I'm cooking some awesome fusion quinoa dish right now that i have gleaned off of my years of experience with thai food. Because my wife is thai, i have a bit more experience than others in this regard.
Keep in mind it does not have to be unbearably spicy, this is up to you. Although spicy peppers have great many health benefits you can use them at your own pace, experiment little by little. When it comes to thai food most people just think of pad thai or curries or papaya salad, that's just a tiny part of the world of thai food. I cannot express in words how good homemade thai food is by real experts (my wife's aunt and mom are two of them!). Anyways, the hardest part can be finding the ingredients, the first thing to do is look for any asian markets that might be in your area, the bigger (which usually means cheaper), the better- don't ignore those chinese markets they are a gold mine of sauces and whole foods for cheap (we like cheap on this blog right?), not organic unfortunately. Second, look for thai peppers in the produce section, if you find them great, they will last a long time because they are very spicy and you don't need much to add great flavor to a dish- we keep them in the freezer so they never go bad.
Third, is sauces, this is where it gets fun and where you get to experiment for yourself with the dishes to find what you like. Look for fish sauce (salt replacement with a flare!), soy bean sauce (light brownish/red in color), oyster sauce, siracha sauce(optional- but fun to try on different dishes), suki sauce (orangish sweet/sour and sometimes spicy), maggi or golden mountain seasoning sauce, and kwong heng seng sauce. Also, sesame oil is a great way to add a nice subtle smoky flavor to any dish i love it! No soy sauce- that's for japanese food please! pong shu rod (msg)....we won't go there promise!
So here are three favorite dishes of mine, very healthy and that also make great left overs except suki yaki eat that one while its hot, keep in mind i don't usually measure ingredients too much, i taste as i go. Taste the sauces for yourself and use more of what you like-
Gai (chicken) or Moo (pork) or Nuer (beef) Kra Prow with rice (my version) - all together- pan fry with pan oil you like (pan hot first!)-
-1 lb of ground or minced (my preference but larger pieces work too) meat, diced thai peppers (you decide-I like a lot), and lots whole of basil leaves, maybe some garlic and sliced bell pepper (but don't get crazy with it except basil maybe).
-sugar! yes sugar! if your not eating junk food a little sugar is not going kill you and makes a great difference to some wonderful thai dishes- don't worry it will not taste sweet- two heaping teaspoons or more especially if your not tasting the zest in the dish
-Sauces! at least 2 tblspns of soy bean sauce, 1ish or more spoons of oyster sauce, 1ish or more of khs sauce, 1ish of maggi or gm sauce, 1ish sesame oil, and lastly one tablespoon of fish sauce for needed saltiness but don't over do it or it will taste fishy.
-cook until the meat is fully cooked and getting crispy from the hot oil (keep mixing to even out the crispiness) but don't let the meat burn of course! and for some real awesomeness- fry an egg to put over the meat kra prow- with all of it over rice. excuse me i need to go eat now.
- taste as you go, if you need more zing add sugar, oyster sauce or khs sauce- if you need salt add maggi/gm sauce instead, spiceness- add more thai peppers don't be scared!
Thai Fried Rice! - best with day old rice that has hardened- pan fry with pan oil (you want the pan hot before dumping in ingredients)-
-old or new (if that's all you got) rice!, eggs (three if your serving 3-4 people and more for more folks), i'd say at least 2 heaping teaspoon's of sugar for 4 servings, salt, a few diced thai peppers or none up to you, tiny bit of sesame oil, julienned meat (chicken is best in my opinion), cherry tomatoes (a must), onions, garlic, and maybe- broccoli, carrots, etc. (up to you). Cook on that hot pan until the rice/egg starts browning nice at the bottom and mix it to even out the brown goodness and when the veggies/meat are fully cooked your done.
Suki Yaki (super easy dish)- mince garlic and maybe thai peppers if you want it really hot and put that in some suki sauce. With spring water (distilled water is purified toilet water- how many times has it been flushed before you drank it? i don't know) boil chicken and any cut up vegetables you want (most mushrooms are great, onion's, top half of celery with leaf and stalk (great in this dish!). Dip the vegetables/meat in your suki yaki sauce and eat! alternatively you can put the suki sauce in the hot water to make a nice soup, but you need a lot of sauce to make it tasty.
anyways, don't drive past that asian market anymore there is some great stuff in there to change up your home cooking. there is so many amazing foods out there why stick to one country's concepts? My experience with international foods has only improved my cooking, my families/friends lives and made life more fun. the more great foods i find the richer i feel and it has nothing to do with money!
if you travel internationally- rent a place for a month, live with the locals and learn from their home cooking styles it will enrich your life.
