laocook

Kham & Sen at the Flames. Sen is Pan Frying our Chicken Satay´s (some cheap restaurants actually just Deep Fry them!), we would like to use a Charcoal Grill, but that would just make our kitchen hotter than it is, and at the moment it is really hot…

Kham is preparing the Egg Noddles that will later be plunged in to cold water before being Wok Fried.

Above is Sen´s handiwork. Whole King Prawns are encircled around seasoned minced Chicken, then wrapped in Won Ton Paper before being Deep Fried, served with Soy, Ginger and Sesame Dipping Sauce.

Desserts today included a little Trio of Asiatic delicacies. In the Glass are Tapioca Balls, Water Chestnuts, Grass Jelly, Homemade Lod Chong in Sweetened Coconut Milk, a Spoon of Passion Fruit Cream and Kanom Chun.

Our Mini Sea Bass with Citrus and Sesame Dressing was used as an Amuse Bouche. Thin slices of fresh fish and crunchy red & green peppers are served with a Citrus Sauce with a little added Sesame Oil.

We also have another version using Ginger and Coriander.

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Kham and I went out for lunch yesterday to a Seafood Restaurant.

We have never cooked with Razor Shell Clams (aka Bamboo Clams), but after trying them, we have a few ideas up our sleeves.

I am not fussy when it comes to Crabs and Lobsters, and apart from liking them fried with Spices, I also enjoy them simply boiled.

We managed to get through the set of Razor Clams, 3 Lobsters, 2 plates of Giant Prawns and 2 Crabs….

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Kuchi shows us that he can still do the Robot Dance….

Squid or Cuttlefish is cleaned, cut, scored and skewered, brushed with a mixture of Oyster Sauce, Light Soy Sauce and Garlic Puree, and dusted with Corn Flour before being briefly fried to resemble Lollipops.

As with most foods, overcooking them will make them chewy, make sure that the deep frying oil is clean and at 180º, it only takes a few seconds for them to brown then turn a crunchy golden colour.

We serve them with a sticky Soy and Honey based sauce, which is cooled in the fridge. Hot crunchy Squid Lollipops with Cold Dipping Sauce…lovely…

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For dessert tonight King made some “Kanom Chun” (Layered Dessert) using Coconut and Pandan Juice which he extracted from our last remaining Pandan Leaves which were brought over from France. The delicate aroma of the extract is wonderful, refreshing and vibrantly green.

However, we found that the fine and subtle aroma of the Pandan can sometimes become lost or overpowered by the Coconut and Sugar. To remedy this we served it with our “Pandan Air” (made with what little was left over from King´s recipe.)

The “Air” is a texture much like bubbles, but lighter than “Foam”, the latter needing a Cream or Fat based substance to hold it together. When eaten, the “Air” leaves no sensation on the tongue, instead it “disappears or vapourises” and is therefore “tasted” via the Olfactory Glands (this sentence reminds me of Perfume by Patrick Suskind a fantastic book).

The “Pandan Air” sits on top of a Jasmin Tea Jelly made by our Pastry section.

When my parents first arrived to the UK, finding ingredients for Lao foods was difficult. Exotic and Asiatic Herbs and Spices were almost unheard of at that time. Papaya, Coriander and other such ingredients could be purchased in the market stalls specialising in Indian vegetables, and some of the early Chinese Supermarkets would carry Fish Sauce, though in limited supply.

When the first Thai store opened it was like a blessing. It took more than an hour to get there, but when you did, you stocked up on such goodies like Lemon Grass, Purple Basil Leaves, Galangal and Ka Pi. It was like a revelation, once more my folks could enjoy real home cooking.

Glad to say that times have changed and now you can easily find such herbs and spices in most large supermarkets.

One thing that I took for granted was the everyday Chilli. It is very difficult to find hot Chillies in Spain, it is true that the market is slowly opening up, and some Thai imported products are (very) slowly becoming available, though they fetch high prices and fresh produce is rare.

Last year on a trip to London, I returned with some fresh Chillies and decided to plant them. Previously I had only ever planted Tomatoes, so I had no idea how to take care of the Chillies. After a bit of Net-Research I found the answer.

My Chillies started off indoors, actually above my Refrigerator and under some Cling Film. When they first started to emerge, I was delighted. When tall enough, I moved them to larger pots, again indoors near the window sill. I must have been doing something right because they started to grow.

When the first flowers arrived I was delighted, then more arrived, and more and more. Now I had a blossoming Chilli Plant, my pride and joy.

Then I started to notice that the flowers were dropping off, and no fruit emerged. Something was wrong. I knew that they should be transplanted outside, but I was afraid that the weather, which was still temperamental might harm them. Then I thought about the Birds and the Bees!

With a Cotton Bud I started to scrape off some pollen from some flowers and brush it against others, and soon enough, I started to see fruits. Okay, it wasn’t a big harvest, but it was my first home grown Chilli, which I proudly ate with some Pho.

After telling the A Team about my pride and joy, they quickly told me (actually they did it themselves) to transplant them in my garden. Out of the 10 plants that I had, only 6 survived (you really need to Prove them first by letting them stay outside for a little while at a time, let them get used to the outdoors).

Now I have a much larger crop that I cant eat them fast enough and it has got to the point where I am now drying them in the sun after picking them. They have grown with zest and now stand taller than a metre with strong stems and branches going out everywhere, I have been told that I will soon have to “Cut them back”, but I cant bear to do that.

Funnily enough, now I can sometimes find fresh Thai Chillies in the local Grand Supermarket if I am lucky (must be others that are buying them too). However, I say that my ones taste better!.

I wish that I had started a Photo-Diary when I first planted the seeds, but I never thought that it would actually work!. I am happy to say that I was wrong…

After a slight tinge of Red appears, within days the whole fruit is bright and glorious.

They seem to be emerging from all angles.

Apart from Drying them, they also freeze very well. Good things really do come to those who wait….