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Posts tagged spicy

Bun Bo Hue – my favourite beef noodle soup in Vietnam

Dec22
2010 4 Comments Written by chefshane

I do like Pho. It's great. It's what's for breakfast all over Vietnam.

But my favourite noodle soup here is a spicy beef and lemongrass number that you DON'T find all over the place.
It is a regional dish from the old imperial city of Hue in central Vietnam which is a couple of hours North of Da Nang City where I live and work.

I'm missing my Thai street food – the flavours and aromas that engage your senses in a kerb-side tango.
Da Nang is sadly lacking in that respect but Bun Bo Hue is a flavoursome soul-warming bowl of bliss that makes me want to waste a morning driving back to Hue City for more.

Here's the recipe – make it, fall in love and gobble it without shame.
It's a two bowl dish. You order one – and then after you finish it you KNOW that you've had sufficient to fuel your body and sate your appetite. But you order another one anyway. It's that good.

Here's how to do it the way they do in Hue.

Bun Bo Hue stock – spicy Hue noodle soup from Central Vietnam

Base stock

6 litres water 
1kg stewing beef (brisket or chuck is good. Also shank, shin or oxtail,)
3 – 4kg fresh meaty beef bones 
10 lemongrass stalks

1 onion, peeled, medium size, charred
1 each fresh ginger root – charred
4 cloves of garlic – charred
6 each peeled red shallots
10-25g Shrimp paste (about 1 tsp to 1 dsp) depends on strength of shrimp paste and to taste

5g MSG (Ajinomoto) 1 tsp
60ml cooking oil (4 tbsp)
60ml nuoc mam or nam pla / fish sauce (4 tablespoons) 
4 teaspoons mushroom granules (Knorr, Maggi or Ajinomoto) 
Rock sugar or 60g local brown sugar
Salt to taste.

Sate ingredients

100ml cooking oil
20g annatto seeds (1 tbsp)
2 lemongrass stalks
15g chopped shallots
20g chopped garlic 10g sugar (2 tsp)
4-6 red Thai chillies, fresh, minced
red chilli powder, to taste ½ to ¾ tsp

Method

  1. Blanching the bones and meat:
  2. Soak the bones with cold salted water to remove blood
  3. After a few hours of soaking, blanch both in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then discard blanching water.
  4. Cut the stewing beef into 3 or 4 pieces so it is easier to handle and easier to slice when cooked. Slice with the grain, so when it is cooked it can be cut across the grain into pieces that can fit on a spoon. 
  5. Fry or roast the beef bones to deep golden brown and put into a stock pot. Cover with the water. Bring slowly to a simmer.

The aromats

Char the ginger root over a gas flame until the skin is blackened. Wrap in foil or put in a small steel dish or bowl and clingwrap to the skin will sweat. After 10-15 minutes wash under the tap and remove skin by rubbing. Crush the ginger with a knife or cleaver.

Char the garlic cloves – then crush with a cleaver.
Char the onion over the gas burner also. Cut into 3 pieces
Add the charred onion, ginger and garlic into the stock pot and keep at a very gentle simmer.

Peel and wash the lemongrass.

Slice the soft white parts at the base very finely. Keep the top parts whole, but crush & add to the stockpot.
Finely chop the sliced lemongrass with a sharp knife.
Pound in a stone mortar and pestle or puree in a high RPM food processor until minced finely

Sauté shallots and the stewing beef in the annatto oil over medium heat until light golden brown. Add ground lemongrass & shrimp paste. Sauté a minute or two more, then season with fish sauce. Add some water, and scrape residue off the bottom of the pan with wooden spoon then add all into the stock pot.

Simmer the stock
Skim often removing any oil and scum.
Add salt, mushroom granules, rock sugar & MSG.

Simmer for 4-5 hours in total BUT:
Check the stewing beef and remove when very tender – From when you add the beef into the stock it should take 2-3 hours to cook through until very tender.
Don’t over cook the meat or it will fall apart and dry out.
When the meat is very tender, remove from the pot and cool down covered with some of the stock so it doesn’t dry out.
Then keep the stock ticking over gently until finished.
It can be done in as little as 3 hours but a bit longer gives it depth and richness.

Saté sauce to add to the stock when finished

  1. Simmer annatto seeds in oil until the oil is red.
  2. Strain and discard annatto seeds. 
  3. Sauté minced Thai chillies with shallots and crushed garlic in annatto oil until golden.
  4. Add 1tbsp minced lemongrass. Continue cooking until it smells great. A minute or two more.
  5. Puree in mortar and pestle (or blender).
  6. Add chilli powder, and nuoc mam ( fish sauce/nam pla).
  7. Add a little stock and stir into thin it out a bit to pouring consistency.
  8. After the stock is fully cooked and finished, stir this saté sauce mix into the stock to enrich it and finish it off.
  9. Remove whole lemongrass stalks and discard.
  10. The stock is ready to use.

Serve with bun noodles (thin white round rice vermicelli noodles , or can also use somen or khanom jeen noodles)
Take your pick of meat garnish.
Use the stewed beef cooked in the stock, thinly sliced. Also some fresh beef tenderloin thinly shaved and placed on the finished dish which will cook rare when you ladle the boiling broth over it.

Small dumplings of minced beef with lemongrass & shallot are delicious in the soup also.

For a texture contrast and truly local flourish, chunks of compressed blood cake are de rigeur amongst the local Hue breakfast set. They serve as a rite of passage for foreigners too. Why buck the trend?

Spring onion, mint, ram leaf and coriander are happy topping companions. Lash out and try it. I dare you.  :P

Bun bo appetite!

Posted in Gluten free, Healthy & Low fat, Vietnam - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thai nam sausage recipe. How to make it the natural way

Jun27
2010 Leave a Comment Written by chefshane

Nam sausage recipe

There's really no nice description that does justice to this most popular of Thai snacks.
It's a taste experience relished all over Thailand, but hard to explain to foreigners and the uninitiated. Nam is so popular in Thailand, it even has its own nam facebook page
It's  'fermented sausage', but "a glass of Burgundy" sounds nicer than 'fermented squashed grapes' and 'sourdough' sounds better than 'rotting wheat'.
You can probably see my problem – it's quite hard to sell or explain to those who haven't tried it before.

Mine looks a bit different to the store bought varieties, because it's fresh and natural.
Generally though, nam has a pink colour, sour spicy taste, and a tight texture with variation from different cuts of meat.

Nam sausage is a Thai staple.
It's spicy and flavoursome, with a heady tang and some personality.
If you're about to kiss passionately, choose chocolate truffles instead of nam. But if you're going to drink, eat and be merry, have some fermented sausage on hand. 

Nam is great with a beer or four, and can also be added to soups. Another way to serve is Thai yum salad with roasted peanuts, ginger and coriander, a dish that really leaves you craving more.

Nam is easy to find in Thailand, both literally and figuratively.
Walk into any 7-11 from Chiang Rai to Hat Yai, and choose from 10 different brands. Street vendors sell it grilled, barbecued on sticks, deep fried or tossed with ginger root and toasted peanuts. The list goes on. 

Nam is made with pork, but it can be easily be made with lean red meat also.
In Australia I made a great Kangaroo nam with zero fat and an impressive flavour and texture. In Bor Naam ron I tried an excellent water buffalo meat nam.

As mentioned above, Nam is basically a 'sour fermented pork sausage'.
This always puts people off. 
Fermented! Like………. like wine, beer, bread, pickles, yoghurt, sauerkraut, tabasco, vanilla beans, prosciutto, serrano ham, olives, cheese and all those other disgusting things that we would never eat because it's gone sour and full of bacteria!

Nam is awesome!
In the West it's not such a common product, but we can pick up a packet of Lobo 'nam powder' from the local Asian shop and make our own in 24 hours. Fantastic. Mix well with mince, garlic, chilli, rap tightly in bags, press and chill overnight
Nothing like grabbing a pack of powdered enzymes, additive numbers and food enhancers and mixing it through raw meat eh? ;-)

In Sydney I used to use the instant nam powder. It tastes good, and we eat additives every day in the West in almost everything we consume. 
But why not do it the easy natural way if we have the know-how?

The traditional Thai method of making nam

This way is cheaper, easier and far superior in flavour than the lab export. 
Before starting, you need to make sure that:

  • The work area and bowl/utensils are scrupulously clean
  • The pork or other meat is very fresh
  • You wash your hands well – and wear gloves when mixing
  • The meat should be chilled and temperature controlled up until you use it

Ingredients

  • 500g  lean freshly ground pork (never frozen). Get a piece of fresh pork, then chop it or mince yourself.
  • 40g    fresh steamed white sticky rice
  • 50g    garlic, fresh cloves
  • 16 ea Thai chilli, whole – not cut
  • 20g    salt flakes – kosher, Maldon, etc. Must be a pure salt – not table salt
  • 1 tsp  MSG (optional) If not, read this in horror, scream "AAAAARRRRRGHHHHHHHH!" loudly and ignore
  • 120g  clean pork skin  - slice into small strips and simmer in water until not quite soft, about 5-10 minutes. Do not cook too much or it will disintegrate and go gluey!

You'll also need:

  • banana leaves – or clean plastic bags
  • rubber bands, or string, or – something to tie it up with.
  • larger plastic bags to protect the individual nams as they ferment

First crush the garlic. Remove the skins, wash, then chop roughly

Grab some fresh cooked white sticky rice, and rinse it in some water so the grains separate. Give it a 5 second wash, and drain off the water.


 
Add the sticky rice and the crushed garlic to the chilled pork mince, and mix in the chilled sliced cooked pork skin. Crush the salt flakes slightly, but not too much. Don't use iodised table salt.
   

If you need more background on nam (and anything else in the Thai repertoire for the last 4 centuries) get the book "Thai Food" by David Thompson. Careful – do your 'due diligence' David Thompson is an Australian chef and author. To buy the book online it's $29 on Amazon and $90 on Australia's boomerangbooks.com.au.
That's a criminal price difference.
The book is written in English, and it's a masterpiece that comes bound in Thai silk.
Asian Food porn at its best ;-)

I learned this handmade nam sausage recipe the best way though – taught by a Thai Mum and Dad.
They were taught by their Mum and Dad and the recipe was handed down through a few generations

Add the salt flakes to the mix, and give it a stir.
Grab a pair of gloves and start to knead it well to mix the cooked sticky rice and the salt into the pork and garlic. The sticky rice is what will start the fermentation process, and the salt will control it to a certain extent.


You'll need a couple of sturdy priks. Relax. "Prik" is the Thai word for chilli.
 
Choose your chillies according to your taste.
The standard is the normal Thai birdseye chilli, about 4-5cm long (1.5 to 2 inches).
If you're brave or silly, you could use the miniature Thai chillies that burn their way through you like battery acid.
If you have a death wish, experiment with habanero chilli :-)
Important: DON'T chop the chilli. Keep them whole. Just pick off the stem and the green bit at the end, like in the photo.


 
Next, the packaging. It's all about how you wrap it.
Over here in Thailand we use banana leaves, because they're free and growing everywhere.
You don't need to use them though. An easy method is to use plastic bags, but they have to be new ones, and very clean.
Rubber bands are handy too, as we need to keep these 'nam' sausages nice and tight so the meat binds together.

Lay the nam mix inside the banana leaf, or spoon it into the clean plastic bag.
Don't be too worried about technique.
We just want to wrap it up, and then squeeze it, tie it, or press it nice and tight for 24-48 hours.

I think my nam looks pretty sexy, but I'm biased.
This one is wrapped with thin 'strings' cut off wild bamboo with a sharp knife, but I'm showing off.
I made some with plastic bags too, just so you don't feel insecure first time around.

The important thing is to make sure that they're quite tight.
You know when you get stressed out and wrap rubber bands around your finger again and again until the end turns blue?
Well after you roll it in the plastic bag, do that 3 times.
Once on each end and once in the centre, and you end up with a tight, firmly bound sausage that doesn't fall apart in your hand.
If you are going to use it for salads or barbecue, it doesn't matter so much.
The taste and quality won't be affected – only the 'solidity'. and 'firmness'

VERY important:

Put your wrapped nam packages into a fresh plastic bag, twist it well, and seal it with rubber bands, twist ties or something so that flies and pests can't get in.
We are going to do what the cheese and yoghurt makers do, and leave it at room temperature for 1-2 days to ferment. We don't want any bugs laying eggs or trying to eat it. Not even the edible kind!

It takes 1-2 days to ferment, and after that we keep it in the fridge.

1 day is slightly sour, 2 days more so. It's delicious.
You can eat this nam sausage recipe plain, or slice it and serve it with roasted peanuts (no skin) and some thin slices of peeled young ginger root. Try it with a few cold beers.It keeps in the fridge for up to a week.
Natural, no preservatives. I'm lovin' it!

If you liked this nam sausage recipe, please share with others, or check through the archives. There's lot's more to look at!
thanks for stopping by. Comments and feedback welcome

Posted in Gluten free, Northern Thai, Thai food classics, Thailand - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wild mangosteen yum salad with betel leaf

Jun20
2010 Leave a Comment Written by chefshane
Santol is the English & French name for ‘Wild mangosteen’, known here as 
Kratorn or ??????? depending on your point of view & language skills.

In Thailand, “K” is pronounced as a hard “G” like in gun, grim, or gorilla – so it is actually pronounced “Gratorn”
For those who follow dying languages, you can also refer to it as  Sandoricum koetjape, but people will think you are a bit of a dick. 
Especially in Thailand. 
I imagine you would be met with a blank stare, and a loudly shouted “BAI”! (Go Away!)

Why ‘wild mangosteen’? Well it does bear a resemblance to mangosteen texture and flavour with its soft cotton-wool flesh and refreshing tangy taste.
This is an innocent looking critter that hangs from the trees like wrinkled and elderly oranges, and I happen to have a couple of trees in the back yard where I am staying. 
Soon we are going to be inundated, because these trees carry a heavy load of fruit, and in the middle of the season they’ll be dropping to the ground like impotent mortar rounds. 
Don’t be deceived – just like myself the creased and furrowed exterior of Kratorn hides a heart of tropical pleasures, sensual bliss and exotic excess.

This is actually a fruit – so why not eat it like one?
Well, you can. And people often slice it into a bit of ice and syrup. 
Here we’re making a tasty Thai style ‘yum’ salad.
It’s very important to chop the seeds out, which are inedible. and quite sharp.
It is really refreshing on hot days, which one tends to experience from time to time in the tropics, and it cleanses the palate nicely.
I think it would make a fantastic sorbet, or a pulpy tart decadent stuffing for a tropical trifle with lychee jelly and coconut custard, but I digress.

I was lucky enough to ‘notice’ a few ripe kratorn lying innocently under the tree, so I claimed them and came wandering into the kitchen, where the cat expressed interest in playing with it. Surprisingly, no serpent appeared, even though this is a prime candidate for as forbidden fruit. Perhaps I read too many books. Or maybe I’m reading the wrong ones. :-)

Here’s the recipe. 
2 each Gratorn/santol fruit
1 tsp roasted dry red chilli 
½ tsp salt 
1 dsp sugar (25g) 
7 leaves cilantro (sawtooth coriander) / pak chee farang 
5 cloves garlic 6 each red shallots /onion



Peel the fruit, and chop it into shreds or slivers. Remember to remove the seeds. If you swallow them whole, they may ‘perforate an intestine’ (ie – poke a hole through it and land you at the doctor!)

Pound /crush the garlic and red shallot in a mortar and pestle.
You could also chop it or crush it with a knife, then add it to the fruit, but here in Thailand they pound it.
Add the Kratorn fruit. Mix it well.

Season with sugar, and ground roasted dry red chilli. NOTE: Toast this chilli until dark and aromatic. It DOES make a big difference to the end taste.



Chop the cilantro / flat coriander roughly, then mix it through Mix the salad, and adjust the salt/sugar balance if needed. Thats it! Serve with betel leaves (“Bai chorpoo)Chop the cilantro / flat coriander roughly, then mix it through Mix the salad, and adjust the salt/sugar balance if needed. Thats it! Basically, you pick up a betel leaf, plop a spoonful of kratorn salad on top.



What the hell is a betel leaf?
Ah – that old chestnut!
it’s ‘pepper leaf’, Or ‘Bai chorpoo’, or Piper betle to go all Roman on you again.

It is related to pepper and the muddy but potent Fijian intoxicant called kava.
It’s common all over Asia, and it is a creeping vine that grows up trees, power poles and support frames.

Basically it is cheap, plentiful and growing everywhere in the tropics. If you see vines with spade shaped leaves growing and creeping all over something, chances are it is betel! Betel is also pretty important in Vietnamese and Hindu cultures, so ask any Indian or a Vietnamese married couple for more details.


A really important Thai dish featuring betel is “Miang kham” – which you can google, or wait for another post from yours truly.

It is a fun, interactive dish to serve as an ‘ice-breaker’ or complimentary starter. Full of contrasting but also complimentary flavours. (No – not ingredients that go “Hey – nice shirt!) 
OK, time to go. Let me know what you think if you can find these fruits. They are tasty stuff.

Posted in Uncategorized - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Khao soi recipe: Chiang Mai chicken curry & noodles

Apr29
2009 Leave a Comment Written by chefshane


"Khao Soy" (or Khao soi) is a chicken curry noodle dish from Chiang Mai in North Thailand . Chicken is stewed slowly in a shallot and coconut sauce with hand-smashed curry paste and a slow-braise simmer.
Yellow 'ba mee' egg noodles are served in the soup with a tender stewed chicken leg – and crisp egg noodlesop on as garnish

Here's a local khao soi recipe.

It gets it's taste and texture by pounding all of the spices in a big stone mortar and pestle, and using "non politically correct chickens"

We don't go all gourmet and use corn fed fowls or any other expensive, over-hyped foodie treats.

We just use cheap, unwanted, unloved stewing fowls – otherwise known as "tough old boilers" to make a really nice braise or "stew."
It takes two hours and it tastes as good as any Italian casserole.
In fact – I'll put my balls on the line and state quite bluntly that it tastes even better!

After all, it's Thai, authentic, and packs a massive punch in the taste stakes.

Khao soy curry paste.

Here's what you will need:

Khao Soy curry paste                          (makes 225grams)  

30g     ginger, young, sliced
35g     galangal, sliced, peeled                                                         
45g     garlic, peeled                                                              
30g     fresh coriander root,washed             
35g     red onion / shallots,peeled         
35g     lemongrass, sliced thinly/chopped      
10g     coriander seed
10g     dried red chilli, small / medium                                                  
18g     gapi shrimp paste                                                                               

Method                                                                                        

1/. Pound all ingredients in mortar and pestle                                                   2/.pound consistently until a paste is formed
3/. Use curry paste while fresh.

                                                   

   

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Khao Soy – Chiang Mai chicken curry    makes 7- 8 portions

600g chicken leg with skin, boneless, stewing
225g Khao Soy curry paste, Fresh. See recipe
120g oil, plain for cooking, veg oil
1000g chicken stock                       
1000g coconut milk (Aroy D brand, or thick!)
62g  fish sauce                             
56g  palm sugar                           

Tips and pointers                                                                                                 

1/.    heat oil in heavy bottomed stewing pot                                   

2/.    fry curry paste over medium heat until it smells great!      

                              3/.    Add chicken pieces, and fry with paste 4-5 minutes 

  

4/.    Add coconut milk, slowly, and in 4 batches, stirring well between.
5/.    Add chicken stock. Stir well
6/.    Bring to a gentle simmer. Add fish sauce and palm sugar.
7/.    Simmer VERY GENTLY for 1.5 to 2 hours.      


* For this recipe, use old boiling fowls. This is a long, slow cooked dish. 

The older, tougher chickens will become moist and tender with slow cooking. 
DO NOT make it "classy" by using some fancy five star chicken breast, because this will become tough and dry.

As the Italians will also tell you, rustic home-cooked food needs simple, natural ingredients, plus care, passion and time.

In reality – slow tough cuts for traditional braises. Cheap cuts. Non designer. Old. Fibrous. Chewy. Ugly. And – shudder – horrifyingly named. And also inexpensive, tasty, and containing all the connective tissue that breaks down to make slow food so enticingly moist and delicious.

So – DON'T be tempted to "upgrade" – unless you really know your cuts and cooking methods inside out through lots of experience.

 

Assembling Khao soy to eat 

  1. 1 portion khao soy curry
  2. 75g thin yellow egg noodles 
  3. 25g thin yellow egg noodles deep fried until crispy
  4. 15g pickled lettuce
  5. side dish of nam prik pao (black chilli jam)
  6. 1 lime cut into wedges
  7. Crispy fried shallots as garnish
  8. Fresh coriander as garnish
  9. Spring onion, chopped, as garnish
  10. red onion / red shallots, freshly sliced as garnish

 

 

Posted in Asian Hawker & Street food, Northern Thai, Thai food classics - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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