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The Nation 125
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Two more dips in Thai cuisine.
Lohn Tao Jiew Kung Sup Krati ( Coconut dip with fermented soybeans and
shrimps)
Pon Pla Too, ( similar to Nam Prik, a dip made with Thai mackerel ) |
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I want to give you two
more recipes with the same techniques as the last two that I
wrote last time but the ingredients are slightly different.
The Lohn recipe this week uses almost all the same
ingredients except for the introduction of a raw egg, which
had to be tempered. (Hot liquid is added to it slowly to
bring up the temperature of the egg so as not to scramble it
once you add the mixture to a hot boiling pot). The addition
of the egg is to thicken the liquid in the Lohn and this
process of thickening liquid with eggs is called lie in
French cooking terms. I chose this recipe to show the
similarities in cooking techniques in Western cuisine and
Thai cuisine. |
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This Lohn or dip is very
creamy and has a wonderful aroma of the fermented soybean. It
does not have any acidity such as tamarind pulp or lime juice
but when eaten with fresh and cooked vegetables it does not seem
too rich and balances everything out quite nicely in your mouth.
It can be substituted for a cheese dip with vegetables at your
cocktail party.
The second recipe Pon Pla Too is a NorthEastern recipe. It is a
version of the Nam Prik, which requires the use of the pestle
and mortar. Instead of using the shrimp paste as a base of your
Nam Prik we substituted the meat from Thai mackerel instead. All
the herb and spices used are in this recipe are roasted to give
it that smokey scent. The use of Pla Rah or ferment fish juice
signifies that this dish is typically North Eastern. If you
cannot find Pla Rah or are not fond of it, you can always use
regular fish sauce instead.
Here goes the recipes for the two dips and I hope that you will
all try to make these dishes at home and should you have any
questions you can always E mail me to
mcdangoffice@mcdang.com. |
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Lohn Tao Jiew Kung Sup Krati.
(Coconut dip with fermented soybean and shrimp)
Ingredients:
Fermented soybean, drained and
pounded into a paste 1 cup
Shrimp, peeled and chopped
½ cup
Ground pork
½ cup
Coconut milk
3 cups
Whole egg
1 each
Shallots, peeled and sliced thin
4 heads
Prik chee fa, fresh chili peppers,
cut small 2-3 each
Granulated sugar
1-2 Tbsp.
Accompanying fresh and cooked
vegetables as needed |
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Directions:
1. Mix the fermented soybean paste with the coconut milk in
a pot and put on stove to boil.
2. Add the shrimp and ground pork to the boiling liquid and
stir to cook.
3. In a small bowl crack the egg and beat it slightly. Spoon
a small amount of the hot liquid in the pot and pour into
the egg bowl to temper it. Once the egg is warmed up enough,
add the egg to the liquid in the pot and stir. The liquid
with become thicker
4. Add the shallot and the chili peppers to the pot and
bring to boil.
5. Season the Lohn with a little sugar and if it is not
salty enough add salt to it. The Lohn should taste salty,
slightly sweet from the natural sweetness of the coconut
milk and fragrant from the scent of the fermented soybean
paste.
6. Spoon the Lohn into a bowl and served with various
vegetables and steamed rice.
Tips:
a. Fermented soybean sauce is easily available in all
supermarkets in Thailand and in Chinese markets abroad. It
is widely used in Asian cooking and a well-known product. So
you should not have any difficulty in finding it.
b. If your Lohn is too rich and sweet add a little limejuice
to the sauce to balance out the richness. |
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Pon Pla Too (
Spicy North Eastern Thai Mackerel Dip )
Ingredients:
Steamed Thai mackerel
only the meat
3 each
Roasted red and chili
Peppers
7-8 pieces
Roasted shallots
5 heads
Grilled Galangal pieces
4 slices
Roasted Garlic
3 small heads
Ferment fish juice (Pla
Rah) or fish sauce as
needed
Kaffir lime juice or lime
juice
as needed
Accompanying vegetables
as needed |
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Directions:
1. Grilled the steamed Thai mackerel and pick out only the
meat.
2. In a pestle and mortar, pound together the roasted
chilies, garlic, shallots and galangal into a paste. Then
add the mackerel meat and pound everything together.
3. Adjust the seasoning with Kaffir lime juice or lime juice
for sourness and fermented fish liquid (pla rah) or fish
sauce for saltiness. The dip should taste sour, salty and
smokey.
4. If the paste is too thick add a little water to the paste
to make it soupier. Spoon the dip into a bowl and serve with
accompanying vegetables and steamed rice. |
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Tips:
a. If you like you Nam Prik quite spicy hot, pound
roasted hot Thai chili peppers with the paste.
b. Thai mackerel is easily available in Thailand and has
been at Thai tables for a long long time. You may not be
able to find it abroad but smoked fish is in the West
can easily be substituted but remember to steam it a
little to soften the flesh for pounding.
c. If Kaffir limes are not easily available, just use
limejuice instead.
d. Galangal is often found in Chinese grocery stores
abroad in dry form to fresh hands in the frozen herb
sections. If you cannot find it just substitutes fresh
ginger instead but use only half the amount required in
the recipe. |
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