Cooking
Matt's a huge fan of Thai food. I'm...not so much.
I've only started eating Thai over the last few years. Trust me, there weren't a lot of Asian-influenced dishes served where I grew up. In my tiny Northwestern Pennsylvanian hometown, it was a lot of German, Irish, even Polish food. Lots of boiled food. Lots of bland foods.
The closest I got to Thailand was a childhood friend; her mother was Thai. Some years ago, I asked her what sorts of things her mom made, any traditional dishes she remembered.
She told me she never actually had any Thai food growing up, that her mom prepared mostly German (and other homey) dinners for them. It was as if she'd left all that behind when she moved to America. I don't really blame her; where I grew up, it's not advisable to be 'different'. Assimilation is the name of the game.
One of the main reasons I've avoided Thai was the liberal use of nam pla, or fish sauce, in most of the dishes. Soy sauce isn't the best replacement, so what to do?
I finally broke down & tried the Massamun Curry with Peanuts, Potatoes, and Cardamom from Real Vegetarian Thai. I've had the cookbook almost five years, and it's taken me this long to work up to it. 'Fraidy cat, that's me.
Potatoes...russets & sweet...simmered in coconut milk, green curry paste and many cardamom pods. The recipe listed wheat gluten balls; we divided it in two and used chicken in Matt's and Veat bites for mine. Finish with peanuts.
It was nice. Spicy, sure, but at the same time, kind of mild. Not a bad way to break into Thai, I suppose.
We're going a bit crazy this month: Blog Party#31 is a Fried Food Frenzy!
You have till Friday to get your fried finger food entries to me; hope to see you there.
Tagged with: Food and Drink + Thai + Dinner + Vegetarian + Curry + Rice + Cardamom + Potatoes + Coconut
-
This week's theme? Thai noodles! Two posts on Thai noodles really made me crave them. And if you aren't in the mood for Thai noodles, check out a more post for the "holiday". Chubby Hubby shares his Thai noodle adventures, including cooking...
- Thai Sticky Rice
Before I ever went to Thailand I was very fond of mango and sticky rice. In fact, when Lee and I would order Thai food to be delivered to our home, our choice of restaurants would often be influenced by which one had mango and sticky rice on the menu....
- Sticky Rice Steamer:equipment
Next project is Mango & Thai Sticky Rice. This is a favorite dessert in our household and we only get it when the Thai restaurants we frequent have it on the menu. I have several recipes for it and finally found the right rice at Smart & Final...
- Yam Neua (thai Salad)
This was something we made purely because Matt loves Thai food. And with that endless supply of mint in our garden, it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up. Plus, it's kind of pretty, isn't it? We swapped out a couple of ingredients,...
- I'm Back!
Yes, I am here. With things to blog about. First up; a really fast and easy recipe from Rachel Ray, Thai Glazed Chicken Lettuce Wraps. I'm not kidding. Once everything is chopped, which is often the case with Asian food, it was mere minutes from...
Cooking
Thai for Veggies? Sure, why not?
Matt's a huge fan of Thai food. I'm...not so much.
I've only started eating Thai over the last few years. Trust me, there weren't a lot of Asian-influenced dishes served where I grew up. In my tiny Northwestern Pennsylvanian hometown, it was a lot of German, Irish, even Polish food. Lots of boiled food. Lots of bland foods.
The closest I got to Thailand was a childhood friend; her mother was Thai. Some years ago, I asked her what sorts of things her mom made, any traditional dishes she remembered.
She told me she never actually had any Thai food growing up, that her mom prepared mostly German (and other homey) dinners for them. It was as if she'd left all that behind when she moved to America. I don't really blame her; where I grew up, it's not advisable to be 'different'. Assimilation is the name of the game.
One of the main reasons I've avoided Thai was the liberal use of nam pla, or fish sauce, in most of the dishes. Soy sauce isn't the best replacement, so what to do?
I finally broke down & tried the Massamun Curry with Peanuts, Potatoes, and Cardamom from Real Vegetarian Thai. I've had the cookbook almost five years, and it's taken me this long to work up to it. 'Fraidy cat, that's me.
Potatoes...russets & sweet...simmered in coconut milk, green curry paste and many cardamom pods. The recipe listed wheat gluten balls; we divided it in two and used chicken in Matt's and Veat bites for mine. Finish with peanuts.
It was nice. Spicy, sure, but at the same time, kind of mild. Not a bad way to break into Thai, I suppose.
We're going a bit crazy this month: Blog Party#31 is a Fried Food Frenzy!
You have till Friday to get your fried finger food entries to me; hope to see you there.
Tagged with: Food and Drink + Thai + Dinner + Vegetarian + Curry + Rice + Cardamom + Potatoes + Coconut
-
This week's theme? Thai noodles! Two posts on Thai noodles really made me crave them. And if you aren't in the mood for Thai noodles, check out a more post for the "holiday". Chubby Hubby shares his Thai noodle adventures, including cooking...
- Thai Sticky Rice
Before I ever went to Thailand I was very fond of mango and sticky rice. In fact, when Lee and I would order Thai food to be delivered to our home, our choice of restaurants would often be influenced by which one had mango and sticky rice on the menu....
- Sticky Rice Steamer:equipment
Next project is Mango & Thai Sticky Rice. This is a favorite dessert in our household and we only get it when the Thai restaurants we frequent have it on the menu. I have several recipes for it and finally found the right rice at Smart & Final...
- Yam Neua (thai Salad)
This was something we made purely because Matt loves Thai food. And with that endless supply of mint in our garden, it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up. Plus, it's kind of pretty, isn't it? We swapped out a couple of ingredients,...
- I'm Back!
Yes, I am here. With things to blog about. First up; a really fast and easy recipe from Rachel Ray, Thai Glazed Chicken Lettuce Wraps. I'm not kidding. Once everything is chopped, which is often the case with Asian food, it was mere minutes from...