickle, taking a lot longer to drain all the liquid out than you may have patience for.

Quick version:
1.Hold coconut over a bowl in one hand such that the "midriff" rests in the middle of your palm, with the tip on one end and the eyes on the other.
2.Whack the coconut with the back (that is to say the blunt side) of the cleaver a few times all around the center until it cracks open cleanly into two nearly equal halves. Make sure you use the blunt side of the cleaver.
3.Catch the juice in the bowl as it drains from the cracks.

by www.thaifoodandtravel.com

Noodle Jelly Salad [Yum-Wun-Saen]

Ingredients :

1. Noodle jelly 130 grams
2. Shrimp peeled, deveined 200 grams
3. Pork chopped, well cooked 80 grams
4. Jelly Mushroom 1/2 cup
5. Peanut roasted 1/2 cup
6. Lettuce (for decorative) 1 piece
7. Bird chit beaten slightly 20 pieces
8. Fresh green onion leaves, cilantro, and cellery mixed 1 piece each

Salad juice recipes :

1. Fish sauce 3 tablespoons
2. White sugar 2 teaspoons
3. Lemon juice 3 teaspoons

Preparation:

1. Soak noodle jelly until soft and drained, scald in boiling water until soft, remove into cold water, set for a while, and drained.
2 Heat water until boiling, scald shrimp and mushroom until cooked, set aside.
3. Mix all salad juice until well combined.
4. Mix noodle jelly, shrimp, mushroom, salad juice until welll combined. Sprinkle with peanut, green onion leave, cilantro. Serve with fresh vegetables.

Spicy Ground Beef (Larb)

Ingredients:
2 lbs lean ground beef or pork or chicken or turkey
1 1/2 cups water
4 tbs fish sauce
½ cup fresh squeezed lime juice or 2 limes
3 tsp ground roasted rice
1 tsp ground roasted dried chili peppers{more or less)
¼ red onion ( Sliced)
4 green onion ( sliced)
1 small bunch cilantro (sliced)
½ cup spearmint leaves
Serve with fresh raw string beans and red or white wedges cabbage
Preparation:

Roast 1 cup of uncooked rice over medium heat until lightly brown. Stir constantly to avoid burning.
Roast 1 cup of chili peppers over medium heat. Stir constantly till lightly burnt and dark color
Use a food processor and grind the rice till it has the consistency of fine sand
Grind the chili peppers
Heat about 1 1/2 cups of water and bring it to a boil.
Add ground meat
Cook the meat until it's cooked through.
Turn the heat off.
Add ground rice and chili peppers
Add fish sauce, lime juice
Mix ingredients into the meat
Add diced red onions and diced green onion (both white and green part),
Add diced cilantro and some fresh spearmint.
Add Laotian parsley (optional)
Mix into the meat mixture
Serve with raw cabbage slices

Thai Basil Chicken Fried Rice (Khao Pad Kra Prao Gai)

Ingredients:
4 cups "already cooked" jasmine rice or long grain rice (let the rice cool before using it in the fried rice recipe)
6 big cloves garlic (crushed)
2 to 4 Thai red and green chili peppers or 1 to 2 Serrano peppers (crushed)
¼ cup cooking oil
1 to 1 ½ lbs chicken meat (cut into bite sizes)
3 tbs oyster sauce
2 tbs fish sauce
1 tsp sugar

1 medium size red bell pepper (julienne)
2 cups fresh sweet basil leaves
1 cucumber ( cut into bite sizes)
½ cup cilantro sprigs for garnish

Preparation:
First, heat the oil in a deep pan or wok over high heat.
Wait till the oil starts to smoke.
Add crushed garlic and crushed chili peppers
Stir quickly (don’t let them burn)
Then immediately add sliced chicken meat
Stir
Add oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar
Stir until the chicken is cooked through
Add already cooked rice
Stir quickly until sauces are blended with rice (a couple of minutes)
Stir in red bell peppers and keep stirring for few seconds then add basil leaves,
Turn the heat off.
Garnish with sliced cucumbers and cilantro sprigs.
Serve Immediately

Thai Basil Chicken Fried Rice (Khao Pad Kra Prao Gai)

Ingredients:
4 cups "already cooked" jasmine rice or long grain rice (let the rice cool before using it in the fried rice recipe)
6 big cloves garlic (crushed)
2 to 4 Thai red and green chili peppers or 1 to 2 Serrano peppers (crushed)
¼ cup cooking oil
1 to 1 ½ lbs chicken meat (cut into bite sizes)
3 tbs oyster sauce
2 tbs fish sauce
1 tsp sugar

1 medium size red bell pepper (julienne)
2 cups fresh sweet basil leaves
1 cucumber ( cut into bite sizes)
½ cup cilantro sprigs for garnish

Preparation:
First, heat the oil in a deep pan or wok over high heat.
Wait till the oil starts to smoke.
Add crushed garlic and crushed chili peppers
Stir quickly (don’t let them burn)
Then immediately add sliced chicken meat
Stir
Add oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar
Stir until the chicken is cooked through
Add already cooked rice
Stir quickly until sauces are blended with rice (a couple of minutes)
Stir in red bell peppers and keep stirring for few seconds then add basil leaves,
Turn the heat off.
Garnish with sliced cucumbers and cilantro sprigs.
Serve Immediately

A Red Shrimp Panang Curry Cooking Demonstration

A Red Shrimp Panang Curry Cooking Demonstration - For more funny videos, click here

Thai Massaman Curry Cooking Demo

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Penang (Panang) Curry (Panang Mara Yud Sai)

Prepare:

2 Bitter Gourds (Momordica)
9 pepper
1 tsp. minced coriander root
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 cup minced chicken or pork
2 tbsp. fish sauce
1 cup coconut cream
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp. Panang Paste
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves
1 tbsp. sliced red chili pepper

Cooking Instructions:

1. Clean the bitter gourd very well. Cut in half. Remove the inside part and rest them in the plate. Soak it in salt water if you want it not to be too bitter.

2. Ground the pepper, coriander root and garlic together. Add fish sauce and mix well with minced pork or chicken as you prefer.

3. Tuck the pork inside bitter guards and steam on boiling water for 10 minutes.

4. After that, pour coconut cream into the pot and put on medium heat. When it’s boiling and has aromatic smell, add Panang paste.

5. Add steamed bitter guard, mix well. Add coconut milk. Wait until it’s boiling again then add kaffir lime leave, fish sauce, and sugar. Make it taste the way you like.

6. Dress with sliced red chili pepper and kaffir lime leaves
Panang (Penang) curry is a very popular dish here in the South of Thailand where we are now. The Muslim community really loves curry and there are curries of all sorts here. Cheap! Sorry, not many videos or photos lately since we’re eating out so much… More to come, we just need to get a kitchen first!

Thai Shrimp Curry Recipe

Ingredients:
•SERVES 4 as an entree
•12-14 medium to large fresh shrimp - remove the shells, but leave the tails on
•1 14 fl. oz can pineapple chunks (or 1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh pineapple chunks)
•1 1/2 to 2 cups cherry tomatoes
•1/3 cup dry toasted coconut (see toasting instructions below)
•handful of fresh coriander (to garnish)
•CURRY SAUCE:
•1 can good-quality coconut milk (regular or lite)
•1 stalk lemongrass, finely sliced and minced - see instructions below (OR 2-3 Tbsp. frozen prepared lemongrass)
•1-2 fresh red chilies, minced (OR 1-3 tsp. Thai chili sauce, depending on how spicy you want it)
•1/4 cup cooking onion, minced
•3-4 cloves garlic, minced OR 1/2 Tbsp. bottled pureed garlic
•1 thumb-size piece galangal or ginger, grated or minced
•1/2 tsp. shrimp paste (available by the bottle at Asian/Chinese food stores), OR substitute 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
•3/4 tsp. turmeric
•1/2 tsp. ground coriander
•3 kaffir lime leaves (frozen or fresh)
•1-2 Tbsp. brown sugar (to taste)
•1 Tbsp. ketchup OR tomato paste (if using tomato paste, sweeten it with 1 more tsp. sugar)
•2 Tbsp. fish sauce + more to taste (available in tall bottles at Asian/Chinese food stores)
•squeeze of lime juice
Preparation:
1.Place all curry sauce ingredients - except the lime leaves - together in a food processor, blender, or large chopper and process well. OR, simply whisk the ingredients together, stirring well to combine.
2.Pour sauce into a wok or deep pot on the stove. Add the kaffir lime leaves, and turn heat up to medium-high.
3.Stir occasionally. When the sauce reaches a boil, turn down the heat to medium. Add the pineapple chunks, cherry tomatoes, and shrimp, stirring to incorporate. Simmer for 6-8 minutes, or until the shrimp turn pink and look plump.
4.Remove from heat and cover with a lid to keep warm while you toast the coconut.
5.Place dry shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened, as desired) in a dry frying pan.
Turn the heat up to medium-high. Now "dry fry" the coconut, stirring the coconut continually until it turns golden-brown and is fragrant. Pour it into a small dish. Tip: Coconut will burn easily, so be sure to stay with it while it toasts. Also, remove the coconut immediately from the pan when toasted, or the heat from the pan will continue to cook it.
6.Pour 1/2 the toasted coconut into the curry, stirring to incorporate.
7.Do a taste test for salt and sweetness, adding more fish sauce if not salty enough, and more sugar if you'd like it sweeter. Also, you can add more fresh chili or chili sauce if you'd like it spicier.
8.To serve, pour curry into a serving bowl. Sprinkle the rest of the toasted coconut on top, plus a little fresh coriander. Serve with plenty of Thai jasmine-scented rice, and ENJOY!

Thai Jungle Curry

Ingredients:
•SERVES 2-3
•1/2 chicken, chopped into pieces, OR 4-6 chicken pieces, thighs, breast, or drumsticks
•generous handfuls of fresh coriander and basil for topping
•optional vegetables: 1 cup eggplant, chopped into bite-size pieces, and 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
•JUNGLE CURRY SAUCE:
•1/2 onion
•1/4 cup sliced galangal (thaw first if purchased frozen), or substitute 2 thumb-size pieces of ginger
•1 Tbsp. green peppercorns (these come packed in a jar with vinegar - available at most Asian/Chinese food stores))
•2 Tbsp. fresh or frozen lemongrass, sliced finely
•6 cloves garlic
•6 kaffir lime leaves, snipped into slivers with scissors and discarding any inedible stems (also available frozen)
•1 Tbsp. chili powder
•1-2 fresh red chilies, OR 1 tsp. cayenne pepper powder (adjust according to how hot you want it)
•juice of 1/2 lime
•1 tsp. shrimp paste (available in jars at Asian food stores)
•3 Tbsp. fish sauce (available in tall bottles at Asian food stores)
•1 can coconut milk
•optional: 1 tsp. palm or brown sugar
Preparation:
1.While this curry is traditionally made in a wok (by simmering the meat in the sauce), I find it's easier in the oven where it won't burn or dry out. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2.Place all curry sauce ingredients in a food processor. Process well to form a sauce. If using a smaller chopper:only add a little of the coconut milk - just enough to keep the blades moving. The rest can be added later, along with the chicken.If you don't have a food processor or chopper: finely mince the ingredients and then stir all together in a bowl with the coconut milk to create the curry sauce.
3.Place the chicken in a casserole dish and pour the curry sauce over top. Mix all together. Cover the curry and place in the oven for 1 hour.
If adding vegetables: Remove curry after 45 minutes and add the vegetables, stirring them into the sauce. Return to the oven to bake for 15 more minutes.

4.Check the curry after 1 hour, ensuring the chicken is well cooked. If needed, return the curry to the oven for another 10 minutes or until chicken is well done.
5.Before serving, stir the sauce well and then do a taste-test. If not salty enough, add a little more fish sauce (1/2 Tbsp. at a time) . If not spicy enough, add more chili or chili sauce. If too spicy, add a little more coconut milk or plain yogurt. If too sour for your taste, add a little more sugar.
6.Serve right in the casserole dish, or for more formal occasions, scoop the curry into a serving bowl or onto individual plates. Top with generous amounts of fresh coriander and basil, and thin strips of fresh red chili if desired. Serve with plenty of Thai jasmine-scented rice,

Mango Sticky Rice

Ingredients:
•Serves 2-4
•1 cup Thai Sweet Rice (also called "sticky rice", available at Asian food stores)
•1 3/4 cups water
•1-2 ripe mangos, cut into bite-size pieces (look for mangos that are fragrant and easily bruised), or 1 pkg frozen mango
•1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. brown sugar (for a natural sweetener substitute maple syrup)
•1 can good-quality coconut milk
•1/4 tsp. + pinch of salt
•2 tsp. coconut flavoring
•1 tsp. vanilla
•2 tsp. cornstarch or arrowroot powder dissolved in 2 Tbsp. water
Preparation:
1.Soak the sweet rice in 1 cup water for 20 minutes, or up to 1 hour.
2.The sticky rice can be steamed or made in a pot. To make it in a pot, do not drain. Add 3/4 cup (more) water to the rice, plus 1/4 can coconut milk, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. coconut flavoring, and 1 Tbsp. brown sugar. Stir this into the rice, lifting any rice grains that have stuck to the bottom of the pot.
3.Bring to a gentle boil, then partially cover with a lid (leaving some room for steam to escape). Turn the heat down to medium-low (#2.5 to 3 on the dial).
4.Allow to simmer for 20 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed by the rice. Remove the pot from the heat, place the lid on tight, and leave to "steam" cook for 5-10 minutes.
5.Make sauce and serve the dessert right away, or store the rice (covered) in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.
6.To make the sauce, warm the rest of the can of coconut milk together with 1/4 cup sugar, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp. coconut flavoring (optional) and 1 tsp. vanilla flavoring over medium heat (5 minutes).
7.Add cornstarch (dissolved in the water) to the sauce and stir to thicken it slightly. As it thickens, turn down heat to low. When thickened, remove from heat. Tip: Try not to boil the sauce, or you will lose that wonderful coconut flavor.
8.Before serving, taste-test the sauce for sweetness, adding more sugar if desired. If too sweet for your taste, add a little more coconut milk.
9.There are 2 ways to serve this dessert

Green Curry With Chicken, "Gaeng Khiew Waan Gai"

Ingredients :
150 g. sliced chicken breast
2 tbsp cooking oil (Soya Bean)
1-2 tbsp Thai green curry paste (This is what makes it spicy)
½ cup coconut cream
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup pea eggplant (eggplant cubed into small pieces will do)
5 kaffir leaves stem removed and torn
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
Handful sweet basil leaves
1-2 long red chilies diagonally sliced (red bell pepper will do)

Step :

Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium heat and add Thai green curry paste, stir regularly to prevent the paste from burning.

Add coconut cream, chicken and cook until fragrant.

Bring to a low boil then add eggplant, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, sugar then coconut milk.

Simmer until chicken is cooked then turn remove from stove and transfer into serving bowl.

Garnish with sweet basil leaves.

Thai Green Papaya Salad Recipe ("Som Tam")

Ingredients:
•1 green papaya (tip: buy your papaya at a Chinese grocer, and make sure it is labed "green papaya" )
•1/2 cup honey-roasted peanuts (or plain roasted), or glazed cashews (see recipe link below)
•1-2 cups bean sprouts
•1 to 2 tomatoes, cut into long thin strips
•1 red chili, minced (seeds removed if you prefer a milder salad)
•3 spring onions, sliced into long matchstick-like pieces
•1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped if leaves are large
•handful of fresh coriander
•DRESSING:
•1/2 tsp. shrimp paste (if vegetarian, substitute 1 Tbsp. vegetarian fish sauce, or soy sauce)
•2 Tbsp. good-tasting oil, such as olive
•1 Tbsp. fish sauce (if vegetarian, use vegetarian fish sauce - available at Vietnamese food stores)
•2 Tbsp. lime juice
•1 tsp. honey

Step:
1.First, prepare the dressing by mixing together all dressing ingredients together in a cup. Make sure shrimp paste dissolves fully. Set aside.
2.Peel the green papaya, then slice it in half and remove all the white seeds. Using the largest grater you have, grate the papaya (or you can use a potato peeler to create thin, ribbon-like strips). Place in a large bowl.
3.Add the sliced tomato, spring onion, chili, bean sprouts, and most of the basil. Add the dressing, tossing to combine.
4.Add the peanuts or cashews* (you can either leave them whole, or roughly chop them). Toss again, and do a taste test. If you've used sweet glazed nuts, the salad should be sweet enough (if not, add a little more honey). If not salty enough, add a little more fish sauce.
5.To serve, scoop salad into individual bowls or onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with remaining basil leaves plus fresh coriander.

Pad Thai - ผัดไทย

Ingredients:
8 large garlic cloves - peeled and minced
3 large eggs - lightly beaten
1 large limes - cut into 6 wedges
1/3 c. roasted peanuts - chopped
1 bunch scallions - thinly sliced crosswise
1/3 c. golden brown sugars
1/3 c. peanut oil
1 lb. large shrimp - peeled and deveined
1/4 c. white vinegar
1/2 bunch freshly chopped cilantro leaves
3/4 lb. porks tenderloin - cut into 1-inch-long thin strips
2 c. bean sprouts
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 c. fish sauce
1 1/2 lbs. flat rice noodles


Steps:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and then remove from the heat. Add the noodles to the pot and let soak for 12 to 15 minutes until the noodles are soft.

2. Thoroughly mix together the vinegar, sugar, fish sauce and ketchup. Drain the noodles.

3. Place a large wok over medium-high heat. When the wok is hot, add the oil and heat for 15 seconds.

4. Add the garlic and stir constantly for a few seconds. Add the shrimp and pork and stir-fry for one minute.

5. Stir in the sauce and bring to a boil. Place the noodles in the wok and toss to coat well.

6. Cook until most of the sauce has been absorbed by the noodles. Make a hole in the center of the wok, add the eggs and let cook, without stirring, for 15 seconds.

7. After 15 seconds, stir-fry until the eggs are cooked and well distributed throughout the noodles. Add the red pepper flakes and scallions and stir-fry for another 2 minutes.

8. Remove the wok from the heat and stir in the peanuts and bean sprouts. Serve garnished with cilantro and lime wedges.