Phat Thai (Fried Noodles of Thai Style)

Ranking third among the ten Thai dishes ordered most often by foreigners, the dish of Phat Thai or fried noodles of Thai style is a "quick dish" that is easily prepared and takes just a short time to cook.

Ingredients

• 300 grams of Thai rice noodles
• 10 fresh prawns, shelled
• 1 piece of yellow tofu, cut in small rectangles
• 3 eggs
• 60 grams of Chinese chives
• 500 grams of bean sprouts
• 1 tablespoon of chopped shallots
• 1 tablespoon of chopped garlics
• 1/2 cup of crushed roasted peanuts
• 60 grams of chopped preserved radish
• 1 teaspoon of ground chilli
• 4 tablespoons of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 4 tablespoons of tamarind juice
• 1/2 cup of cooking oil
• 1 big lime

How to cook

1. Fry chopped shallots and garlics with 3 tablespoons of cooking oil in a wok. Add Thai rice noodles, soften them with a little water.
2. Season with fish sauce, sugar and tamarind juice, and quickly stir the noodles to mix them. Then leave it at one side of the wok.
3. Add 3 tablespoons of cooking oil in the wok. Fry prawns, preserved radish, and yellow tofu, then blend all these with the noodles. Leave it again at the side of the wok.
4. Add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in the wok and fry an egg. Then combine it with the noodles. Add a half portion of bean sprouts and Chinese chives.
5. Remove it from the heat and add ground peanuts.

Tips

Phat Thai will be tastier when seasoning with lime juice and ground chilli, and eating with fresh bean sprouts, banana blossom, Chinese chive, and Bai Bua Bok (or Asiatic Pennywort).

Regarding the medicinal properties of Phat Thai, different herbs have different functions. Their properties are described below:

Chilli: It is beneficial to the respiration system, blood circulation and the heart. Moreover, it is used as cough medicine, and it helps stimulate your appetite.

Garlic: It can help prevent the blood vessels from being clogged, relieve high blood pressure, and eliminate phlegm.

Shallot: It helps relieve a cold and increase the secretion of urine. And it is also used as carminative medicine.

Tamarind: It is used as laxative medicine, and helps relieve a cold and coughing.

Asiantic Pennywort: Known as Bua Bok in Thai, its leaves are used for curing many kinds of common ailments such as headache, sore throat, internal contusion and high blood pressure.

Banana Blossom: It is reported that the banana blossom can help reduce the amount of glucose in the blood vessels.

Kaeng Khiao Wan (Green Chicken Curry)

Ranking second among the ten Thai dishes ordered most frequently by foreigners, a green chicken curry gained an 85% popularity from foreigners. Thai people like to have it with rice or khanom chin, a kind of Thai noodles.

Ingredients of Green Curry Paste

• 10 fresh green chillies
• 2 tablespoons of chopped lemon grass
• 1 teaspoon of chopped coriander root
• 1 tablespoon of chopped shallots
• 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon of chopped galanga root
• 1 teaspoon of ground coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin seeds
• 7 white peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of shrimp paste

How to make Green Curry Paste

1. Roast all the ingredients except the shrimp paste with low heat.
2. Pound the ingredients into paste, add the shrimp paste and blend them together.

Ingredients of Chicken Curry

• 1 cup of sliced chicken breasts
• 2 cups of coconut cream
• 2 tablespoons of green curry paste
• 1 cup of sliced egg-plants
• 2 green chillies, seeded and sliced lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

How to cook

1. Warm the oil in a saucepan with medium heat.
2. Stir-fry the green curry paste for one minute.
3. Fry the chicken in the mixture until it is done.
4. Add the coconut cream and boil it.
5. Add the egg-plants and green chillies.
6. Flavour it with fish sauce.
7. Stew it for 10-15 minutes.

By Suwan Thada

If you ask any foreigners who have ever visited Thailand about their favourite Thai food, their answers, almost without exception, will be tom yam kung.

Tom yam kung, or spicy shrimp soup, is the number one of the top ten Thai dishes loved by foreigners, according to a recent investigation. And in fact, it is one of the most favourite dishes for Thai people as well. It is simply because it is so delicious for its unique sour and spicy taste that you will certainly need it more and more if you try it just once.

Thai food generally not only provides a wonderful taste but also includes medicinal properties in its herbal ingredients as well. Tom yam kung is one of the best examples. To make you acquainted with this special Thai dish, this article will introduce you to the recipe for the soup and its herbal properties.

Ingredients :

• 1 pint of water
• 10 large shrimps
• 1 cup of mushrooms
• 1 stalk of lemon grass chopped
• 2 kaffir-lime leaves
• 1 table spoon of chopped coriander leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground chilli (the amount can be adjusted according to one's preference)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of lime juice
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce

How to cook :

1. Pour the water into a pot, add the lemon grass and kaffir-lime leaves and heat it.
2. Add the shrimps when the water is boiling and cover the pot.
3. Wait for 3 minutes before adding the mushrooms and salt.
4. Leave it to simmer for a few minutes. Then remove from the heat.
5. Season with fish sauce, lime juice and ground chilli.
6. Put the chopped coriander leaves in the pot before serving.

To enhance the flavour, sometimes nam phrik phao or roast chilli paste is added to the soup before it is removed from the heat. For foreigners who are not accustomed with its original taste, just add some milk to the soup to make its taste milder and blended well.

Tips : Best served hot with a plate of steamed rice and a dish of omelette.

For the medicinal properties of tom yam kung, different herbs offer different functions. Their properties are described below:

Lemon grass

Lemon grass can help relieve excessive gas in the stomach or intestine, increase the secretion of urine, reduce heat in the body and prevent the spread of some kinds of bacteria.

Chilli

Chilli is used as cough medicine. It is useful for the respiratory system, blood circulation and heart as well.

Lime

Lime helps to prevent coughing, flu and scurvy.

Kaffir-lime

Kaffir-lime is used to deodorize the strong smell of some food. Its juice can cure cough, dandruff and some types of stomach ache.

Those are just some of the medicinal properties in tom yam kung. Besides, it is full of nutrients from shrimps and vegetables. You will see that the food not only makes you full, but makes you healthy. That is an important reason why tom yam kung is noted as the number one of Thai dishes.

 For the correct pronunciation of romanized Thai words, see Romanization System of the Thai Language.