Archive for the ‘#1 Go-To Recipes’ Category
Tom Yum Teen Gai
One of the most popular soups in Thailand is Tom Yum, and the most popular with tourists is Tom Yum Goong, goong is shrimp in Thai. This is a spicy and sour soup, the name comes from 'tom' meaning the boiling of the soup, and 'yum' meaning the spicy sour aspect of it. This recipe is for Tom Yum Teen Gai, 'teen' meaning feet, and 'gai' meaning chicken. No set amounts with this, which is typical in Thai cooking, but taste and adjust seasonings as you go. This is NOT a soup for those with acid reflux. There is many ways to season this, this is how my brother in law prepared it, and he is an excellent cook. Some families do not share their 'secret ingredients' to anyone, even in their own family.
Ingredients
- 500-1000 grams chicken feet, scrubbed and trimmed, (about 1 to 2 lbs)
- 3-4 stalks lemongrass
- 6-8 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 3-5 shallots, peeled and quartered
- handful fresh kaffir lime leaves, young leaves are best
- 20-30 Bird's Eye Chilies, pounded in a mortar
- 10-15 cherry tomatoes, whole, or 3-4 plum tomatoes quartered
- 1-2 handfuls fresh mushrooms, straw, oyster, or white crab works well
- 10-15 small limes, halved, you will juice these later
- salt, as needed to taste
- MSG, as needed to taste, totally optional
- fish sauce, as needed to taste
- sugar, as needed to taste
- water, as needed
Instructions
- Place the cleaned and rinsed chicken feet in a pot and add water to cover by about 2 inches. Pound the bundle of lemongrass with a pestle or the flat side of a meat tenderizer, tie the bundle into an overhand knot, add to the pot. Add the garlic, shallots, and lime leaves to the pot. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a low boil. The Tom part of the name is the boiling process, as this soup is on a low boil the entire time while cooking. Let the feet cook for about 20-30 minutes.
- While the feet are cooking, add the chilies to a mortar and pound them to get them all crushed, not looking for a paste, just well crushed.
- This will give you the idea on how many chilies to use.
- When the feet are good and tender, add the tomatoes, mushrooms (white crab were used in this), chilies from the mortar, and squeeze in the juice from about 5 limes (squeeze into a cupped hand, juice will go into the soup, seeds stay in your hand). Pot is still on a low boil.
- Stir in a spoon of sugar and a couple of splashes of fish sauce. Still boiling.
- Taste and adjust salt, fish sauce, lime juice, and MSG if using, to your liking. Continue to gently boil the soup and taste again about 10 minutes later and adjust as needed. Goal is sour but with the distinct spiciness from the chilies. (Here it is finally turned off and a serving bowl ladled out.)
- Ladle into a serving bowl and serve family style just letting people spoon out what they want.
Notes
Low cost.
Prepared by my brother in law who is an excellent cook.
Thailand.
Thailand.
Sauteed Red Radish
I have never heard of this until yesterday, and I happen to have red radishes in the fridge. I made these on 10 Jan 2019, very nice flavor and a perfect side dish. Four ingredients and 10-15 minutes of your time.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 20 small red radishes
- salt and pepper, as desired, to taste
Instructions
- In Thailand, I have never seen small radishes, only large, tops are removed and they are sold 3-5 to a pack, they are large. Here I used a pack of 4 big ones, scrubbed and ends trimmed.
- For small radishes, simply slice in half from top to bottom. For large radishes, slice top to bottom into 3 to 5 pieces.
- Heat the butter on low heat, when hot, add the radishes cut down side for halved, and for the large ones, the two side pieces cut side down and the center pieces, just add to the pan. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Stir and toss occasionally until the radishes are starting to brown and softened.
- Serve as a side dish with any meal.
Notes
Low cost, and virtually free if you have red radishes in your garden.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Cubed Potatoes (Pressure Cooker)
To cook potatoes for a potato salad or other dishes needing cubed (bite size) potatoes. This will use either the steamer tray or basket that came with your pressure cooker or any steamer basket or trivet that will keep the potatoes above the water. This process cooks the potatoes with pressure and heat, they cannot get waterlogged or soggy like boiled potatoes. Only takes 4 minutes on high pressure and a natural release (I use a 9 liter (9½ quart) 12 psi (80 kPa) stove top pressure cooker, which is basically the same pressure as an electric model). Follow the safety precautions for your model of pressure cooker. I made this on 3 Jan 2019 for use in another recipe, perfect potatoes!
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 4 potatoes, see Step 1.
- 2 cups water
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed, optional
- 1 bay leaf, optional
Instructions
- I used 4 large potatoes (11 oz / 311 g each). Peeled or unpeeled is your choice. You can use less or more potatoes but do not go over the â…” full limit in your size of pressure cooker.
- Scrub your potatoes for unpeeled, or peel, totally your preference. Cut the potatoes into bite size pieces, how I do this is cut a potato in half lengthwise through the widest section, lay each piece cut side down then make 1 or 2 cuts lengthwise, then cut crosswise to make bite size pieces. Takes about 3 seconds to cut up a potato this way. Make sure the pieces are not to small.
- Add the water to your pressure cooker, add the bay leaf and garlic if using, insert the steamer tray or basket, add the potatoes to the tray or basket.
- Place the lid on and lock, add the weight (the jiggler), turn on the heat to high. when the jiggler starts to move and vent pressure, indicating full pressure, start your timer for 4 minutes and reduce the heat to low or medium low to maintain full pressure. If you want a bit firmer potato pieces, set your timer for 3½ minutes.
- When 4 minutes have passed, turn off the heat and move the pressure cooker to an unused burner to cool and release the pressure naturally, about 10-15 minutes.
- When the pressure is fully released, open the lid.
- Use the potatoes in any recipe calling for cooked cubed (bite size) pieces. I used these for a slow cooker recipe.
Notes
Used in Recipe Listed on this site:
- Potatoes in Alfredo Sauce, made it, GO-TO recipe.
Rocky Road Candies
Incredibly easy and only 3 ingredients! I really wonder why I have never made these before. I made these while visiting very dear friends in another province, and they were well received.
Ingredients
- 500 grams chocolate compound, (1 lb)
- 2 cups salted peanuts
- 2 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
Instructions
- This is the chocolate I used 500 grams or half of a 1 kilo (2 lb) block of dark chocolate compound.
- I used a double boiler, basically get two pots, one that fits in the other, add some water to the larger pot and put on low heat but you want the smaller pot to not touch the water, you just want the steam to melt the chocolate. Add the chocolate to the smaller pot.
- Let the chocolate melt, stir occasionally, until it is a smooth consistency.
- While the chocolate is melting, measure out the peanuts and mini marshmallows.
- Once the chocolate is melted and smooth, remove from heat but leave the smaller pot in the larger pot. Allow to cool slightly, maybe 5 minutes or so, then pour in the peanuts and marshmallows, stir to coat everything well.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil, spoon out the candy by tablespoons and drop on the parchment. Use more baking sheets and parchment as needed, or simply place parchment on the counter. Allow the candies to cool at room temp for 2-3 hours to set them up, or place in the fridge. When set, serve and enjoy.
- Using the variants of cashews, cherries, and sprinkles, made 23 candies.
Notes
Even though though the chocolate (Thailand) and the marshmallows (imported) are high cost, just one candy is perfect for a dessert as these are very sweet, so this is basically low cost, and is a great treat for a once in a while occasion.
Variants: 1. Use cashews or almonds in place of peanuts (will increase the cost as well). 2. Add 1/4 cup chopped glaced cherries. 3. Sprinkle on some candy sprinkles.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Cream Cheese Corn (Slow Cooker)
This is an easy side dish to prepare with minimal hands on time so you can prepare other dishes at the same time. And it is good! I made this on 31 Jan 2022 and the family loved it! Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Notes section.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker (3½+ quart)
Ingredients
- 570 grams frozen corn, or drained canned, or fresh cooked, (20 oz), Shortcut
- 250 grams Cream cheese, diced, (8 oz)
- ½ cup buter, diced, (½ block / 1 stick)
- ½ cup evaporated milk, or whipping cream, or milk
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- salt and black pepper, as desired, to taste
- fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish, if desired
- Parmesan cheese, grated, for garnish, if desired
Instructions
- Grease the inside of your slow cooker with some of the butter, then add the corn, rest of the butter, cream cheese, milk or cream, and sugar. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Stir to mix.
- Cover and set to Low setting for 4 to 6 hours (depending on how hot your slow cooker runs). At the 2 hour mark, give the corn a quick stir. At the 4 hour mark, stir again and taste, season with salt and pepper as desired, and if the corn is nice and tender, it is ready to serve, or set the cooker to Warm setting until ready to serve.
- When ready to serve, stir the corn well, taste and season with salt and pepper as desired. If the corn is took thick, just stir in a little milk. Pour into a serving dish and garnish with parsley and or Parmesan cheese as desired.
- Serve as a side with any main dish, and enjoy.
Notes
Shortcut: Fresh Corn I (Pressure Cooker).
Hot & Sour Soup
This is a Chinese soup and comes from a friend who is Chinese Malay, and it comes touted as the best and easiest, and it certainly is! I made this on 5 Sep 2022, and the family absolutely loved this! Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons corn starch, for the slurry
- 3 tablespoons cold water, for the slurry
- 2 cups chicken broth, fresh or from powder, Shortcut
- 1½ cups water
- 250 grams soft tofu, cut into strips, (8 oz)
- 250 grams fresh white button mushrooms, (8 oz)
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2½ tablespoons rice vinegar, or apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce, mainly for color
- 3 dashes white pepper powder, or to taste
- 1 egg, beaten
- chili oil, for spiciness, optional, to taste
- red pepper flakes, for spiciness, optional, to taste
Instructions
- Prep the mushrooms by cutting off the stems and quarter the caps.
- Next, we need to make the thickening slurry, mix the corn starch with the 3 tablespoons of cold water until well blended and no lumps. In another bowl, beat the egg. Set both of these aside.
- Next, in a small bowl, add the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and rice vinegar, stir to mix. Set this aside.
- In a large sauce pan, add the broth and 1½ cups water, bring to a boil then add the mushrooms and tofu and let boil for 2 minutes. (I did not have tofu on hand and simply omitted that, still worked perfectly.)
- Stir the soy sauce mixture into the soup, and season with a few dashes of white pepper or to taste. Give the slurry another stir then stir that into the soup, continue stirring until just slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Turn off the heat but leave on the same burner.
- Now gently stir the soup in one direction, and pour the beaten egg into soup in a gently stir and count to 10. Then using the handle end of a spoon or fork, or a pair of chop sticks, stir the soup in the same direction for 3 complete circular motions, this makes the nice egg threads in the soup. Season to taste with chili oil or flakes if desired.
- Now the soup is done, ladle into bowls and serve.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Chicken Broth.
Variant: 1. No tofu? No worries, substitute some cooked white beans or chickpeas, or add more mushrooms, or simply omit.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
This is a spur of the moment cookie idea, butter crackers + peanut butter + chocolate = sounds great. I made these when I was making Rocky Road Candies, and glad I did, these are yummy.
Ingredients
- peanut butter, creamy or smooth, your choice
- butter crackers
- chocolate compound
- sugar sprinkles, optional, as needed
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Spread peanut butter on the bottom of a butter cracker, top with another butter cracker, bottom side down. This way each side looks like the top of a butter cracker. Place crackers on the parchment paper. Place the baking sheet in the fridge to chill for 40 minutes to 1 hour.
- I used Tulip brand dark chocolate compound. Very common here in Thailand.
- I did not state a quantity for the chocolate as I made this on a whim when I was making another item, but the basic principle is use a double boiler, but you want the smaller pot not touching the water below it, just let the steam melt the chocolate. Add chocolate to the smaller pot in the quantity you need and put the bottom pot with the water on low heat.
- Allow the chocolate to melt, stirring once in a while, until it is smooth. Turn off the heat.
- Remove the crackers from the fridge, add a cracker to the chocolate, use a fork to roll it over to coat evenly with the chocolate, lift the cookie out with a fork and place on the same parchment paper. Sprinkle with sugar sprinkles if desired.
- Continue with more crackers as desired. If the chocolate cools too much, just turn on heat to low for a few minutes and stir, and continue on until the cookies are all coated and placed on the parchment paper. Place in the fridge to chill before serving.
Notes
Low cost.
Common way to enjoy butter crackers with peanut butter, just seemed like this would work.
Hoppin John (Slow Cooker)
This is a classic southern US dish of black eyed peas and ham served over rice or even as a side dish. I made this on 17 Jan 2019 and used some variants as well, excellent dish! There is several shortcuts to lower costs as well. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Notes section.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 3-4 cups cooked ham, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 cans black-eyed peas, drained, rinsed (15 oz / 425 g each), or 6 cups cooked, Shortcut
- 2¾ cups chicken broth, fresh or from powder, Shortcut
- 2-3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
- salt and pepper, as desired
- hot cooked rice, for serving, if desired
Instructions
- Drain the beans and add to your slow cooker. I used cooked dry beans.
- Add remaining ingredients to your slow cooker. I added red and green bell peppers, celery, smoked ham, and bacon as variants as well as homemade chicken broth.
- Give the pot a stir then cover and set to Low setting for 4 to 6 hours but anything past 8 hours and the beans will be really soft.
- Stir the pot once an hour. Here it is at 4 hours, and it is perfect.
- Serve over rice for a main dish or serve as is without rice as a side dish. Enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving, especially if using leftover ham or beef, and using the shortcuts.
Shortcuts: Black Eyed Peas (Pressure Cooker), Chicken Broth.
Variants: 1. Use cooked and sliced sausage, any type you wish. 2. Use leftover cooked beef, cut into bit size piece. 3. Use chopped bacon. 4. Add a bell pepper or two and or celery.
Shrimp in Coconut Milk (Ginataang Hipon)
This comes from a good friend who has traveled throughout the Philippines, which is where this originates. For the black pepper leaves, in the US, some farmers markets will sell these, if you cannot find them, fresh spinach or bok choi works well also. Two methods are listed, the alternate method is a more localized type for Thailand with added fish and using local vegetables. I made the alternate method, and it is delicious!
Ingredients
Original Method
- 1 kilo shrimp, shelled, deveined, tails removed, (2 lb)
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup fresh pepper leaves, these are black pepper leaves, or any leafy vegetable like fresh spinach or bok choi.
- salt and black pepper, to taste
Alternate Method
- 500 grams shrimp, shelled, deveined, tails removed, (1 lb)
- 500 grams white fish fillets, cut into 1 inch pieces, Pangasius is perfect, (1 lb)
- 1 bag soup fixings, from local market
- 3 cups coconut milk
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon pork broth powder
- salt and black pepper, as desired
Instructions
Original Method
- In a medium pot, add the water and coconut milk. Bring to a boil then add the shrimp, reduce to a simmer. Season with salt and black pepper as desired.
- When the shrimp are pink (do not overcook the shrimp), remove from heat.
- Stir in the pepper leaves or other leafy vegetable, spinach or bok choi would be good choices.
- When the greens are wilted, serve.
Alternate Method
- With this method, I reduced the shrimp to 500 grams (1 lb) and added 500 grams of Pangasius, which is a nice firm white fish. Also used is a bag of soup fixings from the market, the green leafy parts in this are the leaves from a vine that grows wild and is foraged for everyday.
- Open the bag of soup fixings and give everything a good rinse. This bag contained carrot, pumpkin, bottle gourd, winter melon, leaves from a vine make up most of this, and oyster mushrooms.
- In a medium pot, add the water and coconut milk. Bring to a near boil then add the soup fixings, pork broth powder, and season with salt and pepper as desired.
- When it nearly boils again, reduce to a simmer and let this cook for about 10 minutes.
- Add the fish and shrimp and stir in. When the shrimp are pink (do not overcook the shrimp), just turn off the heat, leaving the pot on the burner, and cover with a lid. After about 5 minutes, the soup is done, but can remain covered while you prepare other items. I made some rice so I just let the pot sit.
- Ladle into bowls and enjoy.
- I served this with a side of Persian Dill Rice.
Notes
I recently bought 1 kilo (2 lbs) of shrimp from a local vendor for 70 Baht. For 4 servings, this is about 53 cents per serving. Adding variants can increase the price slightly if decreasing the amount of shrimp, like when adding fish, but certainly less than $1 per serving.
Variant: 1. Add Straw mushrooms, sliced in half.
Swiss Cheese Potatoes
Excellent twist to mashed potatoes and is German in origin. Very tasty, the Swiss cheese is an excellent touch.
Equipment
- Broiler
- Baking Pan (8x8 inch)
Ingredients
- 8 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1½ teaspoons salt, divided
- 2 cups celery, diced, or 1 teaspoon celery seed
- ¾ cup onion, diced
- 1½ cups Swiss cheese, shredded, divided
- â…” cup milk
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Place potatoes in a large pot, add water to cover potatoes and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook uncovered for 10 minutes. At the 10 minute mark, add the celery and onion, cook until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes more. Drain, and let the pot cool a bit, then pour all the vegetables back into the pot.
- Heat your broiler, and for those with counter top ovens, heat the top coil to the hottest setting. Grease an 8x8 baking dish with butter.
- Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes as you add the milk, butter, ¾ cup of cheese, black pepper, and ½ teaspoon of salt. (I used the variant method and pressure cooked the potatoes, skin on, and sautéed the onion, and I used celery seed instead of celery.)
- Place the mashed potatoes into the prepared baking dish, sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Broil for 5 to 8 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned.
- Serve as a side with any dish.
Notes
Variant: 1. Use a pressure cooker for the potatoes then sauté the onion and celery and add to the potatoes when you are ready to mash.