Seafood with Thai Basil

I love seafood, I love basil, and I love Thai cuisine.  And that's why I decided to make this for dinner last night. :)


SEAFOOD WITH THAI BASIL (PAD KEE MAO TALAY)

What's In It?

1 kg mixed seafood (prawns, halibut fillets, mussels, squid), or 250g of each seafood*
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 medium red bell pepper, washed, seeded and sliced into cubes
4-6 Thai chilies, washed and sliced lengthwise
1 medium red onion, peeled and sliced
half a head of garlic, peeled and mashed
a handful of holy basil leaves (20-25 pcs), washed and stems removed
3-4 tablespoons cooking oil
cornstarch slurry (3 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 5 teaspoons water) -- optional

Kitchen Conjugations:

1. Heat oil in a medium-sized wok or deep frying pan over high heat for 1-2 minutes.
2. Saute onions until soft and translucent.  Add garlic, chilies and bell peppers and stir-fry for one minute.
3. Keeping flame on high, add in the seafood, fish sauce, oyster sauce and sugar.  Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. The seafood will render water as they cook so the mixture will turn watery. Spoon out excess water, leaving only enough to cover seafood.
5. Check seasonings.  Add more sugar, salt or chilies depending on preference.
6. Add in the basil leaves and let the mixture simmer until the leaves wilt a little (about one minute).
7. You may thicken the sauce by stirring in the cornstarch slurry at this point. Simmer with continuous stirring for 30 seconds or until the sauce thickens a bit.
8. Serve with steamed rice. Enjoy!

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Notes:

1. I used frozen seafood.  If using fresh ones, be sure to gut and process the squid, and peel and devein the shrimp.

2. This recipe works perfectly as well with chicken and pork fillets, or all-prawn, all-mussel, all-squid versions.

3. I like spice, and for me the 4-6 chilies deliver just the right kick.  You may however tone the spice level by using only 2-3 chilies or omitting the chilies altogether as the holy basil is also spicy.

4.  Do NOT overcook the basil. It will turn black and lend a bitter taste to the dish. In doubt, better to leave it undercooked than overcooked.

5. If you plan to have this cooked way ahead of serving or eating it, or if you will have to freeze and reheat it for later, I suggest you cook this recipe WITHOUT adding the basil, and just add the basil leaves during reheating.

6. Cooking over high temp is crucial because the seafood need to cook quickly so they remain juicy and soft.  Overcooking the squid for one will make it tough and rubbery.

Appreciate your comments and questions! :)

Som Tam (Thai Green Papaya Salad)

Want something different for your side salad? Try Som Tam (Green Papaya Salad). It's easy, tangy and the ingredients available from the supermarket.  It's light on calories and light on the pocket too!

SOM TAM

What's In It?

1 small green (unripe) papaya (about 300 g.), peeled and sliced / prepped for grating

a small bunch of string beans (about 6 strings), cut into 1" lengths

5 cherry tomatoes, quartered

2 tablespoons dried shrimp 

5-6 Thai chilies, chopped

juice from 4 pieces of lime (about half a cup)

4 tablespoons brown sugar

4 tablespoons fish sauce

5 cloves garlic, peeled

1-2 tablespoons roast peanuts, coarsely chopped or ground (optional)

a few stalks of coriander, chopped (optional)

Kitchen Conjugations:

Grate the papaya using a cheese grater or a mandolin. Transfer to a deep dish and set aside.

Using a mortar and pestle, crush garlic.  Add chilies and pound slightly. Add the string beans and quartered tomatoes, pound slightly to bruise them and release some of their juice into the mixture. Add in the sugar, fish sauce, dried shrimp, lime juice, ground peanuts and coriander (if using). Pound the mixture some more to release juices. Mix using a spoon or spatula to evenly distribute the flavors. Let stand for about two minutes to allow flavors to meld.

Check and adjust taste. Pour the dressing over the grated papaya and toss. Serve as a side salad or as an appetizer. Enjoy!

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Notes:

1. Local names for the ingredients:  dayap (lime), wansoy (coriander) and patis (fish sauce).

2. Some people are averse to the smell of wansoy.  It is highly optional and may be used only for garnish.  (So you may add it at the last minute instead of pounding it with the other ingredients.) Wansoy looks so much like Kinchay, but smells and tastes very differently.

3. Ideally, there should be a delicate balance of the sweetness from the sugar, tartness from the lime, saltiness from the fish sauce and spice from the chili. But go ahead and up the ante for one or two of the taste you prefer.  

4. A cheese grater will give you either fine shreds or wide but flat shreds. I used an inexpensive mandolin (kitchen slicer/grater set similar to the one pictured below) I bought for a mere P100.00 in Sta. Cruz.  (I use this same tool when I make pancit and I am able to get shredded/sliced carrots, chayote and beans in jiffy.) 

(I got the kitchen slicer picture here.)

5. I was in a hurry and wasn't able to take pictures while cooking.  To see step-by-step pictures, you might want to visit ThaiTable.

Sweet Basil Squid

Mike and I, we love seafood. As you (would) probably notice, most of the recipes (and food reviews) here (will) feature prawns, squid and fish.

We also love spice. And herbs. Me, I am crazy about basil. Given a choice I will always have pesto (proof: here). I sprinkle dried basil on my pasta each time we eat at Sbarro, and I will always find an excuse to put it in stir-fries whenever possible.

I love that its smell and flavor are interestingly indescribable. There's no way to say in a few words how it specifically smells or tastes. This is because the aroma and flavor of basil is an interplay of the essential oils present in its leaves: cinnamate (same as in cinnamon), citronellol (geraniums, roses, and citronella), geraniol (as in geranium), linalool (a flowery scent also in coriander), methyl chavicol (which gives tarragon its scent), myrcene (bay, myrcia), pinene (which is, as the name implies, the chemical which gives pine oil its scent) and ocimene terpineol. (Wikipedia) There's simply no way a dish will be bland with basil in it!

There's also quite a number of basil varieties, but the most commonly known and available is sweet basil. (This is also the kind commonly used in Thai, Indonesian and Vietnamese cooking.) I usually find Sweet Basil in the fresh produce section of Shopwise and SaveMore, with 100grams costing less than P20.00. (When they're in season, of course.) What an inexpensive way to put a little kick in your cuisine!

SWEET BASIL SQUID

What's In It?

• 1 kg. squid, cleaned, ink sacs and backbones removed, body cut into rings
• 1 large scallion/onion, peeled and sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 3 pieces red pepper (siling labuyo), sliced - optional
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 5 tablespoons oyster sauce
• a bunch of sweet basil, leaves removed from stalks and washed well
• some leeks, sliced diagonally into rings, for garnish

Kitchen Conjugations:

In a wok over high heat, saute onions and garlic in oil for one minute. Add in squid heads and rings, siling labuyo (if using) and oyster sauce. Stir fry for a minute then add in sweet basil leaves. Stir fry a few seconds more, just to cook the leaves a little*. Adjust and correct seasonings by adding a pinch of salt or sugar.

Garnish with leeks. Serve while hot.

NOTES:

1. If you overcook the basil the leaves will turn black and leak all the essential oils into your food. The flavor will be very strong.
2. Squid becomes hard and rubbery when overcooked, so cook it over high heat quickly.

Substitutions: You can use Thai Basil for the sweet basil, other meats like pork, beef, shrimps and chicken (see at left) for the squid. Prolong stir-frying to about 3 minutes if using pork, beef or chicken, but only 1 minute for shrimps.

Pattaya Chicken

Contrary to common belief, not all Thai dishes are spicy or hot. This recipe is an example.

I got the recipe from the Lemon Grass Cookbook, and this was originally Pattaya Shrimp. At read through I found that it was actually but a stir-fry, so the shrimp can be substituted with any meat you have in your freezer, so I used chicken. Later when I crave for the aroma and tang of basil again I would do a repeat, perhaps with fish or beef. :)

[Update: I did do a repeat last night, 7/7/06, using Lapu-lapu fillets and Sea Cucumber. Equally fantastic!]

However, as I like doing my own thing, the recipe I'm about to give you is no longer the one from the cookbook, but the version which I whipped up in my kitchen. My own kitchen conjugation, that is.

This is so easy you can do it with your eyes closed. :)

What's in it?

3/4 kg. chicken breast fillets, sliced into strips
1 T fish sauce
2 T oyster sauce
1 T sugar
1 T curry powder
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium red onion, sliced
100 g. (about 1 styro tray) sweet basil leaves, washed
100 g. (about 1 styro tray) fresh straw mushrooms, washed
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and julienned
3 T cooking oil (if you have peanut oil, better)

Kitchen Conjugations:

In a wok or deep frying pan, heat oil, then saute onions and garlic. Add chicken, stir fry for a minute, or until chicken loses its pinkish tint. Add the fish sauce, stir a little, then add the oyster sauce, curry powder and sugar. Stir to combine, and let chicken simmer for 5 minutes over medium heat.

Stir in mushrooms and bell pepper, stir fry for a minute. Add in basil leaves and stir fry for another 30 seconds. You will love the aroma!

Serve with hot Jasmine rice or rice noodles.

Tom Yum Thalay (Thai Hot and Sour Seafood Soup)

We had originally wanted soup because it's a rainy evening, but since we haven't gone Thai for quite a while and I have a handful of coriander leaves (wansoy) in the ref the idea of Tom Yum hit. It would have been simply Tom Yum Goong (prawn soup) but my husband wanted his tanigue chunks in, so I decided to go the whole nine yards and do the seafood version. As the picture shows I put in some squid too. Oh yes, we have the whole ocean in our freezer. The story of that, later, in another post. Kung hindi ako tatamarin. :P

And of course it helped that I have three thriving pots of lemon grass in my garden. I can't say it enough -- the unknowing would have found it weird and funny that this house grows GRASS in pots. Hehehe. The maid waters them everyday too! :P


TOM YUM THALAY

What's in it?

• 8 medium sized prawns, shells peeled but tails left intact, and deveined
• 2 large squid, ink sacs removed, body cut into rings
• 150 grams fish nuggets
• 4-6 cups rice washings or tap water
• 5 stalks fresh lemongrass, lightly pounded, cut into 1" pieces
• 4 T fish sauce
• 3 knobs ginger, peeled and pounded
• 1 large red onion, quartered
• 1/2 cup straw mushroom
• 4 tablespoons lime juice
• 6 crushed chili peppers
• wansoy leaves for garnish

Kitchen Conjugations:

In a pot combine rice washing, lemongrass, ginger, red onion and bring to a boil. Add mushrooms, fish sauce and lime juice, let boil for two minutes.

Add in prawns, fish, squid and chile peppers. Let boil for a minute then remove from heat. Adjust seasonings, and garnish with the coriander/wansoy leaves. Serve hot.

Some notes:

1) The real recipe for Tom Yum called for:

• Galangal, a better, more aromatic relative of ginger.
• Kaffir lime leaves, used with regularity in a wide array of favorite Thai dishes for its unique luscious perfume and striking flavor
• Prik Pao, chili paste with soya bean oil. It's made up of sugar, shallots, soyabean oil, garlic, dried chili, fish sauce, dried shrimp and tamarind paste. This gives the soup its characteristic red color.

I didn't have these three so I improvised, substituting with ginger for galangal; adding a little calamansi for the lime; and doing without the color from the Prik Pao.

2) Alternatively, if you are in a hurry or simply want to simplify things, you may want to try the various mixes and pastes available in supermarkets. Some brands I have tried (with satisfactory results) is the Lobo brand (with Thai markings), about P36.00; and Kim's (I forgot how much, but less).