Archive | She Veges RSS feed for this section

Fried Spring Rolls (Po Pia Tod ปอเปี๊ยะทอด)

By on June 30, 2011 in She Fries, She Thais, She Veges


Recipes for these fried spring rolls (Po Piah Tod[1] ปอเปี๊ยะทอด) vary so greatly that you’re not likely to find two family recipes that are identical. It’s fairly safe to say, though, that the ones most commonly found in the central part of Thailand usually contain glass noodles or mung bean threads (wun sen วุ้นเส้น), bean sprouts, and wood ear mushrooms. This recipe from my aunt’s kitchen is quite typical in that way. What I love the most about her fried spring rolls – something I don’t always find in other versions – is the aroma of the quintessential garlic-cilantro root-peppercorn paste.

Good spring rolls must taste good on their own, in my opinion. Poorly-made, bland fillings that exist just to live off of the charisma of crispy spring roll skins and flavorful dipping sauce are too underachieving to be worth the calories.

Yes, I’m looking at you, cheaply-made $6.99 lunch special spring rolls, stuffed to the gills with cabbage-heavy filling whose raison d’être, apparently, is to keep you tubular. Continue Reading →

Comments are closed

Thai Iced Tea with Lime (Cha Ma-Nao ชามะนาว)

By on June 27, 2011 in She Deglutenizes, She Thais, She Veges


Thai Iced Tea with Lime (Cha Ma-Nao ชามะนาว) is a staple at anything from the lowliest of khao-kaeng (rice-curry[1]) stalls to school cafeterias, to little posh cafés, to sit-down family restaurants. People like it, apparently.

While pairing wine or beer with Thai food can be tricky sometimes, and soda doesn’t always work (try drinking coca-cola with anything spicy that contains lemongrass and/or galangal — yuck), Cha Ma-Nao — ordinary as it may seem — hardly, if ever, fails. The combination of Thai tea and lime juice seems to go with just about any Thai dish.

Thai Iced Tea with Lime (Cha Ma-Nao ชามะนาว)
Makes a little over 1/2 gallon
Printable Version

4 cups room temperature water
4 cups very cold water
1/2 cup Thai tea[2]
1 1/2 cups sugar (more or less depending on your taste)
3/4 cup freshly-squeezed lime juice
Ice

  • Put 4 cups of room temperature water in a pot and bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat.
  • Add the tea and let it steep for 15-20 minutes.
  • After 15-20 minutes have passed, add the sugar to the tea and stir until it’s completely dissolved.
  • Add the cold water to the mixture to bring the hot tea to room temperature.
  • Strain the sweetened tea into a large pitcher.
  • Stir in the lime juice.
  • Serve over ice.

    • [1]Speaking pars pro toto, of course, since any given rice-curry stall always offers more than just rice and curries.

    [2] If you’re afraid of using a product that contains artificial food coloring, replace Thai tea with the same amount of black tea and 2-3 pieces of star anise. It won’t taste the same, of course, but — I promise you — it will still be delicious.

    Comments are closed

    Pad Thai Recipe (ผัดไทย) – Part Two: The Noodles

    By on June 4, 2011 in She Deglutenizes, She Stocks a Thai Pantry, She Veges

    pad thai recipe

    The noodles are soft enough when they can be twirled around your fingers without breaking

    Different people use different yardsticks to measure the quality of Pad Thai. For me, the noodles represent that which makes or breaks this dish. True, the noodles alone don’t make a good plate of Pad Thai, but they do form the bulk of it. And when the noodles are badly cooked, they invariably drag everything down with them. In light of this, a post focusing on nothing but this ingredient is, in my opinion, entirely justified.

    Many people place the highest importance on the seasonings. Pad Thai seasoned with ketchup? Blasphemy, they cry. Well, it’s not that I disagree with that. It’s just that, personally, if better choices aren’t available, I would choose ketchup-flavored Pad Thai with properly cooked noodles over perfectly-seasoned Pad Thai with mushy, gummy noodles any day. Continue Reading →

    Comments are closed
    Older posts Newer posts