Author: Travis

Tom kha salmon: ต้มข่าปลาแซลมอน

Originally from this site:

https://importfood.com/recipes/recipe/238-tom-kha-salmon-prepared-by-the-prime-minister-of-thailand

Notes:

  • I doubled everything when making this (ie two pounds salmon, etc), except the fish sauce, since fish sauce is a great divider.  I ended up putting 8-9 tablespoons fish sauce in the doubled recipe, and quite a bit of salt to make up for the lack of fish sauce.  I probably didn’t quite double the galanga root and kaffir lime leaves, either.
  • I just used some Thai chili flakes in lieu of powder, since I’m not sure what Thai chili powder is.
  • I used 8 cups vegetable broth + 4 cups water, in lieu of the chicken bouillon.
  • It takes quite a while to mortar-and-pestle garlic and coriander seeds into a paste, but it sure is fun, if you put something funny on youtube and pound away.

Ingredients:

1 Cube Chicken Bouillon
1 Pound Salmon Cut into Bite-Size chunks
1 Teaspoon Coriander Seed
4 Cloves Garlic
1/2 Teaspoon Thai Pepper Powder
1 Cup Sliced Fresh Galangal
1/4 Cup Sliced Fresh Lemongrass
1/4 Cup Kaffir lime leaves, sliced
1 Cup Fresh Mushroom (more if desired)
26 Ounces Coconut Milk
7 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
lime juice (I used two or three limes in the doubled recipe)

Steps:

Bring 6 cups water to a boil and add chicken bouillon. In a mortar and pestle pound the coriander seed, garlic and Thai pepper powder into a paste. Add the paste to the boiling stock. Add salmon, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and stir. Add mushrooms, followed by coconut milk. Season with fish sauce (more or less as you prefer). Bring to a boil, then remove from heat.

Ladle into a serving bowl and season with lime juice (quantity as you prefer), then sprinkle with mild fresh chilis such as jalapeño, red and yellow bell peppers, or any mild chili peppers in season.

Samak suggested that this be served with a special mix of steamed rice. Simply mix 80% uncooked jasmine rice with 20% uncooked sticky rice, rinse, and steam together in a rice cooker. We love this combination too! Ladle the soup over a bowl of the steamed rice, and enjoy this excellent Thai soup–from the Prime Minister to you.

Eritrean Shrimp Thingie

From an old NYT restaurant review (I doubled it):

4 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium red onions, thinly sliced
4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
5 very ripe and juicy tomatoes, chopped coarsely
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil (1 bunch)
15 pitted dates ( 1/2 cup), cut crosswise in thirds
3 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 pound medium shrimp (16 to 20), shelled and deveined
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 1/2 cups cooked basmati rice
1. In a large, heavy pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, and saute until wilted, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, and continue sauteing, stirring frequently to prevent sticking, for 2 minutes longer. Stir in the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cover, and cook for about 5 minutes. [Uh, more like 25 minutes… -Ed.]
2. Add basil, dates and coconut, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 5 more minutes. Add the half-and-half, cover and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add shrimp to sauce. Cook, covered, until shrimp turns pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cheese, and then the rice, and serve immediately.

Coconut sticky rice with mango(e)s

I got the coconut rice recipe here:

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/coconut-milk-sticky-rice-with-mangoes-233842

I used the Thai-style sticky-rice steamer:

Palm sugar usually comes in domes of various sizes; it is hard to estimate what 3/4 cup would be; I was probably a bit shy of that, but I don’t like super-sweet things anyways, so I thought it was alright.

Bon appetit!

Couscous m’hassel

From “Medina Kitchen: Home Cooking from North Africa” (from the chapter on Fez, Morocco) by Fiona Dunlop (a British cookbook as you’ll see by the metricity)

Couscous m’hassel

  • vegetable oil for frying, plus 2-3 tablespoons for the couscous (I used olive oil)
  • 1 kg (2lb 4oz) onions, peeled and sliced
  • 3 tsp crushed saffron
  • 3 tsp ground ginger
  • 3 tsp ground black pepper
  • 3 tsp cinnamon
  • 500g (1 lb 2 oz) raisins
  • 1-2 Tbsp granulated sugar (I only used 2 tsp and that seemed good enough)
  • 1 1/2 kg (3 lb 5 oz) chicken pieces (I used a few pounds of crimini mushrooms instead)
  • 750g (1 lb 10 oz) couscous
  • 50 ml (2 oz) water
  • about 100g (3 1/2 oz) salted butter (I left this out)
  • 150g (5.5 oz) toasted almonds as garnish (I left is out too)

Chicken (mushrooms)

  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and 1 tsp each of the spices (except the cinnamon) over low heat until the onion is soft. Add the raisins, 1 tsp cinnamon and sugar. (I put some salt in as well). Cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside to allow flavors to meld.
  2. Sprinkle the chicken with the remaining spices and cook in a steamer, covered, for about an hour or until the chicken is cooked through. (Instead, I chopped up a couple pounds of mushrooms and cooked them in the big pan the onions had been cooked in. Takes much less than one hour.)
  3. Cook the couscous (see below)
  4. Arrange the chicken pieces (mushrooms) over the top of the cooked couscous, pour over the onion and raisin mixture, then garnish w/ a sprinkling of toasted almonds before serving.

Couscous

  1. In a large wide bowl, rub water (about 700-750 ml for 750g couscous) and 3 tablespoons of olive oil into the grain, lifting and rubbing it repeatedly to distribute the moisture. Set aside to swell for 15 minutes.
  2. Transfer to a double steamer or “couscoussier” with either or vegetables simmering hard below. (I used a mesh colander and that was fine.) Steam for 15 minutes with the lid off.
  3. Return the couscous to the bowl, spread out with a wooden spoon, sprinkle with more water and oil and some salt. Lift and stir the grains, breaking up any lumps. (She says, “Oil your hands to do this more effectively” but only a sadist would suggest you put your hands into something that’s been steaming for 15 minutes.)
  4. Return the couscous to the steamer for 15 minutes.
  5. Put the couscous back into the bowl, add some liquid (water, stock or even rose water) to moisten thoroughly break up any lumps with the wooden spoon and rework, separating the grains as much as possible.
  6. Return to steamer for final 15 minutes.
  7. Put in a large serving bowl, adding some salted butter to make it glisten (ah, that’s where the butter I didn’t use was meant to go).