thai

What better way to break in a brand-new pot than to cook one of your favourite dishes in it? I've made this fusion of Italian risotto and Thai green curry before click here for the recipe), and it has been a while since I made either risotto or this variation.

The results weren't as creamy as the last time I made it (The culprit was a fairly unremarkable can of coconut milk instead of the one I usually use), but it was still delicious, and the new pot is the perfect vessel for making risotto; heavy bottomed, even heat distribution, and plenty of surface area for the rice to toast, and to coax out its starches as the liquid evaporates.

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Lunch today was some Pad Kapraw Thai Rice Noodles. The noodles came with a flavour packet which I used. Pad Kapraw is apparently a basil-flavoured sauce, but the overriding flavour when the powder hit the pan was of liquorice. Luckily the finished dish had a very mild flavour, sweet and hot; not having had much Thai food I'm not sure how sweet Thai basil really is, so I'm assuming the liquorice-like flavour is a bit like it.

The rest of the dish contains a stir-fry of vegetables: bean sprouts, mushrooms, several coloured peppers and carrot, all sliced thin so they'd cook quickly. The rice noodles have to be handled carefully, cooked al dente (about 4 minutes) and rinsed thoroughly in cold water. They seem insubstantial compared to wheat noodles, but don't be fooled: as time goes by they soak up water and become plumper. Like rice itself, a little goes a long way.

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