Thai Cooking Newsletter

Fish sauce, Golden Boy
Fish Sauce (nahm plah in Thai) is an essential Thai cooking ingredient and Golden Boy brand is one of Thailand's best. It is appreciated for its pleasing, mild aroma and moderate salt level. With this small bottle you can try it for yourself and get immediate improvement in your Thai cooking.

Coconut Palm Sugar
Coconut Palm Sugar (tan in Thai) is a coarse brown sugar with a distinct caramel flavor and is less cloyingly sweet then cane sugar. Use it in recipes calling for palm or coconut sugar.

Thai Seafood Salad Recipe - Yam Talay

You can use any selection of seafood that you like for this simple popular Thai recipe. Note the seafood needs to be cooked before it is added to the salad. To blanch seafod, use just enough water sufficient for cooking. When cooked fish out the seafood with a wire mesh strainer. Reserve the cooking water to use for stock. If you are using crabs or lobsters, it is best to steam them.

Ingredients:

• 1lb (150g) crab meat
• 1lb (150g) squid - cut into pieces
• 1/3lb (50g) mussels (meat only)
• 1/3lb (50g) fish fillet - cut into pieces
• 1/2 lb (100g) shrimp (prawns) - washed, peeled and deveined
• 4 tblsp (60ml) fish sauce
• 5 tblsp (75ml) lime juice
• 20 small fresh green and red chilies - finely chopped
• 1 tsp (5ml) melted palm sugar
• 3 stalks of fresh lemongrass - lower 1/3 only, thinly sliced
• 1/2 medium onion - thinly sliced
• 1 tomato - cut in 1/2 and thinly sliced lengthways
• 1/2 cup (20g) Chinese celery - roughly chopped
• 4 spring onions - cut into 1 inch pieces

Preparation:

1. Put some water into a pan and bring to the boil. Cook the crab meat, squid, mussels, fish and prawns separately. Once cooked, mix the seafood together and set aside.
2. Put the fish sauce, lime juice, chilies and melted palm sugar into a bowl and mix together. Add the seafood and stir well so that the seafood is well covered in the sauce. Add the lemongrass and mix together. Then add the onion and mix again. Finally add the tomato, Chinese celery and spring onions.
3. Mix together and serve immediately.

Recipe source Passion for Thai Cooking Copyright © 2000 Sompon and Elizabeth Nabnian

Shop for Thai food, Asian cookware & fruit carving items in our online grocery.

Basic Vegetable Carving - Carrot Rose

From A Variety of Flowers, a new book on fruit and vegetable carving, we present six steps to a simple but lovely carrot rose.

Tools:

• Laquer style professional carving knife

Instructions:

1. Shave to make the carrot smooth and cut a cone shape being 1 cm deep. Divide into 5 sections.
2. Cut out the first petal with the knife tip, make deep cuts to remove the flesh under the petal. Cut out the second petal overlapping with the first one.
3. Cut out the remaining petals all around. Then make deep cuts to remove the flesh under the petals.
4. Cut out the flower with the knife tip.
5. Neaten the flesh under the petals.
6. Finished flower!

See these easy steps in pictures on our website.

Source A Variety of Flowers, Vegetable & Fruit Carving Copyright © 2005 Srisiam Printing Press Co, Ltd.

This carving book focuses mainly on arrangements of fruit and vegetable carvings into 'floral'-type' arrangements for use as centerpieces, but also includes basic carvings. See more details on our site.

Shop for this book and more fruit carving items at Temple of Thai.

Fresh Thai Ingredients
Find fresh Kaffir Lime Leaf, Galangal, Lemon Grass, Thai Chili Peppers, Baby Eggplants, Fresh Thai Basil & Frozen Banana Leaves! Enjoy fresh authentic Thai spices & herbs shipped from New York City directly to you.

Shop for Fresh Thai Ingredients