Images of Thailand

IMG_1170, a photo by water_sss on Flickr.

Visited Thailand in June 2011. Was an quick visit - hope to go for a longer period in the future. The food was fantastic, the people were very helpful, and the place is beautiful. There is something for everyone - you want great food its there, you want nightlife its there, you want tranquility, history, - its all there!

I went in expecting something similar to India - and was blown away by how different and from an infrastructure perspective - how much better Thailand is. Thailand has made it easy for tourist - so don't hesitate, anyone can go see Thailand.

Here's few selected scenes: Flickr link to selected pictures

Food in Thailand

In our recent visit to Thailand I again realized how much fresh un-processed food is available to the rest of the world and isn't available to us at reasonable prices. A visit to the market in Thailand makes one drool, the variety of fruit, vegetables and even meats is awesome. 
And beyond the raw materials restaurants are very reasonable - one can eat a feast in $10US. 

Here's a link to a slideshow: Flickr link to slide show

With that said what were my favourites?
1) The barracuda with curry paste @ Jai's restaurant in Khao Lak
2) The massaman curry @ Jai's restaurant in Khao Lak
3) Mango and sticky rice - everywhere!
4) Fried fish cakes - at the Khao lak / Bang Nga market
5) Fried chicken at Chatuchak market in BKK

Many things I didn't get to try as it was a family vacation, and some things I did try were a let down.
The biggest letdown?  'Roti Mataba' recommended in Lonely Planet! Ripoff and not that tasty compared to all the other things available.

Review in a few words: would love to go to Thailand again.  Thank you Sister & B-in-Law for having us over.

Kathi Roll

Veggie Burger

Shaker Lemon Pie at "Scratch"

This week, we discovered "Scratch" - the famous bakery in Durham which seems to make everything from Scratch. They close at 6, thats what kept us from going there earlier. We made it finally!! And every bite was worth it. Salil took an afternoon off on Thursday, the day before I start my 4 year long Pathology residency program in UNC Hospitals.

We tried to pies at Scratch. The "Shaker Lemon Pie" had thin slices of lemons stacked in the pie and had that absolutely lemony punch packed in a sweet-tarty pie. The crust was the best I have ever eaten - flakey and light and worth a fight with Salil. The next pie we tried was "Buttermilk Sugar Pie" - not the prettiest of the pies but true to its name. Again not very sweet and had a good balance of sweet, tart and salty! They had several other pies on the menu and I am sure they are all worth every single penny.

Unfortunately, they were not serving lunch by the time we reached, will surely visit on a Saturday for that soon.

Highly recommended!!

Link to Scratch Bakery Website

Fennel-Apple Pasta Salad/ Summer pasta salad

We are off to a summer picnic with friends and decided to make a cool summery pasta salad. I have always loved the concept of a good pasta salad but never liked the mayonnaise-filled-mess which seems to be so prevalent. Developed this recipe (obviously after some search on the internet) around the juicy, delicate fennel which I picked up at the Farmer’s market in Carrboro. Fennel and apple are a classic combination. I have added some dried fennel seeds to kick up the fennel flavor and some red chilli flakes for the heat at the end of the bite. I wish I could add something more to make the sald more colorful but the flavor of the fennel is so delicate that I am always worried about overwhelming the mild sweet licorice flavor.

4 cups boiled bow-tie or any short cut pasta

Below ingredients finely chopped –
½ apple
1 medium sized cucumber
1 medium sized tomato (deseeded, seeds make it watery)
1 banana pepper
A handful of Fennel fronds for garnish

Thin slivers of ½ a bulb of fennel

Roughly chopped almonds, a handful (the more the better for me!)
1 ½ teaspoon fennel seeds – lightly crushed to release the flavours
½ teaspoon red chilli flakes
½ teaspoon sugar
Salt

For the dressing –
1 ½ teaspoon mustard
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ cup good extra virgin olive oil

Whisk the dressing ingredients together and set aside. Let the boiled pasta cool to room temperature before you start building the salad. Mix all the veggies, almonds, fennel etc and toss in the salad dressing. Garnish with the fennel fronds.

Deviled eggs

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Spinach-Portobello Quesadilla and Cumin-Spring Onion Spiced Black Beans

I saw this quesadilla recipe on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" along with a poblano pepper sauce.  Will have to try the poblano sauce soon, but here is my version of the quesadilla.  I tried to make a simple recipe.  The original recipe called for marinating the mushrooms etc, but I skipped those steps since the intention was to create a quick recipe for an easily packable lunch.

Spinach-Portobello mushroom quesadilla

4 small tortillas
1/4 red onion, finely sliced
1 portobello mushroom, sliced (baby bellas will also work)
3 cups baby spinach, (rough chop if using regular spinach)
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds (optional)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 jalapeno pepper (deseeded and finely chopped)
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
salt to taste
olive oil
grated Mozarella cheese or mexican blend

Filling:  Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a small skillet.  Once the oil warms up, add garlic, jalapeno pepper, sesame seeds and cumin powder and slightly saute for 30 seconds.  Add the onion and saute for a minute.  Add the mushrooms followed by vinegar, once the mushrooms have warmed through.  Stir well and add spinach.  Mix in salt and sugar and take off the heat after about a minute when the spinach wilts a little bit.

I use a non stick skillet to assemble my quesadillas. Place cheese, filling, cheese n half of the tortilla and fold over the other half.  I prefer mozarella because I find it holds a quesadilla better due to its stickiness.

Cumin-spring onion spiced black beans

Olive oil
1  jalapeno, deseeded and finely chopped
2 sping onions, finely chopped green and white parts
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 can of black beans, 16 oz
1-2 teaspoon lemon juice (as per taste)
salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar

For me, a mixture of jalapeno, cumin powder, paprika and lemon juice is the essence of mexican cooking.  I may be completely wrong about this, but thats "mexican" in my kitchen!

Start wih a tablespoon of olive oil and add jalapenos, spring onions, cumin and paprika when the oil is warm.  Once the onions sizzle and the aroma fills your kitchen (less than a minute), add black beans, salt and sugar.  The canned beans are cooked, so it will only take a minute or two for them to warm up and soak all the flavors.  Finish with a squirt of lemon juice.

Now, thats a weekday lunch-box I am looking forward too!  I made 4 quesadillas and beans, enough for Salil and I for two lunches.

Tom Yum Soup

This one is one of my child hood favorites and it comes as a surprise that even before chinese, thai cuisine was a norm, Tom-Yum Soup has been available in plenty. This simple, thai soup is a comfort food for me and reminds me of “Nanking” – the first asian restaurant in my home town of Nagpur in central India.

The key to this simple soup is a good stock. We made a shrimp and chicken stock using peels from the shrimp, bones and skin from a rotisserie chicken breast and flavored with cilantro stems, lemon grass and ginger.

The next key ingredient is the thai red-curry paste. I used a store bought paste this time but making it at home is high on my to-do list. I believe in home-made stocks and feel like it is about time to take my spice blends equally seriously.

5 cups of shrimp stock
1.5 cups baby-bella mushrooms (quartered)
2 stalks of lemon grass (cut into finger long pieces)
4 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
0.5 inch piece of galangal (can substitute with ginger)
4 red chillis (I used “kashmiri” chillis – they have a nice deep red color but are not very hot, I also shook off most of the seeds to reduce the heat)
1.5 table spoon fish sauce
Juice of 1.5 limes
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 to 1.5 cups coconut milk (as per desired creaminess)
Cilantro and scallions for garnish.

Some of the recipes I researched used a tom-yum soup paste and a thai red chilli paste, but I went with the red curry paste since it is very easily available and multi-purpose.

Most recipes called for mixing in the ingredients and bringing the soup to a slow simmer and boil and then stirring in the coconut milk at last. I tried a different approach. I tempered the galangal/ ginger, kaffir lime leaves, red chillis and mushrooms in a teaspoon of hot vegetable oil. Next I added the red curry paste, lime juice and sugar and stirred for about a minute before adding the stock etc. As the soup came to a slow boil, I finished by adding the coconut juice and garnished with cilantro leaves and chopped scallions.

If you want to make the soup a little heartier, stir in peeled, de-veined shrimps and/or small asian flavored meatballs along with the coconut milk.

Dumplings

Anita shrimp curry

Went on Saturday night to our friend Anita&Subodh's place for a get together with other Charlotte friends.  Two dishes that I absolutely loved - the shrimp curry (pictured above) and a cold spinach/yogurt salad.

The shrimp curry was a south indian flavoured spicy hot curry with a strong smoked paprika flavour. Was very surprising - kept me guessing for a while, as it tasted like really good barbe-cue chips that you can't put down.  Was unique in that I had not had smoky paprika in indian food - went very well with roti's and rice.

To go with this spicy  barbe-cue curry was a cold spinach and yogurt salad. Something that I would normally abhore!  Again the flavours were amazing and made me want go get a third serving.

If only I hadn't had three Stella's, the spinakopita's, the gree-pea crostini's, and the crab dip with crackers!  Will have to get the recipe from Anita or just make another trip :)

Tiramisu

Saw this receipe on "David Rocco's Dolce Vita" and was surprised how simple it is to make tiramisu.  Decided to try and it and above are the pictures of our first attempt.

5 eggs

5 tbspoon sugar

250 grams / 8.8 oz Mascarpeno chesse

Lady fingers

Espresso/ strong coffee with good flavor

1/2 oz Vermouth

1/2 oz Amaretto

David's rule is 1 egg yolk for 1 tablespoon of sugar!

Start with separating the eggs really carefully.  To the yolks, add sugar and beat well until the sugar melts into the smooth golden yellow yolks.  Mix in the cheese in small batches and blend with the egg yolks and sugar. 

Beat the egg whites separately till they become fluffy and stiff.  This was the first time I was doing this and even with a electric beater, it took about 6-8 minutes. 

I had heard on food shows that steel bowls work the best for eggs, so I did mine in steel bowls, but glass bowls should work well too.  Once the egg whites are ready, fold them gently into the egg yolk mixture.  The cream filling for the tiramisu layers is done.

Next up, get the coffee ready in a small bowl.  A standard espresso maker should work, we just bought two shots of espresso and mixed in about 1/2 a cup of regular coffee along with the Vermouth and Amaretto.  Soak the lady fingers in coffee before layering them in a glass baking tray.  The lady fingers absorbed a lot of coffee fairly quickly, so a quick dip is enough.  Follow the layers of the cookies with cheese-egg mixtures.  Set it in the fridge for 4 hours and then top off with grated chocolate. 

Eggplant and Mushroom in Hotpot

Eggplant and mushroom hotpot - S2 at Gourmet Kingdom

A mild yet flavorful vegetarian dish, brings a nice balance along with the other hot and spicy entrees!

Mouth Watering Chicken

Mouth Watering Chicken - L10
Gourmet kingdom

An interesting cold dish.  We guessed the preparation - whole chicken is first boiled and then cooled in a bath of ice water.  The thick slices are then served in a spicy oil garnished with fresh cilantro. You can taste chillies, vinegar and a touch of sugar.  A great appetizer to begin a mouth-watering meal!

Gourmet Kingdom "Chinese New Year" Dinner

When I was writing this post, I realized that we have so many mentions of Gourmet Kingdom on the blog that we need to give it its own special label!

This picture was taken on our recent trip to the restaurant with a chinese friend and her family to celebrate the new year!  It doesnt do justice to the numerous delicious dishes we sampled.

Hot tea (Y8) - always good and comforting.

Special Green Bean Jelly (L17) - very intersting! Great texture on these noodles made with green bean starch. A cold appetizer in a chilly-vinegar sauce with a punch. Very similar to the mouth watering chicken in taste.

Seaweed with sweet and sour sauce (L5) - If you like sweet in your savory, this one is for you. The seaweed reatins its texture and has a nice bite to it.

Osmanthus flavor cultured sticky congee (Y3) - the dessert actually came first and the preparation was quite intersting.  The rice soup was flavored with the osmanthus flower, with bits of egg-white floating around.  A deceptive dish - the look of it makes you expect a savory soup.

Pickled Bird Fish fillet with chilly sauce (H18) - this one was by far our most favorite, may be since it was the most familiar to us Indians! The "pickled" aspect is very very mild as the chilly peppers are the pickled element and not the fish!

Salt and Pepper Pork Rib (Z7) - A tasty piece of pork!  They were dry and came in little pieces, so I appreciated not having to deal with the mess.  Made a wonderful snack the next day.

Tian Jin flavor dumpling (F2) - the same old dumplings - simple and very tasty.

Dan Dan noodle (F20) - Different from the ones they serve in PF Chang's.  The noodles were thicker and by themselves had a lot more flavor.  Its a cold dish in Gourmet Kingdom and had a wonderful chilly oil sauce.

Soup with lily flower (?) - Cant remember the name of this one.  The lily fronds (pestel) were floating in a mild broth.  Will have to check with Feng for the exact name.  Stay tuned.

The key to enjoying your meal in Gourmet Kingdom is to go in a group of at least 4.  The portions are enormous and you will end up with lots of left overs.  The spicy dishes keep well and make for a great lunch the next day.

Gourmet Kingdom (Ba Shu Chuan Cai)
301 E Main Street
Carrboro NC 27510
Phone number: 919-932-7222
http://www.thegourmetkingdom.com/default.html
Google place page

Dumpling Extravaganza

Our friends Antti and Fan invited us and a few other folks from work for dinner - a Dumpling Extravaganza.  They fed us appetizers and then put us to work!

It was definitely a gourmet evening which started with Bone Marrow.  They got the bones from Harris Teeter (our neighbourhood grocery store) and roasted them in the oven.  Unfortunately, I do not have the exact recipe but I do have a picture of the finished product.  Salil was all excited, but I was a bit hesitant about putting bone marrow in my mouth. 

Fan expertly scooped out the marrow and spread it like butter on a piece of toast.  It was topped off with a simple celery salad.  My apprehension vanished with the first bite.  It was like eating the most luxuriously buttered toast I have ever put in my mouth.  There was not much of a texture to the bone marrow itself, but it definitely made for a tasty bite along with the crunchy bread and lemony celery salad!

With an abundance of drinks, chips, mini crab cakes and chatter, we got down to the dumpling making bussiness.  Fan and Antti had made two stuffings.  One was ground pork with chinese cabbage seasoned with grated ginger, soy sauce and a bit of bone marrow soup.  The other one was ground pork and shrimp with shittake mushrooms.  The dumpling wrappers are easily available in asian markets.  Making the dumnpling itself was rather easy - a little bit of water to seal the edges was all that was necessary.  Fan steamed some of the defective pieces which were in the danger of unwrapping when boiled.  She boiled some and pan friend others. 

Three simple yet very delicious dipping sauce were served with the dumplings.  Fan made the first one by frying some flower peppers in vegetable oil adding it to soy sauce and rice wine vinegar.  The next sauce was a store bought chilli pepper sauce with peanuts etc.  The label in the picture is in chinese, but its worth going on a hunt for this one.  The third sauce was a simple refreshing mixture of soy sauce and rice wine vinegar.

The dinner ended with a big box of Godiva biscuits passed around the room!