With love from Thailand

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While we might rave about the street food of our cities, the kathi roll of Kolkata, the larhi (hand-pulled carts that vend delectable fish, brain curries etc.) of Surat or the pao bhaji of Mumbai will never come close to the street food of Thailand in terms of originality, finesse, freshness of ingredients and of course, taste.
This week we look at a couple of foods popular in the streets of Bangkok and Pattaya.

PAD KEE MAO (DRUNKEN NOODLES)
In Thai, Pad means to ‘stir fry’ while Kee Mao means someone who drinks too much, among other things. One can basically make anything a ‘Kee Mao’ by adding a lot of chillies, peppercorns and holy basil. Surprisingly it doesn’t have anything to do with drinks other than it is often considered a good food to cure hangovers.

Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/4 cup wide rice noodles or spaghetti
1/2 cup baby corn
1/2 cup tofu or 1/2 cup cooked meat pieces
2 tbsp fresh green peppercorns
2 tbsp garlic, chopped
1 tbsp small Thai chillies, finely chopped or smashed
1 large green or orange chilli, chopped into rings
1/2 cup holy basil leaves
1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp sugar
4 tbsp water
1/4 tsp vinegar

Method
Slice the baby corns into 1/2 lengthwise.
Crush the garlic and chilies together and set aside.
If using tofu, fry it in hot oil until browned and set aside.
Add the oil to a pan and heat on high till very hot, add the garlic, chilies and green peppercorns and keep stirring. As soon as the garlic starts turning brown, add the veggies and meat (if using). Continue cooking on high heat for a couple of minutes while stirring all the time. Add a bit of water if needed.
Add the noodles and the tofu (if using).
After frying for a couple of more minutes, add the soy sauces, fish sauce, sugar and oyster sauce. Stir well to mix.
Add the basil and vinegar. Stir to mix. Serve as soon as the basil is wilted.

FRIED CHICKEN WITH LEMONGRASS (GAI TOD DTA-KRAI)
This is a great party snacks and a lot of street pubs in Bangkok serve this with beer and pitchers of margarita. Make sure to boil the chicken first to keep the juices inside.

Ingredients
2 cups boiled chicken legs and wings
Vegetable oil for deep frying
3 lemongrass stalks
1/2 tsp salt

Method
Drain the chicken after its boiled and set aside to cool.
Once at room temperature, cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.
Cut the lemongrass stalks into one-inch segments and smash them in a mortar and pestle. Fry the lemongrass first in the oil on medium-high heat. Remove when crispy. Now add the chicken pieces carefully as the oil might splatter a lot.Once the chicken is fried, remove and drain on kitchen towel. Place the chicken and the lemongrass in a container along with the salt and shake well to mix. Serve at once.