Bangkok Thai Cooking Academy-Day 5

Good day to all! Hope you are enjoying all the posts on all the wonderful Thai food that I am preparing. What a wonderful opportunity that I have to do this for a month!

Some of the new ingredients that I used today included wing beans and Thai bananas (these cute little 3-4″ banana’s). The wing beans were very unique, they had ridges all around.

Today the recipes were not as spicy as other days. Of course I always have the choice of how spicy I want to make my dishes but I have leaned towards making the recipe as is to see what it tastes like. Well, today as is was not too spicy :).

My station today:

Today’s menu included:

• Gaeng khua curry paste (Nam Prik Gaeng Khua)
• Mussel curry with pineapple (Gaeng Khua Sapparod)
• Crispy pork paste dip (Nam Prik Kak Moo)
• Stir fried squid with salted egg yolks (Pla Meuik Pad Kai Kem)
• Wing bean salad (Yam Tua Plu)
• Steamed banana pastry (Kanom Kluay)

Today is the first day that it’s easy for me to pick my favorite recipe. Even though all the dishes had their merits I REALLY loved the wing bean salad. Mildly spicy with coconut cream and chicken and shrimp…wow, it had a wonderful subtle flavor. The wing beans had an interesting texture, very different than a regular string bean. The only bad thing was that it seemed like too small of a portion!

For the wing bean salad, you will need:

• 250 grams Wing beans, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup minced chicken
• 3 shrimp
• 1 hard boiled egg, peeled and cut
• 1/4 cup fried shallots
• 2 fried dried small hot chilies (optional, for decor)
• 2 tablespoons coconut cream
• 2 tablespoons mild chili paste
• 1/1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon palm sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice

Steps:

1. Blanch the sliced wing beans in boiling water for 1-2 minutes then immediately put into cool water and drain. Set aside.
2. Add coconut cream to pot over medium heat and bring to a simmer
3. Add in chicken and shrimp and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Add chili paste and stir well then add fish sauce, palm sugar and lime juice and combine well.
5. Cook for another minutes and taste for seasoning then serve by itself or over rice.
6. Top with fried shallots, boiled egg and dried chili, if using.

I have to say that these dishes I am making have been some of the most colorful dishes I have made, consistently! The ingredients are also so fresh, it’s amazing. Here are some pictures of the other dishes I made today.

The next dish I made is called a dip, which I was confused about since it’s not what I would think of as a “dip”. It’s pork fat, shallots and garlic that all have been sliced REAL thin and then deep fried. After you fry it you throw it all in a wok and heat it some more as you throw in some chili powder, salt and sugar. I asked Chef why it’s called a dip and she said that they eat it by dipping chunks of sticky rice into it and it sticks to the rice and you pop it in your mouth. Of course it can also be served over rice or as a garnish on dishes, or you can just pop the crispies in your mouth!

This next dish was very pretty. Looks very festive and holiday like!

And lastly, dessert. This one I thought would be great but was just so so. It had too much of a rubbery texture for my liking :), but the fresh shaved coconut was REAL good.