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Wednesday 13 October 2010

Day 173: You make SUPER flame, na?

And so the culinary trail of 365 continues; we had entered a new country and therefore we just had to learn how to cook like a local.

On this occasion we opted for an evening lesson with the lovely Meow (yes, she had the Thai version of my name and it meant that we could say things like 'shall I put the chilis in now, meow?' etc. great fun)

The evening began with a trip to the market and then we got stuck in with our first of six dishes; the infamous Pad Thai...after conducting an almost-fast for the day we were ravenous and the stir-fried noodles with green veg topped with peanuts and lime went down a storm.

Then we made a dish that I really didn't think that I would like; a spicy soup called Tam Yam. Preparing it involves boiling various spices and chilis and herbs with mushrooms, tomatoes and tofu and then removing all the herbs and spices before serving with fresh lime. The result is a thin-looking soup that really packs a punch - it was delicious!

Our next dish was a Papaya Salad; which is a lovely light cold salad that involves tangy veg in, traditionally, a shrimp paste, but for us we went veggie...I was beginning to feel full but there was no time to spare and we cooked on!

Our next two dishes were a Thai Green Curry and a Chicken/tofu & Cashew Nut Fry; the first was spicy and fresh, served with steamed rice and the second allowed us to have a go at "the super flame" - check out Rob, and his apron (above)

For our final dish we made Mango Sticky Rice, which I already knew was my sisters' favourite Thai dish but I hadn't yet tried it. The sticky rice was fried with coconut cream and milk and served with a fresh ripe mango and then more coconut cream was warmed up and drizzled over the top. The end result was a sweet and incredibly scrummy desert and two very full Brits.

Meow gave us two recipe books and certificates confirming we were indeed "master chefs" of Thai cuisine...again, Team 365 would like to warn that friends and family may have recreations of these dishes forced upon them on our return.

3 comments:

  1. I cannot wait for you to return and serve us all up some of these delicious sounding dishes!!! I mean it I cannot wait - right that means I will just have to go to the nearest Thai and sample them for ourselves.....mmm..who should we invite??

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  2. Trish said

    Us please Els - look forward to Thai Cottage Berkhamsted next Friday!!

    And what's all this about 'forcing' culinary expertise on us? Welcome anytime to cook us all of the above - sounds wonderful - well done both. xxxxx

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  3. you're on Trish !!! really looking forward to that - I wonder if they do tam tam and mango sticky rice with cashew nut fry..mmmmmmmmmm And I agree with Trish you two can cook for all of us any time, Thai, Vietnamese or anything else for that matter.I wonder what you make of Indonesian...Opa's favourite! Nasi or Bami goreng or babi ketchap or sate...

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