Mananya Cooks: Tom Yum Fried Rice

You like Tom Yum Soup, right? How about fried-ricing it up? You will love love love this dish. This is a Mananya Original! A

1 cup of cooked rice (White or Brown)

Half of a lemongrass (use bottom half only)

5 kaffir leaves (de-stemmed)

1 whole galanga (peeled)

3 tbs chili soya bean sauce (can be found at Vietnamese or Thai stores only)

3 tbs Fish Sauce

1 medium white onions

2 tbs oil (canola or olive)

1 tbs minced garlic

handful of mixed seafood/chicken/or beef

Pulse lemon grass, galanga, and kaffir leaves in a food processor, set aside. Saute garlic in oil. Add soya bean sauce along with the onions and your seafood/protein of choice. Add in the herbal mixture. Stir thoroughly then add the rice. Continue to mix and add the fish sauce. Top the cilantro and serve with a slice of lime!

Tip: NEVER make fried rice with hot or warm rice. It will make your final product mushy. Make sure your rice is at room temperature.

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Thai-Style Pasta with Ketchup, a household favorite!

Growing up, we always ate this dish during lunch time. It is often made with elbow pasta, but you can use any pasta/flour or egg noodles. The secret is to overcook the pasta before stir frying. A soft sloppy chew is best for this dish!

 

6 cloves garlic

1/2 cup of ketchup

2 tbs of sugar

2 tbs of white soy sauce (soya bean sauce, not soy or fish sauce)

2 cups of cooked pasta

1/2 cup ground meat of choice

1/2 cup of cilantro

1/4 cup green onions

1/4 cup cooking oil (canola or olive oil is fine)

 

Cook pasta and pre cut garlic, cilantro and green onions. As I was cutting up the garlic, P'Noo said that smashing it is best. I agree with her (it releases the taste of the garlic better.) But, I was a bit too lazy to smash garlic at such early hours 😉 In a hot wok, add oil, garlic and meat. Once cooked, add your pasta, ketchup, sugar and white soy sauce. Add your cilantro and gren onions towards the end of your cooking. Mix evenly and serve! Yummy!

 

 

 

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Recipe: Grilled Steak with Zap Citrus Thai Salsa

Sometimes, a girl just wants a good piece of……….. steak. 🙂 My favorite place to get good meat = Whole Foods or COSTCO.

Living in a condo, cooking a good steak is a challenge. BECAUSE THE FIRE ALARM IS SOOO SENSITIVE!! So included in this gallery are pictures of Stan fanning the beeping smoke detector. Thank goodness the fire department didn’t come.

2 pieces of steak/beef of choice (see for cuts http://www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com/typesofcuts.aspx) I used chuck
Freshly ground pepper
Sea salt

For the Zap Salsa (Zap means outrageous flavor in Thai.. The kind of flavor that makes your mouth water)

1 tangerine or orange
1 tomato or 5-6 grape tomatoes
Handful of chopped cilantro
1/2 small onion
1 lemon
1 thai bird chili
Salt to taste
Dash of fish sauce

I use a grilling pan that can be found at Sur La Table. It’s awesome. See my previous posting for more information or visit http://www.surlatable.com There are some important rules to grilling or cooking meat. 1) make sure it is at room temperature before you put in on heat 2) Once it hits hot surface, leave it alone! Don’t play with it. Only move it when it’s ready to be flipped. So begin favoring it with just good ole’ salt and pepper. Be generous.

I cooked mine @ medium. For your cooking preference, visit http://www.askthemeatman.com/beef_cooking_times.htm Flip once or twice, turn off the heat and let it cool. It will continue to cook for another 10 mins. It’s simply perfection. Make sure you cook your meat well…. You don’t want to get sicko!

For the salsa, in a blender, put in your onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and tangerine. Please remove as much pulp and seeds as possible. Otherwise, you are going to get a grossly bitter salsa. You don’t want that. Add salt to taste, thai chili, lemon juice and a dash of fish sauce. Do not substitute with soy sauce, please please. Don’t put too much fish sauce in. Well…unless you’re Thai… Then.. Fish sauce it away!!

This is a very satisfying dish. It just hits you right there… YEAH… RIGHT THERE. I wish I brought leftovers.

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Mananya Eats: TAC Quick/ (My Fav Thai Restaurant in Chicago)

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TAC Quick is my favorite Thai restaurant in the City of Chicago. It is incredible. Well, that is if you know how to order from the Thai Menu. TAC stands for Thai Authentic Cuisine. And, authentic it is. It’s so good it reminds me of home. Home, home. If you’re not adventurous, order from the “regular” menu. But for those looking for an authentic dining experience, this is the place to be. The Thai Menu is a bit intimidating.. and scary…but if you’ve ever wondered what other Thais order when we’re out, wonder no more.

TAC Quick has items you’ll never find anywhere else in Chicago. Well, maybe you’ll find it at my 2nd or 3rd favorites (Sticky Rice & Thai Avenue)… but hands down, TAC Quick has some amazing selections.

Try their Papaya Salad (Pictured), Boat Noodles (Soy Noodles (pictured), Pad Kra Pow with Thousand Year Old Egg (Basil Stir Fry), Nom Jeen Nam Ya (Root Curry with Noodles), Krapi Fried Rice (Shrimp Paste Fried Rice), Kang Kiew Wan (Green Curry with Thai Omelet),or Ka Moo (Sweet Pork Shank)…just to name a few.

Note, their regular menu isn’t THAT great. If I remember correctly, the quality is standard. You really need to order the really authentic items. Just take a chance and go wild. Order something out of your comfort zone. You won’t regret it.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/tac-quick-chicago

Mananya Cooks: Thai Garlicky Pork Ribs

Growing up in Thailand, we made this all the time for dinner. It's super simple to make and does not need to marinade for longer than 10 mins.

1 pack of Pork Ribs
1 large garlic
3 tbs of fish sauce
1/2 tsp of black pepper
4 tbs of oyster sauce
canola oil for pan fry

Mix pork ribs, garlic, fish sauce, black pepper and oyster sauce. Set aside for 10 mins. In a huge wok, put in canola oil and place those pork ribs in, several at a time. Make sure that you don't 'clutter' the wok, otherwise, you will not get the nice golden brownness. Cook on high heat with the oil for about 4 minutes on each side.

Delicious with rice! Well, I mean.. I think everything tastes great with rice.

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Mananya Cooks: Bamee Hang Egg Noodles in 10 mins.

This is a very popular street dish in Thailand. There's this vendor in my home town in Bangapi (Bangkok, Thailand) that I call the POC POC MAN. During lunch time, he and his mobile noodle stand (on motorcycle) rides around and lets everyone know of his arrival by hitting 2 wooden sticks together and it makes a POC POC noise. When I go home, I still see him around.

 

1 ball of Chinese egg noodles (can be found any asian grocery store)

fried garlic (friend minced garlic and oil) you can make this on your own at home. I keep it in a jar.

fried shallots (can be found any asian grocery store)

BBQ meat of choice (sometimes I just use left over rotisserie chicken)

Cilantro and green onions for garnish

Sugar, chili flakes, sugar, vinegar and fish sauce to taste

 

Bring water to a super boil and cook the noodles for 15 seconds!! Do not overcook. Add all other ingredients. Quick and simple! 10 mins TOPS. BEAT THAT RACHEL RAY!

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Let me help you with that constipation…Bitter Melon Stir-Fry

6 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup ground turkey, pork or chicken

1/4 cup of salt

3 tbs of sugar

1 tb of white soy sauce

1 bitter melon (can be found at local chinese stores)

2 eggs

1/4 water

2 tbs oil (vegetable will do…)

2 tbs oyster sauce

Bitter melon is … well, bitter. BUT it has a lot of medicinal values. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_melon Honestly, something this bitter HAS TO BE good for you somehow. This dish can often be found at Chinese restaurants. Authentic ones… not one of those strip mall joints. So here goes..

Core the bitter melon and cut into thin slices. If you don’t .. well, let’s just say… I warned ya…. Soak the bitter melon in salt (it releases the bitterness a bit). Soak for about a min or 2. Then, in a hot wok, add your oil, garlic, oyster sauce and meat. Add the bitter melon, water and cover for about 3 mins, allowing the melon to cook thoroughly. Uncover and add more oil, add eggs and scrabble in wok. Then.. mix it all together and there you go!!

This dish, courtesy of my brother. Also pictured.

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This is how a Thai girl does Thanksgiving

Mananya’s Infamous Thai Turkey Basil

1 pack of ground turkey (can use chicken or beef)
1 tbsp of chopped garlic
3 fresh thai chilis (can use jalapeño, but, I advise against it)
1 generous bunch of basil (prefreby thai basil, but Italian will do)
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tbsp of fish sauce (do not subtitute with soy sauce)
1 tbsp of sugar

Heat up oil (canola works best). Add garlic…and chili… then turkey. Make sure it is semi-cooked, then add basil. Splash in fish sauce, oyster sauce and sugar. It’s FEROCIOUS!

 

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Thai Sweet Potato and Prunes with Coconut Sauce

3 sweet potatoes, cut in big chunks
A couple of prunes (I used 6)
1 can of unsweetened thai coconut milk (I love Chef's Choice Brand)
5 tbsp of sugar
A pinch of salt

Pre boil the sweet potatoes for 10 mins. Simmer coconut milk. Add pre cooked sweet potatoes, prunes, sugar and salt. Cook until sauce is hot. Eat when warm.

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Kickin’ Thai Almonds

1 raw almond bag (the ones from trader joes is very affordable)
1 bunch of cilantro
1/4 cup of thai sweet chili sauce
1 tbsp of rice vinegar
1 tbsp of white soy sauce
1 tsp of chili flakes

Mix all wet ingredients together. Sprinkle half of the chili flakes. Pour half of the mix ingredients with the almonds. Set oven to 350, for 18 mins. Spread out the almonds on a oven sheet. After oven time is done, repeat the steps again with the remainder sauce. Add in the remaining chili flakes and chopped cilantro. Put back in over for 350, 10 mins. Avoid burning by checking the almonds periodically.

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