The Seasoned Noob Rotating Header Image

Thai Recipes

Rad Na with Pork

Sep 1st, 2010
by dave.
No comments yet

Rad Na

It’s about time I updated “The List” that you see in the upper right corner of the page. I’ve since added quite a few new recipes and I should really reflect those up there. Getting close to that 100 number! And it’s almost been a year…about how long I thought it might take.

But anyway, another day, more noodles =)

Access to fresh rice noodles is something that should never go unused. I have a couple packets of dried rice noodles in the cupboard but I don’t think I’ve used them in the year or so I’ve had them since fresh ones are so close at hand at Hong Kong Supermarket in Allston. Just walk up, buy them and let them sit on the counter while you prep the rest of the dish. Makes for a 15-20 minute meal most times because the noodles only take a minute or two to soften and soak up all the tasty sauces in the pan.

Every time I pick up the fresh rice noodles, I almost always cook Beef Chow Fun or Pad See Ew, two of my favorites (and go-to dishes whenever I have guests). But I do have to admit, it’s nice to branch out and try something new every once in a while (Especially since I cook fresh noodles around twice a month these days…)

One of my favorite dishes while growing up was Beef Chow Fun but with a soupy gravy poured over top along with some carrots and sugar peas. I think I could still eat that almost every day. The one problem I did have with it was that it did not refrigerate well. If bought at a restaurant, leftovers would be a soupy/soggy mess the next day. The best thing would be when ordering takeout, to have the restaurant separate the gravy and the noodles, that way you only need to prepare a little bit at a time for a meal.

Unfortunately, being the smart college-educated guy I am, I cooked Rad Na (the Thai version of “wet” beef chow fun) and just drenched all the noodles (close to 2 pounds!) with the gravy. And in an attempt to remedy the situation, ended up spilling a portion of it on the floor. Serves me right I guess.

Special thanks to Appon of Appon’s Thai Food for a wonderful recipe to work off of.

Rad Na with Pork

Serves 4
Time : 20 minutes

Recipe adaped from Appon’s Thai Food

Ingredients:
- 1.5 – 2 lbs fresh wide rice noodles
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- 4 tbsp canola oil
- 1 lb Pork butt, sliced thin
- 2 cups water + 1/2 chicken bouillon cube (or 2 cups light chicken broth)
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce
- 4 tbsp corn starch mixed with 4 tbsp water
- Chinese broccoli
NOTE: I used a full bouillon cube the first time…way too salty.

Method:
1. Add the water/broth to a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. When boiling, add bouillon cube (if using), fish sauce, and light soy sauce. Bring to a simmer.
2. Add in the sliced pork. Let cook for a minute or two.
3. Add in the starch and water mix, stir well so that the starch doesn’t coagulate.
4. Add in the Chinese Broccoli.
5. In a frying pan, heat 4 tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Add in the dark soy sauce and sugar mix, give a quick stir and then toss in the fresh rice noodles. Stir fry until the noodles are starting to get soft, then remove to a deep plate.
6. Finally, pour the sauce over the noodles and serve!
NOTE: If preparing leftovers, separate the noodles and the gravy in different containers. Heat them separately and then mix them together when having your meal

Beef Basil Fried Rice

Jul 21st, 2010
by dave.
6 comments

Basil Fried Rice

When cooking rice for meals, I’ve always stayed on the greedier side. That is, cooking more rice and then figuring out what to do with the leftovers. You see, I scarf the stuff down like there’s no tomorrow (just a little soy/sugar or rice seasoning and that can be a meal!) but lately I’ve been trying to do a little bit more portion control. Now that hasn’t stopped me from cooking too much rice, now I just have to figure out something to do with it afterward.

Usually I just cook something else and heat up the leftovers but one thing I try my hand at from time to time is fried rice. Again, one of the most important steps is to refrigerate the rice, overnight would be best. Still, I have a habit of overcooking the leftover rice in the pan but my technique has gotten better. You really only need to warm the rice up and toss it around for about a minute to break up the rice clumps and to mix everything together. More to the point, the rice and sauce go in after everything else is cooked. And remember, don’t overfill the pan!

I found a great recipe at Jam’s Thai Food a little while back and since it looked tasty, I decided to give it the ole good faith effort. Ended up using a little bit more sauce mix because I had so much rice and a pound of beef to use, it wound up a little salty but that was alright, I don’t mind it being that way. Thanks Jam!

Beef Basil Fried Rice

Time: 10 – 15 minutes
Serves : 4 – 6

Recipe adapted from Jam’s Thai Food

Ingredients:
– 2 – 3 qts of cooked rice, refrigerated overnight
– 3/4 to 1 lb Beef, sliced (Or Chicken, Pork, shrimps, or a combo)
– 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced thin
– 1/2 medium onion, chopped
– 2 – 3 tbsp fish sauce
– 3 – 4 tbsp soy sauce
– 1 tbsp sugar
– 1 – 1 1/2 cups Fresh Thai Basil leaves, washed
– 3 – 4 Thai Chillies, minced
– 1 shallot, minced
– 3 – 4 cloves garlic, minced
– A little soy sauce and cornstarch, for marinating (3-4 tbsp soy sauce w/ 1 tbsp starch)
Method:
1. Marinate the beef in some soy sauce and cornstarch for about 15-30 minutes.
2. Mix the Chillies, shallots, and garlic together. If you have a food processor, you can put the mix through to make a paste.
3. Heat a frying pan or wok over medium heat. Add some vegetable oil and then the paste. Stir and let cook for 30 seconds.
4. Add the beef into the pan with a small dash of fish sauce and soy sauce. This will give the meat a little bit more flavor. Stir fry about a minute.
5. Add in the pepper and onions, stir fry another minute or so until the beef is cooked.
6. Add the rice in along with the rest of the sauce (fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar). Mix well and stir fry for about a minute.
7. Add in the basil leaves, stir fry another minute and then serve with fried eggs (however you like your eggs is fine)

Pad Thai with Chicken and Shrimp

May 19th, 2010
by dave.
4 comments

Pad Thai 3

Every once in a while, lightning strikes and I have one of those “Eureka!” moments. Sadly, I can’t say this involves a time machine or some incredibly super-duper scientific discovery like anti-matter or anything. I mean, anti-matter would be awesome wouldn’t it? Then there could be stuff like this! (facepalm)

This epiphany, if you will, involves food (of course it does).

Pad Thai’s been one of those dishes I could NEVER get right. After a dozen failures (miserable at that, they were all barely edible), I stumbled on an old post on Use Real Butter which opened my eyes. And after consulting a link at Chez Pim, I knew I was set. Not an hour later (I immediately ran off to the store and had to cook this), I had a nice steaming plate of noodles and devoured it without hesitation. The first portion was only ok, the next was much better (the secret is in the sauce!) and within two weeks, I probably cooked it 4 times.

What was wrong with what I was doing before? Turns out one of the most important techniques is incredibly simple. Cook small portions at a time, preferably individual servings if you can! Why? It’s easier to manipulate everything as a whole and being able to move ingredients around the pan/wok really helps when trying to mix things together and also when cracking in the egg. That, and with the dish taking 2-3 minutes of actual cooking time, you can still churn servings out at a good clip.

A word of caution though, this is by no means healthy food. I had to use a lot of oil to avoid too much sticking and that may be a little excessive but it does get the job done.

Recipe adapted from Use Real Butter and Chez Pim.

Pad Thai w/ Chicken and Shrimp

Serves 4
Time : 45 minutes (mostly prep time)

Ingredients:
– 1 lb rice noodles, just undercooked per packaging directions
– 1/2 – 3/4 lb chicken breast, thinly sliced
– 12 medium shrimp (maybe 1/2 lb at the most), peeled deveined (tails ok)
– 4 cloves garlic, minced
– 1 – 2 tbsp salted turnips, minced
– 2 tbsp chives, chopped
– Generous handful of bean sprouts
– 2 – 3 oz firm pressed tofu, sliced
– 4 eggs
– 1 lime, wedged
– Handful of crushed peanuts

Sauce:
– 1/2 cup Tamarind paste
– 1/2 cup Fish sauce
– 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
– 1 tbsp+ Chili Powder

Method:
Prepare EVERYTHING beforehand. Have everything within an arm-length of the stove, pad thai is cooked quickly and you don’t want to waste precious seconds fumbling around for things. Separate the noodles into 4 portions (this is key since the noodles stick together and again, you don’t want to waste time pulling the noodles apart!)
1. Combine the sauce together in a small saucepan over low heat.
2. Fill a medium saucepan with water (could be the water you cooked the noodles in) and leave simmering on the side. You’ll be using this to quickly dunk the noodles before adding them to the frying pan (If the noodles are piping hot when you start cooking you may not need to do this.
3. Heat a frying/pan over high heat with enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
4. Add a quarter-portion of sliced chicken (2-3oz) and a portion of the shrimp (4 shrimp). Let it cook undisturbed for about 15-20 seconds, then turn and cook another 15-20 seconds.
5. Add 1-2 tbsp of the sauce and a portion of garlic, quickly stir everything together.
6. Dunk a portion of the rice noodles in water, drain and add to the frying pan along with 1/4 cup of the sauce. Mix well to combine.
7. Push the noodles to one end of the pan and crack 1 egg on the other side. Let the egg cook for 10 seconds undisturbed and then use the spatula to break it apart and mix with the noodles.
8. Add a portion of salted turnip, tofu, bean sprouts, and chives in. Stir and toss for another 30 seconds to a minute and plate immediately.
9. Serve with lime wedges, crushed peanuts, and extra chili powder.

NOTE : If done right, you should not need to scrub the pan between portions. Took me a couple tries to get this down.

Crazy Noodles

Mar 31st, 2010
by dave.
2 comments

Crazy Noodles

I’ve always been fascinated with some of the stories authors/chefs have for many of their recipes. Some have old recipes passed down from their ancestors, some had a “eureka” moment, and there seems to be a countless myriad of others. Myself? I open a book, look at a picture and think to myself, “Hey, that look’s good!”

Part of learning about cooking for me (and I’m still learning) is figuring out what brings a dish together. I mean, starting out, I’d be the guy that ate chocolate, then immediately had a hamburger or drank orange juice. Hopefully, I’ve learned a little bit since then, though I’m still heavily reliant on recipes for any inspiration. But slowly, I think I’m getting the hang of it =P

I used to watch Ming Tsai on food network waaaaaay back. He and Martin Yan were probably the two cooks on TV that got me more interested in the stuff. Ming with the great explanations and Martin with the entertainment (My grandmother called him “Chop chop lo”). Both are incredible cooks and I still find myself looking their work up time after time. Lately, I’ve been cooking a bunch from Simply Ming, this dish included. I’m not usually a fan of fusion cuisine but Ming does an incredible job blending flavors together while trying to keep dishes distinctly Asian.

Recipe originally from Ming Tsai’s Simply Ming.

Side note : Don’t overcook the noodles! Once boiled, they usually will only need to be stirred in with the sauce and then served.

Crazy Noodles

Time: 30-40 minutes
Serves: 3-4 with side dish

Ingredients:
– 8oz Thin rice noodles
– 3 shallots, minced
– 3 – 4 stalks scallions, chopped
– 1/4 up Fresh thai basil, chopped
– 3 tbsp fish sauce
– Juice of 2 limes
– 2 tsp sugar
– 1 – 2 tbsp Sambal Olek
– 1 lb Ground Chicken or Turkey
– 1 egg

Method:
1. Boil water in a stock pot and cook noodles until just done (see packaging).
2. Add some oil to a frying pan, stir fry shallots for a minute, until starting to turn translucent.
3. Add chicken/turkey, season lightly with salt and pepper, stir fry until cooked through.
4. Mix together the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and Sambal Olek. Add the cooked noodles into the pan and pour the sauce on top. Toss well to combine.
5. Add scallions and basil, toss well.
6. Make a well at the center of the pan. Add the egg in, let set for a couple seconds, then break apart the yolk and stir into the rest of the noodles. Stir fry until egg is just done and then remove and serve.

Kua Gai – Thai pan fried noodles

Oct 28th, 2009
by dave.
1 comment

Kua Gai

It’s been getting cold lately…and I don’t like it. I’m not ready for this yet after having rain in most of June and half of July. And now it’s raining again every weekend, 2 out of the 3 in October have been wet so far. Means that soon I’ll be spending some cold winter nights bundled up on the couch…bummer.

So this dish is another of those dishes I seem to get regularly at Rod Dee or S&I Thai. There’s not a whole lot to it really but it sure tastes good. And it feels pretty light, with most of the flavor coming from the noodles. Again, the biggest part of this is having fresh rice noodles, they make all the difference in the world!

I found that there’s a pile of different sauces that people have used (including this version at Appon’s Thai Food). It always seems to be a mix of a few ingredients : soy sauce, fish sauce, maggi seasoning, and oyster sauce. Just a word of warning though, if maggi is used, be careful of the saltiness!

Kua Gai

Serves 4
Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
- 1.5 lb flat wide rice noodles
- 1 lb boneless chicken breast, sliced thin
- 4 eggs
- 5-6 tbsp light soy sauce (or 3-4 tsp Maggi)
- 6 tbsp fish sauce
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp oil
- 3 scallions, chopped
- 1 tbsp ground white pepper
- 1-2 tbsp sugar
- 1-2 tbsp fried shallots
- Fresh lettuce to garnish

Method:
1. Heat a wok over high heat. Add oil and garlic, stir fry until fragrant.
2. Add chicken, stir-fry until chicken is cooked through (2-3 minutes).
3. Add noodles, toss, add eggs.
4. Add sauce, sugar, fried shallots, stir fry another 2-3 minutes.
5. Add scallions, season with white pepper, toss for another minute.
6. Serve over some freshly cut and washed lettuce.

← Earlier Posts