Taste of Thai

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THAI GREEN CURRY: (serves 4)

• 15ml vegetable/coconut oil
• 2 x 400ml tins coconut milk (ideally 17-19g fat per 100ml otherwise curry will be watery), and avoid brands with emulsifiers and other additives. Should just contain coconut extract and water, and ideally separated into a thick top creamy part and watery underneath part)
• 40g – 80g green curry paste (the amount depends on your particular brand of paste, and how hot you want it - taste and decide. I use 60g of the Mae Ploy brand)
• 2 kaffir lime leaves
• 40g palm sugar (or soft brown sugar)
• 40ml fish sauce (or soy sauce if vegetarian)
• A good pinch salt
• 500g chicken breast OR prawns (peeled, uncooked) OR butternut squash (if vegetarian)
• 250g broccoli or green beans
• 1 red pepper 
• 50g mange tout or baby corn
• 1 lime
• A few sprigs coriander 

​
PREP

1. Wash all the vegetables.  
2. Open the tins of coconut milk and remove approx. 1/4 of the thick cream at the top of each tin and place in a bowl– reserve the rest in the cans 
3. Measure out your curry paste to a small bowl
4. Mix the sugar, fish sauce and a good squeeze of lime juice into a small bowl – mix well – taste and adjust for a good balance of sweet/salty and sharp
5. Slice and finely chop the lime leaf  - add to the sugar/fish sauce mix
6. Top and tail the green beans and cut in half/thirds OR cut the brocolli into small florets - place in a bowl
7. Take the “checks” off the pepper - cut into strips and halve across, or into a large dice – add to the bowl with the other veg
8. Cut the mange tout in half across on diagonal OR split the baby  corn down the middle lengthways – add to the veg bowl
9. Slice the chicken and reserve in a bowl OR devein the prawns OR peel and cube the butternut

 
COOK

1. Add oil to the pan - heat
2. Add curry paste - cook out for 30 seconds until aromatic, stirring
3. Add the creamy “top” of the coconut milk to the pan  - cook this out until again for a few minutes, stirring
4. Add the remaining coconut milk, lime leaves and fish sauce/sugar /lime (already prepared in a small bowl) - Mix through to combine
5. Add the chicken and veg - cook until the chicken is cooked and veg is tender. If using prawns, cook the vegetables 2/3rds first, then add the prawns
6. Check the curry for balance of flavor – need a good balance of sour, salty, sweet and heat (from chilli) – adjust as required 
7. If you feel its too watery (Thai curry isn't supposed to be very thick but some prefer it thicker), then mix 1 Tbsp cornflour with 2 Tbsp cold water and add this to the curry stirring until it thickens. 
8. Turn off and serve in a bowl with jasmine rice, and garnished with a wedge of lime and some coriander leaves

JASMINE RICE: (serves 4)

• 300g Thai jasmine  rice
• 450ml water
• 1/2 tsp salt 

​

1. Rinse the rice three times until the water is no longer cloudy
2. Place rice in a med pan or rice cooker
3. Cover with water to ratio 1:1.5 (same water to rice plus extra 50%) - For 300g rice that's 450ml water.  
4. Add salt - stir once
5. Put lid on pan/rice cooker 
6. In a pan: Bring water up to boil and them immediately turn right down to low, and cook for ​10 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave with lid on to steam for an additional 10 minutes. 
7. In a rice cooker - just switch on and let the cooker do all the work. 
8. When rice is cooked and steamed, fluff up gently with a fork and transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with coriander

SPRINGROLLS: (makes 18-20 rolls)

• Spring roll wrappers (these must be the ones wheat based you can fry, usually sold frozen). They come in different sizes and I like a med size, about 10-12cm square. I usually buy the large size (easily available in supermarkets) and then cut it down to create the size I like).  
• 5ml sesame oil
• 1 clove garlic 
• 1 small knob fresh ginger - enough for 1 tsp when peeled and grated)
• 200g white cabbage  
• 2 med/1 large carrot - about 200g once peeled
• 2 - 3 spring onions
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp caster sugar
• a pinch of salt (if needed depends on how salty the soy is)
• Pepper
• 1 egg
• 500ml vegetable oil (sunflower/rapeseed is fine, not olive oil) - for frying

​MAKING THE FILLING

1. Soak the glass noodles in hot water for 15 minutes
2. Meanwhile, very finely slice the cabbage and carrots into thin strips, and chop accross - you need a super sharp knife
3. Finely chop the spring onion
4. Peel and grate the ginger and garlic so you have a tsp of each
5. Heat a Tbsp of vegetable oil in the wok/pan
6. Add the cabbage and carrots and fry until softened - about 5 minutes
7. Add the spring onions, garlic and ginger and continue frying for another 2 minutes
8. Add the sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar and pepper, mix through and taste, only then add salt if needed (NOT TOO MUCH SALT)
9. Remove from heat and spread out to a tray to allow faster cooling 
10. Remove glass noodles from the water, drain well and squeeze out excess water
11. Cut the noodles into small pieces (use scissors), and then add to the vegetables and mix through to incorporate well
12. If you have liquid on the tray with the veg, place the filling in colander to drain off excess liquid - we want it dry ​

MAKING THE ROLLS

1. Make sure your springroll wrappers are fully defrosted before use - leave overnight in the fridge from night prior, or out on counter for 1 hour before cooking 
2. Break an egg into a small bowl/ramekin and mix
3. Dampen two tea towels
4. Open the pack of springroll wrappers and peel one off, placing a damp tea towel over the remaining pack to stop them drying out (if your wrappers are large size, first cut them in quarters or trim by a third, using a very sharp knife, through the whole block)
5. Place the wrapper in front of you, diamond shape point towards you
6. Place a tablespoon of filling near the bottom point, pull the bottom corner over and tuck in tightly and fold over again,
7. Push down on the right side to get rid of air pockets, and fold the side over to the middle of the roll, then repeat on the left
8. Use a finger to spread egg mixture onto the remaining top edges, and then roll up, making sure you are not leaving any air pockets or exposed areas.
9. Place the prepared springrolls onto a baking tray lined with baking/parchment paper (so doesn't stick) and cover with clingfilm or another damp tea towel (otherwise they will dry out and crack)
10. Repeat with all springrolls until you have used up all the filling

   
COOK - BAKE

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius (this will take a while to reach temp)
2. Put the prepared springrolls on a tray lined with baking/parchment paper (if you haven't already)
   
3. Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden (you can turn halfway through if you wish)
4. Then place on a platter and serve with a ramekin of sweet chilli dipping sauce

COOK - FRY

1. Place about a cup of oil in a deep pan and allow to get very hot - 180 degrees Celcius (this will take a while to reach temp)
2. Fry the springrolls in batches until golden - only takes a few minutes - dont overcrowd the pan, and use tongs
3. Carefully remove the springrolls to to a tray lined with kitchen roll to drain
4. Then place on a platter and serve with a ramekin of sweet chilli dipping sauce

NOTE: You will have wrappers left over (they come 30 -50 to a pack), so you can make double the amount of filling, then roll and freeze another batch of springrolls for another time