Requesting a salt shaker in a fine French restaurant is one great faux pas an uninitiated diner can commit. Certainly if a diner asked for a selection of assorted spices and herbs to season the food the chef probably would appear tableside to assess the situation.
But in Thailand a tray of condiments, including hot chili peppers, salty nuts and fish sauce regularly accompanies each meal.
”The Thai palate of tastes is very complex,” says Jeannie Lee-Radek, a Thai cooking instructor. ”There are many different tastes within each dish-sweet, sour, salty and hot. From childhood on we learn our own way of tasting each dish. So at the table we add the seasonings to our own tastes.”
Lee-Radek, born into a family of good cooks in Bangkok, Thailand, moved to Chicago more than 21 years ago. Her cooking career began at age 13 out of the necessity to help feed 10 brothers and sisters while her parents ran a dry-goods grocery store.
”I started out making some of the home-cooked foods such as noodles, fried rice and curries. I had to plan three meals a day, buy the food and make at least four different dishes for each meal. The marketing was done every day and sometimes required two or three trips a day.”
Today, Lee-Radek, 45, owns Option One Travel in Chicago and specializes in putting together tours of the Far East. Largely for her own enjoyment, she has been teaching Thai cooking in Chicago for almost three years.
She begins each session by teaching about the foods the students request- those they know from Thai restaurants here. ”They always request pad Thai, satay and spring rolls. But in Thailand the open-air vendors sell these common dishes-because they know they never fail-everyone loves them. At home, we cook different dishes-the foods the vendors do not sell. I like to teach these as well.”
For each two-hour class Lee-Radek cooks and explains the techniques and ingredients of two dishes. ”It doesn`t matter if you`ve never cooked Thai before because every class is self-contained.”
Here are three recipes for favorite Thai dishes from Lee-Radek. Like all stir-fried foods, the ingredients should be prepared and assembled before the cooking begins.
Most of the ingredients are available at supermarkets. Fish sauce (nam pla)can be found at some supermarkets with large Asian sections. The fresh rice noodles used in the pad siew can be purchased in the refrigerated section of Thai and Vietnamese markets.
(For information on Lee-Radek`s classes call 312-262-7171 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday)
FRIED RICE NOODLES WITH BROCCOLI (PAD SIEW)
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Yield: 3 to 4 servings
1 pound fresh rice noodle sheets, see note
4-5 tablespoons sweet soy sauce, see note
3-4 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
3/4 pound boneless lean beef sirloin or flank steak or boneless chicken
1 pound broccoli, trimmed
3-5 fresh hot chilies, to taste, minced
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
2 large eggs, beaten, optional
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1. Cut noodle sheets into 1-inch wide strips; set aside. Mix soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and pepper in small bowl; set aside.
2. Cut beef or chicken into very thin slices. Cut broccoli stalks crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices. Separate flowerets into bite-size pieces. Mix hot chilies and vinegar in small serving bowl. If using, cook and stir the beaten eggs in a small, non-stick skillet until softly scrambled; set aside.
3. Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat; add 3 tablespoons of the oil. Heat until hot. Add garlic; stir-fry until lightly brown, about 30 seconds. Then add beef or chicken. Stir-fry until meat is no longer pink, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in broccoli; stir-fry until crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to large bowl.
4. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in same pan. Add noodles and soy mixture. Stir to mix well and thoroughly coat noodles. When heated, add meat- broccoli mixture and cooked eggs. Stir-fry to heat through, 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Serve immediately. Pass the vinegar at the table.
GROUND BEEF SALAD (LARB)
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Yield: 4 appetizer servings
1 pound lean ground beef
3-4 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
Juice of 1 large lime
1 teaspoon sugar
1 small yellow onion, halved, thinly sliced
1 cup loosely packed mint leaves
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
2 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
For serving:
Lettuce leaves or napa cabbage leaves
Yard-long beans, cut into 5-inch pieces
Mint sprigs
1. Cook and stir beef in medium skillet over medium heat until no longer pink. Remove from heat; let cool a few minutes.
2. Mix 3 tablespoons of the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar in bottom of large serving bowl until sugar is dissolved. Stir in cooled beef, onion, mint leaves, cilantro, green onions, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. Taste and add remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce as desired.
3. To serve, transfer beef to a platter lined with lettuce or cabbage leaves. Garnish with beans and mint sprigs.
THAI FRIED RICE
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, beaten
2-3 tablespoons tomato paste
3-4 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch freshly ground white pepper
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup thinly sliced boneless beef sirloin, pork loin or chicken or peeled raw medium-size shrimp
5 cups day-old cooked rice, chilled
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 hot chili peppers, chopped
1 medium cucumber, sliced crosswise
1 lime, cut into wedges
Fresh cilantro sprigs for garnish
1. Heat wok or large skillet until hot; add 1 tablespoon of the oil; heat until hot. Add beaten eggs; cook and stir until firmly scrambled; remove and set aside.
2. Mix 3 tablespoons of the fish sauce, 2 tablespoons of the tomato paste, sugar and white pepper in small bowl.
3. Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in wok or skillet. Add onion and garlic; stir-fry 1 minute. Do not brown. Add meat or shrimp; stir-fry until meat is no longer pink or shrimp is opaque, 2 to 3 minutes. Break rice apart and then stir into the wok to mix well. Stir in fish sauce mixture and cooked eggs. Cook and stir until heated through. Add remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce and tomato paste to taste.
4. Transfer rice to a large serving platter. Sprinkle with green onions, cilantro and chilies. Arrange cucumber slices around the rice. Serve with lime wedges. Garnish with cilantro sprigs.
