isaan Archives - Joy's Thai Food Recipe Blog and Training for Beginners

Gang Som Naw Mai Dong (Spicy Bamboo Soup)

Gang Som Naw Mai Dong – Spicy Bamboo Soup

Prepare:

5 chilis
6 red onions (sliced)
3 lemongrass stalks (finely cut)
3 scallions (cut short, about 1″)
1 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. fish sauce
1 pound chicken breast (cut thick)
1.5 pound pickled bamboo shoots
1/2 cup basil
2 cups water

Instructions:

1. Make paste by mixing peppers, cut lemongrass, red onion and chop it in the blender.

2. Put 2 cups of water in the pot, and use high heat. Then add the paste from step 1 along with 1 tsp. of salt.

3. Wait until the water has boiled, then put chicken breast, pickled bamboo shoots, and 6 tbsp. of fish sauce.

4. Cook for 8-10 minutes with high heat.

5. Turn off the fire, add scallion and basil.

6. Serve over Jasmine rice. Your rice is important, there are many varieties. Usually if you buy expensive Jasmine rice in the Asian market you’ll get the better rice.

This is another of my husband’s favorite recipes. It is a spicy and sour soup that is served over rice. The smell of the pickled bamboo and the lemongrass and basil altogether is almost overwhelming. It’s incredibly delicious and a Thai favorite.

My Video of Gang Som Naw Mai Dong!

If you have suggestions for what you’d like us to cook, please write me at the contact link above.

We will try to bring you a Thai Food Recipe and Cooking article everyday! Make sure you view some of the videos too! At some point we’ll put all the videos – in better quality of course, on a CD-ROM and offer them for sale.

Ok, Merry Christmas!

Som Tam Spicy Papaya Salad Thai

Som Tam (Spicy Papaya Salad), a Thai Favorite

Som Tam comes from the northeastern “Isaan” region of Thailand which is near the border of Laos. Residents eat this meal daily for lunch or dinner. It is usually accompanied by “Gai Yang” – barbequed chicken or pork and some condiments: cucumber, lettuce, and green beans. Som Tam Thai has peanuts, and dried baby shrimp. Som Tam is very delicious and my favorite Thai food! My husband has also grown to like it – he says it’s addictive.
Som Tam Recipe

Prepare:

2 cups coarsely graded unripe Papaya
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1-4 small red or green chilis
(in Isaan we often use 10 or more!)
2 garlic cloves
1 long squirt of fish sauce
1 lemon/lime (minao in Thai)
1/4 cup yardlong beans (green beans) if you wish
Dash of salt, sugar to preference (1 tsp)

Instructions:

1. Combine chili peppers, garlic, tomatoes, salt, sugar, with mortar and pestle. The sound of pounding the ingredients makes a bpok bpok noise. Some people call som tam, “Bpok Bpok”! Some parents in Thailand name their kid Bpok!

2. Squirt in some fish oil and squeeze the lemon juice into the mix. Add the papaya in small groups to make sure it mixes well.

When mixed thoroughly serve in a bowl. Rice is always served with this – the som tam is eaten with rice to take the spice out of it a bit, and just because Thai people eat LOTS of rice! Sticky rice (steamed rice) is the preferred rice in Isaan, but you can use boiled white Jasmine rice.

This video is of a night market close to Teung C. Muang park in Ubon Ratchathani in the northeast of Thailand (Isaan region). This woman is my favorite som tam maker. You can see her squeezing the “minao” (lemon/lime) and adding the papaya to the mortar and pestle. She makes HUNDREDS of these dishes everyday! > Som Tam Woman Video

Click here to watch how to make Som Tam video

ENJOY!

Thai I-Saan Food Recipe: Sai Grok I-Saan

Thai I-Saan Food Recipe: Sai Grok I-saan (I-saan Sausage)

Sai Grok I-saan
(I-saan Sausage)

Prepare:

2 pounds minced pork
2 pounds pork casing
1 cup pork fat
10 cloves garlic
20 Thai white peppers
3 coriander roots
1 / 2 cup cooked sticky rice
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. salt
1 / 2 tsp. sugar
15 strings (4 inches long each one)

Fresh vegetables as you like:

Scallion, cabbage, red chili peppers, young galangal or the pickle galangal will be great, cucumber or string beans

Cooking Instructions:

1. Clean casing very well. Ground coriander roots, garlic and Thai pepper together.

2. Mix minced pork, cooked sticky rice, coriander, garlic, and Thai pepper altogether. Knead it with hand.

3. Add soy sauce and salt.

4. Now, put the mix in to pork casing. Tie the string at the length you want. Usually we leave 1 inch long and tie the casing.

5. Put something to protect it from the flies over top like white cloth filter and leave it under the sun for 1 day. Then leave it inside the house for 2 days. The sausage will get sour and ready to cook.

Grill or fry when you cook. The taste will be perfect sour after leaving it for 3 days total. Serve with fresh vegetable above and pickled ginger. Sweet sauce or tomato sauce will be your choices. I have heard of collagen casing or fake casing. Anybody knows about it? Well, you can also use that stuff but I donâ€™t know where to get it. 🙂 If you want to know other Thai food recipe, you can leave me a request recipe here. Then, I will try to publish it the next day. Don’t hesitate! 🙂

Thai Isaan Food: Kao Ji (Grilled Sticky Rice)

Thai Isaan Food: Kao ji – Grilled Sticky Rice

Prepare:

1 cup cooked sticky rice
1 egg
1 tsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. coconut milk (optional)

Cooking Instructions:

1. Mix sticky rice with coconut while the rice is still hot. Make sticky rice into a ball. (see the picture)

2. Beat the egg and add fish sauce.

3. Dip the ball of sticky rice into the egg and grill until the egg is cooked.

4. Do the same thing for the other side.

Kao Ji is influenced by Laos. You can find it in northeastern region of Thailand. Anyway, all of my Laos friends, I don’t really know if Kao Ji is one of yours recipe or not. I’m sure we can find this food in Laos too! 🙂

Sab Mak (delicious)

Thai Food Recipe: Lab Moo (Spicy Pork)

Lab moo - spicy Thai pork salad.

Thai Food Recipe: Lab Moo (Spicy Pork Salad)

Ingredients

7 oz. Sliced Pork
7 oz. sliced pork entrails (optional)
3 oz. sliced pork skin (optional)
2 tbsp. ground roasted uncooked rice
1 group coriander
3 leaves parsley
1 group scallion
1/2 cup mint
Sliced red chilis as much as you can stand!

2 tbsp. sliced red onion
1 tsp. dry pepper powder
2 tbsp. fish sauce
5 -6 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup water

Cooking Instruction:

1. Cut coriander, parsley leaves, scallion finely.

2. Nip off the mint leaves.

3. Cook the sliced pork, entrails and skin in 1 cup of boiling water for 8 minutes. Add salt.

4. Take the pot off the stove. Put lemon juice, roasted uncooked rice, coriander, parsley, scallion, red chilis, red onion, dry pepper powder, fish sauce and 1/2 cup of mint leaves.

5. Dress with mint leaves on the top. Serve with sticky rice, and fresh vegetables; cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, eggplant or string beans.

6. Don’t use spoon or fork!! Eat sticky rice and lab moo with your fingers, you’ll get the real taste. 🙂