Bangkok Thai Cooking Academy-Day 11

Greetings from Bangkok! Another good day of cooking. I was just thinking today, as I was chopping some REAL small shallots, how much better my knife skills have become. This school is teaching me more than Thai recipes, but giving me the experience in the kitchen with items I normally wouldn’t use much, such as woks, steamers, coconut shredders, mortars, carving knives, etc. Even though I miss my family and friends back home, this has been a wonderful experience so far and hope I can do it again in the future in other countries, as well.

Some new ingredients I worked with today included soft tofu (it was real soft and gelatinous) and Chinese salted black olives (they had some HUGE pits in them, wow). I got to scrape coconut out of a fresh coconut today and learned how to prepare it. Fresh coconut doesn’t last long, about a day or two in the fridge…So you have to add a little salt to the shredded coconut, mix, and then steam it for about 15 or so minutes so it keeps fresh longer.

Also, I went to the bakery next door to get some of the items that I’ve used at school for home…so much less expensive then buying them online, sooo much…I checked. I just remembered a few more things I want…guess I will go back tomorrow after class!

My stations today were very colorful with all the veggies and sauces. I need to mention, when we cook if it looks like your dish is getting dry in the wok there is always chicken stock on the cooking station to put into your dish. It’s basically cook by site…if it looks like it’s dry or going to burn/stick to the wok, add more broth. Also, we do multiple tastings for each dish to make sure the sauce tastes as expected. If you like your flavors differently you can taste and adjust from there.

What I made today:

• Deep fried tofu & prawn sauce (Tao Hu Song Khuang)
• Deep fried Spicy Pork Salad (Larb Tord)
• Southern Thai style deep fried fish with turmeric (Pla Thod Khamin)
• Thai style salted black olive fried rice (Khao Pad Nahm Liap)
• Coconut pancakes (Ka Nom Ba-Bin)
• Stir fried beef with black Pepper (Neux Waw Pad Prik Thai Dam)
• Stir fried rice vermicelli with tamarind sauce and soy bean dip (Mee Krati)

Although I really enjoyed the coconut pancakes, I think my favorite dish today is between Southern Thai style deep fried fish with turmeric, Thai style salted black olive fried rice, and stir fried beef with black pepper. They all had a light and healthy taste to them, especially the fish…oh, so tender and succulent with wonderful flavors from the turmeric and garlic rub…but I will go with the Thai style salted black olive fried rice. When everything was mixed together the flavors just hit the spot today.

For the Thai style salted black olive fried rice, you will need:

• 2 Chinese salted black olives, pit removed and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 small shallots, sliced thinly
• 30 grams ground pork
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 2 small hot chilies
• 1/4 cup long bean, sliced thinly
• 1 lime, cut for garnish
• 1/4 cup toasted cashews

Steps:

1. Heat walk with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and fry garlic until fragrant.
2. Add pork and separate then add black olives. Cook until pork is done.
3. In the meantime, mix sugar, oyster and soy sauce and set aside.
4. Add rice to wok, then sauce mixture and mix well with other ingredients in wok and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes.
5. Dish the fried rice onto a serving plate and arrange small piles of hot chili’s, long beans, shallots and lime around the perimeter.

The other dishes I made today:

Whew, that is it for today. Tomorrow I have a double Saturday session. I will be making 9 dishes! I’m kind of scared to weigh myself…oh well, it’s all an experience! Catch you tomorrow.