Thai Iced Tea – Cha Yen

How to Make Thai Tea (aka “Thai Iced Tea”): A Thai Tea Recipe from Arbor Teas

Thai Tea (also known as Thai Iced Tea) is a popular iced drink hailing from Thailand, commonly found in Thai restaurants across the US.  The deep amber color of the tea and its milk-tinted upper layer make this beverage really stand out on your table, and the combination of strongly-brewed tea, dairy and sugar make it a perfect complement to hot weather and spicy food.
Thai Tea is is made from strongly-brewed black tea, often spiced with ingredients such as star anise, crushed tamarind, cardamom, and occasionally others as well (often making this beverage a favorite among masala chai tea fans). This brew is then sweetened with sugar and condensed milk, and served over iced.  For the sake of flavor, consistency and visual appeal, glasses of Thai Tea are usually topped with additional dairy, such as evaporated milk, whole milk, half and half, or coconut milk (this last one, of course, is not actually dairy, but you get the picture).
Sound good?  Well, here’s a thai iced tea recipe to help you get started!

Ingredients

• 3/4 C black tea leaves (approximately 3 oz.)
• star anise, ground tamarind, cardamom and/or other spices, to taste (optional)
• 6 C boiling water
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 C sweetened condensed milk
• 1 C evaporated milk (most traditional), whole milk, half and half, or coconut milk

Directions:

1. Steep the tea leaves (and any optional spices) in the water for 5 minutes, then remove the tea leaves from the water (either by removing the infuser you’re using, or by straining the water to remove the leaves if loose).
2. While the tea is still hot, stir in sugar until dissolved, then stir in condensed milk.
3. Allow tea mixture to cool to room temperature or colder.
4. Fill tall iced tea glasses with ice, and pour in tea mixture until glasses are roughly 3/4 full.
5. Slowly top off glasses with evaporated milk, whole milk or coconut milk, but do not stir (final dairy should remain primarily as its own layer at the top of the glass).

Notes:
It’s important to make the tea very strong, since it is ultimately diluted with milk and ice.  Also, you can make a large batch of the sweetened tea in advance and keep it in the refrigerator, then you can just pour it over ice and top it with the evaporated/whole/coconut milk at the time of serving.  Makes 6 glasses of Thai Tea.

stuffed chicken wings (kai sawt sai tawt)

Posted by lilyng

When i visited my daughter before i moved here, we had lunch and she ordered this Stuffed Chicken Wings. She reminded me about this dish as she has not eaten this since the Vietnamese restaurant in downtown Denver went out of business. I guess that this dish would be Thai, if the stuffing is different but i made my stuffing which is quite similar to the Vietnamese Egg Rolls, so should my version be Vietnamese??. Thai or Vietnamese, this dish is so finger-licking good.


Ingredients:

8 chicken wings

Stuffing:

8 oz minced pork

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 small bundle 'tang hoon'/mung bean vermicelli - soaked and cut into 1 inch

1 tbsp chopped carrot

2 tbsp 'wood ear mushroom'/mook yee - soaked and chopped fine

2 dried shitake mushrooms - soaked and chopped fine

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp sesame oil

rice flour or all-purpose flour for coating

oil for frying

Method:

Mix all the stuffing ingredients together and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Cut the chicken wings in two pieces and save the top joint of the chicken for another dish. For this recipe you need just the middle joint and the wing tip.

With a small, pointed knife remove bones from mid-joint. Run the knife around the top of each bone, push the flesh down to expose the bone and carefully twist each bone out.

Fill each chicken wing with mixture but do not overfill or they will burst when steamed. Place the wings on heatproof plates and steam over boiling water for about 7 minutes or until cooked. Leave to cool.

Roll in rice flour or wheat flour and dust off excess. Heat oil in a wok and deep-fry the wings until they are golden brown.

Drain on paper towels and serve with a dipping sauce of choice.

Satay Pork in Peanut Sauce

Satay Pork in Peanut Sauce
moo sateh หมูสะเต๊ะ

Posted: 1st April 2005



I was walking through Paknam Market this afternoon when I came across a hawker selling moo sateh, otherwise known in English as Pork Satay. I love this snack though I must admit that, for me, the main attraction is the sauce!


If you want, you can also buy satay beef or satay chicken, but in Paknam Market they only seem to sell satay pork. You might be wondering at this stage why the pork has a yellow tinge. Well, that is to do with the turmeric. Actually, turmeric is a deep orange colour originally, but it turns curries, soups and some rice dishes yellow when cooked with them.



In this case, the cook pounds together galangal, lemon grass and turmeric until it is a fine paste. (You might remember the first two ingredients from the Tom Kha Gai (chicken coconut soup) recipe that I talked about the other week.) Other ingredients are then added which include roasted coriander seed, roasted cumin seed, ground pepper, salt and the ever present sugar. Then it is mixed in with the pork and left to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

There is now one sauce and one relish to prepare. You can see these in the photograph below. On the left hand side are the ingredients for the cucumber relish. This is made up of (from top left) cucumber, shallots, chili and a generous amount of vinegar. This vinegar has been pre-cooked with a pinch of salt and a generous helping of our friend sugar until the latter two dissolve. This is then left to cool.

On the right of this picture is a bowl of the very delicious satay sauce. This is also prepared in advance before the hawker sets up her stand. This is made with coconut milk, red curry paste and ground roast peanut. This is cooked together and then seasoned with sugar (again) tamarind juice and salt. (You probably guessed by now that Thai people have a sweet tooth!)

How to make Pad Thai By Richard Barrow

The ingredients that make up this dish include: egg, beansprouts, dried shrimp, garlic, tofu, salted Chinese radish and crushed peanuts.

You can find pad thai being made almost anywhere. However, be warned. The recipe does vary. Try to avoid the pad thai that has been "mass produced" and is seen for sale for only 10 baht at temple fairs and places like Khao San Road. For best results, watch it being made fresh. The pad thai stand around the corner from me opens at about 5 p.m. and is open until late. A large plate from her costs 20 baht (see picture above). An extra sized helping (called pi-set in Thai) costs only 5 baht more.

In the above picture, you can see the ingredients waiting to be added. From left to right: tofu (beancurd), dried shrimp and salted Chinese raddish/turnip. At the back, in the plastic bag, you can see the rice noodles.

First to be added to the wok are the noodles. These are stir-fried for a few minutes. Next is added the dried shrimp, tofu and minced Chinese raddish. Again this is mixed and stir-fried for a few minutes.

The ingredients are now pushed to one side and an egg is cracked into the wok. She cooked the egg for a minute or so before breaking it up and mixing it in with the noodles. Finally a sprinkling of chopped chives and a generous layer of breansprouts are placed on top. This is not mixed in with the noodles. It is now ready to serve. The finally layer is the ground roasted peanuts. She placed all of this into a container with some spring onions, half a lime and a little plastic bag containing chili and sugar.

Although pad thai is cooked just about everywhere, people will cross to the other side of town just to get their favourite recipe. My favourite is on Taiban roundabout. Very delicious and worth the extra effort to cross town. It is easy to spot the more popular hawkers as there is always a long queue!

I have never attempted to cook this dish as it is so readily available. However, here is the recipe if you want to have a go at home:

Stir-Fried Thai Noodles Recipe 

Ingredients:

8 oz (250 g) rice noodles (sen lek)
3 tablespoons oil
3 garlic cloves (kratiem), minced
1/4 cup dried shrimp/prawns
1/4 cup (2 fl oz/60 ml) fish sauce (nam pla)
1/4 cup (2 oz/60 g) sugar
2 tablespoons tamarind juice (ma-kaam piag)
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 cup fried tofu
2 tablespoons dried unsalted turnip, cut into small pieces
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup 1-in (2.5-cm) lengths chopped chives
1/4 cup (2 oz/60 g) ground roasted peanuts
1 cup bean sprouts

Garnish:

1/2 cup bean sprouts
1/2 cup chopped chives
1/4 small banana blossom, cut into strips
1/2 lime, cut into wedges

How to cook:

1. Soak the rice noodles in cold water for 30 minutes, or until soft. Drain, and set aside.

2. Heat a large skillet until hot, then add the oil. Add the garlic and dried shrimp, and stir-fry. Add the noodles and stir-fry until translucent. It may be necessary to reduce the heat if the mixture is cooking too quickly and the noodles stick.

3. Add the fish sauce, sugar, tamarind juice and paprika. Stir-fry the mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the tofu, turnip and egg.

4. Turn the heat to high and cook until the egg sets, stirring gently. Thoroughly combine the mixture, and continue cooking over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes until most of the liquid is reduced.

5. Mix in the chives, peanuts and bean sprouts. Place on a serving dish, arrange the bean sprouts, chives, banana blossom and lime attractively and serve.

SERVES 4

Information from: "Thailand the Beautiful Cookbook".

Bánh Chưng

Published by Gastronomer

on August 17, 2007

During Tết (Luner New Year) this year, I was sick as a dog and desperately craving bánh chưng—a sticky rice cake filled with meat, pork fat, black pepper, and mung bean paste wrapped-up in banana leaves. I couldn’t get my hands on one because the lone Vietnamese grocery store in Philly on Washington Avenue was too far to walk to in my weakened state. Oh, how I yearned…

Growing up, banh chung was always consumed during Tết and was as much a part of the holiday as li xi (gifts of money in red envelopes). My cousins and I called the treat “foot cake,” which is the literal translation of bánh (cake) chưng (foot).

Since my arrival in Saigon, I have developed an obsession of sorts with foot cake due to my deprivation earlier this year. I estimate that I have consumed 5+ cakes in the past three weeks. The bánh chưng in Saigon are a smidge fattier than the ones in the states because they contain more fat than actual meat, but are truly just as good.

While wandering around town during lunch the other day, I found a woman selling bánh chưng (4,000 VND) and banh gio (4,000 VND) and The Astronomer and I decided to have one of each. We sat on some beach chairs lining the sidewalk covered by an awning, while the woman plated our selections. Both the bánh chưng and banh gio are pre-made and ready to eat. Using a sharp knife, she cut through the countless layers of banana leaves to unveil each delight.

The inherent stickiness of the bánh chưng is a turn off for The Astronomer, but I simply adore the cake’s texture and the faint taste of banana leaves ingrained in the rice. The mung bean paste is savory and works beautifully with the pork and rice.

Giò Thủ Vietnamese Head Cheese

Posted by Ravenous Couple at 7:55 PM

Continuing our series about traditional Vietnamese Tet food is gio thu, or head cheese. This is not a cheese at all, but a cold cut made from a pig's head but can also be made with calf or sheep. Congealed together by the natural gelatin of the head organs, gio thu is served as a cold cut and also luncheon meat. During the Tet celebration it is often served as a charcuterie to be dipped in soy sauce and chili peppers.

Various forms of head cheese can be found all over the world. In Vietnam, the gio thu is made with pretty much anything you can find on a pigs head.. including the ears, snout, cheek, and tongue. You can also use the ham hock as well since it contains mostly skin and a small bit of pork meat if you can't find cheek.  This is combined with black fungus, fish sauce, garlic and shallots, and black peppercorns and congealed to a chewy and crunchy goodness.

The pig is a treasured animal in Vietnamese culture and back in the day, pigs were commonly used as dowry gifts. Now whole roasted pigs are often served at engagement ceremonies and other celebrations. No doubt when pigs are slaughtered for the feast of Tet, no part of the pig is wasted.  This is my mom's recipe for gio thu.

Gio Thu Vietnamese Head Cheese
Printable Recipe

• 2 pig ears
• 2 pig tongue 
• 1 snout or cheek
• 2 ham hock (optional if wanting slightly more meaty texture-bones discarded)
• 2.5 tbs fish sauce
• 1 ts sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium shallots, minced
• 2 tbs coarsely cracked peppercorns
• 1 cup black fungus (whole woodear mushrooms) soaked for about 1/2 hr and drained
• cooking oil
• 2-3 empty medium sized round tin cans or cardboard cans and plastic sandwich bags

Rinse the ears, tongue, snout and hamhock and boil in a large pot for about 45 minutes or until the pig ears are soft--but not too soft.  A good way to check is that you can pierce the skin of the pig ears with your finger nails.  Drain and soak in a cold water bath until cool. This keeps the skin of the pork from turning dark and cools it down as well.

Slice the pig ears thinly, about 1/4 inch wide. The tongue may have a thin white layer on top. Shave off this layer with a knife or peeler and slice the tongue similarly. Do the same with the snout--there maybe sections of the snout that has hair still on so you can discard that.  Remove the bone from the hamhock and also cut in small pieces.

In a large nonstick wok or pan, heat a few tablespoons of cooking oil and add the shallots and garlic. Saute until it becomes aromatic and then add the pig ears, snout, tongue, and hamhock.  Add the cracked peppercorns, sugar, and fish sauce and fungus. Continue to saute and stir and you will notice the liquid from meats turning viscous sticky, about 10 minutes or so.

Now prepare your containers (medium sized tin cans or those cheese puff cans also works). Place sandwich bags inside the empty cans and fill the containers--you really want to pack it in and fill it as much as you can--the head cheese should be very tightly packed and full. We used a ziplock bag above, but it's better to use a regular one so you can tie the end with a rubber band.  Seal the bag and place something heavy on top and store in the fridge overnight.  The gio thu will set and you'll have a lovely well composed head cheese!

Cooks note: Sometime a bit of alcohol such as vodka infused with cinnamon, star anise, coriander, fennel is added to the seasoning which we did not use.

Savory and full of textural surprises from the crunch of the pig ears to the tender and chewy portions of the snout and meaty portions of the tongue and hamhock. Cut into small bite size pieces and dip in soy sauce with crushed chili peppers. Goes great with some nem chua (cured/fermented pork), be thui (roast veal), and lots of cold beer to celebrate the Tet feast.  

This is one dish where it's better to just eat and not ask questions... 

Nem chua - Vietnamese fermented pork roll

Source: vietnam-beauty - 2009/12/21

Usually served as a snack with raw garlic, Nem chua iseaten all year round as an appetizer or a side. It is eaten especiallyfor the Lunar New Year by many Vietnamese families.

Nem chua is a meat roll with a sweet, sour, salty and spicy taste which makes the mouth salivate with each bite. Nem chua possesses the local character of each region of Vietnam, due to the differing ingredients and sauces used. Most versions of Nem chua can be distinguished by their name, which is usually named after the area it originated from, such as nem Thanh Hoa, nem Dong Ba in the ancient royal capital of Hue, and nem Ninh Hoa in Khanh Hoa Province, nem Yen Mac in Ninh Binh Province, etc. Traditionally, to make Nem chua, the main ingredient is pork thigh. Nem chua is made from minced pork, sliced pigskin and a mixture of seasoning and garlic.These contents are mixed thoroughly before being wrapped with aromatic, fresh leaves (usually in banana leaves) into small, boxy rolls before being stored for natural fermentation process for three to five days in a cool place before eating. In the Lai Vung District of the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap, the locals take pride in their Nem chua recipe, which has been passed downthrough many generations. Called “nem Lai Vung” after the district, it became more widely known in 1975 when a local woman, Tu Man, made Nem chua for visitors. She used pork, but she also used pig liver, and then ground them into a mixture with rice, shrimp meat and seasonings. The characteristics of nem Lai Vung and other specialty foods from Lai Vung District are so distinctive and recognizable that they have been registered under a domestic brand name. Tourists to DongThap Province can take part in nem Lai Vung cooking classes to learnmore about this regional specialty. The northern areas also create their own favorite varieties of Nem chua. The famous one is NemYen Mac, which has been made for a long time in Ninh Binh Province. The number of locals in Yen Mac who can make this kind of Nem chua is small because the work requires not only secret formula but also passion for the work. Nem Yen Mac is eaten with guava leaves, fig leaves and aroma vegetables dotted into nuoc mam (fish sauce) which is mixed with mingled garlic, lemon juice, pepper and chilli. While many people prefer the more traditional method of preparation for Nem chua, others enjoy a grilled and unfermented variety of Nem chua. Both traditional and grilled Nem chua are usually served with uncooked sliced garlic and nuoc mam (fish sauce). Where as nuoc mam adds saltiness and spiciness, some prefer to use chili sauce instead.