Ratatouille Thai
I am a great fan of ratatouille. It requires, though, ingredients of the highest quality. A tasteless tomato, a bitter pepper and it is spoiled. So I have hardly made it in recent years in the UK, particularly as it is impossible to buy aubergines other than the gross hothouse dutch things. And I can only buy idiotic miniature courgettes or huge bitter things
Here I am spoiled for choice where aubergines are concerned. I have long green ones, and long purple ones, round purple ones that look like capsicum peppers, tiny green ones that are used in Thai Green Sweet Curry, green and white ones that are often eaten raw and these small purple ones. As they can be used whole they are ideal. There are no courgettes but the small Pumpkins with yellow flesh known as Fat Tongs are as good if not better because they are drier and keep their texture better than courgettes. There are red peppers to be had but I prefer not to use them
So here they are!!
2 Onions
10 Cloves of Garlic
About 16 small aubergines
One Small Fat Tong or 6 proper sized Courgettes ie about 4 inches long
8 Small Plum Tomatoes
2 Chili Peppers
Inch or so of peeled Ginger
Small amount of Tomato Juice
Salt
Black Pepper
Juice of One or Two Limes
Coffee/Small cup Olive Oil
Chop the Onion into rings
Crush and Peel the Garlic. Leave whole.
Trim the Aubergines
Trim the Fat Tong or Courgettes and cut into Inch long lengths or quarter and divide the Fat Tong into inch cubes
Peel and slice the Ginger
Heat the oil in a heavy casserole
Add the Onion and Garlic.
Cook to colour lightly
Add Aubergines. Ensure well covered with oil
Add Chili Peppers, Fat Tong/Courgettes and Ginger
Cook. Stirring lightly but well- You want the vegetables to retain their shape
Season.
Add Tomatoes. Continue light lifting and mixing.
Ideally a Ratatouille should need no liquid other than its own juices. But I find, for whatever reason, that most benefit from a small amount of tomato juice. So if you think it is looking dry add a little-if not-don’t!
Cook for as short a time possible to ensure vegetables are cooked. They should be al dente.
Add the lime juice Chill a little and serve with whatever else you choose: A grilled or saltcrust fish is good, a grilled or roast piece of meat with some juices….Here we buy flattened seasoned, mildly cured, pieces of beef about an eighth of an inch thick and 4 to 5 inches or so square. This Neua Daet Deo or One Sun Beef- ie dried in the sun once…which is quickly fried over high heat.
The point is really the ginger. The dish should be distinctly gingery, slightly piquant and delicately limed!
Very good for breakfast.
(Later).. I proposed this dish to K’s mother. She tasted it, approved, but looked thoughtful. The next day she produced real Thai Ratatouille. This leaves out the Onions, the Ginger, the Courgettes or Fat Tong, the Tomatoes and certainly the Sweet Peppers, but adds more chilis and, heaven help us, about two tablespoons of sugar and then a good dose of Fish Sauce. Substitutes Sunflower Oil for Olive.
It produces a sort of hot sweet relish or chutney. I think it would go well with any bitter meat say a pheasant or a guinea fowl, ….as, of course, would Ratatouille!
Wine Simmered Duck
I also managed to acquire, in Phitsanulok, that rarest of creatures-a duck. We used to be able to buy duck breasts and legs in BKK, but even there a whole one was difficult to find.
It came looking like your standard supermarket duck, breast up, film wrapped on a plastic tray. It cost £2.30 or $4.50. Of course unwrapped it has head, necks, feet and kidneys…Elodie looked at it and said.’Rhinoceros’!
Anyway she helped cut it up…
So
(This really only enough for two…so more ducks for more people!)
1 Duck…feet etc. not required..but if present reserve for making soup
1 Onion
10 Cloves of Garlic
6 Tomatoes
Stick of Cinnamon
Half Star Anise
Inch twig of green peppercorns
Scant half teaspoon Chinese 5 Spice Powder
Tablespoon Fish Sauce
Dessertspoon Dark Soy sauce
Large glass –250 ml-Chinese Rice Wine or Dry Sherry or frankly anything decent red or white.
1 litre Mushroom or vegetable Stock
Salt to season
2 Tablespoons-at most- Sunflower Oil
Also to garnish
I head Pak Choi or 1 Romaine Lettuce
2 Tomatoes.
Remove wing tips from duck. Reserve, also head and neck. Chop neck into 1” lengths. Reserve. Remove parson’s nose and oil sacks at tail and any bits of debris lurking inside-particularly kidneys and discard.
With a sharp Chinese cleaver joint the duck by removing thighs and legs together, wings. Set aside for another dish or freeze.
Remove the two breasts each in one piece, as close to the bone as you can. Reserve.
Chop the remaining carcase into 1” sections.
Chop the onion finely, crush and skin the garlic. Soak the tomatoes in boiling water and remove skins.
Heat one of the spoons of oil in a wok or large sautee pan. Add the onions and garlic. Lightly fry. Add the portions of the duck carcase and neck. Fry until well browned.
Add the tomatoes, the cinnamon, star anise and green peppercorns.
Add the wine and allow to bubble briefly
Add the fish sauce, soy sauce and stock.
Bring back to the boil, check for salt.
Cover and reduce heat to a bare simmer for about an hour.
When the stock is done, and tastes good, remove the pieces of duck and give to the cat or the dog.
Reduce the stock to about a pint or so.
In a clean wok heat a bare covering of oil.
Add the duck breasts; first skin side down. Cook on medium to low heat until cloured. Turn the breasts and cook the flesh side. Turn and cook until barely done. The centre should be quite pink.
Remove from the pan. Slice the skin away from the breasts. Reserve breasts and keep warm.
Return the skin to the pan and fry until crispy..not burnt!
Dress a dish with the Pak Choi
Slice the duck breasts, but keep whole. Lay on the dish
Garnish with tomato
Spoon over a small amount bodf the soup and the juices that will have run from the duck
Reheat the soup.
Serve with rice
NB. Duck feet are fairly gooey..so one enough for this amount of soup.
Thai Squid Salad
Yam PlaMuk ie.Inkfish
Lethally Hot!
These Tha Salads known as ‘Yam’ are not really salads at all but an excuse to dress something-fish, prawns, meat, noodles with a chilli dressing.
The two best known are this one and Yam Wunsen which replaces the squid with glass noodles and a few small shrimps.
1 Large Squid (better) or smaller ones c. 300gm
3 Red Shallots
6 Cloves Garlic
4 Two inch Chili Peppers
Large Bunch Coriander Leaves
1 Lettuce-(for dressing not eating!)
4 Limes
Tablespoon or more Fish Sauce
2 Tomatoes
Peel and Chop Shallots finely
Crush and peel Garlic. Chop finely
Chop Chili Peppers finely
Clean and chop Coriander finely
Mix these 4 Ingredients together.
Add juice of Limes and Fish Sauce.
Mix well.
Set aside for about 30 minutes
Then
Clean Squid, removing quill and innards. Skin if necessary. Clean head removing beak.
Cut in half and score lightly in a quadrillage manner on the outside.
Bring a pan of water to the boil. Blanch the Squid for about a minute at the most. Remove from water. Drain.
Cut squid into bite sized slices
Loosely chop tentacles
Lay Lettuce on a dish
Lay on Squid
Cover with Other Ingredients.
Garnish With Tomato
In other words the Squid should be warm
Ouch!
Pieds et Paquets
Traditionally this dish is made with sheep’s feet and tripe. I think the best I ever ate was in the Hiely Restaurant in Avignon? With a very nice bottle, as I remember, of that most under-rated Madiran-well-not by them!
Given that pig’s feet are easier to come by a perfectly acceptable dish can be made with them. Though I suppose you might rather call it a gratinee de pied de porc.
Of course I am going to do a Thai version. Sheep’s feet can probably be obtained in the hinterland of Muslim Bangkok or the South, but certainly not here, where even FRESH pig’s feet as opposed to pre-cooked ones are difficult to come by. On the other hand the innards are readily available.
2 Pig’s Trotters
Piece of Pig’s Tripe
1 Onion
10 Cloves of Garlic
1 Red Pepper
I large Carrot
300g Mushrooms
1.5 Litres Pork or Vegetable Stock
2 Lime Leaves
Tablespoon Coriander Leaves
Grated Roots of 6 Coriander plants
Teaspoon ground Coriander Seeds
Stalk of Lemon Grass
Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
Knob of Fresh Ginger, sliced
Tablespoon Olive Oil
A further 250g Mushrooms
Small Carrot
2 Plum Tomatoes
Bunch of Parsley
Small Glass of Brandy, Grand Marnier or preferably an Apricot liqueur..here I will just use Remy Martin
If you have a decent cleaver cut the trotters in half lengthwise. Though not necessary this speeds up the cooking.
Cut the tripe into 3 inch squares. Roll up into little parcels and secure-toothpicks will do.
Chop the Onion roughly,
Crush and skin the Garlic
Slice and seed the Red Pepper
Put Oil in a decent size pan with a lid.
Cook the above ingredients for 3 or 4 minutes
Add the Pig’s Feet and Tripe Parcels.
Brown
Add Carrot, Mushrooms, Lime Leaves, Coriander-Seeds, Leaves and Root, Lemon Grass and Ginger
Cook a further 3 minutes lifting gently.
Add Soy Sauce then Stock.
Bring to a slow boil then reduce heat to a bare simmer-and cook-probably for 3 hours. In Provence we used to cook it for 7 hours or so.
When the feet and tripes are cooked, remove from pan. With a slatted spoon remove all the other debris in the pan and discard. Strain the remaining liquid through a fine sieve.
Return juice to a pan. Add the brandy and bring to the boil.. Add the feet and tripes, the carrot, mushrooms and tomatoes.
Cook briefly until vegetables are done. Remove vegetables and feet and tripes to a dish and keep warm
Reduce remaining liquid to a few tablespoon- well about 10!- of pungent sauce.
Serve the feet and tripes with the liquid poured over.
Of course if you are feeling really haute cuisine you can bone the trotters, but its more fun to suck on the bones.
We just are this with a little dish of stir-fried Pak Choi and Beansprouts-all you need for Supper!!
