I have a special weakness for whichever dish bears the adjective “Thai”.  I would probably try a stew of frog’s tripes if you told me it was “Thai”…or maybe not, but you know where I’m heading to 

These precious balls would be great as an appetizer, or as a party snack.

Ingredients:

- 350g – 12.35 ounces chicken minced meat

- 120g – 1/2 cup roasted peanuts (I roasted them in a non-stick frying pan without oil), chopped

- 1 tbsp fish sauce

- 50g -  1/4 cup breadcrumbs

- 1 tbsp red Thai curry paste

- 1 tbsp lime juice

- 3 kaffir lime leaves (I used the dried ones, and removed the central nerve of each of them), crushed

- 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce

- 2 tbsp coriander, chopped

- 3 tsp brown sugar

- vegetable oil, to fry

- more Thai sweet chili sauce, to dip

Cooking instructions:

Could not be easier: mix all ingredients but the vegetable oil. Form balls with this mix of the size of large marbles.

Fry the balls in hot oil, until golden. And that is it!!

I served them with Thai chili sauce and accompanied with a salad made of Chinese cabbage, red pepper, cucumber, seasoned with a mix of brown sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, water in more or less equal quantities.

Enjoy!!

So far, my all-time favourite Thai dish. Sweet, sour, spicy and salty at the same time. Shrimps, noodles, egg, vegetables and sauce in perfect harmony. Impossible not to love it!!

I base myself on a recipe from Chez Pim. Yum, yum, yum.

Ingredients:

- 1 pound peeled, clean shrimp (500g)

- 13 ounces rice stick (375g)

- 3.5 ounces beansprouts (100g)

- 2 handful peanuts, grilled and roughly ground on a mortar

- 2 eggs

- 3 garlic cloves, chopped

- 2 tsp dried shrimp paste (how can an ingredient stink so much and still give such an amazing flavour?)

- 1/2 cup lime juice (I’m not so fond of tamarind) (125ml)

- 1/2 cup sugar (125g)

- 1/2 cup fish sauce (125ml)

- (dried) chili to taste, chopped

- vegetable oil

- coriander, chopped

Cooking instructions:

Fill in a cooking pan with water, when it boils add the noodles and a bit of salt. Let cook during 3-4 minutes, drain. It should not be too soft or else it will turn all mushy when mixed with the other ingredients in the wok.

While the noodle are cooking, prepare the sauce by mixing the fish sauce, the lime juice, the chili and the sugar.

Heat a large wok over high heat, when it becomes smokey add a splash of vegetable oil.

Add the garlic and the shrimp paste, let the oil infuse with these flavours for one or two minutes.

Now add the noodles and toss. Then push the noddles to one side of the wok and crack the eggs open on the open space. Let the egg set for 15 seconds and then toss everything all together.

Add the shrimp, the peanuts, the beansprouts and the sauce. Toss everything together again, leave for 5 minutes, remove from the heat. Sprinkle with a bit of coriander, and ta daaaaaaa! There you have it, a dish of pure glory.

Enjoy!!

Darlings, this dish is SU PERB.  Sweet, salted, spicy…and oooooh so aromatic…

The cooking process is half the fun, the anticipation, the smell…And then the result!: we had this for lunch today and it disappeared in like 5 minutes flat.

Ingredients:

- 1.65 pound – 750g chicken breast, in cubes

- 1 tsp cumin powder

- 1 tsp coriander powder

- 1 tsp turmeric powder

- 1 stalk lemon grass (finely chopped)

- 1 shallot (finely chopped)

- 1 clove of garlic (finely chopped)

- 1 tbsp brown sugar

- salt and pepper to taste

- 4 tbsp coconut milk (for brushing)

- wooden skewers (soaked in water if you BBQ the meat, no need if you use a skillet)

Cooking instructions:

Marinate the chicken with the above ingredients for at least an hour.

Insert the chicken in the skewers. Brush the mat with some coconut milk before grilling.

Grill it either on a BBQ / oven / skillet (no oil needed), turning over often until the chicken is cooked.

Serve with the peanut sauce and rice (I used Basmati). A salad would also go well with this.

Ingredients for the peanut sauce:

- 8.5 ounces – 250g peanut butter

- 1/2 cup – 125ml coconut milk

- 1/2 cup – 125ml water

- 1 tbsp sambal oelek (or more if you are a fan of spicy food)

- 1 tbsp curry powder

- 1 clove of garlic (finely chopped)

- 1 shallot (minced)

- 1 tbsp brown sugar

Cooking instructions:

Heat up a tablespoon of oil in a saucepan. Add in garlic and shallot and stir fry until fragrant. Add in sambal and curry powder. Stir fry for a few seconds and add in the coconut milk.

Stir until everything blended well and add in the water, peanut butter and sugar.

Continue to cook until the sauce thickens (a couple of minutes more or less).

Serve the sauce with the chicken and rice.

Enjoy!