Showing posts with label Tom Yum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Yum. Show all posts

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Larb and Yum - Thai Salads

What is the difference between Larb and Yum?  There are subtle difference but for a seasoned foodie, you can tell the difference.



Larb is basically shallots, fish sauce, lime juice, and ground rice.  Mix it up with your favorite grilled meats - chicken, pork and beef.  Serve with a side of cabbage, long beans, mint, basil and other raw vegetables.

While "Yum" is basically is shallots, fish sauce, lime juice and then lemon grass (white part only), cilantro and mint mainly for garnish. Again, serve with a side of cabbage, long beans, mint, basil and other raw vegetables.  However, most of "Yum" recipes would call for 'woonsen' or glass noodle or vermicelli.












Larb Moo - Thai Pork Salad

1tablespoontoasted rice 
1/4shallot, thinly sliced 
1-2
limes 
1/2lbsground Pork 
1/4tablespoonground dried chili pepper 
3tablespoonsfish sauce 
5sprigscilantro, sliced 
3sprigsmint
1
green onion, sliced

Squeeze juice from 1/3 of the lime on to the ground pork. Mix well and let it marinade for just a couple of minutes until you are ready to cook it.

For this dish, people normally use a small pot; I use my cast iron pans because they can be heated up really hot, they retain heat well and heat evenly.

Heat up a pan on high until it is very hot. Add two tablespoons of water and then immediately add your marinated pork and stir. The pork will stick to the pan at first, but then the juice will come out and the meat will loosen from the bottom. Keep stirring until the pork is well done. Traditionally, the pork is undercooked, but I do not recommend undercooking pork for health reasons.

Put the pork in a bowl a large mixing bowl that will hold all the ingredients. Add fish sauce, green onion, shallot, cilantro, the rest of the lime juice, ground chili pepper and almost all of toasted rice into the bowl. Save some toasted rice to sprinkle on top for garnish. Mix well and taste. It should be a little bit hot. You should be able to taste tartness from the lime juice and the fish sauce. If you need to add more fish sauce or lime juice, don't be afraid. Getting the flavor balance right is a trial and error process.

Put the mixed ingredients in a serving bowl, garnish with spearmint and sprinkle the rest of toasted rice on top. Serve with vegetables like cabbage, green beans, lettuce and Thai basil.

Serve 3-4.

Next Lesson - Yum Woonsen

Enjoy!



Sunday, August 22, 2010

Yes, I must blog consistently. . .

I enjoyed my long weekend by rain.  What does one do when it rains?  She pretend to cook.

In the guise of cooking, I wanted to clean out my refrigerator, but I only have one egg left, some cheese, some milk.  Ah, yes my own creation of One Egg Omelet:
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 oz mozzarella cheese
  • salt to taste
  • 1 tbsp cooking oil 
Mix the egg, salt and mozzarella cheese well. In pan, heat the oi. When hot enough, pour in the egg mixture and cook about 2 minutes. Flip to the other side for about 1 minute (or less).  Number of Servings: 1

My Omelet while in the pan
Finish product


 As you can see, my product didn't turn out so good, but a seasoned cook can make a better one. Sigh!

After a mixture of tidying up the apartment, TV and surfing the net, I decided the clouds have cleared enough for me to go out for lunch (at 4 PM).  So I went to my neighbor bakery/cafe - M Bakery.  It more of the cafe than a bakery.  More patrons come here for a quick meal and coffee.  So, with a book in hand I order one of my favorite: Tom Yum Fried Rice with everything.  The everything is  some squid, shellfish,pork, chicken - everything that you may find in a regular Tom Yum.

Tom Yum Fried Rice
  • 10 medium-size prawns or shrimps
  • 0.5lbs kale, cut into thin slices on the bias
  • 3 oz squids, cut into rings
  • 3 oz pork or chicken cut into bite size
  • 2 fresh red chilli, sliced thinly
  • 1 stalk lemongrass, use bottom white part
  • 1tbsp Tom Yum Paste
  • some water

1. Cook rice as per normal
2. Heat some oil in frying pan, saute the prawns/shrimps on both sides till cooked. Saute the squid, and  pork/chicken.  Dish out and set aside
3. Fry all the kale, red chilli, jalopeno peppers, corn in the same oil, add Tom Yum Paste and some water(adjust according) and fry for 5-8mins
4. Add in the prawns,squid and pork and mix well. Make sure there is some gravy but not too wet since you do not want the rice to be too soggy
5. Add in the mixture into the rice while in the rice cooker. Mix the rice well with the Tom Yum mixture of Kale, chillis, peppers and shrimps Serve 4



 This was my lunch.  Much more appetizing that my one egg omelet. Enjoy!