An Early Birthday Gift

I got an early birthday gift in the mail today. Oooh, bursting with excitement as I carried the box in, wondering what could it be and who could it be from? Hubby already taking me for that wonderful trip, so, is this another surprise from him? I tried tearing open the box with bare hands but alas, they make those packaging tape so darn strong! I looked around for a pair of scissors frantically and as usual, things were not where they were supposed to be (goal for 2010: get organized!) so forget about scissors, my good ol' chef knife (all 12" long!) would do.
The surprise gift?

Thailand: The Beautiful Cookbook

A wonderful cookbook from my good friend Sandra in London! The gift can't be more perfect! I was just mentioning to my hubby last week about picking up Thai cooking- something that I've put off since our trip to Chiang Mai (2003!!) and granted that we both eat at our favorite neighborhood Thai restaurant at least once every fortnight, I should definitely add Thai dishes to my repertoire! I'm going to start cooking right away!

Menu for this evening's dinner:
1. Choo Chee Pla: Red Snapper in Thai Red Curry (Nam Prik Gaeng Ped) from page 123
2. Chicken with Thai Red Curry Paste (my own rendition using the Nam Prik Gaeng Ped as the sauce base from page 236)
3. Okra with Spicy (red) Sambal inspired by the latest Rasa Malaysia post


Sauce base: Thai Red Curry Paste (Nam Prik Gaeng Ped), adapted from Thailand The Beautiful Cookbook (page 236) with minor tweaks
1 whole onion, chopped (original recipe 1/2 cup chopped onions)
1 whole garlic bulb (original recipe 8 cloves garlic)
20 dried chilies
1/2" fresh galangal (original recipe 4 slices)
1 stalk lemon grass - bottom white portion only
4 kaffir lime leaves (original recipe does not include this but I thought it'll add a fresh & fragrant flavor to the paste)
1 tsp cumin (original recipe 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/8 cup chopped cilantro
3 tablespoon oil

Combine all ingredients except oil in food processor. Puree until you get smooth paste.
Heat heavy-base skillet on medium-high heat and add oil
Slowly fry the paste until it is fragrant (~ 15mins)
Set aside to cool

Choo Chee Pla: Fish with Curry Sauce (page 123)


Ingredients:
1 whole snapper (~1 1/2 pounds)
2 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoon red curry paste (nam prik gaeng ped)
2 cups low-fat milk (original recipe calls for 2 cups coconut milk)
1 tablespoon fish sauce (original recipe 1/4 cup fish sauce but that would be overly salty for my household)
1 tablespoon sugar
5 kaffir lime leaves, chiffonade

Directions:
Clean the fish. Make three slashes on each side of the fish
Heat a large skillet, add oil and curry paste. Stir-fry for ~ 1 minute
Add milk, fish sauce, sugar, bring to a boil
Add whole fish
Cover and cook for 20 minutes, 10 minutes on each side
Remove from heat and serve with a sprinkle of the kaffir lime leaves.


Chicken in Red Curry Sauce
Ingredients:
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
3 tablespoon red curry paste
sprig of mint leaves
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoon oil

Directions:
Slice chicken breast to ~ 1/4" thick strips
Marinade chicken in red cury paste for minimum 20 minutes
Heat a large skillet, add oil and stir fry shallots until translucent (careful not to burn the shallots)
Add chicken and stir fry for ~ 3 mins
Add in dark soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar
Stir fry for ~ 2 mins
Cover and let boil for ~ 5 mins
Add in mint leaves
Turn off heat, plate and serve.

Okra with Spicy Sambal


Full recipe can be found on this post that inspired me to cook this dish for dinner.

I however, took the easy way out and just sliced up 1 onion, stir fried in 2 tablespoon oil until soft and translucent (~ 8 mins) and just added in 2 tablespoon of Sambal by Glory *grin* You should be able to get this from your local Asian food stores.
Boil around 3 cups water, add 1 teaspoon of salt once water is boiling.
Pour okra (~35 pieces) into salted water and boil for ~ 10 mins. The okra should be tender on the inside but still have a slightly crunchy exterior.
Remove pot from heat and drain okra.
Spoon sambal over boiled okra and serve.

When I woke up this morning, I wasn't planning on having a Thai meal for dinner but really, it's quite easy and total prep + cook time took less than 2 hours.

Thank You Sandra! I'll make sure to keep practising in preparation of the full-fledge Thai meal I promised you, my friend!