A Thai classic, found throughout Southeast Asia. At Wickedfood Cooking School we include a version of this dish inspired by Chiang Mai Thai Cooking School, in one of our Thai cooking classes. To make this properly you need a large mortar. If doubling up on quantities, make in two separate batches. If green papaya is not available, it is just as delicious with strips of cucumber, minus the seeds, grated carrots, or strips of green beans. Delicious with sticky rice and barbecued chicken.

3 cloves garlic, peeled
3-5 small, green chillies
2T dried shrimps
2t palm sugar
1-2T fish sauce
2T lime juice
1-2t shrimp paste (optional)
2T roasted peanuts
6 French beans – cut into 2cm pieces
3 cups (200g) green papaya, peeled and grated into thin strips (or cucumbers, carrots, beans)
1 tomato cut in half and sliced

1. Put the garlic, chillies, shrimp and palm sugar into a large mortar and pound to a smooth paste.
2. Add fish sauce, lemon juice and shrimp paste, and combine well.
3. Add the roasted peanuts and French beans and roughly pound.
4. Add the papaya and pound again to bruise the ingredients using the pestle and a spoon.
5. Add tomatoes and pound to combine.
6. Serve with sticky or coconut rice.

Serves 2

Great Asian recipes – Click here:

Chicken feet

Biryani

Kaeng kari ka – yellow curried chicken

Phanaeng Beef Curry in sweet peanut sauce

Phat Thai

Tom yum kung

Green pawpaw salad

Fish head curry

Warm squid salad in a pineapple

Spiced pork spare ribs

Deep-fried silken tofu

Thai beef salad

3 Cup Chicken

Cooking schools in South East Asia

Thai House cooking school • Bangkok • Thailand

Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School • Thailand

Red Bridge Cooking School • Hoi An • Vietnam

Books reviewed by Wickedfood on Asian food:

Secrets of the Red Lantern

Kylie Kwong: Recipes and Stories

A Passion for Thai Cooking

Balance & Harmony, Asian Food

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood cooking school runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

This recipe is taken from Claudia Roden’s mouthwatering book, Arabesque, a culinary journey from Morocco through Turkey to Lebanon.  Use black-eyed or haricot beans for this dish. You can use frozen spinach (defrost it thoroughly). If using fresh, wash it well and remove the stems only if they are very thick. At Wickedfood cooking school, we do a similar dish in the Middle Eastern cooking class, but substituting chickpeas for beans.

1 large onion, sliced
6T olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
250g fresh spinach, stalks removed and chopped
salt and black pepper
1 x 400g tin of beans, drained
juice ½ lemon

1. Fry the onion in 2T of the oil, stirring often, until brown and caramelized.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the garlic in 2T of the oil for moments only until the aroma rises. Add the spinach, put on the lid and cook, without adding water, for a minute or two until the leaves crumple to a soft mass. Add salt and pepper.
3. Stir the beans and the fried onions into the spinach; add lemon juice and cook through. Add the remaining oil and serve at room temperature, or cold.

Serves 4

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

At Wickedfood Cooking School we teach students how to make this salad in our Vietnamese cooking class. This delicious recipe originates from Red Bridge Cooking School in Hoi An, Vietnam. You can replace the squid with any other type of meat, seafood or even beancurd – the cooking time will vary accordingly.

½ cup chopped 1 pineapple
100g squid, cleaned and cut into rings
2 t of vegetable oil
1 t garlic & ginger
½t sugar
1 t salt or 2 t light fish sauce
1 T tomato puree or tomato sauce
1 T sweet & sour chilli sauce
½ cup chopped green pepper (capsicum)
½ cup chopped tomato
½ cup chopped onion
1 T water
Few pieces of fresh coriander

1. Cut the two sides off the pineapple, and then hollow out to create a bowl, retaining ½ cup of the flesh, and chop.
2. Add 2t of vegetable oil to wok and stir in garlic and ginger.
3. Add squid, salt & sugar, and fry for 1 minute.
4. Put in remaining vegetables and tomato puree/ fry for a further 3 minutes, adding water.
5. Place ail ingredients inside pineapple, and top with pepper and coriander.

Serves 4

Great Asian recipes – Click here:

Chicken feet

Biryani

Kaeng kari ka – yellow curried chicken

Phanaeng Beef Curry in sweet peanut sauce

Phat Thai

Tom yum kung

Green pawpaw salad

Fish head curry

Warm squid salad in a pineapple

Spiced pork spare ribs

Deep-fried silken tofu

Thai beef salad

3 Cup Chicken

For other articles on South East Asia see:

A Taste of Thailand

Floating markets in Bangkok

Must try Singapore dishes

The ABCs of Singapore food

Singapore hawker food centres

Vietnamese cuisine

Cooking schools in South East Asia

Thai House cooking school • Bangkok • Thailand

Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School • Thailand

Red Bridge Cooking School • Hoi An • Vietnam

Books reviewed by Wickedfood on Asian food:

Secrets of the Red Lantern

Kylie Kwong: Recipes and Stories

A Passion for Thai Cooking

Balance & Harmony, Asian Food

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood® Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

This recipe is taken from the Wickedfood cooking school cookbook-of-the-month cooking class based on Kylie Kwong’s delightful cookbook Recipes and Stories. The deep-fried tofu has crunchy exterior, served with lemon, salt and pepper. It must be eaten immediately after cooking, as it becomes moist and loses its crunch when it cools.

600g silken tofu
2 cups vegetable oil for deep-frying
½ cup cornflour
1 cup coriander leaves
2t sechuan pepper and salt
1 lemon cut in half

1. Gently remove tofu from packaging and invert on a plate. Carefully slice into 6 cubes, draining off any excess liquid.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a hot wok until the surface seems to shimmer slightly.
3. Just before frying, lightly coat tofu pieces in cornflour and, using an egg lifter, carefully lower into the hot oil. (It is important not to coat the tofu in advance of heating the oil, or it will become very moist and sticky.) Fry tofu until golden brown, remove and drain well on kitchen paper.
4. Arrange tofu on a platter garnished with coriander and serve immediately, sprinkled with sechuan pepper and salt and accompanied by lemon halves.

Serve as an entree, or as part of a banquet for 6-8

Great Asian recipes – Click here:

Chicken feet

Biryani

Kaeng kari ka – yellow curried chicken

Phanaeng Beef Curry in sweet peanut sauce

Phat Thai

Tom yum kung

Green pawpaw salad

Fish head curry

Warm squid salad in a pineapple

Spiced pork spare ribs

Deep-fried silken tofu

Thai beef salad

3 Cup Chicken

For other articles on South East Asia see:

A Taste of Thailand

Floating markets in Bangkok

Must try Singapore dishes

The ABCs of Singapore food

Singapore hawker food centres

Vietnamese cuisine

Cooking schools in South East Asia

Thai House cooking school • Bangkok • Thailand

Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School • Thailand

Red Bridge Cooking School • Hoi An • Vietnam

Books reviewed by Wickedfood on Asian food:

Secrets of the Red Lantern

Kylie Kwong: Recipes and Stories

A Passion for Thai Cooking

Balance & Harmony, Asian Food

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Boksburg – (011) 823-5365 boksburg@wickedfood.co.za

Runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

This is one of the most popular dishes that we teach at Wickedfood cooking school. We make it at least once a week with our corporate teambuilding clients. It is a perfect salad for a hot summer’s day, best to serve the beef rare for maximum flavour. Grill it on a very hot fire so as to seal the meat, but leaving it succulent inside.

500g beef fillet

Sauce
2 cloves garlic
Handful coriander leaves
Handful mint leaves
2 T sugar
2 t light soy sauce
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t fish sauce
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
11/4 T olive oil

1 T lemon juice
1/2 T fish sauce

Salad
1 packet mixed salad leaves 1/2 cup rocket leaves

1 cup mint, basil and coriander leaves
2 spring onions including tops, thinly sliced
1 small cucumber, cut into thin ribbons

6 fresh red chillies thinly sliced

Pre-heat the grill or prepare the braai. Rub the meat with oil and grill turning once, cooking no further than medium rare. Leave to rest for 10 minutes and cut into strips.

Sauce
Crush the garlic in a mortar. Add the coriander, mint, sugar and pound to a paste. Add soy sauce, lime juice and fish sauce, and mix well.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the sauce and stir fry for ±1 minute. Add the beef and toss to coat. Immediately remove from the heat and spoon into a bowl to cool.
Deglaze the saucepan with the 1T lemon juce and 1/2 T fish sauce, and use as salad dressing.

Salad
Wash the salad leaves, rocket, mint, basil and coriander, and mix.

Everything up to this point can be done ahead of time.

To plate
Just before serving, toss the salad leaves lightly in the cooled dressing. Pile the leaves in the centre of a large platter. Arrange the beef on top and garnish with spring onions, cucumber and chillies. Pour any remaining meat sauce over and serve immediately to prevent the salad from wilting.

Serves 4

Great Asian recipes – Click here:

Chicken feet

Biryani

Kaeng kari ka – yellow curried chicken

Phanaeng Beef Curry in sweet peanut sauce

Phat Thai

Tom yum kung

Green pawpaw salad

Fish head curry

Warm squid salad in a pineapple

Spiced pork spare ribs

Deep-fried silken tofu

Thai beef salad

3 Cup Chicken

For other articles on South East Asia see:

A Taste of Thailand

Floating markets in Bangkok

Must try Singapore dishes

The ABCs of Singapore food

Singapore hawker food centres

Vietnamese cuisine

Cooking schools in South East Asia

Thai House cooking school • Bangkok • Thailand

Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School • Thailand

Red Bridge Cooking School • Hoi An • Vietnam

Books reviewed by Wickedfood on Asian food:

Secrets of the Red Lantern

Kylie Kwong: Recipes and Stories

A Passion for Thai Cooking

Balance & Harmony, Asian Food

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Boksburg – (011) 823-5365 boksburg@wickedfood.co.za

Runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.