jaelie: (Thailand Doi Suthep Jedi)
jaelie ([personal profile] jaelie) wrote2008-07-03 10:24 am
Entry tags:

Thai Food

For those of you unfamiliar with my awesome husband, he's half Thai. His father, a Texan, was an only child, Matt is his only son, and Matt's two brothers are actually full Thai sons of their mother. They married Thai women. All this means all of my in-laws and nieces and nephews on Matt's side are full Thai. Fun, huh? I think so. ^_^

I love Thailand. Thai culture, architecture, and history fascinate me. Especially the ethnic clothing (I know, shocker). Matt thinks I'm silly when I tell him that it's exotic and exciting. To him, it's just part of who he is, like mundane American stuff for me like blue jeans or .... I don't know. It's hard to think of what American things could be exotic to others (not Texas stuff, though. Of course Texas rocks). Anyway, I am captivated by it all. I've been to Thailand only twice for a total of about six weeks.

Well, I also love Thai food.

Where am I going with all this? Well, Matt has discovered a very useful website: Thai Table. Let me just state: YUM. He hasn't looked at all the recipes since there are so many, but the ones he has looked at are pretty down right authentic. Which is, I must say, absolutely awesome. Oh, and one of the neat features of the site is that it has a little sound file for each title, with the name of the dish said in Thai. Coolness! (I do find it amusing that most of my Thai vocabulary has to do with FOOD)

So if any of yall out there want to try making Thai food, the recipes are there. If you don't know where to get the ingredients, there are two really good Asian groceries in Carrollton. I dunno about the rest of the DFW area. There's H-Mart off 190 and Old Denton, and the other one whose name I can't remember on Josey and Belt Line.

And my wonderful husband made me some Tom Kha Gai last night just because I wanted it. He really is the best husband ever. It's Thailand's version of Chicken Noodle Soup, but personally, when we have sick kids, they're getting this not the American stuff.

We're going to make more tomorrow morning to take to the family 4th of July party for the potluck lunch. YUM.

Tom Kha Gai
(Tom = Soup, Kha = Galanga, Gai = Chicken)
Aka "Galanga Chicken Soup" or "Coconut Milk Chicken Soup"

1 can chicken broth (2 cups)
2 cups of water
1 inch of sliced galanga (kha)
2 full stalks of lemon grass/citronella (ta-krai) cut into 1 inch lengths and bruised
4-6 torn & bruised kaffir lime leaves (bai ma-grood)
4-6 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tbsp sugar
Some sliced chicken breast (to preference, at least 1)
1 can coconut milk (2 cups)
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup torn & bruised cilantro/coriander leaves (pak chee)

Optional
- 1 can straw mushrooms
- Crushed chili peppers (prik khee noo)

Directions: Put everything in the pot except the lime juice and a quarter of cilantro. Bring it to boil, then simmer to cook the chicken. After about ten minutes, check the chicken to make sure it's cooked. Then, while stirring slowly in one direction, add the lime juice and the last of the cilantro and serve.

Newbie note: You don't usually eat the lemon grass and galanga. If serving it to folks new to Thai food... you might want to strain those out of the soup. Old pros just eat around them!

Serving: Serve as a soup in a bowl by itself to compliment a meal or poured over heaping mounds of jasmine rice as a main dish.

[identity profile] learsfool.livejournal.com 2008-07-03 05:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Mmmm. Thai food = the good!

[identity profile] jaelie.livejournal.com 2008-07-03 05:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. I love going to family gatherings in general, but the food at Matt's family gatherings is always SUPER yummy. All the Thai food I can possibly eat, all day. Woot! Matt's mom and sisters in law are all great cooks. Mmmmm.

[identity profile] dsanz.livejournal.com 2008-07-03 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow!! Thanks for posting that site. My gf and her family are crazy for Thai, and we can't wait to try some of those recipes out!

[identity profile] jaelie.livejournal.com 2008-07-07 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, Matt says the recipes he's looked at are pretty spot on. :D

Thanks

[identity profile] saintvickery.livejournal.com 2008-07-07 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
I'm so glad you brought Tom Kha Gai to the Fourth of July gathering. It was yummy! I don't know when I'll get around to shopping in Carrollton, though.

Re: Thanks

[identity profile] jaelie.livejournal.com 2008-07-07 11:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Glad you liked it! ^_^ It's one of my most favorite Thai dishes. Since there wasn't much left over, I'm guessing the rest of the family liked it ok, too.