Five years
ago today I woke up in a Bangkok hotel bedroom, unsure as to how I'd got there.
Not as sinister as it sounds as I had just arrived a few hours before and I had
terrible jetlag but I was at long last fulfilling a childhood dream by
travelling to Thailand. As a child I had fallen in love with Siam, as it used
to be known, whilst watching Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr dance around the huge
ballroom in The King and I. Even though the entire film was made on a Hollywood
sound stage and not a single glimpse of the real Bangkok was to be had it still
provoked an air of exotic mystery in my wanderlust fuelled imagination.
Interestingly, the film was banned in Thailand because of how it portrayed the
king.
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Ornate steps at The Grand Palace |
Over three
decades on and the modern version of Siam that we found did not disappoint.
Bangkok was breathtakingly busy and exciting. There were many memorable places
to visit, such as The Grand Palace and the Floating Market. The evening we
spent at the vast Siam Niramit theatre was the one of the most awe inspiring,
lavish spectacles I have ever seen and it will stay with me for the rest of my
life.
After four
days in the fast paced capital we flew on the island of Koh Samui, where we
spent a wonderfully relaxing ten days in a hotel, in which the rooms were
actually little bungalows. During our stay in the vegetation surrounded little
house we shared our verandah with all manner of local wildlife. Lizards,
snakes, ants, spiders, the odd rat and a particularly noisy toad who insisted
on serenading us in the wee small hours.
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Our verandah lizard, who I wanted to bring home. |
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The noise toad. |
All through
our time in this vibrant country we found the people to amazingly polite, warm
and dignified. Nothing was ever too much trouble and any task was always
performed with a smile and a bow. Of course the food was amazing and I fell in
love with Thai cuisine. It seemed to combine all we loved of Chinese and Indian
ingredients with the addition of less familiar flavours. During our stay in
Bangkok and Koh Samui we deliberately sought out the smallest but busiest cafes
where the locals ate, rather than the big tourist trap restaurants. Just down
the road from our Koh Samui hotel were two small restaurants, that were
basically on the patios of family homes and their kitchens were used to feed
paying guests, as well the residents. The food at both was fresh and
flavoursome and I think I sampled a different dish every night. Although I did
develop a taste for the local crab cakes, delicately flavoured with ginger and
lemongrass. I did try all the colours of curry; green, red and yellow but I
think the yellow or Massaman chicken curry was my favourite and the one that
when I taste it immediately transports me back to that tropical isle.
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Dancers at the Siam Niramit theatre |
Recently, a
new Thai restaurant opened in the very hip Spinningfields area of the city, called
Thaikhun. It is billed as serving Thai street food and has a rustic, beach side
feel about it. Kim Kaewkraikhot, the Chef Director used to run her own
small restaurant in Bangkok so she knows Thai food. When I ate there recently,
just after it had opened, I was happy to see Massaman curry on the menu and
ordered it without a second thought and it was just as I remembered. I was in
Thai food heaven and in the ensuing days I constantly thought about, even dreamt
about it. It was time to research a recipe and make my own Massaman at home
from scratch. As you know, I only every
cook from scratch because I don’t believe that any pre-prepared, factory made
substitute can ever provide a totally authentic flavour experience. For this recipe I bought most of the ingredients
from my local Indian food store as they carry stock from most parts of Asia. The main point is not to be afraid of cooking a cuisine you haven't tackled before. The recipes are there to guide you through and the best tip I can give you is to gather all your ingredients, prepare them, weigh them out and have them ready to go. There's nothing worse than getting to a crucial point in your cooking and realising you haven't peeled and finely grated your ginger, for instance.
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Vibrantly decorated figures at The Grand Palace, Bangkok |
The recipe I settled on is from the thaifood.about.com website.
I have made a few minor amendments and additions to the ingredients but the
method is the same. To see the original click on the website name above. Give
it a go and take a trip to the tropics in your own kitchen.
Simmering in the wok |
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 40/50 minutes
Ingredients:
400g chicken pieces OR chopped
chicken breast/thigh
2 medium potatoes, cut into
chunks
1 x 400ml coconut milk
1 small red pepper, thinly sliced
1 small yellow pepper, thinly
sliced
2 medium tomatoes, roughly
chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
I medium onion, thinly sliced
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 thumb sized piece ginger, finely
grated
3/4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 red chili, de-seeded and finely
chopped
200ml chicken stock
1 stalk lemongrass, bashed a few
times to release the aromas and oils
3 bay leaves
1 tsp turmeric
100g chopped unsalted dry-roasted
cashews plus extra to garnish
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp whole cumin seed
½ tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp cardamom
1 tsp tamarind paste
¾ tsp shrimp paste
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp palm sugar OR brown sugar
Preparation:
- Heat
a wok, large frying pan, or soup-type pot over medium-high heat. Drizzle
in the oil and swirl around, then add the onion, ginger, garlic, and
chili. Stir-fry 1-2 minutes to release the fragrance.
- Add
the stock plus the following: lemongrass, bay leaves, turmeric, chopped
cashews, ground coriander, whole cumin seed, white pepper, cardamom,
tamarind paste (or lime juice), shrimp paste, fish sauce, and sugar. Stir
with each addition and bring to a light boil.
- Add
the chicken, stirring to coat with the spicy liquid, then add the coconut
milk, star anise, cinnamon stick and potatoes. Stir and bring back up to a
boil. Reduce heat to low, or just until you get a good simmer.
- Simmer
30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken and potatoes are
tender. Add red and yellow peppers and tomato during last 10-15 minutes of
cooking time. Tip: if you prefer a more liquid curry sauce, cover while
simmering. If you prefer a thicker curry sauce, leave off lid.
- Taste-test
the curry, adding more fish sauce for increased flavour/saltiness, or more
chili if you want it spicier. If too sour, add a little more sugar. If too
salty or sweet for your taste, add a touch more tamarind or lime juice. If
too spicy, add more coconut milk.
- Add a handful more cashews and fold in. Top with fresh coriander, if desired, and serve with Jasmine Rice.
The finished dish |
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