tom yum goong

• 3 chili peppers
• 5 sprigs cilantro
• 2 tablespoon fish sauce
• 3 kaffir lime leaves
• 1 lemongrass
• 1-2 limes
• 5 Mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon Nam Prig Pow Optional
• 1 cup shrimp
• 4 cups water

Boil water in a 2 quart pot. Peel and de-vein the shrimp and set them aside. Cut lemon grass into pieces, 5-6 inches long. Use the back of your knife to pound the lemon grass, just to bruise it to release the flavor. Tie the lemon grass into a knot to make it easier to manage. Drop the lemon grass in water and let boil for 5 minutes.

Put the fish sauce and 1 lime's juice into the bottom of the bowls you will serve the soup in. Crush chili pepper and add to the bowl.

Remove the stems from the kaffir lime leaves and add the leafy part to the pot. Clean and halve the mushrooms and add them to the pot. Let it boil. Add the shrimp and turn off the heat. Shrimp gets tough very quickly, and will cook even when it is just sitting in the warm broth. Scoop the shrimp and liquid into the serving bowls immediately. As soon as you add the liquid to the serving bowl, you will see that the broth becomes cloudy because of the lime juice. Add the nam prig pow. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Be very careful, the peppers can be hot. Take a small sip at a time. Add more fish sauce and/or lime juice if it tastes bland.

Tips and Techniques

• I have seen many recipes calling for chicken broth. It is totally unnecessary! We don’t use chicken broth in Thai cooking like in Western cooking. Tom yum goong should have shrimp flavor, not chicken!
• Unfortunately, for the true taste, it is difficult to substitute anything for the kaffir lime leaves. The richness of the sour taste comes from the complement of the different citrus flavored ingredients.
• I serve this soup directly into individual bowls for each person.
• If you don't like it hot, cut down on the chili peppers or do not cut them up, but leave them whole for decoration.

Rocky's Pad THAI Recipe

Ingredients

150 gm rice flat noodles

100 gm chicken / prawn or paneer

4 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup chopped green onion

4 Tbsp palm sugar (or 2 Tbsp regular sugar)

6 Tbsp fish sauce or soy sauce

2 eggs

1 cup bean sprouts or chopped cabbage

2 Tbsp chopped Garlic

2 Tbsp chopped shallots

1 cup sliced fried paneer

4 Tbsp tamarind paste

METHOD

Cabbage, Bean sprouts, Green onion, Coriander leaf, lime wedges, groud roasted peanuts and ground dried red chilly for garnish.

Method

Soak noodles in lukewarm water for 10-15 minutes till soft.

Rocky's Pad Thai

Heat veg oil over low heat and fry the garlic and shallots till fragrant.

Add chicken/prawn or paneer and stir fry till cooked.

Break the eggs into the wok and mix well.

Add noodles, fish sauce, sugar, tamarind paste and stir until noodles are tender and well mixed.

Add bean sprouts and green onion while stirring constantly.

Serve topped with garnish.

Remember: 

-    Do not under cook noodles or they will be rubbery.

-    If you overcook the noodles they will turn to mush.

-    Be generous with the tamarind, it is a great taste.

-    Serve hot and fresh, from wok to plate. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X9qzLtyQuU

Khua Kling Recipe

Ingredients

• 500 g. minced pork, beef, or chicken (I used minced meat, but small slices of meat are common              too)
• 3 tbsp. southern Thai curry paste (you can see the 
• 50 g. lemongrass (this was 2 stalks when I made this recipe)
• 1 red spur chili (this is not completely necessary, but if you add one, it will make your curry look               really nice)
• 10 - 15 kaffir lime leaves (I probably used about ¾ of them while cooking, and used the other ¼ to           sprinkle on top at the end)
• pinch of sugar (depending on how much you like and how much you want to )
• Thai bird chilies (I like to slice up some red Thai bird chilies to sprinkle on top of my plate, just for             the final spicy touch and for extra red color)
  

   Instructions

1. The first step is to take your lemongrass, slice off the bottoms of the stalks, tear off two or three of the tough outer layers, and then finely shave it. The finer you shave the lemongrass, the more flavor it will add, and the the easier it will be to chew.
2. To prepare the kaffir lime leaves, you want to grab about five or six leaves, which come as a pair, then I like to fold them over, so you’ve got a nice layered sandwich of kaffir lime leaves. Slice off any of the big stems if there are any, and then finely slice them into thin strips.
3. I included the spur chili in this recipe mostly to give the khua kling (คั่วกลิ้ง) a beautiful red accent color, but it's not what gives the dish its spice - that comes from the curry paste. For the spur chili, just cut off the stem, slice the chili in half, and then slice it into thin diagonal strips. Set all those ingredients aside, and we'll come back to them later.
4. Turn on your stove to a medium high heat, heat up your wok or pan for a few seconds, and then add about 3 tbsp. of southern Thai curry paste (it may be kind of dry, but since this is a dry curry, you don't want to add any oil).
5. One of the tricks my wife taught me, so the curry paste doesn't burn, is to quickly add in just 1 spoon of meat into the curry paste and start to stir fry it. This will give the curry paste a little extra moisture, but it will still get that direct heat that you want, so the curry paste reaches its maximum flavor potential.
6. Fry the curry paste for 2 - 3 minutes, and then add in the rest of the meat. Your pan should be quite hot, and due to the dryness, it might start to stick to the bottom. So you want to really work the wok hard by scraping and getting all that good flavor off the bottom of the pan.
7. Stir fry the meat until it’s broken into small minced pieces, and almost all the way cooked through, then toss in just a pinch of sugar, depending on how much you like (I used about ½ teaspoon, but I know some Thai cooks would use a whole spoon in their recipe).
8. Give it a quick stir, then add the lemongrass.
9. Quickly stir it, then toss in about ¾ of your shaved kaffir lime leaves. Stir fry for about 1 minute.
10. Just a few seconds before turning off your heat, add the sliced red spur chili, stir fry for a few more seconds, and turn off your heat, but keep frying for another minute or so.
11. Grab a bowl, and dish out your khua kling (คั่วกลิ้ง).
12. The final step is to take the remaining portion of your finely shaved kaffir lime leaves (of you can slice more if you used them all), along with a handful of sliced Thai bird chilies, and sprinkle them on top of your plate of khua kling
13.  (If you can’t see the video, watch it here: http://youtu.be/KX5tQ1F-U10)

About Thai Cuisine

Thai cooking places emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with strong aromatic components and a spicy edge. It is known for its complex interplay of at least three and up to four or five fundamental taste senses in each dish or the overall meal: sour, sweet, salty, bitter, and spicy.Khao niao - Sticky rice is eaten as a staple food both in the northeast as in the north of Thailand. It is traditionally steamed. Lap - a traditional Lao salad containing meat, onions, chillies, roasted rice powder,

and garnished with mint. Mu ping - marinated, grilled pork on a stickBangkok Eating Experiences. Imagine a plate of freshly-steamed Jasmine rice, served with luscious spicy shrimp soup and creamy chicken green curry. You're torn between the colourful and spicy papaya salad garnished with crisp vegetables on your right and a delectable dish of 'Pad Thai' on your left.