This is made from the green curry paste, dry fried cumin seeds and coriander seeds that are pounded into a powder and mixed into coconut cream and then put into an ice cream maker. The cones are made from the rice flour, plain flour, lime water and salt mix that can be found here.
I have been talking about this for the whole time I was in Thailand and I have finally managed to make it ‘work’… Here is the deal:
I wanted a double choc shell with the out shell being a dark chocolate, then a mango purée surprise, another chocolate shell and then sweet coconut sticky rice. The problem was making the chocolate shells. I have managed to make it work using a silicone cup cake mould. I haven’t nailed it yet but check out the video of the first attempt. I used very sweet coconut milk as the surprise and coconut praline to top the chocolate. I need to sort out how to make the moulds reliably and how to seal the lot once it is full.
I incorrectly described this market to someone recently as Bangkok’s ‘Vic Market’. I couldn’t have been anymore wrong. This market is a thriving amalgamation of cool, food, tourists and locals all looking for something special that, if you have a lot of time to look, you will probably find.
The market is tucked away at the end of the tube line but is easy to get to and has plenty of options as far as stations are concerned. I exited at Kamphaeng Phet station because I knew over the road there was a local food only market that I wanted to investigate (Or Tor Kor market which is an extremely clean market across the road but that’s for another post). The market appears to, at first glance (and due to most of the stalls out side) to be full of rubbish but spend a little more time and you find quite the opposite. The market is broken up into 6 sections; Antiques, Handicrafts & Souvenirs ; Clothing & Accessories; Eating & Drinking; Housewares & Decor; Pets; and Plants & Gardening. in each of these sections there’s something cool to check out. It’s crammed into little corridors so nearly impossible to photograph but if you’re only in Bangkok for a short time I would recommend checking this out (and don’t miss the market across the road).
Then there is the cool clothing…..
I would love to spend a couple of weekends here going from stall to stall to stall and picking up little designer wears that are small runs made by people who care (not knockoff crap that they want to get rid of ASAP before the shape changes in the humidity).
In a bowl combine the Stock, dark soy, soy, sugar, oyster and sesame oil. Mix to attempt to dissolve the sugar
In a pot place the pork fat on the bottom and then place the (in order) ginger, coriander root, spring onion, garlic, pepper, Chinese spice, noodles and prawns
Pour sauce from the bowl across the contents of the pot and put pot on low heat. Wait for the sauce to start to boil, wait 2 minutes, drain and pour over the ingredients once again. Repeat the boil/2 minute wait/drain/pour step until there is very little liquid remaining. Serve
In a pot with boiling water add chicken and boil until there is no ‘red’ showing (not completely cooked, just the outside). Empty pot and put to one side
In a bowl add mushrooms, garlic and squash and pickled lime, chicken and chicken stock
Put bowl in a steamer and steam for 2 hrs on medium heat
I broke my own rule with this one. This guy was amazing so I am including a few photos of the tricks he was doing to mix the tea with the sweetened condensed milk and sugar. I am linking this on into the JJ Market post because this is where it belongs.
As the Thai cooking extravaganza draws to a close, I have 5 more recipes to prepare. No longer to I have to ‘fix’ my curries, the chef just looks at me, I quiver and he says ‘OK’ and moves on. I think I’ve done OK, I only hope that I can replicate what has become second nature back in Australia… Anyway enough sobbing in my beer, I still have to not chop off my fingers tomorrow. As far as today’s recipes go I really like the soup, it needs the plums but don’t do what I did and eat them (they won’t kill you but I really didn’t like them). The chicken is a great crowd pleaser without too much work and the pork curry was great. By virtue that I have included today’s dessert must give you some indication of my feeling towards it, I will certainly be including it in my repertoire. Enjoy today’s recipes, from tomorrow it’ll be lots of photos of people doing their stuff and probably a heap of occupational health and safety stuff.
Chicken thighs, deboned, skin on and cut into thirds
Marinade
20g
White sugar
10g
Sesame oil
50g
Evaporated milk
30g
Oyster sauce
20g
Sweet dark soy sauce
20g
Thai seasoning sauce (Maggi sauce)
20g
Chinese style sour sauce (cheap balsamic vinegar)
20g
Thai chilli sauce
1 Tab
Corn flour
1 1/2 Tab
Garlic, finely chopped
1 Tsp
White pepper corns
1 Tsp
Coriander root, finely chopped
Dipping sauce
100g
Palm sugar
30g
Ginger, crushed but whole
40g
Sweet dark soy sauce
20g
Chinese style sour sauce (cheap balsamic vinegar)
30g
Ketchup
30g
Thai chilli sauce
30g
Thai seasoning sauce (Maggi sauce)
40g
White vinegar
30g
Soy sauce
For the marinade pound the garlic, pepper corns and coriander root in a mortar until it is a paste
Add the paste to a bowl and combine the remaining marinade ingredients in the bowl. Put chicken in the bowl and put to one side (fridge) for 1 – 3 hours
In a pot, put all of the dipping sauce ingredients and heat on a low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Put to one side
Once marinaded put the chicken in a steamer with the marinade for 20 minutes
Remove from the steamer and cool to allow handling
Once cooled wrap in a padanus leaf and deep fry
Remove from the fryer once the chicken is a dark brown and serve with the dipping sauce
Today …. ‘easy’… Crepes and fish….. The crepes have a heap of steps but really it’s worth it, they are crispy and delicious. Here the street vendors have stopped selling them because the are too many steps and, at 400b ($3.30) they are too expensive.
Add garlic and coriander root and pound to a paste. Put to one side
On a large chopping board place shredded coconut meal and prawns
With a knife chop the prawns and coconut meat by chopping the mix and, as it spreads out folding the edges in to the centre. Continue until the mix is very well mixed (image here)
On a high heat put prawn/coconut meat in a wok with shrimp oil, fish sauce, palm sugar, white sugar, salt and white pepper. Constantly keep moving until the mix is fragrant and brown.
Add kaffir lime leaves and heat briefly. Turn off heat and put to one side
In a wok on a high heat add vegetable oil and add tofu. Cook until tofu is browned
Add bean sprouts, radish and paste (above). Quickly combine all ingredients and turn off heat. Put to one side
In a pot on a medium heat put rice vinegar, white sugar and 1 tsp salt. Heat until sugar is dissolved and out to one side
Once vinegar/salt/sugar is cool put in a small bowl with red onion and red spur chilli. Put to one side
To create the crepes; In a bowl whisk rice flour, egg yolk and slowly add lime stone water
Combine coconut cream and water in a jug
Slowly whisk in coconut cream/water into the crepe mix in the bowl
Add palm sugar, turmeric powder and salt and whisk until palm sugar is dissolved. Put to one side
Heat a wok on a high heat. Oil wok with 1 tab of vegetable, spread oil over the entire surface and remove any excess oil with kitchen paper
Pour 1/2 cup of crepe mix into wok while turning wok to distribute mix over the surface making a thin coating across the surface without any gaps
Once the edges start to display bubbles use a scrapper to separate them from the wok
Pour a little vegetable oil into the edges Video here
Cook until the crepe starts to brown, put tofu mix, and prawn mix across the centre of the crepe and serve
I know I have said this before and, to be honest, I am a lover of Thai food but everything on today’s menu really didn’t let the side down. The cucumber soup was a real surprise, it was great (seriously who would have thought?). We didn’t completely clean the squid and left some soft stuff on the inside, personally I think I prefer it clean but there is some soft stuff there that takes the sauce well and helps to surround your mouth with the punch the sauce offers.
Slice the squid without cutting all the way through diagonally every 1cm
Place 1/2 ginger on a plate and place quid on top. Place remaining ginger on top of squid. Steam for 15 minutes
Combine lime juice, garlic, chillies, coriander root, stock, sugar and fish sauce in a pot on low heat and heat until sugar is dissolved. Put to one side
Once squid is steamed remove ginger and place on a plate. Pour sauce over and serve
Deep fried chicken thigh with sweet chilli dipping sauce
1
Chicken thigh
Marinade
1 Tsp
White pepper powder
7
Garlic cloves, finely cut
3
Coriander root, finely chopped
2 Tab
Soy sauce
1 Tab
Thai sauce (Maggi sauce)
1/2 Tab
White sugar
2 Tab
Pink noodle sauce
Chicken Coating
3 1/2 Heaped Tab
Plain flour
2 Tab
Limestone water to create thick paste
Dipping sauce
75g
Bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped
75g
Garlic, finely chopped
1/2 Cup
White Vinegar
1/2 Cup
White sugar
1/2 Tsp
Salt
In a mortar roughly pound chillies and dipping garlic
Heat a pot on low heat with vinegar, sugar and salt until the sugar is dissolved
Take off the heat and combine the garlic/chilli mix from the mortar and put to one side
In a bowl combine all the marinade ingredients and put chicken in the bowl. Coat chick well and leave to stand in the fridge for at 1 hour (not over night)
In a bowl whisk together the flour and lime water until it creates a thick paste. If the paste is too runny, add more flour. If too thick add more water. Put to one side
Before adding chicken heat oil for deep frying on a medium heat. Coat chicken in the flour water mix and then carefully place in the oil. Allow to cook until golder brown. Turn heat up when just golden brown to high and fry until rich brown and crispy. Take out and serve with the dipping sauce
Make the paste by putting white pepper corns in a mortar and pounding to dust
Add garlic, and chillies and pound to a paste. Put to one side
Heat the oil in a wok on a high heat. Add the paste and cook until fragrant. Reduce heat to low
Add chicken, prawns, and red onion. If the mix starts to stick add 2 table spoons of stock (more if required). Cook until the prawns and chicken are cooked
Change to a high heat and add beans, kaffir limes leaves, chillies, fresh pepper, and stock (if required). Cook until the beans are cooked
Today’s menu is missing the dessert. We had an issue and we are going to fix that tomorrow. The pork curry doesn’t need crispy pork so if you ever have a disaster crispy pork that just doesn’t work… have this curry, everyone will love it!!
Large green beans, cut into 2cm lengths and blanched
2 Tab
Paste
6
Kaffir lime leaves
1 Tab
Dried shrimp, pounded
2 Tab
Vegetable oil
4 Tab
Chicken Stock
To make the crispy pork you do the following……
‘Shave’ the pork skin by running a sharp knife over the skin and removing any extra hair/skin etc. Video here: http://youtu.be/qwwoQb2e0Lo
Cut it into large manageable chunks. Put salt on the skin and out in the fridge uncovered over night to dry out
Take the pork out of the fridge and put salt and vinegar on the skin. Prick with a fork all over to encourage the vinegar to ‘sink in’. Put to one side for 1 hour
Dry the skin out and put in deep fryer on a medium heat. Dropping the pork in here: http://youtu.be/FudrIlsGPls
Fry for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from oil and allow to dry
Turn heat up to high and wait for oil to come to a high temperature. Put pork in the oil. Cook until the skin is blistered and remove from heat and put to one side to dry
Once dried out add to the oil once more. Cook until the skin is crispy. Cut into dipping slices and serve with sauce
On a medium heat heat the oil and add the paste. Fry the paste until it starts to stick to the pan
Add 2 tab of stock to the pan and scrape off any paste sticking to the sides. Add more stock if required
Add fish sauce and kaffir lime leaves
Cut pork into cubes, take beans and add to wok. Heat a little and serve
Crispy pork belly with a sweet and smoky dipping sauce
Pork
1Kg
Pork belly
Dipping sauce
4
Bird’s eye chillies
4
Garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 Tab
Soy sauce
2 Tab
Sweet dark soy sauce
1 Tab
Vinegar
1 Tab
White sugar
Smash the bird’s eye chillies in a mortar and put in a small bowl
Add the garlic, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Mix until the sugar is dissolved
To make the crispy pork you do the following……
‘Shave’ the pork skin by running a sharp knife over the skin and removing any extra hair/skin etc. Video here: http://youtu.be/qwwoQb2e0Lo
Cut it into large manageable chunks. Put salt on the skin and out in the fridge uncovered over night to dry out
Take the pork out of the fridge and put sale and vinegar on the skin. Prick with a fork all over to encourage the vinegar to ‘sink in’. Put to one side for 1 hour
Dry the skin out and put in deep fryer on a medium heat. Dropping the pork in here: http://youtu.be/FudrIlsGPls
Fry for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from oil and allow to dry
turn heat up to high and wait for oil to come to a high temperature. Put pork in the oil. Cook until the skin is blistered and remove from heat and put to one side to dry
Once dried out add to the oil once more. Cook until the skin is crispy. Cut into dipping slices and serve with sauce
Coursley smash together dried and fresh chillies and put to one side
In a pot on a medium heat add chicken stock, tamarind, lemongrass, ginger and coriander root. Bring to the boil
Add most of the fish to the soup keeping a little meat to add at the end. Add fish sauce. Taste and adjust
Turn heat to low and add tomatoes and kaffir lime leaves and simmer for 1 minute
Turn off the heat and add chillies to your taste. Add remaining fish. Remove lemongrass and coriander root and serve
The smoked fish…. Personally eating the fish was annoying. The soup had a great smokey flavour added by the fish. I was happy to have the soup without the fish but keep the smokey flavour.
I’m one for getting off the beaten track. I saw this hut over a swamp and wanted a ‘mum can we go swimming’ sort of shot (with the shoes at the deck) but then we saw something in the mud…
There are these little fish called ‘Mudskippers’.. They get around in the mud (it looks like) scooping mud into their mouths. they then decided to have a little fight after flipping around for a while. Photos below.
There are several sides to this story… First things first… If you are coming here expecting to find out how to get to Maeklong Railway Market… Here you go:
Bangkok Victory monument station. Exit 2 (before 7 then the minibus terminal is ‘closed’ but go down the drive way).
On this day (no idea if it changes) at location 4 we got on a minibus. You apparently need to buy a ticket first but I have no idea how this happens and it all turns out OK, the driver will get money from you (70b one way)…. note… If you are over 160cm… don’t do what I did… I ended up at the back of the bus under the AC bent over (the back of the bus has AC vents that make the roof lower) in traffic for 2 hours. Very uncomfortable for me and OMG I feel sorry for the very small Thai lady on the window side who was squished in to the window by my ever increasing arse…. Another note…. Might be worth while not taking 20Kgs of camera equipment too…. Thank god no one knew English, I’m sure if they knew how to ‘tut’ in English there would have been plenty of that going on too (tripod never wins friends).
Theoretically 1.5 hours later you are dropped off at Maeklong. Behind the bus, over the road is where you get picked up to go back (Victory Monument written in English) and in front of you is the main street. Head to the main street and look left. The boom gates are there, the station on the right on and the market on the left. If you go to the station there is a sign that tells you when the next train is.
So the market…. It was amazing. I have been to a heap of markets all over the world from chickens getting killed and plucked in front of you in Egypt to English fish markets that make you sign a waver before you can take any photos (highly recommended by the way). This was something else. Even in Bangkok standards this was a little out there. Very little ice to be seen, a lot of flies to be seen and even the occasional animal (excluding the tourists), mainly cats. It has live fish, killed and prepared in front of you, frogs on their backs and the market’s signature dish, mackerel in a bamboo steamer (you don’t get to take the steamer home). The big attraction is the fact a train runs through the middle of the market. A bell goes off, the stalls finish their transaction and then they start pulling back the fruit, veggies and various animal products from around the tracks. Second bell goes off and the activity becomes fierce as the slow ones now they have seconds. The rich stalls move their trollies back along little tracks that move them back just enough to be out of the way of the train. Tourists get yelled at by the stall holders to get back (constantly) and the train rattles through centimetres from your chest. Once the train is past everything is put back and everyone goes on with their day. Photo of the back of the train is here.
For those of you who are concerned (or just want to see my kit destroyed here is the damage to the camera.
…Damage is beside the lens…
The market has stuff all over the place beside the tracks and, as you can see, heaps to move out of the way in a short period of time (watch the video for real time understanding).
Step outside the market and there’s even more going on. Dried fish, locals looking at Buddha amulets, crepes with savory fillings cooked over charcoal stoves (all photos below) and more but I will put other entries for those.. There is about 4 hours you can kill here and, if you want to stop and talk to anyone (they are all happy to talk) then more.
The one thing I did want to get from the market was a track’s eye view of the train. I hadn’t seen anyone use the perspective of the tracks in their videos so I dumped my camera in the middle of the track and left it there. This disturbed everyone, the market holders (on the right of the shot) and the Japanese tourists next to me. Check it out here: http://youtu.be/XjF9pA0xJ9o
The photos are here:
The market’s traditional fair.. mackerel in bamboo steamers…
There wasn’t any active selling. This lady was just sitting there hoping this lanky Australia would buy something… Sorry
I love the fact this guy’s next ‘customer’ is in the bucket next to him. They are all alive and get chopped up to ‘order’.
And the poor little frogs.. 80b/kg… They come in a lot less than the quail. Probably the same amount of meat:-)
Outside the market there’s still a heap going on. This guy was making savory crepes on a charcoal fire. They are really hard work to make. You create a dough with sticky rice flour, water and egg. Make a flat cake and boil the cake. Takes the cakes and mix them in a mixer to a paste. Spread that paste out in to the crepe shape and thickness and put in the sun to dry. Once dry you stack them, take them to market and so the final step here. They are sweet in flavour but not a sweet (if that makes sense) . Brilliant!!
Dried squid run through a ‘mangle’ to flatten them out for (I can only assume) eating… Enjoy.
In Thailand there is a short period of time you can buy palm sugar like this (once a year). This palm sugar is a really bold flavour and is really punchy eaten on its own. I have to try it in cooking but it looks great.
In spite of the green colour this was delicious. The padanas leaves added the vanilla flavour and it was gorgeous. Serving on bread was a very Thai thing to do but it was great on the soft, cafe cut, steamed bread.
Today’s menu involved preparing 3 dipping sauces and serving them with some very fresh vegetables. I am running out of power on my phone so I don’t think I’ll get the recipes up tonight but here are the photos as a teaser:
Today’s menu included a lot of very fresh flavours. All of the dishes today included texture and taste to delight the sensors. Those of keen eye might notice on the Chicken salad we have banana blossom. I REALLY didn’t like it so I have excluded it from the recipe (it tasted like very very (yes, two ‘verys’) green banana). The fish was light, healthy and tasty, the soup (even with the banana blossom) was delicious and the black sticky rice was a pleasant end to a day of eating. 2 hours in the gym where the spinning instructor did most of the session in English and I guess I may have burned off 50% of the day’s calories.