If you live in Samut Prakan then you might be interested in the Paknam Seafood and Trade Fair. It is going on from now until Saturday 4th April 2009. It is taking place in the area in front of the city hall, alongside the river. They have a large stage set up for concerts during the evening with dining tables set up in front of it. Down one side are rows of food vendors. More than half the stalls in the city hall area are clothing and household goods. The rest are food. There are also rides for the kids like merry go round. If you are in the area then it is certainly worth visiting. It is open from late afternoon.

Stir Fried Baby Kale and Pork (pat kha-naa aon moo)
ผัดคะน้าอ่อนหมู

We seem to be doing a lot of stir-fried dishes recently. These are popular throughout Asia as they are both easy to cook and also to adapt according to what ingredients you have. Today we are cooking Stir Fired Baby Kale and Pork. In the picture below, you can see pork, garlic and baby kale. This is not as tough as the bigger version so you don't need to discard so much of the stem.

To cook, fry the crushed garlic in your wok until golden brown. Next add the pork that has already been cut up into bite sized pieces. Finally comes the baby kale. Season with soy sauce, oyster sauce and some sugar if you insist. Make sure that you don't overcook so that the kale is still a little crunchy. Come back next week to www.thai-blogs.com for another recipe that you can cook in a Thai kitchen. The archives for my Thai Food Blogs can be found at www.EnjoyThaiFood.com.

Mung Bean Noodle Soup (dtom jeut wun-sen moo sap)
ต้มจืดวุ้นเส้นหมูสับ

This is a plain soup that contains mung bean noodles (wun-sen) and pork. In Thai it is called "dtom jeut wun-sen moo sap". In the ingredients below, you can see mung bean noodles, pork balls, chopped spring onion and chicken stock cube in the middle. The transparent noodles are usually sold in dried form. You have to soak them in water first for about ten minutes.

While you are waiting for the water to boil in a pot, prepare the pork balls by mixing the meat with crushed garlic, pepper and a little oyster sauce. Roll into balls. Once the water is hot enough, drop the pork balls carefully into the pot. Boil until nearly cooked. You might need to skim off any of the scum that might surface. When the water is clear, add the stock, mung bean noodles and the spring onions. Season with fish sauce. Come back to www.thai-blogs.com next week for another Thai food recipe.

Wax Gourd Soup with Pickled Lime (fuk toon ma-nao dong)
ฟักตุ๋นมะนาวดอง

This is a simple dish that can be cooked for vegetarians as well without the chicken. It is called "fuk toon ma-nao dong" or Wax Goud Soup with Pickled Lime. In the ingredients pictured below, you can see chicken, mushroom, wax gourd and pickled lime in the middle.

You need to prepare the wax gourd by peeling and then cutting in half. Remove the seeds and membrane. Now cut into large chunks as in the picture. Put some stock in a pot and then add the chicken first. Next comes the wax gourd and mushrooms. You can also add coriander roots and garlic. Once it looks nearly ready, add the pickled lime. Season with soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar. It should have a salty and sour taste. It is best to serve this hot.

Dried Beef in Coconut Milk (neua pad kati)
เนื้อผัดกะทิ

The dish today is called Dried Beef in coconut Milk, or "neua pad kati". You are supposed to prepare the beef first by drying it with salt. Then roasting it until done. Next you are supposed to pound it to separate the fibres. As you can see from the picture of the ingredients below, we just used salted dried beef. Other ingredients are red shallots, palm sugar and tamarind paste. Here you can see the fruit but you can use the bottled version instead.

To cook is very simple. Heat the coconut milk up in a wok. Add the dried beef and stir well. Season with fish sauce, palm sugar and the tamarind paste. The latter will give it a sour taste. Keep stirring until the coconut milk dries out. Finally add the chopped shallots. That's it. A nice dish which isn't spicy. Come back next week to www.thai-blogs.com for another recipe.

Chicken Stir Fried with Ginger (gai pad khing)
ไก่ผัดขิง

The dish we have for you today is chicken fried with ginger. You can also do it with pork. In the ingredients below, you can see spring onion, onion, straw mushroom, chicken, ear mushroom and ginger in the middle. The seasoning we used was oyster sauce, fish sauce and fermented soy bean sauce.

Prepare everything in advance as stir-frying is very quick. Cut the chicken and mushrooms to bite size. Fry the crushed garlic until it is golden brown. Add the chicken. Next comes the ginger followed closely by the two types of mushrooms. Season with sugar, oyster sauce and fermented soy bean sauce. If it doesn't taste saltier enough then you can add some fish sauce. Finish with the spring onion and the onion. Don't overcook as it is best to have it a little crunchy. Come back next week to www.thai-blogs.com for another Thai dish.

This is another one of those simple stir fried dishes. This one is based around kale which is a green leafy vegetable. It is believed to have anti-cancer properties so a good idea to have it in your diet. In the ingredients photo below, you can see carrots, garlic, kale stalks, kale leaves and chicken in the middle. You can use mushrooms instead of carrots. You can also make this a vegetarian dish. The kale is separated like this because the stalks will need to be cooked for slightly longer. You might like to use baby kale if the stalks of this one is too tough.

Heat some oil in a wok and add the chopped garlic. Cook until golden brown. Next add the chicken that has already been cut into bite size pieces. A few minutes later add the kale stalks first and the carrots. Follow this with the leaves. Season with soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar. Add stock if it starts to dry out. Don't fry for too long if you like crispy vegetables like me. Come back next week to www.thai-blogs.com for another Thai food dish.