Stir-fried pork with holy basil

One of the most famous Thai dishes around the world is this one, stir-fried pork fried with chili and holy basil. You don’t have to use minced pork, as variations include chicken or beef. In Thai it is called moo pat ga-prao. The last part refers to the basil. It is quite simple to cook and the result is very delicious. Can you believe that the above was cooked a few days ago at my local food shop? It is one of those places with an open front with a minimum of decoration. There are thousands of these shops around Thailand. They are much cheaper than going to a restaurant. Believe it or not, this dish was only 25 baht which is about 60 cents. Most foreigners miss out on these meals as they think that they will get ill if they eat street food. So, they decide to pay three or four times as much in a restaurant for exactly the same dish. The ingredients probably came from the same market and were cooked in the same kind of kitchen. I am not saying you won’t ever get ill by eating street food. You just need to use some common sense. If you see a lot of Thai people eating at a food stall or food shop, then the chances are high that the food is not only delicious, but safe to eat too!

As usual, I have also shot a video showing how this was cooked. It is number 11 on the list. Thanks to Pornsiri Kitchen in Soi Sulao for giving us the demonstration.

Chicken Coconut Soup

Method :
(1) Combine half the coconut milk with the galangal, lemon grass and lime leaves in a large saucepan and heat to boiling. Add the chicken, fish sauce and sugar.
(2) Simmer for about 4 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked. Add the remaining coconut milk to the saucepan and heat just to boiling.
(3) Place the lime juice and chili paste in a serving bowl then pour the soup into the serving bowl.
(4) Garnish with the torn coriander leaves and chili pepers, and serve.

Other recipes I have read don't include the lemon grass. I also saw another one that said add the chili at the same time as the chicken. I will do that. This next version of the same recipe comes from a book called "Simply Thai Cooking". I am thinking I will go for a mixture of the two. However, they say add lemon juice which I don't have!

Fried Noodles

How to cook:

1. Soak the rice noodles in cold water for 30 minutes, or until soft. Drain, and set aside.

2. Heat a large skillet until hot, then add the oil. Add the garlic and dried shrimp, and stir-fry. Add the noodles and stir-fry until translucent. It may be necessary to reduce the heat if the mixture is cooking too quickly and the noodles stick.

3. Add the fish sauce, sugar, tamarind juice and paprika. Stir-fry the mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the tofu, turnip and egg.

4. Turn the heat to high and cook until the egg sets, stirring gently. Thoroughly combine the mixture, and continue cooking over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes until most of the liquid is reduced.

5. Mix in the chives, peanuts and bean sprouts. Place on a serving dish, arrange the bean sprouts, chives, banana blossom and lime attractively and serve.

Kang phed ped yang

Thai Food Preparations
1. Heat oil in a wok over medium heat and add the red curry paste, stir well. Then add 3/4 cups coconut milk and stir until mixed thoroughly.

2. Add the roasted duck and stir often. Then pour the mixture into a pot, add the remaining coconut milk, water, tomatoes, pineapples, eggplants, kaffir lime leaves, sugar, salt, and fish sauce.

3. Continue stirring until boiling and remove from heat. Transfer to a serving bowl.