Heo Quay

Crunchy Rice Noodle with Chicken (Mee Krob Guy)

Mee krob is crunchy rice noodles used to make a variety of dishes. I'll be making some Mee Krob recipes to show how it's used. By itself Mee Krob has no flavour, it is similar to rice crispies, or rice crackers and needs flavourings and ingredients to bulk it out. This recipe is a common variant, with chicken for bulk and baby shrimp for flavour.

Ingredients
50 gms Rice Noodle (Rice Vermicelli)
Oil For Deep Frying
1 tbsp. Chopped Garlic
1 tbsp. Chopped Red Small Onions
2 tbsp. Chopped Dried Small Shrimp
1 tbsp. Chopped Coriander Leaves
2 tbsp. Oil
2 tbsp. Fish Sauce
2 tsbp. Sugar
40 gms Chopped Sweet Sausage
40 gms Chopped Dried Tofu
40 gms Chopped Chicken Meat, Pork, Shrimp... Your choice.
40 gms Chopped Pickled Garlic

Preparation
1. Heat the oil to 180 degrees celsius.
2. Drop a small amount of the noodles into the oil, they only need a quick fry and will puff up almost instantly. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.
3. Shallow fry all the other ingredients until the sugar has dissolved, take of the heat and mix with the crispy noodles.

Stir Fried Chicken Cashew Nuts (Guy Pad Med Mamuang Hinmapan)

A very popular dish, this is a quick easy to make stir fry of chicken and vegetables seasoned with cashew nuts. This is ideal as a side dish for Thai Fragrant Rice. The name break down as 'Guy' = chicken, 'pad' = fried, 'Med' = seed and 'Med Mamuang Hinmapan' means cashew nut. In Thai its just as long a name! ไก่ ผัด เม็ดมะม่วง หิมมะพานต์

Ingredient for 2 People
100 gms Chicken Breast
30 gms Cashew Nuts
1/2 Medium Onion
1 Spring Onion
1/2 a Red Pepper
50 gms Bamboo Shoot
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon White Pepper
3 Garlic Clove
2 Tablespoons Oil

Preparation
1. Chop the garlic into small pieces and put in a frying pan and fry it for a few seconds to release the garlic fragrance.
2. Chop the chicken breast into strips and add to the frying pan - stir until chicken is cooked.
3. Chop the onion, spring onion, red pepper and bamboo, into strips add in the pan.
4. Add all the remaining ingredients.
5. Cook for 2 minutes.

Fried Chicken with Chilli & Basil ( Pad Kaprow khai )

This is a simple fried dish that's quick to make and easy to prepare. Typically served with fragrant rice, prepare all the ingredients carefully first including the rice, cook it quickly then serve and eat immediately. It originates from central Thailand and is medium hot.

Ingredient , For 2 People
300 gms Chicken
3 Tablespoons Oil
4 Cloves Garlic
5 Red Thai Chillies
1 Small Onion
2 Spring Onions
A Pinch of White Pepper
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
10 Basil leaves

Serve With
Fragrant Rice
Sliced tomatoes & sliced cucumber

Preparation
1. Clean and slice chicken into small bite sized pieces.
2. Peel and chop garlic and chillies finely, an electric blender is best but hand chopping is sufficient.
3. Chop the onion into slices.
4. Chop the spring onion into short 2-3cm strips.
5. Put oil in the frying pan and put it on a high heat. The pan should be hot before adding the ingredients.
6. Fry garlic and chilli for a few seconds to bring out the smell of the garlic.
7. Add the chicken pieces, together with all the remaining ingredients except the basil.
8. Stir until the chicken is cooked, then take it off the heat.
9. Add the basil.

Chicken Ya Dong ( Gai Pud Laos Dong Ya )

Crunchy Pork & Sunny Pumpkin Stir Fry ( Mu Cromp Pad Fuk Thong )

Another way to use up left over pumpkin, this stir fry is made from fried crunchy pork with pumpkin. The pork adds crunch to contrast the pumpkin, while the pumpkin brings some sunshine into the dish.

Ingredients for 4 People
200 gms Pumpkin
100 gms Pork With Fat & Skin
2 Garlic Cloves
1 Egg
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
2 Tablespoons Oil
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Chopped Coriander Leaves
1/4 Teaspoon White Pepper

Preparation
1. Use a pork strips with plenty of fat and skin, clean it, boil it in water for 5 minutes, then deep fry it until it's very crunchy. Then chop it into small pieces.
2. Chop the pumpkin into a bite sized pieces.
3. Chop the garlic, fry in oil for a few seconds just to release the garlic smell. Add the egg and stir fry until the egg is half cooked.
4. Add the pumpkin, crunchy pork, fish sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, and white pepper, and fry it until the pumpkin is cooked.
5. Remove from the heat and add the coriander leaves.

Cabbage Bacon Stir fry ( Mu Sam Chun Pad Puk )

A very simple stir fry served as a side dish to rice. Don't be put off by cabbage, it's terrific to eat as a stir fry, just as long as you don't overcook it.

Ingredients
150 gms Pork With Fat and Skin
Water For Boiling
1 Teaspoon Salt
50 gms Chinese Cabbage
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sugar
1/3 teaspoon White Pepper
2 Tablespoons Oil
Coriander Leaves for Garnish

Preparation
1. Boil the water, add the salt.
2. Put the pork into the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Cut into bite sized pieces and dry with kitchen paper.
4. Heat the oil in a frying pan, crush the garlic and fry it for a few seconds to release the smell.
5. Add the pork to the frying pan, and cook until brown.
6. Chop the Chinese cabbage, add to the frying pan and stir. You should only give is a quick 30 seconds of heat. Be careful never to overcook a stir-fry dish.

Mince Ton Ho Chai ( Lab Mu Pad Puk Jean )

Pork mince stir fried (Lab mu) with Ton Ho Chai, the chinese slightly bitter leaf vegetable. If you can't get hold of Ton Ho Chai, use Pak Choi, or Chinese cabbage.

Ingredients
100 gms Ton Ho Chai
100 gms Pork Mince
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon Flaked Chillies
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Toasted Rice Pounded
1 Tablespoon Oil
1 Teaspoon Sugar

Preparation
1. This recipe couldn't be simpler, clean and chop the leaves.
2. Heat oil in a pan, fry the pork mince until it's part cooked.
3. Add lemon juice, flaked chillies, fish sauce, toasted rice and sugar and continue frying until the pork is cooked through.
4. Add the leaves and fry for 30 seconds just to warm them through.

Stir Fried Pak Choi Pork ( Mu Put Puk Gaung Tuong )

Back to one of the staples of Thai cuisine - stir fries! This one uses Pak Choi, the Chinese broad stem cabbage together with pork and seasonings. You'll see many similar green vegetable stir fries on this site, they are a good way to eat green leaf vegetables cooked in a way that keeps the vitamins in.

Ingredients for 2 People
150 gms Pak Choi
20 gms Baby Corn
200 gms Pork
3 Garlic Cloves
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Light Soy Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Tablespoon Oil
1 Tablespoon Water

Preparation
1. Chop the garlic, slice the pork thinly, and clean and chop the vegetables into bite sized pieces.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the chopped garlic and fry for a few seconds until the garlic begins to smell.
3. Add the sliced pork and fry for a few seconds, followed by the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and water.
4. Finally add the remaining vegetables and stir fry for 30 seconds.

Pork Skin Stirfry ( Nung Mu Pad Nam Dang )

The main part of this is the pork crackling, the crispy snack made from the skin of pork you can buy in packets. First make the red sauce, the stirfry should be made and served immediately.

Ingredients for Red Sauce
1 Tablespoon Red Bean Curd
1 Teaspoon Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
1 Garlic Cloves
3 Chillies

Preparation
1. Mix all ingredients in a blender and blend together to form a smooth sauce.

Ingredients
1 Pack Of Pork Crackling
50 gms Chinese Cabbage
30 gms Celery
30 gms Spring Onions
10 gms Coriander Leaves
30 gms Onion
3 Garlic Cloves
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Tablespoon Oil

Preparation
1. Soak the pork skin in water for 1 hour until soft, then drain.
2. Chop the garlic finely, add to a pan of oil and fry for 10 seconds.
3. Chop all the vegetables and put in the pan with the pork crackling, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and white pepper. Stir fry for 1 minute.

Pork Nut Stir Fry ( Mu Pad Mad Mamorng Hinmapan )

A healthy meal after the Christmas excesses. This is a stirfry of pork, cashew nuts for flavour and crunch, and lots of vegetables. Eat with noodles or rice.

Ingredients
70 gms Pork
20 gms Cashew Nuts
30 gms Red Pepper
30 gms Onion
30 gms Baby Corn
30 gms Spring Onions
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Garlic Cloves
1/4 Teaspoons White Pepper
2 Tablespoons Oil

Preparation
1. Clean and chop the pork to 4x4 cm.
2. Chop all vegetables into square pieces.
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.
4. When the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic and pork and fry for 2 minutes.
5. Add all the remaining ingredients and fry for 1 minute more.

Shrimp Green Pepper Stir Fry ( Gung Pad Prik Youk )

This is an excellent side dish that adds lots of vegetables to a meat & rice or noodle main dish. The shrimp provides the flavour. You can use red or yellow peppers (capsicums) in place of the green, but green is the pepper most used in Thailand.

Ingredients for 2 People
100 gms Shrimp.
100 gms Green pepper.
50 gms Onion
50 gms Carrots
1 Garlic Clove
3 Tablespoons Oil
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
5 gms White Pepper

Serve With
Hot Fragrant Rice

Preparation
1. Clean the shrimp, cut them down the back and remove the intestine.
2. Chop the green pepper, onions, carrot and garlic.
3. Put the oil in the pan and heat it.
4. When the oil is hot add the garlic and cook for a few seconds.
5. Add the shrimp and fry it for 1 minute.
6. Add the green pepper, onion and carrot.
7. Add fish sauce, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, white pepper fry it for 2 minutes.
8. For a stir fry the vegetables need to be cooked for a short time on a high heat.

Mussel & Beansprout Stir-fry ( Hoy Tod Pad )

This stir-fry uses mussels and vegetables and has a slightly glutinous texture caused by cassava starch. It's standard Thai faire available in many restaurants and food stalls. The beansprouts are normally served as a side vegetable, but for this photograph we them on top.

Ingredients for 2 People
70 gms Mussel Meat (Approx 140gms Mussels in Shells)
3 Tablespoons Cassava Starch
1 Tablespoon Rice Flour
40 ml Water
2 Eggs
50 gms Soya Beansprouts
3 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
2 Tablespoons Chopped Spring Onions
2 Tablespoons Chopped Coriander Leaves
1/4 Teaspoons White Pepper
3 Tablespoons Oil
1 Tablespoon Chopped Garlic

Preparation
1. Soak the mussels in clean water for 30 minutes, to give them chance to flush through the dirt. Then de-shell and wash them, then dry them on kitchen paper. You can also use tinned mussels if you wish.
2. Mix the flour & starch together and add the water.
3. Put the oil into a frying pan, add the chopped garlic and fry over a high heat until the garlic begins to smell.
4. Add the mussels, flour, fish sauce, oyster sauce, into the pan and fry it for 20 seconds.
5. Move the mussels over to the edge of the pan, put the eggs into the pan and fry the eggs (breaking them up) for a few minutes until cooked, once thats done, turn off the heat.
6. Add the chopped spring onion, chopped coriander leaves, beansprouts and white pepper and mix them all together. Serve warm.

Salted Sardine Stir Fry ( Kana Pad Pa Tu Kam )

The sardines in this dish add an intense saltiness while the broccoli adds crunch. The lemon is not just for decoration, before eating you should squeeze the juice over the dish to add a citrus element.

Ingredients
20 gms Salted Sardines
50 gms Broccoli Leaves or Chinese Cabbage Leaves
3 Garlic Cloves
3 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
1/2 Teaspoons Sugar
2 Tablespoons Oil

Preparation
1. Remove the flesh of the sardines.
2. Clean and chop the broccoli leaves into 3 cm lengths.
3. Peel and chop the garlic and fry with oil in the frying pan for just a few seconds.
4. Add the sardine flesh, oyster sauce, sugar, and broccoli into the pan and fry for 30 seconds.