Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Thai At Mary's


My wonderful friend Mary organised a Thai cooking demo at her gorgeous house. No, Mary herself did not conduct the demo, but two chefs from Thailand, Mananat and Fonthip. Their warm and friendly smiles which accompanied the joining of hands, slight bow of the head and a sing-song 'Sawadeekap' made me feel honoured and welcome. The house was a buzz of excitement when 12 ladies packed into the kitchen, some helping with cutting or grating the vegetables. (Me? I took the opportunity to catch up with Rosi, whom I hadn't seen in yonks and was leaving for Germany the very next day. SO great seeing you Rosi!) Mary herself is a vegetarian, so the dishes were prepared with a vegetarian and non vegetarian option. Five items were on the menu which were:

Vietnamese Spring Roll
Papaya Salad
Green Curry with Tofu or Chicken
Pad Thai with Tofu or Prawns
Sago Pudding (Tako) with Corn


Everyone had a hand in making their own spring roll, while the chef prepared the other items. We had a lovely lunch of the above menu. I have to say, it was really good - my favourite being the Green Curry. I'm a dessert gal, and the Tako hit the spot. The 'durian' in me loved the combination of the lemak coconut milk and the little bursts of sago.

A cup of breshly brewed coffee and I was in heaven!

What's next Mary? Sign me up!

I'll list the recipe for the Vietnamese Spring Roll (*whisper* don't want to spoil the fun for those who may join other Thai cooking classes!)

A selection of vegetables such as lettuce, beansprouts, tofu, carrot, cucumber
Pre-cooked prawns or chicken
Thai basil leaves
Vietnamese spring roll sheets (rice paper)
Water

Soak the spring roll sheets in room temperature water. Place on a flat surface. Place your meats and vegetables at the bottom of the sheet, and a basil leaf on top of the vegetables. Roll up halfway, tuck the sides in and roll all the way. Serve with Dipping Sauce.

Vinegar 2 tbsp
Water 1 tbsp
Sugar 2 tbsp
Salt 1/4 tsp
Garlic 1 clove, chopped
Coriander root 1/4 tsp, chopped
Red chilli 1, chopped

Boil water with the vinegar. Add sugar and salt over a low flame. Add the other ingredients and simmer until thick. Remove, cool and serve.

2 comments:

  1. Hi there... your blog is now in my home pages links, that I can see every day, and was so nice see you and Mary, in the pictuure, and almost fell that I was there..You now how much I would like to do that, and plus with Rosi around..
    can you send more recipes?? sure will not be the same , but still I will fell warm inside in the same way..
    Thank you dear
    Marcia

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oi Marcia - thanks for visiting. Sure I'll post more recipes. Watch this space!! You being at the Thai demo would have made the day perfect!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting!