Apricots in Iced Syrup (แอปริคอตลอยแก้ว): Making Thai Food in Lyon Part Three

By on July 11, 2013 in She Deglutenizes, She Explores, She Thais, She Veges

Apricots in Iced Syrup
I’m still making Thai food in Lyon just for fun (I’m eating French food every day too, so don’t worry about me). After a simple mixed vegetable stir-fry and a duck curry, I’m turning France’s delicious fruits into a loy kaew (ลอยแก้ว RTGS: loi kaeo), a Thai iced dessert that I make all the time even in sub-zero weather.

What is great about loy kaew is the freedom it gives you in terms of your fruit of choice. In general, most fruits that are non-starchy, hold their shape well and don’t turn the syrup cloudy are good loy knew candidates. If they’re also sour or sweet and sour, that’s even better. The process is also easy: it’s just a matter of preparing the fruit (i.e. peel and pit/deseed it, if applicable, then cut it into bite-sized pieces) and cooking it very gently in a syrup infused with whatever strikes your fancy — most commonly jasmine or ylang-ylang flowers. Continue Reading →

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Duck Breast in Red Curry Sauce: Making Thai Food in Lyon Part Two

By on July 10, 2013 in She Explores, She Simmers, She Thais

Croix-Rousse Market - Making Thai Food in Lyon by SheSimmers.com

If you’re curious about that one half-hearted vertical slash, please read on.

Here’s another day of cooking Thai food with everyday fresh market items in Lyon, France. I’m still cooking in a small poorly-equipped kitchen with not many tools to work with. I still have to cut things with a serrated butter knife. Yet, I’m still having lots of fun. Lyon is such a great city. I could have been stuck with a much smaller kitchen and a disposable plastic knife, and I still would be having a blast. (You can read the background story here.)

Enticed by all the beautiful, voluptuous côtes de canard at Croix-Rousse market in Lyon, I just had to bring home one. This gorgeous duck breast weighs in at 700 grams which is slightly over 1 1/2 pounds. I didn’t have any idea what to do with it when I was at the market. I had with me some red curry paste and boxed coconut milk which I had schlepped all the way from Geneva, Switzerland, when I was there last week. (By the way, did you know they have tom yam/tom kha herb kits at mainstream supermarkets in Geneva? Mind blown.) So I thought I would make duck breast in red curry sauce — chuchi-style, somewhat like this halibut in red curry sauce. Continue Reading →

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Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables with Lardons: Making Thai Food in Lyon Part One

By on July 9, 2013 in She Deglutenizes, She Explores, She Fries, She Thais, Uncategorized

Croix-Rousse Market - Making Thai Food in Lyon
Bonjour de Lyon! I’m traveling through Europe at the moment, so I hope you don’t mind that I’ve put our grilled chicken series on hold for a short while. What I’m having fun with at the moment is to pretend I am a Thai food enthusiast living in different places in Western Europe trying to make good Thai food with everyday fresh market offerings.

You know what I’ve realized so far? There are A LOT of good Thai dishes one can make with what’s available at most supermarkets and outdoor fresh markets here. Some ingredients, of course, are not traditional. But that’s only because currently they have not yet become regular, everyday produce among the Thais in Thailand. But with the country’s ability to grow more and more cold-weather crops, it’s just a matter of time before you see ‘foreign’ fruits and vegetables popping up in Thai dishes — you know, the fruits and vegetables you don’t necessarily associate with Thai cooking.

By the way, I don’t believe for a second that Thai food is defined and confined by only the natural ingredients native to the area presently known as Thailand (see my post on “authentic” Thai cuisine from few months ago).

But hold that thought. For now, let me take you to the famous Croix-Rousse market in Lyon, France. Continue Reading →

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