24 March 2010

Thai night tonight

Our neighbour Gary and I like to cook collectively - and tonight is the Thai collection. He found Thai basil at one of the local shops - quite different to the normal basil, in that the leaves have an aniseed flavour - but it's restricted to the leaves alone. Therefore the flavour doesn't spread through the dish, but gives you nice little flurries of aniseed when you strike a leaf. Gary is making up a green curry spice paste, and making a seafood medley-type dish. I've made marinated chicken pieces which will be threaded onto skewers later and served with peanut satay sauce and a cucumber and chilli onion 'a jad' - pickled in white vinegar.

I found another unusual vegetable today and I'm told it's Thai - a kind of bean - so that will become a side dish with kaffir lime juice and chilli. All the prep is done for vegetable rolls in rice paper, they will have a dipping sauce, and I've also made coconut icecream with a surprising ingredient - recipes and pictures tomorrow.

My dad always used to joke about Thai Thursdays at the Novotel in Rotorua - he called it Thigh Thursday.

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