squid Archives - Joy's Thai Food Recipe Blog in Thailand

Thai Food Recipe: Yum Woon Sen (Spicy Glass Noodle Salad)

Yum Woon Sen - Mung Bean Noodle Spicy Salad, from Thailand.

Yum Woon Sen – Cellophane Mun Bean Noodle Spicy Salad

Prepare:

1/2 minced pork
1/2 cup seafood (optional)
1 cup mung bean noodles (bean thread noodles)
2 tbsp. sliced onion
2 tbsp. sliced tomato
3 tbsp. scallion (cut 1 inch)
3 tbsp. Chinese celery (cut 1 inch)
2 tbsp. chopped carrot
1/2 tsp. salt

Prepare sauce:

2 tbsp. chopped red chili pepper
1 pickled garlic (sliced) with 1 tbsp. juice
7 tbsp. lemon juice
5 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. sugar
2 crushed coriander roots

Cooking Instructions:

1. Boil minced pork and seafood in 1/2 cup of water for 5 minutes. Add salt.

2. While the pork is being cooked, soak mung bean noodles until it’s soft.

3. In a different pot, add water and wait until it’s boiling. Then, drop mung bean noodles and leave it for 3 seconds. Next, drain and leave it in a bowl.

4. Prepare the sauce, mix chopped red chili pepper, pickled garlic and its juice, lemon juice, fish sauce, crushed coriander roots and sugar altogether.

5. In the pot with minced pork, add the sauce from number 4 and mung bean noodle. Put Chinese celery, scallion, onion, tomato and carrot. Mix well.

6. Dress with lettuce, sliced cucumber and tomato.

Today at lunch, I made our Thai food favorite at our office, Yum Woon Sen, for the first time after a long time. I like to add a lot of vegetables and make it more sour and spicy than usual. The color is so red because I crushed the pepper real good. 🙂 To make it red like in the picture but keep the same spicy level, you should cut the red pepper in half and then throw away the seed. Some restaurants in Thailand use hot sauce to make it red, but I never try it. I think the hot sauce make Yum Woon Sen taste strange.

Note from Vern

I first had yum woon sen in Tampa, Florida at a Thai restaurant. I wanted to try something new because I had already bought my one-way ticket to fly to Thailand and I knew I was going to have to get used to the food. All I knew at the time was tom yum soup and pad Thai noodles! Well, the cook at the Thai restaurant knew to dumb it down for me a bit and take the spice out. They also made it a bit sweet for me, and not so sour. There was only like 1 chili cut up in mine.

I liked yum woon sen immediately. I was in for somewhat of a shock once I arrived in Thailand and got my first true Thai version of the dish. It was very spicy, very wet, and the vegetables were so perfectly done. It was so much better than it was in the USA. I love spicy food, and this was definitely spicy, but eventually I got used to it. If you’re afraid you might not get used to the level of spice in the country, I would say that you shouldn’t worry. Just tell everyone NO chilis. Mai ow prik na krup (na ka, if you’re a woman). It will STILL be spicy, because Thais just don’t know how to make anything that is supposed to have chilis – with at LEAST one chili in it, but you’ll get used to it and soon you’ll be eating it like me.

I like it so hot, that when they ask, I say, “Pedt silop suh lai.” It means, make it so hot that I fall into a coma. Sometimes they actually do make it that hot! Be careful what you ask for.

Come to Thailand and taste authentic Thai food! I’m trying to get Joy to teach classes to visitors that want to learn how to make a couple of dishes during their vacation. I hope she goes for it and quits her other job!

Thai Food Recipe: Deep Fried Squid (Bpla Meuk Tod Gratiam)

Deep Fried Squid with Garlic in Thai, Pla Muk Tod Gratiam

Prepare:

1 cup fresh squids (clean and cut it thick in circle pieces)
1/2 cup tapioca flour
2 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup crushed garlic
2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
Sliced tomato, cucumber, lettuce as much as you want
1 small cup of hot sauce

Cooking Instructions:

1. Drop the squid into a bowl of tapioca flour when it’s still wet.

2. Deep fry the squids in hot oil until it turns gold and crunchy. Remove from the pan and leave it drain.

3. In a different pan, add 1 tbsp. oil and garlic. Fry the garlic until it turns yellow.

4. After that, add fried squids, pepper, salt, sugar and stir quickly.

5. Turn off the fire. Serve it with sliced tomato, cucumber, lettuce as much as you want. Don’t forget hot sauce or sweet plum sauce for the children. 🙂

I love to eat squids! 🙂 My husband knew that the best. When I saw fresh squids with clear and hard skin by the beach market, my eyes get big. Yummy! I have to eat more squids tomorrow!

Note from Vern

Oh my yes, this is a fact. When we go to the Korean BBQ – where we can fry the food on a grill type surface right at our table, she covers her side with squid. She grills it, and there is another part of the pan that lets you heat it in the broth – she covers her side with squid in there too. It’s no exaggeration to say that she has a good 10 ounces of squid when we visit those places. It’s a wonder they make any money off us. It’s all you can eat for just ~~3 dollars~~ 5-dollars (price went up!) a person. She eats all hers in Squid. I eat most of my five dollars in the ice-cream after I eat a lot of vegetables and chicken. Thailand is so great for incredible food!

Another Thai Food that Causes Bad Breath: Crispy Squid with 3 Flavors

Prepare:
500 g. cut it into a bite size (size of the squid is at your satisfaction), Click on the link to see photo.
1-2 tbsp. palm sugar (regular sugar is ok)
2 tbsp. shrimp paste (optional, some recipe say you don’t need this)
4 dried or fresh red chili (crush them)
1 clove garlic (crushed)
1/2 cup concentrated tamarind juice
1 tbsp. fish sauce
Vegetable oil

Cooking Instructions:

1. Deep fry the dried squids that you already cut them into bite size. Make sure you use low heat and don’t let it burn. This dried squid can get burnt very easy. How can you tell when it is ready? Don’t let it get the brownish color, yellowish is ok. When you have it turn yellow, the squid will be half chewy half crispy as it is cool off. However, having it turn brown the squid will be way to crispy that you won’t get to taste the saltiness from it but only the bitter taste.

2. Now, leave the squid aside and make 3 flavors dressing in a different pan.

3. Start with dried chili. If you don’t want it too spicy, you can use dried red chili with long shape. Soak the chili in water for 15 minutes. Cut to take the seed out and then crushed it well. If you love spicy food you can just crush them without taking the seed out. Usually, dried red chili (the long one) is not that much spicy.

4. Next, heat the pan up and add 1 tbsp. vegetable oil. Add crushed chili and garlic, fry until it has good sneezing smell.

5. Then, add tamarind juice, palm sugar and fish sauce. During this time, you should use low heat, add little amount of water to make sure the sauce won’t get burn. Check if the sauce is sticky.

6. After that, add the fried squid into the sauce and mix it well. Please note that, the sauce should have 3 flavors of sweetness, saltiness and spiciness. You may change the taste of this sauce as the way you like before mixing the squid in it.

20 some years ago as a was a kid from the country side, my school was right in front of my grandma’s house where I lived. I joined the kindergarten there with my older brother, before we moved into my aunt’s. I was a very skinny and tiny that my teacher put me in the list of the kids that were lack of nutrient. Not that my mom didn’t give me good food but I was too picky. Whenever there many people ask me to eat, I closed my mouth tight, stick my nose up in the air and said “NO”… haha

However, here it come the reason for the size of my lunch box 20 years ago. It was a margarine box… small and cute.. 😀 haha. Nothing fancy. Kids in the countryside pack their lunch with rice and some other thing in the same box. Fried dried squid was my favorite… and 2 small squids with rice was the lunch I couldn’t finish up. 🙂

Thai Food Recipe: Stuffed Squid in Soup (Gang Jued Pla Muk)

Stuffed Squid in Plain Soup in Thai, Gang Jued Pla Muk Yud Sai

Prepare:

10 squids (small size)
1 cup minced pork
3 cucumbers (peeled and cut horizontally 4 times)
2 group scallion (cut 1 inch long)
1 group coriander (cut 1 inch long)
1/4 cup minced carrot
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tsp. pepper
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
3 cups stock from pork or chicken bone

Cooking Instructions:

1. Clean the squids very well.

2. Mix minced pork with 1 tbsp. minced garlic, pepper, minced carrot and light soy sauce.

3. Stuff the squids with mixed pork and close the hole with its tentacles.

4. Peel the cucumbers and clean.

5. Fry 1 tbsp. minced garlic until it has aromatic smell.

6. Heat the stock. When it is boiling, add stuffed squids and cucumber. Cook for 8 minutes then remove from the stove.

7. Add scallion, coriander and mix well. When you serve, don’t forget to sprinkle fry garlic in the soup. It will give the nicest smell that makes your stomach cry.

When I was writing this recipe, I was thinking about the time I studied at primary school, Anuban Yasothon. It was also where my aunt taught.

This was an Anuban School, I will call it a brand name school because in all provinces all over Thailand there is a school with this name. They have the same pattern of rules and food, characteristic of teachers and students. I can compare it because I went to this brand name school to study in Yasothon and work in Ubon Ratchathani, where I first met my husband. :p hehe

10 years after I finished grade 6, I can’t believe they have the same food and same taste to serve their students. The good thing is the food, stuffed cucumbers in plain soup, reminded me of the time in the passed 10 years. (They made it stuffed cucumber because the squid is too expensiveâ€¦ haha)

However, the plain soup with cucumber in it always tastes so good. It has a little sweet taste from cucumber and great fragrance.

I hope this will remind any of you, who are Anuban family members, the time at school like it has reminded me. 🙂

Thai Food Recipe: Ho Mok Talay (Seafood Curry)

Prepare:

Group 1 Paste

2 lemongrass (sliced)
2 pieces galangal (cut finely)
2 red onions
1 clove garlic
2 tsp. shrimp paste
1 tsp. kaffir lime skin (sliced)
5 dried red chili peppers

Group 2
1 cup cooked shrimp (peeled and de-veined) squid and cooked snapper meat (slice and take out the bone)
1 egg (beat)
½ cup thickest part of coconut cream
1 cup soft coconut meat (sliced)
2 tbsp. milk
½ cup sweet basil
2 tbsp. fish sauce
½ tsp. sugar

Cooking Instructions:

Making the paste by grounding everything in group 1 ingredients together.
Heat the pan and put olive oil. Then, add the paste and stir it for 30 sec.
Add coconut cream. Mix it together.

Now, put shrimp, squid and fish. Add fish sauce and sugar.

Lastly, put coconut meat and mix it with beat egg. Then add milk and sweet basil.
Serve it on coconut shell.

Dinner on this day, we got bored of having too much squid and shrimp all the time so I used fish. Also, we don’t like egg, we skipped it. 🙂