Rainbow Tapioca Rice Balls in Coconut Milk

• Ingredients
  • 60g (1/2 cup) rice flour
  • 30g (1/4 cup) tapioca flour
  • 5g (2 tbsp) icing (powdered) sugar
  • 60-80ml (1/4-1/3 cup) boiling water
  • 1-2 tsp flavour essence or extract (I used raspberry but have also used vanilla)
  • Food colouring
  • 140ml (2/3 cup) coconut milk
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • A pinch or two of salt

• Directions/Method
  1. Combine the flours well in a medium bowl, along with the icing sugar before adding the flavour extract of your choice. Slowly add the hot water, about a tablespoon at a time, until you achieve a soft but pliable dough (just firm enough to not stick to your hands too much). Kneed for 5 minutes, adding a few drops of food colouring to suit your colour preferences. Divide the dough into smaller portions and add kneed in a few drops of different colour dyes to each if you want a rainbow effect.
  2. Roll the dough into small 1/4 inch-1/2 inch balls and drop into boiling water for 3-5 minutes. You’ll know when they’re done when they beging to float a little bit. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
  3. Heat the coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a saucepan just until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and serve on the rice balls (refrigerate first if you like a cold dessert).

Vegetarian Soy-Mushroom Larb

• Ingredients
  • 260g (about 3 cups) diced mushrooms (mix of varieties)
  • oil
  • 1 tbsp + 1 tsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp + 1 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce (omit if you don’t have)
  • 1 tsp palm sugar
  • 20g (1/4 cup) fine textured vegetable protein (TVP)
  • 1 small green chili, diced (optional)
  • 1.5 tbsp toasted jasmine rice powder (see method below)
  • Handful each of chopped mint and coriander (cilantro)
  • 15g (3 tbsp) finely diced spring onion
  • 25g (scant 1/4 cup) thinly sliced shallot
  • 1 stalk lemongrass, minced
  • 2 large kaffir lime leaves, thinly slices
  • a handful or two of deep fried cashews

• Directions/Method
  1. Heat the soy sauces, lime juice, water, and palm sugar in a small saucepan just until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the TVP and green chili. Most of the liquid will be soaked up.
  2. Toast your rice by simply dry frying it until it browns, followed by a quick session with a pestle and mortar (5 minutes-ish total time). In a large bowl, add the rice powder, mint, spring onion, shallot, lemongrass, lime leaves, and cashews (just deep fry cashews until they’re a couple shades darker).
  3. Heat another pan or wok and stir fry the mushrooms with a little oil, just until they begin to release their juices. Tip the TVP and any remaining sauce in and stir well, stir frying for another minute.
  4. Add the mushrooms and TVP to the bowl with the other ingredients and mix well.
  5. Serve with rice or fresh thinly cut vegetables and salad (or all of the above).

Vegan Thai Style Pineapple Fried Rice

• Ingredients
  • 170g brown rice (about 1 cup), cooked per its packet’s instructions
  • Oil, to fry
  • Approx 70g (2.5 oz) firm pressed tofu, sliced into 1/2 inch x 1 inch pieces.
  • 1/4 cup cashew or cashew pieces
  • 55g (heaped 1/3 cup) finely diced shallot
  • 50g (1 small) thinly slice carrot
  • 70g cut broccoli pieces (about 1 cup)
  • 1 medium onion, cut into thick slices or wedges
  • A few thin slivers of bell pepper
  • Three or 4 mushrooms
  • A handful or two of bean sprouts
  • 120g (two or 3 handfuls) Chinese leaf, sliced in 1/2 inch strips.
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 150-200g chopped pineapple (1 to 1 1/2 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tsp palm sugar
  • 2 tsp lime juice
  • salt, to taste
  • Toasted sesame seeds (optional)

• Directions/Method
  1. First you’ll want to fry the tofu, shallots, and cashews, so heat about an inch of oil in a pan or wok to a medium-high-ish heat. Line two plates with paper towels. Add the tofu pieces to the oil and fry until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on one of the plates. Fry the cashew pieces until they turn a couple of shades darker, and place with the tofu. Finally, tip the diced shallots into the fat and fry until crispy-golden (be careful not to burn). Remove and set aside on a the second bowl.
  2. Mix the soy sauce, sugar, and lime together in a small bowl. Set aside.
  3. Heat some oil in your wok and add the broccoli, onion, carrot, pepper, and mushrooms. Stir fry for a minute or two until the mushrooms reduce in size and the veg begin to brown a little. Add the Chinese leaf, sprouts, garlic, and pineapple. Toss in the tofu and cashew nuts too. Stir fry for another minute before tipping in the rice.
  4. Quickly mix the vegetables and rice before adding the soy/lime/sugar liquid. Mix fervently for a minute or two to avoid burning, ensuring you get the wok spoon or spatula under the rice and veg to turn frequently.
  5. Plate the fried rice and top it with a sprinkling of the fried shallots. Serve with chilies, soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds, and any other favourite Asian condiments.

Green Curry Duchesse Jewel Sweet Potatoes in Ginger Coconut Cream

• Ingredients for duchesse sweet potatoes
  • 275g ( around10 oz) Purple jewel sweet potato
  • 2 tbsp coconut cream
  • 2 tbsp toasted coconut, ground to a fine powder
  • 1 tsp Thai vegetarian green curry paste
  • salt, to taste,
  • oil, to coat

• Ingredients for coconut ginger cream base
  • 120ml (1/2 cup) water
  • 3 inches lemongrass, cut into 3 pieces, each bruised on all sides
  • 4-5 thin slices galangal or ginger
  • 1 kaffir lime leaves
  • 1 asian shallot, finely diced
  • 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp palm sugar (or substitute brown sugar)
  • 180ml (3/4 cup) thick coconut milk or cream
  • Generous squeeze fresh lime juice
  • Chopped spring onions and/or fresh coriander/cilantro, to garnish

• Directions/Method
  1. Bring the water to the boil in a wok or pan and add the lime leaves and then immediately remove the wok from the heat, setting aside for the leaves to soak for 20 minutes (if you’re using fresh, not dried, leaves then omit this step and add lime leaves with ginger in step 3).
  2. Meanwhile cut the potatoes into 1/2 inch slices and steam for 10-15 minutes until soft. Place in a bowl and mash with the coconut cream, toasted coconut, curry paste, and salt (to taste).
  3. Fill a piping bag with the mashed sweet potatoes and pipe onto a wax paper lined baking sweet. Aim for 6-8 clusters of mash. Drizzle some oil on top and bake at 190 C (375 F) for 20-25 minutes.
  4. Place the wok back on the heat, adding the ginger, lemongrass, and shallot. Simmer for 5-10 minutes before stirring in the soy sauces, sugar and coconut milk. Cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes before removing and disposing of the lime leaves, ginger, and lemongrass.
  5. Ladle into two bowls or dipped plates and squeeze a bit of lime juice over each bowl. Place some of the duchesse sweet potatoes in the creamy base, pouring some extra coconut milk over if desired, and sprinkling with coriander leaves and spring onion.

Thai Steamed Banana Cake (Khanom Kluang)

• Ingredients
  • 50ml (3 tbsp plus 1 tsp) fresh thick coconut milk
  • 20g (1 tbsp plus 1 tsp) sugar
  • 1 very ripe banana
  • ¼ tsp lemon or lime juice
  • Yellow food colouring (optional)
  • 20g (1 tbsp plus 2 tsp) white or brown rice flour (not glutinous)
  • 10g (2 tsp) corn flour
  • 10g (1 tbsp plus 1 tsp) desiccated coconut
  • Pinch of salt

• Directions/Method
  1. Whisk the sugar and coconut milk in a bowl until most of the sugar is dissolved.
  2. In another bowl, mash the banana to a smooth paste. Add the rice and corn flours, the dye (if using), lemon/lime juice (to prevent discolouring of the banana), salt, and coconut. Mix until combined and tip in the contents of the coconut milk bowl. Mix until combined.
  3. Line a mini cupcake tray with 12 papers and fill each to just below the top. Alternatively you can use larger cupcake trays, silicone cases, or ramekins. Place in a steamer (or in the bottom of a large pot or pan with a small amount of water- you just have to top it up during the steam process) and steam for about 20 minutes.
  4. These can be eaten warm but the consistency, at least in my mind, is preferable once they cool down a little bit. Your call; they’re good either way. Garnish with some grated coconut meat.

Thai Creamy Lemongrass Nibbles

• Ingredients
  • 2 tbsp vegan cream cheese
  • approx 80-100g puff pastry block or approx 12 square inches rolled pastry
  • 2 stalks fresh lemongrass (dry outer layers remove), finely chopped
  • 2 kaffir lime leaves, (soaked in warm water for 20 minutes if they came dried)
  • 1 tsp palm or brown sugar
  • 2 tsp toasted shredded coconut
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
  • at least 1 tsp fresh coriander (cilantro to Americans), chopped
  • at least 1 tsp fresh mint, chopped
  • ½ tsp soy sauce
  • ¼ tsp lime juice
  • finely diced red chili, to taste

• Directions/Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (400F) and lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with baking paper.
  2. Slice the kaffir lime leaves into thin slivers, stack, and dice as fine as possible. To toast coconut, heat a pan to medium and dry fry the shredded meat until it’s lightly browned. The same process goes for the sesame seeds. Thoroughly mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, simple as that, and set aside.
  3. If your puff pastry isn’t already pre-rolled, roll out into a ¼ inch sheet. For a fancier look, use cutters or a pastry knife to cut the dough into 2.75 inch squares, and then trim about ¼ inch of dough to line the outside of each square (or use pre made vol au vent cases). Otherwise, just plonk a tablespoon and a bit of filling in the centre of each square.
  4. Brush the still exposed pastry with some soy milk for crisp browning (optional), and bake for between 12-15 minutes until lightly browned.
  5. Serve hot or cold.

Son in Law Tofu (Tao Hoo Luk Kheuy)

• Ingredients
  • About 100g (3.5 oz) firm tofu, cut into four (or 8 smaller) squares
  • 1-2 tbsp corn flour
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 tsp tamarind concentrate paste + 2 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • Peanut/Groundnut oil for frying

• Directions/Method
  1. Before you begin, heat an inch or two of oil in a wok to about 175-190 C (350-375 F), or use a deep fryer if you have one. In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, tamarind paste, water, soy sauce and salt. Bring to a medium high heat and cook for about 5 minutes, or until just thickening a little.
  2. When the oil is heated, add the shallots and fry for a minute or two until they just start to brown. Remove them quickly with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels or a mesh screen at this point so to avoid them burning. Repeat this process with the garlic, but keep an even keener eye as it’ll burn much more quickly (you’ll likely only need to fry it for somewhere up to a minute). Again, remove with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels.
  3. Spread the cornflour (corn starch) on a plate and coat each side of each piece of tofu thoroughly. The cornflour will blend in with the bean curd so it’ll look at if there’s nothing on there, so don’t panic about the magical disappearing foodstuffs. It’s there, I promise. Place the coated tofu in the oil and fry for a minute or two, or until the tofu is crispy and starting to brown lightly.
  4. While the tofu is cooking, pour the sauce onto a serving plate. As soon as the tofu is finished frying, remove with your slotted spoon and allow to drain before placing it immediately in the sauce. Top with the fried shallots and garlic and serve!