Peanut Tomato Thai Soup

A few rainy Sundays ago, my mom was over hanging out with Levi and I when she started telling me about this amazing soup she made the previous night. Veggies, noodles, ginger, tomatoes and peanut butter! Peanut butter? I demanded she recreate it immediately. Luckily, my kitchen had practically everything needed to make a big pot of soup.

The soup was a family hit. Levi slurped down a bowl as fast as we did. The veggies and ginger give it a Thai flavor while the peanut butter rounds out soup and gives it a richness, but not really a peanut flavor. I have made this soup repeatedly, adding more veggies each time.

This original recipe is here, but I have modified a bit by adding more vegetables. The pot of soup comes together very quickly, making it a great weeknight meal.

Peanut Butter Thai Soup

1 tablespoon sesame oil
2-3 tablespoons crushed garlic
1 bunch green onions or 1/2 an onion, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons chopped (or microplaned) ginger
1-2 chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bit-sized pieces
1 large can of stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup peanut butter
6 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup chopped brocolli
1/2 cup chopped carrots
handful of cilantro

1 large bunch of long thin noodles, either rice or wheat (I have used both and actually prefer the wheat noodles)

1.  In a large soup pot heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, ginger and chicken. Cook 2-3 minutes until chicken starts to brown.
2. In a large measuring cup or bowl mix together the tomatoes and peanut butter.
3. Add tomato mixture and stock to the soup pot. Bring the heat up to high. When it comes to a boil, turn back down to medium and add all the vegetables, except the cilantro, and noodles.
4. When noodles are cooked through, in about 7 - 8 minutes, spoon into large soup bowls. Sprinkle with cilantro. I also like to add a dollop of siracha for some heat.

PS. I have a give away coming up soon! (I just have to write it up!) :)

Kao Man Gai (or what your Jewish Grandmother would make if she were Thai)

It is no surprise that we love to cook Thai food around here. Honestly, so much of it is labor intensive that we mostly cook it for friends or on the weekends. This recipe is gonna change that. It looks like a lot of steps, but is as easy as chicken and rice.

The first time we had Kao Man Gai we were on Ko Samui island. After multiple days of grilled chicken and papaya salad we decided to branch out.  We stumbled upon a little hole in the wall restaurant filled with Thai folks enjoying their lunches. There was only one thing on the menu. We ordered two and waited to see what would arrive. Two plates of rice, a bit of sliced chicken breast, a sprig of cilantro and a small cup of broth. The waiter/cook/ owner brought over a small bowl of what looked like soy and maybe chilies. Slightly disappointed in the looks of our lunch, we dug in anyway.

WOW! Were we mistaken. The simple appearance belied the intense flavor. It was pure comfort food. Tender chicken atop delicious fragrant rice. The bowl held a delicate chicken soup for sipping. The dipping sauce brought just enough zip and spice to the table. We were in heaven.

Sadly, we never got the name of what we were eating...

Fast forward two years and at the height of the Portland food cart boom I read about a cart selling only one dish. Thai chicken and rice. At the first chance we had we went to check out the offerings. There it was, sliced chicken breast, rice just as fragrant as we remember and a small bowl of broth to sip. I finally had a name. Kao Man Gai.

Justin was lucky enough to receive the book Thai Street Food, by David Thomas for his birthday this Summer. This is a huge, beautiful Thai cookbook and coffee table book. We were drooling immediately. Lo and behold, there was a recipe for Kao Man Gai.

So far we have made it three times, and each time we whoo and ahh over how delicious it is. And really, it isn't that hard. The best part is, it is great to make ahead and heat up for lunches or dinner. I have simplified the recipe a bit, but I highly recommend getting the cookbook to see the original recipe (and all the others!).

This recipe calls for pandanus leaf, which is a long, spiky leaf which has a sorta nutty-sweet taste and smell. I found mine in the frozen food section of the Asian market. I pulled two leaves off for this recipe and have kept the rest  in the freezer.


Kao Man Gia (Thai Poached Chicken and Rice) (Modified from Thai Street Food)
This is a doubled recipe, so there are plenty of leftovers.
Chicken Ingredients
8 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons salt (or none if stock is salty)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 pandanus leaf
4 garlic cloves, crushed, but left whole
a small handful of cilantro stems
2 1 inch pieces of ginger, crushed with a knife
4 chicken breasts, on the bone

Rice Ingredients
5 cups jasmine rice (rinsed)
a second small handful of cilantro stems
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons chopped ginger
2 tablespoons oil

a small zucchini, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 green onion, sliced
cilantro leaves

1. To make chicken, in large sauce pot put all ingredients, except the chicken. Bring to a boil.
2. Turn heat to a simmer and add chicken breasts. Check after about 20 minutes. If still a little pink, cook another 10 minutes.
3. Remove chicken from broth and let cool.

To Make the Rice
1. While chicken is poaching, crush into a paste the cilantro stems, garlic, and ginger. I like to use my mortar and pestle, but a food processor would be fine too.
2. Heat oil in a medium sauce pan. Add spice paste and cook a minute until fragrant.
3. Add rice and stir until coated. Fry rice for about a minute.
4. Add enough of the poaching stock to cover the rice by about an inch.
5. Bring to a boil, then cover with a lid and turn down to a low simmer until rice is cooked. This should take about 20 minutes.

Now that your chicken is cooling and your rice is cooking you can make the soup.
1. Taste the poaching stock and add a little salt or sugar if needed.
2. Add in cubed zucchini. Bring to a boil.
3. Turn heat off and sprinkle in green onion and cilantro.

To plate, slice chicken breast from the bone. Serve on a mound of the hot rice. Sprinkle with cilantro leaves or a bit of cucumber. Serve the soup in a cup along side.
See!!! That wasn't so hard!

If you have time the sauce is a great addition!
This is my version. The original calls for yellow beans. I can't find them anywhere. 
Dipping Sauce
5-6 cilantro stems
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
6 garlic cloves
2 inches of ginger, chopped
1/2 of a hot Thai chili
1 tablespoon white vinegar
soy sauce to taste

1. In a mortar and pestle (or food processor) crush everything but the vinegar and soy.
2. Stir in vinegar and soy. Taste and add more sugar or salt as needed. I liked it sweeter, so I added a big ole spoonful.

Drizzle over chicken when eating.

Green Papaya and Grapefruit Salad

I have been keeping us warm with some spicy Thai food this week, but this has left me with some odds and ends in the kitchen that need to be used up. I have been eating grapefruit nonstop (deathly afraid to let any of my stolen booty go to waste!) and came up with this crunchy, spicy, salty, bitter, sweet, and sour salad.

I have talked to some folks who read my blog and they mention that my recipes seem complicated, or have too many ingredients. Do you feel that way? I often just reach for what I already have in my pantry and start playing. I realize that not everyone has the obsessive condiment collection that I do, but I never thought of my recipes as complicated. Sorry!

Since I really do enjoy cooking Thai food I have a those ingredients ready all the time, which allowed me to bust this salad out in 10 minutes. I had 1/2 of a green papaya leftover from papaya salad and decided to experiment. This goes well with some roast chicken and rice, or some sauteed shrimp.


If you don't have access to green papaya you could easily substitute jicama.

Green Papaya and Grapefruit Salad
2 cups peeled, sliced or shredded green papaya or jicama
1 large grapefruit peeled and divided into segments. (Here is an easy way to do this)
1-2 thai chiles, or a jalapeno
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2-3 tablespoons fish sauce
1/4 cup toasted coconut

1. In a bowl combine shredded papaya and grapefruit. Squeeze any additional juice from the peel over the salad.
2. If you have a mortar and pestle crush chilies and brown sugar into a paste. I suggest starting with 1 chili because they are SPICY!! If you do not have a mortar and pestal finely chop a chili and combine with brown sugar.
3. Mix chili and sugar mixture with salad, toss with fish sauce. Add coconut and combine. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Lemongrass Salad

This is the best recipe I learned in Thailand; lemongrass salad. It involves tons of chopping and prepping, but the end result is worth it. This salad will sing in your mouth.

The textures: crunchy, soft, and rough.

The tastes: sweet, salty, sour, and spicy all together.


Ingredients can be found at any Asian market with a fresh vegetable section. Fried shallots can be found among the other dried veggies and mushrooms. These keep really well in the fridge. Dried shrimp are not as scary as they sound. They are sort of like anchovies in Italian cooking. Buy the smallest you can find, perferably not bright pink, which means they have been dyed. In this dish you barely notice them, they just add a certain richness and balance. Without them the salad just isn't the same.

This recipe is all about proportions. This makes enough for 4, or 6 as appetizers. I would suggest making a double batch of the dressing and keeping it in a cleaned jam jar. It is also great brushed onto chicken before grilling.

Lemongrass Salad
4 tablespoons fish sauce
6 tablespoons sugar
4 stalks lemongrass, cut into very thin rings. Stop when the purple rings stops appearing in your circles
2 fresh shallots, chopped very finely
1 carrot, peeled and chopped very finely
1 lime, 1/2 cubed with peel into tiny cubes, 1/2 for juice
8 tablespoons ginger, peeled and chopped very finely
8 tablespoons roasted peanuts
1-2 shakes of red chili flakes
4 tablespoons dried shrimp
4 tablespoons fried shallots
4 tablespoons toasted, not sweetened coconut
1 head of leaf lettuce

1. In a small sauce pan mix fish sauce and sugar. Simmer until sugar is disolved. This will form a syrup. Remove from stove.
2. Mix all the ingredients together, except for the lettuce leaves. in a medium sized bowl.
3. Add fish sauce dressing and stir until combined.
4. Taste. If needed add some more lime juice or dressing.
5. Plate onto a serving dish. Serve with lettuce leaves.
6. To eat, spoon some salad into the lettuce. Wrap lettuce around it and pop into your mouth.

Do you think you will give this a try? Let me know what you think.

Tom Ka Soup: Thai Coconut Soup

I am a soup afficionado. I can honestly say I have never met a soup that I didn't enjoy. I may have not always finished the whole bowl, but I enjoy a steaming bowl of soupy goodness. One of the strangest soups I ever had was in Bangkok, Thailand.

Justin and I were a little bit lost in the city and where led into an alleyway by amazing food smells. The narrow road was filled with food carts. Business people and school kids were crowding the stools and tables. At a particular stand, an old man was working over a large cauldron. The folks around him were slurping bowls of soup.

We sat down and were quickly handed a large bowl fragrant soup, our mouths watering. Herbs floated on the top, hand rolled rice noodles swam beside...what is that...I think organs. Justin bravely dove in. Slowly, I tasted the broth. Rich and herbal. The noodles were thick and amazing. But I never did try the organs in the bottom of the bowl. Justin finished off the hearts, liver, and who knows what-else. I am once again off of our theoretical Amazing Race team.

So even though I love a good soup, I can't always handle knowing what makes it so good.

In the case of Tom Ka soup, there is no concern. The fresh ingredients shine in this soup. In 20 minutes you will have a steaming pot perfuming your kitchen with lemongrass, chilis, kaffir lime, and cilantro. It takes less time then calling it in for take-out and if far more delicious. The galangal can be difficult to find, but it does impart a different flavor then ginger. If you can't find galangal you can substitute half as much ginger and the juice of 1/2 of a lemon.

Tom Ka Soup
2 quarts of vegetable or chicken broth
3 inch piece of galangal, sliced into thick coins
4-5 fresh lemon grass stalks, cut into 3 inch sections and smash with the side of a knife
6-8 kaffir lime leaves, center vein removed
1-2 small thai chilies, smashed with the side of a knife, but left whole
1-2 cups mushrooms, cut into bite sized pieces. I like oyster mushrooms, but button work fine
1 chicken breast, sliced very thinly
handful cilantro leaves
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved or 3-4 small roma tomatoes, sliced to bite size pieces
4 tablespoons (or more) of fish sauce
4 teaspoons sugar
juice of one lime
1 can coconut milk

1. In a large soup pot bring stock to a boil. Add galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and chilies. Simmer 5 minutes, or until fragrant.
2. Add chicken, tomatoes, mushrooms, and cilantro. Simmer until chicken is cooked. If you sliced it very thinly it should take only a minute or two.
3. Add coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar, and 1/2 of the lime juice. Taste. Adjust seasoning to your liking. I like mine tangy and salty, so I usually end up adding all the lime juice and some additional shakes of fish sauce. This is really good over some leftover rice too!

** Don't eat the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, or galangal. You can remove them before serving, or just eat around them**

What is your favorite soup? What is the strangest soup you have ever eaten? (Or chose not to eat!?)

Khao Soi (or Khao Soy): Fabulous Thai curry

Have you ever mentioned to someone leaving to visit a region of the world to make sure they do or try THIS while they are there? I have given and taken suggestions for a location or dish too many times to count. But how often have you actually followed through on it? I am always happy when I do, and this discovery was no exception. Before we left of Thailand a good friend of ours highly recommended searching out a Northern Thai curry soup called Khao Soi. Justin, being the offical traveling meal planner, had us on the look-out on day one in Chaing Mai.

We were lucky to be staying in a guest house across the street from a restaurant called Just Khao Soy, if you can believe it. This was a great place to get aquainted with the dish. The yellow, coconut curry is served over egg noodles and chicken and topped with fried egg noodles. Then the diner can select from the "pallet" (yes it really is served on a wooden artist's pallet, see above) to enhance the soup. Pickled cabbage, lime wedges, chopped shallots, and chile paste can all be mixed in. The result is a mind blowingly delicious soup. Creamy, crunchy, salty, and tangy all at once.

After our initation into Khao Soi, we sought it out continally. Even in the extreme heat, the soup was too good to pass up. Lucky for us, when we arrived at cooking school our instructor was more then happy to teach us how to make the soup.

We have made it a few times so far and it is just as delicious in Oregon as it was in Thailand! We made our own curry paste for this dish, but in order to simplify things a bit I am suggesting a good, pre-made yellow curry paste. (Cheap, delicious, and lasts forever in the fridge.) If you would like to have the Khao Soy curry paste recipe, just let me know and I will get it up on here.


Note: About pickled cabbage. I found that it is called pickled cabbage, but is actually more like a choy or mustard green. I was lucky enough to literally stumble over a jar of pickled mustard greens in the Asian market. They really are key to the balance of flavors so try to search it out. Here are some available online.

Note 2.0: About fried noodles. It is sort of a pain to fry a handful of noodles. If you don't want to do that I would toss a handful of those crunchy "Chinese" fried noodles folks like to put on salads. It will give it the same crunch. Not as good, but a great way to try it out.

This soup comes together in a few minutes once it is all prepped, it is great to make with friends. It makes the whole house smell amazing!


Khao Soy
1 lb fresh egg noodles, fetticine width or thinner
oil
3-4 tablespoons mild yellow curry paste
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 large can, or 2 smaller cans of coconut milk (not lite), labeled For Cooking if you can find it.
1 quart chicken stock
2 large chicken breasts, sliced very thinly
1-2 tablespoons sugar
salt or fish sauce to taste

Garnishes:
peeled, quartered shallots (2-3 per person)
pickled mustard greens, cut into bite sized pieces (1/4 - 1/2 cup per person)
1 lime, cut into wedges
chili paste
Deep fried egg noodles, or "Chinese" fried salad noodles

1. If frying the noodles, separate about 1 cup of fresh egg noodles from the rest. Deep fry for 30 seconds, or until golden brown and crispy. Drain. Set aside
2. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil. This is to cook the rest of the noodles.
3. In soup pot, heat about a teaspoon of oil over medium heat. Add curry paste, curry powder, and black pepper and cook until very fragrant. About 1 minute.
4. Add chicken, cook until done. About 2-3 minutes.
5. Add stock and coconut milk. Heat until almost boiling.
6. Taste and add sugar and salt as needed. Remember that the toppings will also affect the flavor. You may want to bring sugar and salt to the table.
7. Cook egg noodles in boiling water. Drain.

To serve: Put a large handful of noodles into a bowl (the bigger the better!). Spoon soup and chicken over the top. Top with fried noodles. At the table add pickled greens, a squeeze or 2 of lime, chopped shallots, and chili paste to taste. Enjoy!

Thai Cooking School

My big goal on our trip was to attend cooking school while in Northern Thailand. I spent about a month researching different places, reading websites, reviews on Trip Advisor, and going with my gut instinct. In the end I chose, Grandma's Thai Recipes. All the research paid off! It was a wonderful 2 days of cooking instruction. The cookbooks we took home are all ready food splattered and worn out!

Jib was our cooking instructor, a petite Thai woman. She spoke fabulous English, explained everything so clearly and made the class fun (and delicious). She picked us up at 8am and we headed to the local's market. It was a wonderful surprise to be the only people in the class!

After taking in the Thai produce we learned how fresh coconut milk is made, how to pick the best tofu, how to look for fresh rice from the rice sellers, and just how large a pig's head really is.

After the market we headed out of town to Jib's house. The cooking school is in her garden/ lania area. A beautiful covered area next door to her house. There are 3 areas that we stayed in. First was the visiting area, where we tried coconut snacks, pandanus water and learned about steaming sticky rice.
Second was the prep station, where we struggled to sit on the floor while working large knives on small cutting boards. Both Justin and I got to choose 7 dishes to prepare the first day. We prepped them all on the floor and then moved on to the cook station.

Third was the cooking section. We each had our own propane stove and sauces at hand. Jib walked us through cooking each dish. First demonstrating, then helping us - but always urging us to go with our instinct and to taste, taste, taste. I loved being given the go ahead to tinker with the flavor AS I was learning. It has made cooking these dishes at home much less stressful!


Finally, we sat down to enjoy all of our creations. With 14 dishes to try there was no way we could finish up all the food. Jib's helpers expertly wrapped up the leftover food in a feat of plastic bag and rubberband usage. We ate from what we cooked for days.

If you are headed to Chiang Mai, I would check out this cooking school. It was extremely reasonably priced, fabulous fun, and we both learned SO much!

PS. Don't forget to enter my cookbook giveaway! Click here to leave a comment to be entered in the drawing.

The Perfect Meal! (and a papaya salad recipe)

Hello and thank you to my new followers! Don't forget to enter this cookbook give away here.

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After a week in Beijing, we headed off to Thailand. Our first stop was Bangkok. Both of us had traveled their separately - me 12 years previous, and Justin 5 years ago. I remembered Bangkok being a big city, but also quaint and fun, full of sparkling temples and saffron robed monks.

Well! I was in for a shock. We landed about 9pm and took a taxi into the city. Justin had a guesthouse card for a place to stay near the fabled tourist haunt of Kho San Road. I was not prepared for what I saw there - hoards of tourists, thumping music, and stand after stand selling T-shirts to said tourists. Really! This couldn't be Thailand!

After a quick street stall meal of watermelon and pad thai we headed to bed - I was already venting about when we could leave the city for someplace quieter. Yes... I am apparently that old now. The next day things improved as we wandered the city, rode the river taxi and explored the culinary offers. The best moment came when we finally found our perfect meal!

Bbqed chicken, papaya salad, sticky rice and a cold drink!

The woman behind me is grilling up the chicken and pounding the papaya salad. It was heaven! I had already fallen in love with this meal at our favorite restaurant Pok Pok. This one was even tastier AND only $3! And it was in Thailand! It was perfect and delicious.

Papaya Salad isn't hard to prepare once you have all the ingredients lined up and prepared. I have tried the pre-shredded green papaya from the market - soaking in large tubs in the refrigerator section - but it isn't as good. Peel and rinse the green papaya. I used a mandoline on the finest shred to cut it up, but you could also use a large grater. Avoid the little seeds. One word of warning: If you are allergic to latex don't eat papaya. They are related.

Pull out your mortar and pestle, but a wooden spoon and a metal bowl will work in a pinch. The key is to pound the salad together, bruising the papaya and working together the flavors. In Thailand this salad is made in huge mortar and pestles. I have a small one and this recipe reflects that.

Also, this recipe calls for palm sugar. In Thailand palm sugar is a sticky, gooey honey like substance. Here it is sold in hard cakes. I made a syrup out of it to use for this salad.

Palm Sugar Syrup
Melt 2 cakes with about a cup of water. Simmer about 15 minutes until it is all melted. Keep in the fridge to use as needed.


Papaya Salad or Som Tam
(Recipe from Grandma's Thai Kitchen, Chiang Mai cooking school) The key to this salad is to play with the flavor balance until it is how YOU like it. Sweeter? Spicier? More Sour? Tinker away.

10 small, peeled cloves of garlic
2-5 small thai bird chiles, red (HOT!!!) or green (hot)
2-3 tablespoons small dried shrimp (Look for cream or pale pink shrimp, not bright pink, a sign of dye. )
5-6 yard long beans, broken into 3 inch sections. (You can sub a large handful of other green beans)
10 cherry tomatoes halved, or 1 large roma quartered
4 cups shredded green papaya (Put in a metal or wooden bowl)
6 tablespoons fish sauce (or more or less)
6 tablespoons palm sugar syrup (or more or less)
juice of at least 1/2 a lime. Might want more
3 tablespoons of roasted peanuts.

1. In a mortar and pestle, or bowl work together the garlic, chilies, shrimp, beans and tomatoes until a all the parts are broken up and begin to create a paste. About 2 minutes.
2. Add 1/2 the fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice. If it can fit, throw in some of the papaya as well. Pound for another minute or so.
3. Pour the contents of the mortar and pestle and the remaining fish sauce, sugar and lime over the papaya. Using a wooden spoon pound the dressing and papaya together. Try to bruise the papaya. Work for about 5 minutes.
4. Taste. Adjust flavors to your liking.
5. Move to a pretty plate. Sprinkle with peanuts.

Serve with bbqed chicken, sticky rice and cold beer. :)