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Kaeng Musuman มัสมั่น A rich beef, chicken or lamb curry with peanuts. Not too spicy and often served at wedding parties.
You can purchase Musuman curry paste in many Asian food stores or on the Web. However, if you're a purist or adventurous, you might want to try this:
MASAMAN CURRY PASTE (NAM PRIK KAENG MASAMAN)
10 dried red chilies
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2 cardamom pods
3 cloves
6 tablespoon chopped garlic
4 tablespoon chopped shallots
1 tablespoon oil
10 peppercorns
2 tablespoon chopped lemon grass
1 teaspoon chopped galangal
1 teaspoon chopped bergamot skin
1 teaspoon chopped coriander root
1 teaspoon shrimp paste, grilled
1 cup palm sugar
1 tablespoon salt
4 tablespoon tamarind juice
Coarsely chop the chilies and soak in water for 10 minutes. Drain. Dry-fry the cumin and coriander seeds, cardamom pods and cloves over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes until they are aromatic and slightly browned.
Saute the chilies, garlic and shallots in the oil until lightly browned.
Pound in the following order: a) garlic, shallots and chilies b) coriander, cardamom pods, cumin, cloves and peppercorns c) lemon grass, galangal, bergamot, coriander roots.
Place the shrimp paste on a piece of foil and cook it over a flame or burner for 1 to 2 minutes, or in a hot oven (425F) until the outside is slightly burnt. Mix the shrimp paste with all the above ingredients plus the sugar, salt and tamarind juice to form a fine paste.
Once you have your curry paste, you're ready to make some curry:
MASAMAN CURRY WITH BEEF (KAENG MASAMAN NUA)
peanut oil
1 tablespoon garlic chopped fine
1 tablespoon galangal chopped fine
1 tablespoon lemon grass chopped fine
1 tablespoon Thai basil chopped
1 1/2 pounds stewing beef 1" cubes
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
2 tablespoons curry paste; (Thai masaman)
1 tablespoon lime zest shredded
1 tablespoon lime leaves shredded
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon chile paste; up to 4
2 cups potatoes cut into 1" cubes
1 cup pearl onions
First, prepare the curry paste and coconut milk separately. Add the paste with some of the 'cream' from the coconut milk and heat until the oil starts to separate. Then, in a separate pan, heat peanut oil, garlic, galangal and lemon grass. Stir fry 1 minute until oil is aromatic.
Add beef and stir fry 3 minutes until lightly browned and add the curry paste/coconut cream mixture
Add the rest of the coconut milk, lime zest, lime leaves, basil, fish sauce and chile paste, bring to a boil, and reduce heat.
Simmer 45 minutes, until beef is tender.
When beef is just tender, add potatoes and onions to curry and simmer 30 minutes, until potatoes are cooked.
Yield - 6 cups
Kaeng Kari แกงกระหรี่ A mild flavored Indian type curry made with potatoes and chicken (sometimes other meats are used).
Phanaeng Nua or
Phanaeng Gai แพนงไก่
A spicy curry with either meat or
chicken with coconut milk for flavor from southern Thailand.
Kaeng Jut A mild flavored soup made of vegetables, tofu and shrimp, chicken or pork.
Kaeng Jut Wun Sen The same as Kaeng Jut with the addition of Chinese vermicelli.
Tom Yom ต้มยำ A hot and sour soup with lots of chilies and lemon grass and ginger. Can be made with chicken, shrimp, pork, beef, fish, or assorted seafood. Probably one of the best known Thai dishes.
Khao Dom Rice soup, often eaten late at night, with pork, fish, or shrimp added.
Kai Dom Hard boiled egg.
Kai Dao Fried egg. Often added on the side with fried rice.
Kai Kon Scrambled eggs
Kai Chieo ไข่เจียว Plain Thai omelette.
Kai Yatsai Thai omelette filled with meat or pork, onions and sugar peas.
Khao Pat ข้าวผัด Fried rice.
Mu Priow Wan Sweet and sour pork with vegetables.
Phak Bung Phat Fried Thai morning glory leaves and stems. Often a fiery show.
Nua Phat Nam Man Hoi เนื้อผัดน้ำมันหอย Fried beef with oyster flavored sauce and green onion.
Dok Kalam Phat Mu (Kung, Gai, Nua) Fried pork, shrimp, chicken or beef with cauliflower.
Gai Phat Met Mamuang ไก่ผัดเม็ดมะม่วงหิมพานต์ Chicken fried with green onions and cashew nuts.
Mee Krop หมี่กรอบ Fried vermicelli noodles with bits of meat, shrimp or egg.
Bo Bia Thot ปอเปี๊ยะทอด Fried egg roll containing bean sprouts with pork or crabmeat.
Pla Thot ปลาทอด Fried fish (many types).
Pla Thot Sam Rot ปลาทอดสามรส Fried fish with sweet and sour sauce.
Thotman Pla ทอดมันปลา or Thotman Gung ทอดมันกุ้ง Fried fish or shrimp cakes.
Kai Chieo Khai Mot Daeng Thai omelette with fresh red ant eggs.
Gai Yang Roasted chicken, from the Northeast. Best eaten with Som Tom and sticky rice.
Lap ลาบ Spicy minced beef salad from the
Northeast. Eaten with sticky rice.
Som Tom ส้มตำ Very spicy raw papaya salad with lots of chilies. These four dishes eaten together are a real event, even Bangkokians rave about Northeastern food.
Khao Soi ข้าวซอย This is a Burmese influenced dish found mainly in northern Thailand. It is a soup-like dish made with egg noodles, pickled cabbage, shallots, lime, nam prik pao, and meat in a curry-like sauce containing coconut milk. The curry is similar to that of yellow or Masaman curries but is thinner. Broken fried noodles or broken fried won-ton skins are often added on top for a nice crunch.
This is another of my absolutely favorite dishes but can be difficult to find, not only in Hua Hin, but all over Thailand. There are a couple of places in Hua Hin and a few oasis in Bangkok with decent servings but by far the best are found in Chiang Mai.
For Khao Soi lovers The Austin Bush Food Blog has a recipe and many posts on various Khao Soi shops in northern Thailand.
Kung Thot Krop Crisp fried shrimp.
Bo Bia Sot Egg roll containing bean sprouts with pork or crabmeat. Not fried.
Kam Bu Thot Fried crab claws.
Kam Bu Nung Steamed crab claws.
Gai Thot Fried chicken.
Gai Op Bai Tuei ไก่ห่อใบเตย Baked marinated chicken wrapped in pandanus leaves.
Ho Mok Pla ห่อหมกปลา Steam curried fish wrapped in banana leaves.
Hu Chalam Sai Bu Shark fin soup with crabmeat.
Yam A spicy Thai-style salad with chilies, garlic, and specific additions like shrimp, beef ยำเนื้อ, squid, sausage, mussels, etc.
Yam Wun Sen ยำวุ้นเส้น Spicy Thai-type salad like the above but with Chinese vermicelli.
Kung Op Wun Sen Baked shrimp with Chinese vermicelli.
Nam Phrik Kapi Shrimp paste dip.
Nua Daet Diow Dried beef, like beef jerky.
Yam Pla Duk Fu ยำปลาดุกฟู A Yam is a spicy salad and this one features crispy catfish.
This has got to be one of my favorite Thai dishes.
Americans really get into their Super Bowl Party foods like buffalo wings, jalapeno poppers, super nachos, pizza, etc. Many Thais would consider dishes like this Gap Glaem กับแกล้ม (I've never heard the "L" pronounced), or foods to be eaten along with alcohol. These include several different Yams, dancing shrimp, salted nuts, fried strips of beef or pork--finger food with a spicy kick is best.
Yam Pla Duk Fu is more of an Essan dish than central Thai but can found just about anywhere. It can be eaten as Gap Glaem or as one of the many dishes on the shared Thai table, along with rice.
Ingredients:
1 grilled catfish (400-500 grams)
1/2 cup green mango, sliced into long thin slivers
2-3 shallots, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon sugar
4 to 5 hot Thai peppers (mince a few for taste and slice the rest lengthwise for garnish)
1 teaspoon cilantro (optional or more, as garnish)
1/4 cup toasted peanuts (or cashews)
1/2 - 1 cup vegetable oil
A note on the fish:
Pla Duk ปลาดุก (Clarias batrachus) is known as the Walking Catfish in the US. You tend to see this fish in over-sized aquariums in doctors' waiting rooms or read about it causing traffic jams in Florida. This is not the catfish that some folks tend to associate with Collard Greens and Hush Puppies though that fish would probably work just as well though the texture is not quite as firm as Pla Duk.
You may be able to get Pla Duk in an Asian market in your area. If not, tilapia, cod, haddock or any other medium-firm textured fish fillets should work. Trout might be quite tasty. There's also a recipe for this using canned tuna floating around but I think I would pass on that one.
The fish should also be cooked before frying. Either steam, grill, or bake it until it flakes into nice chunks. In Thailand, the Pla Duk is grilled and the meat removed before frying.
Once the fish is done, flake it into pieces (about the size of crab meat or maybe shredded wheat) and spread the chunks on a paper towel to cool.
In a small bowl, mix sugar, fish sauce, minced peppers and lime juice. Add the mangoes slices and shallots and mix well. Taste this as you add the ingredients. It should be sweet, sour, salty and spicy, and crunchy from the mango but this should soften in the mix but you should adjust the taste to your liking. Set the salad mix aside.
Frying the fish.
ฟู or Fu is Thai for fluffy. A freshly dried and combed French Poodle is Fu-Fu. As our fish has already been cooked, all we're doing here is putting the Fu in the Pla Duk Fu. Heat the oil in a wok or skillet over medium heat until hot. You don't need to fry the fish too long, just long enough to get it crispy and golden brown; just a minute or two. Once crispy and golden brown, remove from the oil and place on a grill rack or paper towels to remove the excess oil.
Add the peanuts to the salad mix and mix it all up. Normally, the head and tail of the catfish are placed on opposite ends of the serving dish and the Fu'd up fish meat is placed in the middle with the sliced peppers and cilantro placed on top. It makes a nice presentation but you can skip this is you don't like to look what you're eating in the eyes. The salad is usually served in a separate bowl, similar to the way BBQ and sauce are served in Texas. Some folks pour the salad mix over the fish and then mix all the ingredients together. Others place a nice chunk of fish on their plate, then spoon a bit of the salad mix on top and then eat, with rice, or not. Mixing it all together can reduce the crispness of the fish if you eat slow but that's not a problem in my house as it all disappears in a matter of minutes.
As said, I really like this dish. I hope you do. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave me a note.
Kanoms
Bugs (Seasonal and not available everywhere)
Takatan Thot Fried Patanga grasshoppers
Maengda Water beetles
Muan Malang Pong Yang Grilled Water scorpions
Malang Mao Flying termites, grilled, fried, or roasted
Non Mai Fried or roasted silk work larvae
Miang-Come แหนมเนือง
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