Celebrating Songkran this Summer 2013...

Tapioca Dumplings

Ingredients
100 gms Green Tapioca
100 ml Hot Water
50 gms Yellow Soya Beans ( Split Mung Bean )
100 ml Coconut Milk
To Cook:
300 gms Sugar
300 ml Water

Preparation


1. Soak the yellow soya in warm water for 1 hour.
2. Steam the soya on foil in a Thai steamer for 10 minutes.
3. Add a little coconut milk and a pinch of salt, then blend them into a paste. Only a little coconut milk is needed for flavour, don't add too much or you'll make the soya paste too loose.
4. Roll pieces of the yellow bean paste into small balls, approximately 1cm in diameter.
5. Put the 100ml of hot water into the green tapioca, it will become sticky. Stir it to make sure the water is well mixed in, then take pieces of the tapioca and press them into thin 4cm discs in the palm of your hand. Place one of the yellow balls in the centre and fold up the edges. After some pressing you can form it into a ball.
6. Boil 300ml of water, add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
7. Drop the balls into the boiling water and cook until the balls become almost completely clear. This can take 15-20 minutes.
7. Once they are clear, remove them with a sieve and drop into cold water. Leave the sugar syrup in the pan to cool.
8. Serve with a little of the syrup, and a little coconut milk.

Sandwich Cake

Ingredients

250 mls Coconut Milk
150 gms Sugar
200 ml Evaporated Milk
3 Eggs
3 Tablespoons Wheat Flour
1 Teaspoon Salt
8-10 Slices of Bread
Desiccated Coconut for Garnish

Preparation

1. Whip the eggs to mix them, add all the other ingredients and whip together for 1 minute.
2. This needs to be cooked in a bain marie (a small pan sitting in a larger pan of boiling water so that it cooks gently). Cook slowly for 15 minutes, stirring continuously.
3. Let it cool a little, for this cake, you can eat this topping warm or cold!
4. Cut the crusts off the bread. Layer slices of bread, and sauce alternately, with a top layer of the sauce.
5. Dust with dried coconut.

Radish Jewels ( Tub Team Grob )

Ingredients 


100 gms Cassava Starch
50 gms Radish, Apple or Water Chestnuts
100 ml Coconut Milk
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
200 ml Water
200 gms Sugar
200 gms Crushed Ice
Beetroot Water (For Colouring)

Preparation

1. Chop the radish into small squares and soak in beetroot water for 3-4 hours to colour the radish pieces.
2. Drain the radish pieces and add them to the cassava starch.
3. Boil water and add the radish pieces to the boiling water. They will swell and cook, it's normal to leave a little uncooked centre pieces to give the crunch. Then drop them into cool water.
4. Boil 200 ml water with the sugar until the sugar is dissolved and leave it to cool, to from a syrup.
5. Into a separate pan, put coconut milk, and add the salt. Boil for 1/2 minutes and leave it to cool.
6. To serve, place some of the radish jewels into a serving bowl, add some of the coconut milk, some syrup to make it as sweet as you prefer, and some crushed ice.

Thai-style steamed fish

 Ingredients

    2 trout fillets, each weighing about 140g/5oz

    a small knob of fresh root ginger , peeled and chopped

    1 small garlic clove , chopped

    1 small red chilli (not bird's eye), seeded and finely chopped

    grated zest and juice of 1 lime

    3 baby pak choi , each quartered lengthways

    2 tbsp soy sauce

Method

1. Nestle the fish fillets side by side on a large square of foil and scatter the ginger, garlic, chilli and lime zest over them.
2. Drizzle the lime juice on top and then scatter the pieces of pak choi around and on top of the fish.
3. Pour the soy sauce over the pak choi and loosely seal the foil to make a package, making sure you leave space at the top for the steam to circulate as the fish cooks.
4. Steam for 15 minutes. (If you haven't got a steamer, put the parcel on a heatproof plate over a pan of gently simmering water, cover with a lid and steam.)

Thai chicken cakes with sweet chilli sauce

Ingredients

    2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 175g/6oz each), cubed

    1 garlic clove , roughly chopped

    small piece fresh root ginger , peeled and roughly chopped

    1 small onion , roughly chopped

    4 tbsp fresh coriander , plus a few sprigs to garnish

    1 green chilli , seeded and roughly chopped

    2 tbsp olive oil

    sweet chilli sauce , lime wedges, shredded spring onion and red chilli, to serve

Method

1. Toss the chicken, garlic, ginger, onion, coriander and chilli into a food processor and season well.
2. Blitz until the chicken is finely ground and everything is well mixed. Use your hands to shape six small cakes.
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan, then fry the cakes over a medium heat for about 6-8 minutes, turning once.
4. Serve hot, with sweet chilli sauce, lime wedges, coriander, shredded spring onion and red chilli.