GREEN PAPAYA SALAD
There are many versions of this spicy north-eastern vegetable salad that is traditionally made, crushed and dressed in a wooden pestle and mortar: cucumber, green mango, green beans, pineapple or white guava are some options. The salad can be flavoured with salted land crabs, dried prawns or fermented fish (plaa raa).
The traditional way to shred a papaya, as seen on the streets of Bangkok, is to hold it in one hand while it is cut and shredded vigorously with a large, sharp knife held in the other hand. Every so often the knife is used to pare away the papaya, yielding a somewhat coarse, uneven shred. Many home cooks, however, use a hand-held grater. It is certainly easier and faster but the uniform cut means the papaya loses some of its rustic appeal.
A special pestle and mortar is used for making this salad: the terracotta mortar is deep and conical with tall sides that prevent splattering, and the pestle is made of wood. A more regular granite one will do, but beware of the tomatoes!
Green papaya salad is always eaten with rice: steamed sticky rice or occasionally jasmine rice dressed with coconut cream and sugar. A stall selling grilled pork or sweet pork can usually be found nearby - it is the perfect companion.
* Using a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic with the salt then add the peanuts and dried prawns and pound to a coarse paste. Add the lime (if using), bruising it with the pestle, then add the cherry tomatoes and beans to the mortar and carefully work everything together. Next add the bird's eye chillies, barely crushing them. The more they are pounded, the hotter the dish - and how hot you want it is up to you. Add them earlier if you're after revenge.
* Finally, add the green papaya and lightly bruise with the pestle, while turning and tossing the mixture with a large spoon held in your other hand. Season the salad with palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and tamarind water. It should taste sweet, sour, hot and salty.
* Place about 1 cup of steamed rice on each plate. Spoon over the green papaya salad and eat with fresh raw vegetables, such as cabbage, green beans and betel leaves.
SERVES 2
3 garlic cloves, peeled
good pinch of salt
2 tablespoons roasted peanuts, coarsely crushed
2 tablespoons dried prawns, rinsed and drained
2 slices or small wedges of lime - optional
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 snake beans, cut into 1 cm (1/2 in) lengths
4-6 bird's eye chillies (scuds), to taste
2 cups shredded green papaya, from about 1 small papaya
3-4 tablespoons shaved palm sugar, to taste
2-3 tablespoons fish sauce
2-3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon tamarind water
steamed rice and raw vegetables, to serve
PAT THAI
Although widely associated with Thai cooking, this dish is in fact a relatively new addition to the repertoire, emerging during a period of ultra-nationalism in the late 1930s and early 40s, under the military regime of Marshal Phibun. He declared that the Thai people should endeavour to incorporate noodles into their eating habits, so competitions were held in schools, government offices and various nationalistic organisations to devise new noodle recipes, including the winning one that included tamarind and palm sugar. It was given the name pat thai, in keeping with the chauvinistic tenor of the times, and to distinguish it from Chinese noodle dishes, even though it has much in common with them - bean sprouts, bean curd, salted radish, garlic chives and, of course, the noodles themselves.
Since then, pat thai's fame has spread and it is now considered a classic of the Thai kitchen - at least by Westerners, though it is definitely popular among the Thai too.
Thin, flat, quite chewy rice noodles are preferred here: fresh ones make a much better dish, but they are hard to find outside of Thailand. However, the dried version, also known as rice sticks, are readily obtainable.
There is now a gentrified version of pat thai that uses fresh prawns. If you want to stroll along boulevards rather than trawl the alleys, then add six medium-sized cleaned raw prawns as the shallots begin to fry - and omit the dried prawns called for later in the recipe.
* If using dried noodles, soak them in water for about 15 minutes until soft but not overly so. Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil. Drain the noodles well then blanch them in the boiling water for a moment only and drain once again (this prevents the noodles from clumping together when they are stir-fried).
* Mix the palm sugar with the tamarind, vinegar (if using), fish sauce and 1-2 tablespoons of water in a bowl, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
* Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat and fry the shallots until fragrant and beginning to colour. Crack in the eggs and stir for a few moments until they begin to look omelette-like.
* Turn up the heat, then add the drained noodles and fry for about 30 seconds while breaking up the eggs. Add the tamarind syrup and simmer until it is absorbed. Mix in the bean curd, dried prawns, salted radish and peanuts then simmer, stirring, until almost dry. Add the bean sprouts and Chinese chives and stir-fry for a moment.
* Check the seasoning: pad thai should be salty, sweet and sour. Divide between two plates and sprinkle with the extra bean sprouts and peanuts. Serve with lime wedges, roasted chilli powder and raw vegetables.
SERVES 2
125 g (4 oz) fresh pat thai noodles or 100 g (3 oz) dried thin rice noodles (rice sticks)
3 tablespoons shaved palm sugar
2 tablespoons tamarind water
dash of white vinegar - optional
1 tablespoon fish sauce
3 tablespoons oil
4 red shallots, coarsely chopped with a pinch of salt
2 eggs - some cooks will use duck eggs
30 g (1 oz) yellow bean curd or firm bean curd, cut into small rectangles or squares - about 2 heaped tablespoons
1 tablespoon dried prawns, rinsed and dried
1/2 teaspoon shredded salted radish, rinsed and dried
1 tablespoon coarsely crushed roasted peanuts
handful of trimmed bean sprouts
handful of Chinese chives, cut into 2 cm (1 in) lengths
extra bean sprouts and crushed roasted peanuts,
lime wedges, roasted chilli powder and raw vegetables (such as Asian pennywort, banana blossom, cabbage or snake beans), to serve
STEAMED FISH WITH CHILLI AND LIME SAUCE
On the streets, the fish is usually steamed well in advance, in the interests of quick service at the stall. At home, however, it should be cooked when required. Scoring the fish allows for faster, more even cooking. Some cooks will fill the cavity with a few stalks of lemongrass, a pandanus leaf or a few coriander roots.
Thai diners like their fish completely cooked and will steam this over a furious heat. But as a concession to modern styles of cooking, I suggest you steam it over a moderate heat to ensure a tender texture - steaming over a rolling boil can be harsh and may toughen the flesh.
* Rinse the fish well and pat dry with paper towel. Score the fish by making three or four diagonal slices on each side.
* Next make the sauce. Using a pestle and mortar, pound the coriander roots to a fine paste with the salt. Add the garlic and chillies and continue pounding to a coarse paste. Season with the sugar, lime juice and fish sauce. The sauce should be hot, sour, salty and more than a little sweet - but this can be altered to taste. Transfer the sauce to a small bowl and set aside.
* Place the fish on a banana leaf or heatproof plate and then into a steamer. Steam over simmering water for about 15-20 minutes or until cooked - the scored flesh should be opaque right to the bone.
* Spoon the chilli and lime sauce over the fish and serve sprinkled with chopped coriander.
SERVES 2-4
1 x 400 g (12 oz) fish - such as sea bass, barramundi, John Dory, snapper or bream - gutted and scaled
1 banana leaf - optional
chopped coriander, to serve
CHILLI AND LIME SAUCE
1-2 coriander roots, cleaned
pinch of salt
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled
3-5 bird's eye chillies (scuds) -- or more, if you wish
1 tablespoon white sugar
3-4 tablespoons lime juice
1-2 tablespoons fish sauce, to taste
