TBK cooks - Two Thai meals cooked by my three Thai boys

One of our next Thai guest chef's, Oak, is no stranger to TBK cooks having been featured cooking his Thai money bags in an earlier Blog

( A sad story from Thailand with a happy ending)

So as we go into our third consecutive lockdown in Bahrain and the massage parlours remain closed ( now 16 months that these boys have been without a job or any income) I decided it was time to give them some work , food and money. So I invited Phum, Oak and Bom to come and to show me how to cook their favourite Thai meals and I recorded it all to share with you through our new series:

I asked Oak and Bom to cook probably one of the most ordered dishes from a Thai restaurant menu- Thai Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk. As my Thai cookery books are in Palawan I downloaded the recipe from the Internet and purchased the ingredients for them to use.

The ingredients

What's that , Mr. Gregory- "Tell them a story"

Oh, if you insist. Sometimes, and it is very rare now after 11 years in Bahrain , I get a real craving for an English dish. The other week it was a Traditional British Roast chicken dinner- the type my dearly departed mother would have slaved over a hot Aga cooker to serve to her boys on a Sunday ( the family day in the UK) lunch. I bought stuffing, gravy, potatoes for roasting and carrots and told our Friday gang that I was going to make Roast Chicken that week. Then on the day I was going to make it I remembered one key fact. I do not have an Oven any more to Roast a Chicken! So I decided to use the ingredients for the Thai Chicken curry! Do not get old- my body is fine ( ish) but my memory is hopeless!

Bom diced the chicken while Oak prepared the red peppers

So ,back to the recipe!

"Thai Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk is an Asian-inspired recipe that's so easy and so tasty, you'd think you were eating at a fancy restaurant. If you've ever wanted to try making Thai food before but were too scared, this is the recipe that will change your mind forever! "

Well so the website proclaims!

Here are the all important details:

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian, Thai

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 909kcal

Author : Tiffany

Cut the Chilis finely ( I buy in bulk and then freeze) and then place in a bag and crush

Ingredients

690 grams (1 ½ pounds) boneless skinless chicken breasts or boneless skinless thighs, thinly sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
3 red bell peppers chopped
1 white or yellow onion chopped
2 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
2 tablespoons red curry paste
½-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes more to taste
737 grams ( 2 x 400g tins ) 26 ounces unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon salt more to taste
¼ cup cold water + 2 tablespoons corn starch

Oak deseeded and diced the red peppers

Instructions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, combine chicken, peppers, and onions. Drizzle with oil, give it a good stir to coat, and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally until the chicken is just cooked through.

2. Sprinkle yellow curry powder over everything and stir 1 minute.

3. Add coconut milk, red curry paste, crushed red pepper flakes and salt. Bring to a low boil.

4. Whisk corn starch into water until dissolved. Add to the pan and stir 1-2 minutes until it has thickened.

5. Taste, add more salt if needed. Serve immediately over steamed white rice or rice noodles. Garnish with fresh cilantro if desired.

The curry took ages to cook on my single electric ring and we had two pots- one spicy version for the Thai boys and one non spicy for The British Kabayan, so we cheated and ordered the Rice from a local Thai Restaurant!

Notes

To add a spicy kick of this recipe, stir add 1/2-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or sriracha sauce to taste. I stir it into the pan in step 3 along with the coconut milk and curry paste.

I like to garnish this dish with lots and lots of fresh cilantro, and some extra lime wedges for squeezing.

To lighten this dish up a bit, feel free to use light coconut milk or even a combination of light and regular. Any time you reduce the fat content of milk the result will be slightly less creamy and rich, but in this case I can confidently tell you the flavor is still amazing. When I use all light coconut milk, I usually add a tablespoon or so of soy sauce to the dish to really bring out the flavors of the curry.

For a complete meal serve this over steamed white rice or rice noodles and a side of buttered naan (Indian flat bread). This is blending cuisines a bit but trust me, it works.

To really take it to the next level, add a side of mango chutney - you can find this magical stuff in a jar in the Asian culinary section of most grocery stores. I like to dip my naan in it and even add a dollop of the chutney right on to of my curry dish. If you're wondering if you'll like mango chutney, you WILL. It's like a thick mango sauce or jelly with a very mild heat element (it will not burn your tongue, trust me).

Nutrition

Source: https://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/thai-chicken-curry-with-coconut-milk/#wprm-recipe-container-29531 ( accessed 21.6.21)

My Thai chefs, Bom and Oak

Special thanks to Oak and Bom who showed me how to cook this dish. We also took photos for the Blog and recorded it for Chester to turn it into a Vlog.

The making of the Thai Chicken curry Vlog.

Also thanks to the unsung hero, Miss Andrea, who has been printing everything I need ( like this recipe) as my Printer left Bahrain for the Philippines in December 2020!

Time to taste the curry- but which is the spicy one?!

Chester sent us a strict format to follow for the Vlog and we followed it with the Ingredients first then the cooking and finally the tasting.

As we had two pots of Curry , one spicy and one not , we decided I would taste the non- spicy version and Bom and Oak the spicy one. We gathered our separate spoons ( to avoid potential COV19 contamination) and let the camera role. I raised the non- spicy curry to my lips and tasted. "Wow, that's hot!" I gasped. Then Oak realised he had swapped the pans over to cook the spicy version a little longer! So I had tasted the spicy one! I am sure Chester will edit out that bit and replace it with Take two - where we had them in the right order.

If you read the previous blog about Oak you will know that he was in the Tiffany show in Pattaya before he came to Bahrain to be a Masseur. Sadly the show has now closed as Pattaya has turned into a ghost town due to COV 19.

Pattaya- The sound of Silence

So you can imagine how happy he was when I told him I was going to film him- he put his make up on, did his hair and kept posing for the camera. Chester is editing the video and we will post it on the British Kabayan Blog in the coming weeks , as part of our new vlog series- The British Kabayan cooks. I hope you enjoy Oak's new career as a Vlog Thai Chef!

So do not forget to subscribe to The British Kabayan Blog ( I have added the link below) and click the bell icon so you get notified when Chester has worked his magic on the video!

The British Kabayan Vlog

Until next week-

Ingat Palagi

Kita Kits

Stay safe or, as they say in Thailand ....