5 Thai recipes I learnt while teaching abroad
It’s no secret that one of the major draws of the Land of Smiles is the food. Aromatic plates of peanut-packed, lime-doused pad Thai issue from street stalls on the roadsides of Bangkok, under the temple tops of Ayutthaya, between the beaches of Koh Samui and the Buddha-Rasta bars of Chiang Mai. Masaman curries infused with coconut bubble in night market cauldrons of Kanchanaburi. Deep-fried insects are eyed up by macaques in Lopburi, and sticky rice packed with pork and chilli adorns the eateries from Pai to Pattani. That’s right folks, Thailand offers a medley of flavours and smells and ingredients like you’ve never seen before. And that’s just one of the perks of EFL teaching here!
Check out this selection of mouth-watering Thai recipes that I learned while flitting between the cities and rustic towns of old Siam on my days off from the classroom. (All are best washed down with a cold Singha, at least in my experience!)
Red masaman curry
The first of all Thai recipes I ever learned! I can remember it well: A rainy day in the off-season. The whitecaps and rollers of the Andaman Sea forever crashing against the shore. A stout, lean-to of corrugated iron on the main drag of Khao Lak. One uber-friendly chef with a smile (even when I spilled his chilli flakes!), oodles of garlic, coconut milk and onion and spices. We started by mashing up the capsicum and garlic, roasted shallots, coriander, cinnamon, chilli powder and lemongrass in a great big mortar. That gave a thick, pungent paste. Then it’s just about frying up the onions and sautéing that protein of choice (I went for the slightly unconventional tofu), adding coconut milk and garnishing with fresh slices of fiery green chilli before serving!
Pad Thai – the king of all Thai recipes!
No trip to Thailand, whether it’s a quick month-long jaunt as part of a Gap Year or a lengthy stay while teaching in the country’s classrooms, could possibly be complete without at least a sampling of this majestic national dish. The pad Thai is ubiquitous throughout the country, but – as ever – is best served piping hot and packed full of chilli and lime from the street side-stalls. When I learned to cook this particular one I remember being struck by just how much license there is to play with flavours. The base sauce is all-important though; a mixture of blood-red shrimp paste, ground chillies, mushed-up shallots and oil. Once that’s ready it’s time to get creative. Throw rice stick noodles into a piping hot pan, add beansprouts and cubes of tofu or chicken, spring onions and peas. Garnishing is great too, with everything from chunky lime wedges to crushed peanuts in the arsenal.
Peanut satay
While hardly an out-and-out Thai dish (peanut satay is a real favorite of the folk in Indonesia and Vietnam, and comes in all different shapes and sizes right across Southeast Asia), this taste-bud-tingling medley of nuts and oil, chilli and lime juice rarely fails to get my nostalgia flowing for the Land of Smiles! Start by chopping up all the usual ingredients: chilli, garlic, onion (shallots are better). Add these to a pool of hot oil and fry slowly, finally adding in sugar, soy sauce and peanut butter. Coconut milk is used to bulk up the satay and add a creamy finish. The whole lot can then be served poured liberally over a tofu kebab, fried chicken, or pieces of tempeh. Delicious and great for on-the-go!
Ginger and onion stir fry
I learned this fresh and simple little treat while touring the cafes of Pai in northern Thailand. After a couple of heavy nights flitting between the bamboo bars of the town and some tiring jaunts out to the canyons in the Mae Hon Song hills nearby, it quickly became my favorite lunch. I just had to learn how to make it. Essentially, it’s a basic stir fry, cooked up in a hot pool of nut oil using rice noodles. Start by giving roughly cut shallots a blast in the pan, only adding thin strips of ginger and lemongrass when the onions are getting to the end of cooking (this stops the additions from burning). Toss in the noodles with a handful of circle-cut chillies and a healthy clutch of coriander. Bingo: easy, super fresh and – most importantly – tasty as can be!
Thai spring rolls
A staple of a starter right across Asia, the classic spring roll actually has its roots in the Far East, being first created in the steamy food courts of China and Vietnam. Thailand quickly developed its own version of the ubiquitous dish, complete with all the trademark freshness and rustic simplicity of the Siamese kitchen. Start with a salad made of beansprouts and shredded carrot (the thinner the better), add strips of cut cabbage and Thai noodles to the mix, along with salt, pepper, a handful of lemongrass, ginger and – of course – chilli. The next step is the hardest: wrapping the mixture up tightly in a covering of thin spring roll pastry (these are sold in bulk in Thailand and are also available in the West), wetting the edges as you go to create a neat little package. Deep fry the lot and serve with a cucumber and spring onion salad, soy sauce and Thailand’s quintessential sweet chilli dip.
Do you have any Thai recipes you think we might love? Feel free to leave them in the comments! Or, if you’d like to learn some Thai recipes while travelling and teaching in the Land of Smiles, then be sure to check out our internships in Thailand!