Cooking
School Thai: Bring the flavours of Thailand to life in your own kitchen 2010, edited by Fiona Biggs (Love Food) Bath UK
Thailand - Chicken
and Peanut Curry
Serves 4
1 tbsp vegetable oil or groundnut oil; 2 red onions, sliced;
2 tbsp Penang curry paste; 400ml / 14 fl oz coconut milk; 150ml / 5 fl oz
chicken stock; 4 kaffir lime leaves, roughly torn; 1 lemon grass stem, finely
chopped; 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, chopped; 1 tbsp Thai fish sauce;
2 tbsp Thai soy sauce; 1 tsp palm sugar or soft light brown sugar; 50g / 1 ¾ oz
unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped, plus extra to serve; 175g / 6 oz fresh
pineapple, coarsely chopped; 15 cm / 6 inch piece cucumber, peeled, deseeded
and thickly sliced, plus extra to serve
1 Heat a wok over a medium-high heat, then add the oil. Add
the onions and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the curry paste and stir-fry for 1-2
minutes.
2 Pour in the coconut milk and stock. Add the lime leaves
and lemon grass and simmer for 1 minute. Add the chicken and gradually bring to
the boil. Simmer for 8-10 minutes until the chicken is tender.
3 Stir in the fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar and simmer
for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the peanuts, pineapple and cucumber and cook for 30
seconds. Serve immediately with peanuts and cucumber on top.
The
Cuisine of the South Pacific, Gwen Skinner, photography by Michael Willison,
1983 New Zealand
“The South Pacific conjures up visions of a paradise of
waving coconut palms, coral reefs, white sands, and a tropical climate. It has
all of those things, but it also has a wide geographical and cultural diversity
and not the least of its splendours is its food.”
Tahiti
and the Society Islands – Tropical Bean, Vegetable and Pineapple Salad
2 cups canned kidney beans (or mixed three-beans); ¼ cup
green pepper, finely chopped; ½ cup young long beans, cooked; ½ cup butter
beans, cooked (I substituted with baby corn and baby carrots, briefly steamed); ½ cup celery, diced; 1 cup pineapple, diced (fresh or canned); 1
large tomato; ¼ cup French dressing; salt and pepper
Drain canned beans and wash. Make sure cooked beans are
cold. Section and remove the seeds from tomato then cut into fine strips.
Mix all ingredients together, season to taste.
Tonga – Pineapple Coconut Pie
Make a baked pie crust.
Filling: 2 cups milk; ½ cup flour; 1 cup sugar; ¼ tsp salt; 3 egg yolks, beaten; 1 tblsp butter; 1 cup coconut, grated; 1 ½ cups fresh pineapple, grated; 2 tblsp lemon juice
Mix a portion of the milk with the flour to a smooth paste. Heat remaining milk in a double saucepan, add paste gradually and stir until thick and smooth. Add sugar and salt. Pour into beaten egg yolks, return all to the double boiler and cook a further 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into a pie shell.
When cool, top with meringue.
Meringue topping: 3 egg whites; 4 tblsp sugar; ½ tsp vanilla (optional)
Beat egg whites until frothy. Add sugar gradually and continue beating until stiff. Add vanilla essence.
Bake pie at 180C for about 10 minutes.
Tanzania - Pineapple
Salad
Ingredients: 3 large
pineapples; 1/3 cup cashew nuts; ½ cup slivers coconut; 1 cup cream; 4 tblspn
honey; 1 ¼ oz white rum
Method:
1 Cut pineapples into bite-sized cubes.
2 In a pan fry the nuts and coconut until golden brown.
3 In a separate bowl combine the rum, cream and honey. Then
toss in the pineapple cubes.
4 Mix the cashew nut mixture into the bowl.
5 Let chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Trinidad - Pineapple Chow by Melissa Silverson
INGREDIENTS
1 cup ripe pineapple (or mango) ; 1 tablespoon cilantro (or
chadon beni if available), chopped ; ¼ teaspoons garlic, chopped ; 2 red
chilies (or 1/3 habanero), chopped ; 1 salt,
to taste ; ½ tablespoons calypso hot sauce (for extra heat, optional)
METHOD
1 Cube pineapple, chop hot peppers, garlic, & cilantro.
2 Add pineapple, hot peppers, garlic, salt, cilantro, &
calypso hot sauce to bowl... Blend well.
3 Allow to sit for an hour for flavors to blend. Serve
cool.
