Tom Kha Goong - Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup

Aah yeah!

Ingredients


Coconut milk
Stock (vegetable or chicken)
Lime leaves
Galangal
Red Chilli
Lemongrass
Coriander
Lime

Shrimp (Gambas or similar)

Fish sauce
Green chillis
Sesame oil

Rice


Method


Prepare the rice as you like it.


If using long red chillies, slice thinly. Otherwise, chop the red chilli finely. Halve the lime leaves, removing the stem. Slice the galangal. Bash up the lemon grass, so that it releases its flavour but it is still in tact. Or slice lengthways - remember to remove the tough outer leaves. Chop up some coriander.

Empty a tin of coconut milk into a pan. Add 2/3 of the same amount of stock. Add the ingredients above to the pan and bring to a simmer. Add some fish sauce and lime juice.

For the shrimp, you want to keep the head and tail on. Remove the rest of the shell carefully.

Taste the soup. If it is too sweet, add more fish sauce. If it is not spicy enough, mash the green chillies, coriander, fish sauce and sesame oil with a pestle and mortar to make a spicy paste. Add it to the soup and stir.

Boil the shrimp in the soup for about 4 minutes. Serve the soup, and top with fresh coriander and squeeze of lime. Together with the rice, it makes a substantial and tasty meal.

Vietnamese-ish Beef Curry

Full o' flavour, just how I like it.

Ingredients


Beef (shin or chuck)
Flour

Cinnamon stick
Cardamom
Peppercorns
Bay leaves
Cloves

Onions
Garlic
Ginger
Chillies

Turmeric
Cumin
Chilli powder / Cayenne pepper

Tomato puree
Water


Yoghurt
Garam Masala


Method


Coat the beef in flour and season. Brown it off in a casserole.

Add the next batch of ingredients (cinnamon, bay leaves, etc.) and let them sizzle. Add the onion, garlic ginger and chillies. Return the beef to the pan.

Stir in the spices - turmeric, etc. Then add the tomato - I used puree. Top it up with some water. Mix the yoghurt in with some salt and garam masala. Add this to the casserole.

Let it cook for about an hour or more on a low heat.

Serve with rice, or chapati.

Thai, Indian and Jamaican Hamburgers

Spicy hamburgers to rock your palate

Ingredients


Pork mince
Spring onion
Garlic
Breadcrumbs
Egg

Chilli (Birds eye)
Ginger
Coriander
Fish sauce

Turmeric
Garam Masala
Curry Powder
Lime pickle

Scotch Bonnet pepper
Cloves
Thyme

Sliced tomato

Method


First, make your basic hamburger mix. Chop the spring onion and garlic finely. Add to the mince. Add the crumbs, or crumbly cream crackers. Add egg yolk and mix thoroughly.

Prepare your ingredients  for the various types of burgers (chop chillies finely) and add to the mince. Note that the fish sauce should be used in the Thai style burger instead of salt, while the other two types should be seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. Also note that the lime pickle should be spread on the bun, and not mixed into the mince.

Once you have mixed your ingredients, they can be kept in the fridge until needed.

Heat a griddle pan until very hot. Fry the burger for about one minute on each side to get them to a good colour, then reduce the heat and cook through (about ten minutes).

Buns should be grilled (lightly toasted) on one side. Mayonnaise is a good counter for the heat, as is a slice of tomato. The Lime Pickle is awesome with the Indian burger.

Go crazy and experiment with these flavours.