Pad Thai, Stir Fried Noodles

This recipe is a bit of a combination of a recipe from Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School I spent couple of days at in 1998, and a Jamie Oliver recipe 

Serves 4

4 rice noodle nests
3 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp chopped garlic

4 shallots, peeled & finely sliced

400g firm tofu, cubed

250g cooked peeled prawns (leave out if vegetarian)

2 eggs beaten

300g beansprouts 

4 tbsp tamarind sauce 

4 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes 

4 tbsp dried mint

4 tbsp peanuts, crushed

Cook the noodles following the instructions on the packet. Traditionally Pad Thai uses wide rice noodles but in addition to these sticking together too much when I cook them, vermicelli type rice noodles are much easier to come by. Leave soaking in chilled water until ready to use.

Heat the oil in a wok over a medium high heat.  Stir fry the garlic and shallots for a minute or so.  Add the tofu, stir then add the prawns, Stir fry for a minute or so, boiling off any water. Pour in the beaten egg and stir around until it scrambles. Add the beansprouts, stir around and then add the drained noodles.  Once the noodles are hot, stir in the rest of the ingredients and serve piping hot (the crushed peanuts were added in the topping above as I have one family member who doesn't like them).

NB Aesthetically (and probably nutritionally), I feel this recipe could do with a bit more colour/green. The Chiang Mai Cookery School recipe does suggest chives or cabbage, and I do think a some spring greens could have been added after the garlic & shallots if I  had had some.

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Quick Tom Yum Noodle Soup

Bored of sandwich, and finding some mushrooms in the fridge that needed eating,I thought I'd make a quick filling version of a Tom Yum Soup.

Serves a greedy 1

50g mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 tsp red curry paste
1 nest of rice noodles
1 stock cube

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1 tsp fish sauce

Chopped coriander (optional)

Cook everything, apart from the coriander, together in a lidded pan for as long as the noodles need cooking. Once cooked serve and sprinkle with coriander before tucking in.

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Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

Been meaning to try this on the family for a while.  And a lockdown with limited resources seemed the perfect opportunity. It was met with "When can we have this again?" which I take to mean they like it.

Serves 5

200g rice noodles
2 handfuls cooked chicken, picked off cooked carcasses
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp green thai curry sauce, or more to taste
2 cans recently boiled water
2 chicken stock cubes
5 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 handfuls frozen sliced green beans or peas

Cooking the rice noodles according to the instructions on the packet.  Drain off the boiling water when cooked and leave to stand covered in cold water to stop them cooking any further.

Bring the coconut milk, water, stock cubes, curry paste, and kaffir lime leaves to the boil in a covered pan.  Add the vegetables and bring back to the boil.  Add the chicken and noodles and bring back to the boil one more time. Add the fish sauce before serving.  Sprinkle with chopped coriander if, unlike me, you have any.

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Thai Inspired Salmon Fish Cakes

Well, this fish supper went down well with my kids!

It is loosely based on Jamie Oliver's Quick Asian Fishcakes and a recipe from a Thai cookery course I attended in Thailand many years ago.

Serves 4

Fish Cakes
500g salmon, skinned and pin boned
1 tsp red Thai curry paste
5 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced (or zest of a lime)
1 small clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
Small handful of French beans, thinly sliced

Plain flour
Sunflower oil, for frying

Dipping Sauce
6 tbsp water
6 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
Small pack of coriander, finely chopped

With a sharp knife, finely chop the salmon and gently mix in the other fish cake ingredients.

Divide into four and shape each quarter into either 1 big or 2 smaller patties.  Add 1 tbsp of flour at a time to the mixture if you find the mixture too sloppy.  I used frozen fish fillets which made for a wetter mixture and ended up adding 2 tbsp of flour.

Fry gently in the sunflower oil until golden brown (about 3-4 minutes), turn and repeat.

Whilst the fish cakes are cooking, mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce together. Warning: Thais have quite a sweet tooth!

Serve the fish cakes with Thai rice, dipping sauce, and Thai Carrot Salad

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Thai Rice & Egg Soup

This is a quick and easy version of congee (rice porridge) that we had travelling in Thailand and Malaysia 20 years ago.  There were some highly suspect objects in some of the congees we had back then, but this one just has readily available store cupboard ingredients.

Serves 2 or a very greedy 1

1 serving of cooked rice or 60g uncooked.
1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed
Pinch of extra strong chilli flakes
1 tsp sunflower oil
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube, crumbled
500ml recently boiled water
1 tbsp fish sauce
Juice & zest of half a lime or lemon
1 egg, beaten

Fry the garlic and chilli flakes in the oil until you can smell it strongly.  Add the water, stock cube, and rice.  Mix thoroughly to dissolve the stock cube.  Cover and bring to the boil.  Turn down to a simmer.

Beat the egg in a soup bowl, then mix in the fish sauce, lemon juice and zest.  If using cooked rice, mix a ladle of hot stock into the egg, then pour the egg mixture into the saucepan and mix well.  Bring back to a simmer and cook for a minute more then serve.

If using uncooked rice, cook for 10 minutes or until the rice is soft before adding the egg mixture as above.

You could always add some peas, spinach, kale or the like to make it healthier/more colourful.  But this is how I have it when I need a quick lunch.

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Vegan Vegetable Laksa

Watercress Laksa

Having made and frozen some vegan Thai Yellow Curry Paste recently, I've been having a lot of vegetable laksa over the last few weeks.  It's a quick, filling lunch with optional superfood ingredients.

1/2 tbsp yellow curry paste
500ml boiling water
1 organic vegetable stock cube, crumbled
1 large handful of greens (today's was made with watercress, but I've made it with shredded cauliflower leaves, kale, spinach, cabbage etc)
1/4 onion, finely sliced
1 nest of rice noodles (optional)

If making with noodles cook the noodles in the water and stock cube according to the packet's instructions, adding the curry paste, and vegetables at the end to wilt.   Place onion into a large soup bowl and pour over the hot stock and vegetables.

If not having noodles you may wish to wilt tougher greens like cabbage in the boiling stock on the hob.

More delicate greens like watercress and spinach can be put straight into a soup bowl with the all the other ingredients and simply wilted with the boiling water and stirred gently to combine the curry paste and crumbled stock cube.

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Vegan Yellow Thai Curry Paste

In Veganuary I have been producing a vegan dish once a week for the local market I cook for.  Thai curry unfortunately is largely not vegan because it contains fish sauce and/or shrimp paste.

Thai Yellow Curry is however does not contain either, and is considered milder and less oily than other Thai curries.

2 sticks of lemongrass
20g shallots
20g garlic
10g salt
10g ginger
2 tsp hot chilli flakes
1 tbsp ground coriander
3g kaffir lime leaves
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Seeds from 10 cardamon pods, ground

Put all ingredients into a mini food processor and blitz as smooth as possible.  I found about a level tablespoon makes a flavoursome Thai curry (with coconut milk, potato, carrot, peas...) so I spooned these sized portions into an ice cube tray and froze.  I also put a tablespoon into 500ml of vegetable stock poured over some sliced onion and kale to make a quick low carb laksa.

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Roast Chicken Assam Laksa Noodle Soup

I'm pleased, even if I say so myself, with my Roast Chicken Assam Laksa.

Assam Laksa is a 'sour' soup, usually soured with tamarind or lime, unlike the sweeter coconut milk laksas more commonly made by UK TV celebrity chefs.

The roast chicken was in fact from the Saucy Hoisin Chicken Thighs I made earlier in the week, but could easily come from the Sunday Roast.

A vegan version could easily be made substituting the chicken with butternut squash or sweet potato.

Serves 1

500ml boiled water
1 layer of egg or rice noodles
1 low salt stock cube
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red or green thai curry paste (vegan versions are available)
1 tbsp tamarind juice or 1 tbsp lemon juice + 1 tsp sugar
Small handful of shredded chard, spinach, kale, or savoy cabbage
1 small handful of chopped cooked chicken, or grated vegetable alternative
1/2 tbsp dried mint or 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1/4 of a small onion, very finely sliced

Boil the noodles for 5 minutes in the water together with the stock cube, curry paste, tamarind juice (or lemon & sugar), turmeric, and vegetables.

Whilst this is cooking, place the cooked chicken in the bottom of a deep soup bowl with the sliced onion and mint.

When the noodles are cooked just pour over the ingredients in the bowl and eat.

Other laksa recipes:-
Quick & Easy Kale & Squash Laksa Noodle Soup (Vegan)
Penang Sardine Assam Laksa

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Thai Green Fish Curry & Beans

The kids requested Thai Minced Pork & Green Beans but my friendly local butcher did not have any minced pork today, so I had to resort to Plan A which was a fish green curry.

The kids moaned and moaned about the inclusion of fish, but were forced to admit that it really wasn't that bad.

Serves 4

4 fillets of frozen white fish
1 handful green beans, cut into 1.5cm lengths
1 can of coconut milk
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2 tsp green Thai curry paste (made weak for kids)
5 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sunflower oil

Gently fry the curry paste and garlic in the oil for a few minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil.  Once boiling then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes, or the fish is cooked and breaks into small pieces.

Serve over Thai rice.

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Thai Minced Pork & Green Beans

I first had this dish in a student flat in Edinburgh in 1989.  My brother's then girlfriend's friend had returned from several months in Phuket studying the geology, much to the envy of her other geology student friend's trip to the mud flats of Aberdeen.

She did write the recipe down for me, but nearly 30 years and several house moves later, I can no longer find it.  It had an obscene amount of birds eye chillis and garlic in, but over time and with kids to feed I this been dumbed down a bit.  This is my most recent take/recollection.  My kids love it so much, my 12 year old has added it to her birthday food list.

Serves 4

1 tbsp sunflower oil
500g minced pork
500g green beans, cut into 1cm lengths
1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1/8-1/4 tsp very hot chilli flakes
5 kaffir lime leaves, shredded (or the zest of a small lime)
450ml boiling water
1 chicken stock cube, crumbled
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp cornflour

Heat the oil a large saucepan or sauté pan and stir fry the minced pork, breaking up any large lumps.

Add the beans, garlic, and chilli.  Stir fry for another minute then add all the other ingredients apart from the cornflour.  Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes depending on how much crunch you like your beans to have.

When the beans are to your liking, add a little water to the cornflour to make it the consistency of single cream and pour into the pork and beans.  Stir over a high heat until the sauce has thickened slightly.

Serve with Thai or basmati rice.

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Sweet Potato or Squash Satay Curry

I've been threatening to make this curry for the kids for a few years now, and today, with a spare sweet potato, I made it for them.  I sold it on the strength of it having curry powder and peanut butter in it.  I would have added some kale or spinach for a splash of colour, had I had any.

Serves 4-6

1 tsp red Thai curry paste (vegan if desired)
1 tsp medium curry powder
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 cans coconut milk
1/2 a 340g jar crunchy peanut butter
4 tsp sugar
1 large sweet potato or 500g squash, peeled & grated
4 tbsp fish sauce (or vegan alternative)
2 shredded kaffir lime leaf (optional)
Handful shredded spinach or kale (optional)

Fry the curry paste in the oil for a minute or so, then add the curry powder and fry again for another minute or so.

Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil.  Turn down to a simmer and cover.  Cook for 20 minutes, stirring from time to time to ensure it is not catching on the bottom of the pan, until the sweet potato has all but melted into the curry.

Serve 2 big ladlefuls of sauce per person if serving 4, or less if serving more, with steamed Thai or Basmati rice.

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Thai Carrot Salad

Can't recall where the recipe for this salad came from. My recollection is the original is much sweeter, as Thai tastes can be, but this is a slightly healthier version.

Serves 2

2 large carrots
3 tbsp wine or cider vinegar
3 tbsp hot water
1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes
1 tsp brown sugar
Large pinch of salt

Peel and grate the carrots.  Mix together with all the other ingredients.  Leave for the flavours to develop if you can.

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Thai Noodle Soup

The kids are all the scampi & oven chips between them that I bought for a treat for last night's tea.  So, as Dad was out, I rummaged through the fridge and freezer and ended up making myself a very filling Thai Noodle Soup.

Serves 1

1/2 can coconut milk
1 rice noodle nest or a large handful of cooked rice
1/2 tsp green Thai curry paste
1 tbsp Fish Sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 handfuls frozen soya beans or peas
1 kaffir lime leaf, shredded or zest of half a lemon
1 handful cooked chicken (optional)

Cook the noodles according to the packet's instructions. If using cooked rice skip this stage and just put everything in a pan together, bring to the boil then simmer for 5 minutes until the peas/beans are cooked (Thai Curry Soup with Leftover Rice)

In a separate pan heat the coconut milk with the curry paste, fish sauce, sugar, beans/peas, kaffir lime leaves/lemon zest, and chicken.

When the noodles are cooked, fish them out of the water with a slotted spoon and add to the pan with the coconut milk.  Add a little of the noodle cooking water (about a mugful) to make more soup to fill your bowl.

Tuck in.

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Quick & Easy Kale & Squash Laksa Noodle Soup

Many of the laksa recipes I've looked at have a long list of ingredients, this one however doesn't.  And takes under 5 minutes to cook.

Serves a greedy 1

1 nest of rice noodles/vermicelli
2 large kale leaves
A large handful of grated squash (I didn't have any when I made the bowl above!)
1/2 can coconut milk
1 tsp thai curry paste or tom yum paste (NB Shrimp paste free curry paste is available for vegans & vegetarians)
1 low salt vegetable stock cube
Boiling water
Half a small onion
1tbsp fresh or dried mint

Grate the squash and thinly shred the kale.  Pour the coconut into a jug and top up to 500ml with boiling water.  Add the coconut & water to a saucepan with the rice noodles, kale, squash, curry paste, and stock cube.  Bring to the boil, cover, and simmer for the cooking time of the noodles.

Quickly, whilst the noodles are cooking, thinly slice the onion and fresh mint if using.  When the noodles are cooked pour into a large bowl and sprinkle with the onion and mint.  Tuck in.

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My Leftover Turkey Compilation

Picture may date from 2013 but I thought it worthwhile to trawl through my recipes and update a compilation of leftover turkey recipes as I need it every year!

In no particular order:-

• Turkey stock - same principle as chicken stock, you just might need a bigger pan!
• Turkey Minestrone
• Mulligatawny (Curried Vegetable & Meat Soup)
• Jamie Oliver's Sweet Leek & Turkey Pie - a warming winner every year
• Turkey, Mushroom & Sweetcorn Pie or Casserole - swap chicken for turkey 
• Turkey & Chipolata Cassoulet - substitute chicken for turkey
• Red or Green Thai Turkey Curry
• Turkey Chilli con Carne
• Wokless Turkey & Noodles - I would substitute 2 handfuls of chopped cooked turkey for the chicken in this recipe
• Christmas Turkey Noodle Soup
• Turkey Congee (Rice Soup/Porridge) - I made this with duck stock last year but turkey would work just as well
• Spicy Korean Turkey Rice Salad - a fitting end to turkey and cranberry sauce
• Veg Rich Toddler & Kids Curry - use Patak's curry paste with leftover turkey, carrots, sprouts etc 
• Turkey Vindaloo
• Turkey Korma - use cooked turkey instead of diced chicken
• Turkey Katsu Curry -  make the sauce for this curry by simmering the sauce ingredients for 2 minutes.  Add chopped turkey to heat through and then the cornflour to thicken. 
• Leftover Roast Chicken (or Turkey) with Chorizo & Butter Beans

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Sweet and Sour Vegetables & Noodles

A quick Sweet & Sour dish I learnt in Thailand.  It's a great way to vegetables into kids, even if you have to resort to selling it as 'it's got ketchup in'.

Below is the recipe as taught to me but I often use different vegetables depending on what I have left over.  I always use carrot and pineapple, plus sometimes pak choi, cabbage, kale, red pepper.  The list is endless. And again I usually add noodles, but you could serve this over rice.

Serves 2 greedy adults or 4 children

1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
100g cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces
1 carrot
1 cucumber
8 baby corn
220g pineapple chunks (keep the juice)
70g snow peas or green beans
1 chopped red chilli (optional) or 1 tsp hot chilli flakes
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped (optional)
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 layers of noodles
1 handful of cashew nuts (optional)
      
Sauce
2 tbsp lime or lemon juice
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce (leave out if vegetarian or vegan)
2 tbsp oyster sauce (use vegetarian oyster sauce if vegetarian/vegan)
2 tbsp soy sauce
6 tbsp tomato ketchup
50ml reserved pineapple juice + water or stock

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.  Drain when cooked and leave in cold water to stop them cooking and sticking.

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl apart from the juice/water.

Prepare the cauliflower, carrot, snow peas, and baby corn and chop into bite sized pieces.

Put the oil into a wok and fry the garlic over a high heat until it starts to turn brown. Add the onion and stir fry. Add the cashew nuts (if using), cauliflower and carrot followed by the cucumber, baby corn and pineapple and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the chillies, tomatoes and peas and stir fry for another minute until all the vegetables are cooked. Add the sauce ingredients and noodles and stir to combine. Add as much or as little of the reserved juice/water to make it the consistency you like. Serve immediately.

Cooked chicken or pork can be added at the start with the garlic if wished.

The trick is to prepare everything before hand as once you start stir frying the dish is pretty much done in a matter of minutes.

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Thai Jungle Curry with Pork

Unusually for nowadays the kids ate something different to us at their tea time because they had a friend round for tea. So that gave me the opportunity to try something new for the grown-ups.  I am due to cook a Thai curry for my curry night in a few weeks so I thought I'd try a different Thai dish and jungle curry seemed just the ticket, with relatively few ingredients and a short cooking time.  This is a soupy curry.

Serves 4
400g diced pork
2 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp red curry paste (recipe I based this on said 4tbsp!)
1 aubergine, diced (I didn't have any so used spring greens!)
1/2 mug peas or sliced beans
10cm ginger, finely sliced
2 baby corn cut into about 3 (optional)
400ml chicken stock (or water)
4tbsp fish sauce
5 kaffir lime leaves , stems removed and finely sliced
1/2-1 tsp dried chilli flakes
Holy basil (optional)

Fry the curry paste in the cooking oil for a couple of minutes then add the pork and add for another couple of minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients, apart from the peas/beans and holy basil if using, together with the chicken stock and bring to the boil.  Simmer for 10 minutes then add the remaining ingredients and simmer for another 5 minutes.  Check the seasoning and add more salt/fish sauce as required.  Serve over Thai fragrant rice.

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Penang Sardine Assam Laksa Noodle Soup

I reckon at the word 'sardine' a lot of people will have passed this recipe by.

I love tinned sardines.  I buy just sardines in oil and usually mash them on toast with a sprinkle of vinegar and salt, but today for some reason I remembered a laksa we had backpacking in Malaysia many many years ago.  And thanks to the wonderful internet I have managed to locate some recipes and make it with ingredients more readily available in a UK supermarket than South East Asia.

Serves 1

500ml boiled water
1 layer of noodles or 1 handful of basmati rice (I used rice today)
1 low salt stock cube
1 tsp red or green thai curry paste
1 tbsp tamarind juice or 1 tbsp lemon juice + 1 tsp sugar
1-2 pellets of frozen spinach, or handful of green beans or peas (optional)
1 tin of sardines in oil
1/2tbsp dried mint or 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1/4 of a small onion, very finely sliced

Boil the noodles for 5 minutes, or rice for 10 minutes,  in the water together with the stock cube, curry paste, tamarind juice (or lemon & sugar) and vegetables if using.

Whilst this is cooking, roughly mash the sardines in the bottom of a deep soup bowl then add the sliced onion and mint.

When the noodles or rice are cooked just pour over the sardines in the bowl and away you go.

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Thai Curry Soup with Leftover Rice

A quick trawl through my freezer and I have found a one person portion of rice and half a can of coconut milk.  So, on a chilly, showery day here goes lunch...

Serves 2 as a light lunch

1/2 can coconut milk
1-2 large handfuls cooked rice
1 tsp green or red curry paste
1 low salt chicken or vegetable stock cube
Small handful of frozen peas
1 kaffir lime leaf or lemon/lime juice
Recently boiled water
Fish sauce to taste

Pour the coconut milk into a measuring jug and top up with boiling hot water to 450ml.  Pour into a saucepan and bring to the boil together with the rest of the ingredients apart from the lemon or lime juice.  Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time to make sure it is not sticking to the bottom.

Add about 1tbsp of fish sauce and lemon or lime juice to taste.

My Leftover Turkey Compilation

Tweet

It's the day after Boxing Day and despite having a 5kg bird to work our way through with only five of us I will have to cook sooner or later.  So I am trawling through last year's turkey recipes and thought it would be good to bring them together in one place.

In no particular order:-

• Turkey stock - same principle as chicken stock, you just might need a bigger pan!
• Turkey Minestrone
• Jamie Oliver's Sweet Leek & Turkey Pie - a warming winner every year
• Turkey & Chipolata Cassoulet - substitute chicken for turkey
• Red or Green Thai Turkey Curry
• Turkey Chilli con Carne
• Wokless Turkey & Noodles - I would substitute 2 handfuls of chopped cooked turkey for the chicken in this recipe
• Christmas Turkey Noodle Soup
• Turkey Congee (Rice Soup/Porridge) - I made this with duck stock last year but turkey would work just as well
• Spicy Korean Turkey Rice Salad - a fitting end to turkey and cranberry sauce
• Veg Rich Toddler & Kids Curry - use Patak's curry paste with leftover turkey, carrots, sprouts etc 
• Turkey Vindaloo