Healthy Night

My food journey have different of variety of food. I have passion to cook since I move to Australia because when you stay another country it can be hard to find authentic tasting food same as your hometown. I believe a lot of people who move to different country they cook at home more than going out. Yes I am one of them

Healthy Night tonight served Chicken Cayenne salad with Brown rice and Prawns Cayenne salad with Brown rice. Just a simple meal but it’s healthy.

Ingredients

chicken breast

prawns

Orage

watermelon

Radish

Ice berge

large carrot

Jalapeno

Avocado

Lime

Tomato

Cucumber

fresh coriander

Brown rice

Cayenne powder, Paprika powder, Himalaya salt, olive oil garlic favour, Dried oregano.

Instructions

Preheat oven 180 degree (Fan Forced) and Cook brown rice in a rice cooker. Prepare chicken cut out fat and lightly score top of chicken. In large bowl add cayenne powder, paprika powder, salt and oregano mix all spice well together then transfer chicken into spice mix bowl and massages chicken well with spice. Clean prawns, drain water out. In mixing bowl add cayenne powder, salt and squeeze lime and then transfer prawns into spice bowl mix well put aside. Meanwhile slice carrot, cucumber, avocado and radish. When oven ready transfer chicken into tray and cook in the oven for 25 minutes then transfer prawns into oven and continue cook another 5 minutes chicken and prawns will cook perfectly. Chop coriander garnish on top prawns before serve.

All ingredient and spice you will add amount as you prefer.

Healthy Night but not boring if you like more spicy you can add slice chilli into it.

I hope you enjoy my food journey.

Green curry meat ball and spaghetti

My new menu today inspired by my feeling. I couldn’t decide what I want to make between Thai food and Italian for dinner so I have told my husband I will make Green curry meat ball with Spaghetti. I look at his face he confused. I finished work quite late I don’t want to make my dinner to complicated I bought ready Lamb and Beef meatball when I got home I grilled meat ball in the pan then put aside. Meanwhile I asked my sous chef to help boiling water for cook spaghetti. I got fresh Sweet basil from supermarket it so fresh and smell so nice I used sweet basil leaf 3 cup blended with 1 cup of water I got beautiful green colour. Then I heat sweet basil water in a sauce pan I used low heat add 2 table spoon of Green curry paste into the pot stir until curry melted, add 160 ml coconut milk then simmer for 5 minutes add meat ball into the pot and simmer another 10 minutes and spaghetti ready in the big pot I turn off the heat pour green curry meat ball on top spaghetti and mix it together add sweet basil leaf 1 cup and mix again then ready to serv. If you like parmesan cheese sprinkter on top 1 table spoon make it tasty.

Ingredients

500g Lamb and Beef meat ball

4 Cup sweet basil leaf

2 Table spoon green curry paste

160ml Coconut milk

1 Cup of water

500g Spaghetti

**Green Curry meat ball with spaghetti**

Dried fish Chilli paste

I enjoyed to cooking and making food. My cooking sometime you might not recognise of course if you never go to Isan ( Northeastern Thailand )

This dish is my Grandma favourite dish and I also love this dish too eat with sticky rice and vegetables.At my hometown we always grow vegetables and some herb in our back yard like Thai eggplant, chilli, Galangal, lemongrass and some other ingredients. When my mother cook she always ask me to get some herb and vegetables from the garden and I love to eat vegetables and herb.

Ingredients 

250 g Mackerel or Basa fish
5 Garlic cloves 
6 Fresh chilli
3 Shallots
1 Table spoon fish fermented sauce
2 Table spoon lime juice
 
Side dish 
Green vegetables, carrots, Cucumbers, Snake bean 


Instructions

1. Add Chilli, garlic and shallots into a pan and cook well.
2. Grill Mackerel and cool down. Tear meat out off the bone and put aside.
(If use Mackerel in tin, heat the pan until hot add mackerel into the pan 
and stir fish until dry)
3. Add garlic, chilli and shallots into mortar and pound together
 and then add mackerel into mortar pound again, add fish fermented sauce,
lime juice, and gently pound again then transfer into the serving bowl.

*serve with side dish like Green vegetables, Snake bean, cucumbers and
 carrots or other steamed vegetables or as you prefer. And steamed sticky rice.

Tum Khanom Jeen

Vermicelli Spicy Salad

In Thailand we like to eat spicy. When you walk on the street or restaurant you will see Sum Tum in the menu. Vermicelli in Thai is Khanom Jeen or khoa poon depend on which past of Thailand.

Tum Khanom Jeen not much ingredients you need and easy to make.

Ingredients

1 small carrot shards

3-4 cherry tomatoes Cut in half

1 1/2 table spoon lime juice

2 table spoon fish fermented or fish sauce

1 tea spoon sugar

150 g vermicelli

2 garlic cloves

Fresh red hot chilli depend on how much spicy you need

If you want more ingredients you can also add Cabbage picker, Thai eggplant, pork

balls or chicken balls in.

Instructions

Sum tum and Tum khanom Jeen important equipments you need is Pastors and Mortar. Add chilli and garlic into the pastor and proud thoroughly. Then add fish fermented, lime juice, sugar, carrot and tomatoes and then mixing ingredients together. Lasting add khanom jeen ( vermicelli ) mix gently in the mortar ready to serve

Prawn & Wings bean salad

Yum Thawphu

Another Thai dish that most people don’t know. Yum Thawphu ( Prawn and Wings bean salad) entee dish or even sometime we eat Yum Thawphu as a side dish when we drink Beer or Vodka. One of my favourite dish for diet as well.

Ingredients

250 g Wings bean ( stream and thinly slice)

10 King Prawn cooked

1 table spoon spring coriander chopped

1 1/2 table spoon lime juice

1 1/2 Thai red chilli sliced

1 table spoon sugar

1 table spoon fish sauce

1 table spoon Tumyum paste

1 table spoon fried garlic

1 table spoon fried shallots

Instructions

In a mixing bowl add fish sauce,sugar,lime juice, Thai red chilli and tumyum paste and mix all well together than add prawns, wing bean and coriander and mix with sauce and then add fried garlic and fried shallots ready to serve

Ling fish vermicelli salad

Start new year with healthy food. Live well eat healthy.

This dish it’s simple and easy cooking. Take about 20 minutes approximately. Ingredients in this dish all what I have at home.

Ingredients:

Vermicelli 50 g

Shallots sliced ( you can use spring onions instead)

Spring Coriander

Garlic sliced

Tomatoes

Carrots

Hot Thai chilli chopped x 3 ( depend on how Spicy you want )

Chilli fake 1 tea spoon

Lemon juice 1 1/2 tablespoons

Fish sauce 1 table spoon

Sugar 1/2 table spoon

Ling fish 120 g

Iceberg

Instructions

2 pot of Boiling water to cook ling fish and boil vermicelli.

In mixing bowl add fish salad, lemon juice, sugar, chilli fake and sliced garlic mix salad sauce together then add Coriander, shallots, tomatoes, carrot and hot chilli into mixing bowl and then add fish and vermicelli into the bowl. And serve with iceberg or other vegetables you prefer.

Gai Yang Takhai ( Grilled chicken lemongrass)

Grilled chicken is one of my favourites, and is also easy to cook. In Thailand we eat rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We have different types of Thai food in different areas. In my hometown we love Khao Neow ( sticky rice) eat with moo ping (Grilled Pork) or Gai Yang (Grilled chicken). Street food in Thailand if you walk along the market you will see at least 3 shop they sell Khao Neow Gai yang and Moo Ping with Nam Jim (Dipping sauce).

Here my Gai Yang style so easy and simple.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

8 garlic cloves

1 table spoon whole white pepper

3 coriander roots

2 stalk lemongrass thinly sliced

1 table spoon oyster sauce

1 table spoon light soy sauce

1 tea spoon brown sugar

1/4 table spoon back soy sauce

Instructions:

Cut chicken rib and open. Add garlic, white pepper, coriander roots and lemongrass into mortar then mash it. In a small bowl add wet ingredients and the sugar into the bowl and mix it well together. Take herb mix from the mortar and combine with sauce then rub onto the chicken and then leave in the fridge for a few hours or over night.

Preheat the oven 200 degrees (fan forced oven), and put chicken onto a rack (with tray underneath as it may drip). Put the chicken into the oven cook for 40 minutes then lower the heat down to 180 degrees and cook for another 20 minutes then you will get Gai Yang Takhai.

For Nam Jim (Spicy Dipping sauce) – Caution Spicy!

8 Hot green chilli

2 Garlic cloves

1 Coriander root

1 Tea spoon fish sauce

1 Tea spoon sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoons Lemon juice

Add Chilli, Coriander and Garlic into blender then blend it well. Add chilli mix into small bowl add sugar, fish sauce and lemon juice mix it well together and then serve with chicken.

I enjoyed eat grilled chicken with salad or fresh vegetables add Nam Jim into it so yummy.

Fresh vegetables in rice paper wraps.

Kauy Tiew Lui Suan

I like to make my own rice paper wrap. My recipe and how to make rice paper wrap so easy and simple.

Rice paper wrap recipe and instructions.

1 1/2 cup cold water

1 cup rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1/4 cup Arrowroot Powder

1 table spoon vegetable oil for spread onto rice paper sheets.

In the mixing bolw add water then add rice flour, Topioca starch and arrowroot powder and mix it well together. It’s best to use 2 or 3 plates as they get hot and you can work on the next one while the other is cooking. Using a large dinner plate add a 1/4 cup of mixture into the plate then place in the microwave for 1 minute (based on a 1000 watts microwave. If under 1000 watts you may need plus 10-20 seconds cooking time depending on how powerful your microwave).

Mean while add 1/4 cup of the mixture into another plate, when the one from microwave is finished cooking take it out and brush some vegetable oil onto the top of the rice sheet and use a spatula to lift up the end of rice paper sheet then transfer sheet onto a spare plate with the side that you brush oil down onto the plate. And continue the same until all the mixture is finished and put aside.

Fresh vegetables rice wrap
Kauy Tiew Lui Suan

The Journey Begins

Jinny’s food journey

Let start with who I am.

Jinny comes from Norteathern Thailand or what some people call Isan. My family are farmers and I am so proud to be a Farmer girl. Where I was born and grew up was just so far away from Bangkok. Our family is a big family and we’re very close. When my grandma was alive our family always has dinner together almost every night at my grandma’s house. My Aunty and my mother are good cooks but I never want to learn how to cook when I was younger.

About my story when I started to cook.

I left my country in August 2012. I came to Australia to study at first while I was studying I met my Husband there. I made the decision to stay in Australia with My Aussie Husband. But I’m always missing my mother and my family, and one thing make me feel like I am at my hometown is traditional Isan Food. Of course I first started cooking Som Tum ( green papaya salad) and other Isan foods. I called my mother and my Aunty asked them for recipe and I learned from there. Everytime when I go back to Thailand I always spend time in the kitchen with my Mother and my Aunty to learn how to cook and remember all the secrets from the recipes they taught me.

I have been practicing to cook for over six years and I have learned a lot. But there still more to learn. I have not tried all the cuisine and food from around the world, but I would love to try to eat and cook variety of course, and it’s wonderful if I can make other country’s cuisine.