Gastronomy

NAM GANG/CHIECKEN STOCK

Making chicken stock is surprisingly easy and tastes so much better than canned. Where you would never eat canned chicken broth by itself, we commonly have this broth with just a few leaves of spinach, watercress or other vegetables with dinner.

Put water and chicken bones in a pot. A 2 quart pot will fit a half or whole body or 2-3 legs and wings. Once it starts to boil, then turn it down to a simmer. Add the other ingredients. The key to clear soup is never let it boil too hard and never close the lid. When the water is boiling, add the rest of the ingredients. Let it boil for at least half an hour. The longer it boils the better it tastes. Sometimes I let it boil for a couple of hours. Just keep adding water and use low heat.

Toward the end, taste it and see if it needs some more soy sauce or fish sauce. You will find that the soy adds a lot of flavor.

Learn more about this and other similarly prepared Clear Broth Soups (Gang Jeud) recipes

RAD NAH/NOODLES IN GRAVY

1tablespoonyellow bean sauce 2 1/2cupswater 6tablespoonsvegetable oil 4tablespoonstapioca flour 2tablespoonssugar 2tablespoonssoy sauce - mushroom 2clovesgarlic 3/4lbfresh flat rice noodles 2tablespoonsdark soy sauce 1/2lbChinese broccoli 1/4lbspork, thinly sliced

Coat the pork with 1 tablespoon of tapioca flour. Mince garlic. In a bowl, add water to the rest of flour. This will the base for sauce. Cut up the Chinese broccoli into 2 inch-pieces.

Slice the noodles into 1/2 to 1 inch wide strips. Break the clumped noodles into strands.

You can either heat up the noodles in the a non-stick pan or pot or in the microwave. Cooking it in the microwave loses a little of the texture, but is easier. Part of what I like about rad nah is that some is a little crunchy and some is soft, but when you cook it in the microwave, you don't get the crunchies.

Microwave: Put the separated noodles and 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce in a microwaveable bowl and mix well. Then microwave it for 3 minutes or until soft.

Non-stick pan or pot: Heat up 4 tablespoons of oil in a non-stick pan or pot. You really want a non stick pan, believe me. When the oil is ready, put in the noodles and stir. Add 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce on the noodles. The purpose here is to heat up the noodles and add some color. Stir again until all the noodles are broken into pieces. Don't worry if they are cut into small pieces. Keep stirring for 5 more minutes. Set the cooked noodles aside.

Cooking The Meat and Gravy: In a pot or pan that is big enough to hold all the ingredients, heat up the rest of the oil. Add minced garlic and coated pork. Stir for a minute or so until the pork is getting cook. Add the flour water. Stir quickly to keep it from forming chunks. When cooked, the flour will turn from white to clear. Add soy sauce, yellow bean sauce and sugar. Stir. When the sauce is bubbling, it should have a consistency of thick gravy.

And if the sauce is not thick enough, add more flour. If you like thin sauce, add more water. When you add water, adjust the sugar, soy sauce. Remember, Thai food is trial and error, so it is time to taste. If you need more soy sauce, add some. When you are done with tasting, add Chinese broccoli. Stir quickly and turn the heat off. Don't let the greens cook for too long, or they will turn brown and won't be crunchy. Put noodles on plates and top with the sauce. Sprinkle some ground white or black pepper. Serve hot.

In Thailand, Rad Nah is served with sugar, fish sauce, peppers pickled in white vinegar and ground chili pepper for your personal taste. The addition of vinegar with peppers adds a lot of dynamics to the final flavor.

You can make your own vinegar with pepper. Slice any type of green chili pepper that is not hot; do not use the real little ones. Just pour vinegar over and let it sit for few minutes or days.

THAI FOOD

Thai cuisine refers to typical foods, beverages, and cooking styles common to the country of Thailand. Thai Cuisine is known for its balance of five fundamental flavors in each dish or the overall meal - hot (spicy), sour, sweet, salty and bitter (optional). Although popularly considered as a single cuisine, Thai food would be more accurately described as four regional cuisines corresponding to the four main regions of the country: Northern, Northeastern (or Isan), Central and Southern, each cuisine sharing similar foods or derived from those of neighboring countries. Southern curries, for example, tend to contain coconut milk and fresh turmeric, while northeastern dishes often include lime juice.

Thai food is known for its enthusiastic use of fresh (rather than dried) herbs and spices as well as fish sauce. Thai food is popular in many Western countries especially in Australia, New Zealand, some countries in Europe such as the United Kingdom, as well as the United States, and Canada.