‘Red Light’ Fried Morning Glory

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The vegetable sold as “morning glory” in stores like Silom is sometimes called “water spinach”—the leaves are slightly bitter, but taste absolutely perfect with a handful of burning red Thai chiles. The exact quantity of each ingredient in this dish is somewhat variable; I like to use approximately the proportions given here, but Sanamluang’s version is a little more salty and less spicy. I’m not sure where the name comes from, but perhaps the red chiles have something to do with it.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 to 1 pound morning glory (found in Asian markets)

  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil

  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed

  • 4 to 8 bright red Thai chiles, chopped finely

  • 1 teaspoon fermented whole soybean sauce

  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce

  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce

  • 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

Instructions

Rinse the morning glory and trim the thick stems. Leave water clinging to the leaves. Heat the oil in a wok over high flame until it begins to smoke. Add garlic and chiles and cook for just a second, then add the morning glory and Thai chiles. Add the fermented soybean sauce and keep the ingredients moving over the highest heat possible for two to three minutes more. Add the oyster sauce, fish sauce and sugar, and cook for another few seconds.

Serve with fresh white rice.

Fried Spicy Noodles

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I like the way the cooks at Ruen Pair prepare their Khii Mao or “drunkard’s noodles.” It is less elaborate than some, but I prefer its simplicity. This is a typical bar food dish in Thailand, intended to be washed down with buckets of Singha beer. Don’t be afraid to make it as spicy as you can stand—it will certainly be true to the original. Stir-frying noodles isn’t hard, but it does require a lot of oil. To minimize the amount of oil used, add a little at a time as you cook the noodles.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound chicken breast

  • 4 tablespoons oil

  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed

  • 1 pound fresh wide, flat rice noodles (Sen Yai)

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce

  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce

  • 2 to 8 Thai chiles, chopped coarsely

  • 1 small bunch Thai basil

  • White or black pepper to taste

Instructions

Slice the chicken breast into strips 1/4-inch wide. Heat the oil in a wok and add garlic. As soon as the garlic begins to cook, add the chicken and cook for a few minutes. Remove from heat and set aside, saving the oil. Stir fry the noodles in the oil with the soy sauce until cooked, then add the chicken breast. Mix together and add fish sauce, chiles, and basil leaves. Toss in a wok, remove from heat and add pepper. Serve with vast quantities of Thai beer.

Mangos with Sticky Rice

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Mangos and coconut milk are meant for each other, and sticky rice is the icing on the cake. Try to get yellow-skinned “Manila” mangos if you can—the flavor is stronger and more acidic than the green and red-skinned South American varieties.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sticky rice

  • 1 can coconut milk, separated into: 1 cup coconut milk and 1/4 cup coconut cream

  • 1/2 cup sugar

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 1-2 large ripe mangos, peeled and sliced

Instructions

Soak the sticky rice for several hours, then place in a bamboo steamer over a wok of boiling water until translucent and dry. A large stock pot with a bowl inside can be used as a substitute if the normal bamboo steamer is not available. Sticky rice is very hard and requires a lot of water to cook, so don’t let the steamer run dry.

Heat the coconut milk, sugar and salt in a saucepan over low heat until sugar just dissolves. Pour about half of the mixture over the cooked sticky rice and mix well. Add coconut cream to the remaining mixture and heat to a boil, then cook 5 to 10 minutes until thickened. Allow to cool. Place the rice in a serving bowl, top with sliced mango and drizzle with the coconut cream mixture. Serve at room temperature.

‘General’s’ Noodles

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According to the waiters at Sanamluang, this noodle dish is named for the restaurant’s former parking attendant whose authoritarian ways were legendary. Any kind of mixed meat can be used, although to stay true to form requires leftover roast duck, beef meatballs and squid.

Ingredients

  • 1 package dried rice noodles

  • 6 cups beef broth

  • 1 cup leftover roast duck, sliced

  • 4 preserved duck eggs, hard-boiled and sliced

  • 1 cup squid, cooked and chopped coarsely

  • 8 to12 beef meatballs (found in the frozen section of most Thai stores)

Instructions

Soak the rice noodles in warm water for 15 minutes. Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot. Divide the noodles into four individual portions and dunk each into the boiling broth for a few seconds with a wire strainer basket before placing in four bowls. Divide and dunk the duck, sliced eggs, squid and meatballs in the broth and place on top of the noodles.

Pour 1/4 of the broth into each bowl and serve hot.

Kung Po Chicken

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This classic Sichuan stir-fry dish can be made with shrimp, pork, beef, or even tofu as well as chicken.  It’s a simple dish with just a few ingredients combined with crunchy peanuts for texture. The complex flavors come from the marinating and seasoning sauces.

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in bite-sized pieces

  • 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, peanut preferred

  • 4 to 6 whole dried red chiles, such as piquin or cayenne

  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic

  • 2 teaspoons grated ginger

  • 1/2 green bell pepper, cubed

  • 1 small onion, cubed

  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil

  • ½ cup roasted peanuts

  • Garnish: 1 green onion, chopped including some of the green

For the Marinating Sauce:

  • 1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry

  • 1 tablespoon light soy sauce

  • 1 teaspoon sugar

For the Seasoning Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup chicken broth

  • 2 tablespoons Asian chile sauce

  • 2 tablespoons hoison sauce

  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Asian hot bean sauce

  • 2 teaspoons light soy sauce

  • 2 teaspoons rice vinegar

  • 2 teaspoons ground Sichuan pepper*

  • 2 teaspoons sugar

  • 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

 

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients for the marinating sauce along with 1 tablespoon of water in a large bowl and stir to mix. Toss the chicken in the sauce to coat and marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

In another bowl, combine all the ingredients for the seasoning sauce, stir to mix and set aside.

Heat a wok or heavy skillet over medium-high heat until hot and add the oil. Add the chiles and stir-fry for a couple of minutes or until they start to blacken. Push them to the side of the wok, add the garlic and ginger, and stir-fry until fragrant.

Drain the chicken and add to the wok. Stir-fry the chicken for a couple of minutes until the chicken changes color. Remove, drain and keep warm. Add the onion and bell pepper and stir-fry until they just soften.

Add the seasoning sauce to the wok and cook until the sauce thickens. Return the chicken and toss to coat. Heat until the sauce forms a glaze over the chicken. Add the sesame oil, peanuts and toss until coated.

To serve, mound the chicken on a serving platter and garnish with the chopped green onions. Serve with plain white rice.