KKF Gets Schooled: Thai

Thai Spring Rolls with Sweet n’ Sour Dipping Sauce

Chicken Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce

Banana Leaf Wrapped Snapper (with Red Curry Sauce)

We also got to sample Thai Cucumber Salad and Thai Roasted Coconut Cashew Nuts. (Both delish!)

The roasted cashew dish is a cinch. Pretty much all you do is heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok (I would use coconut oil), stir in a few tablespoons of honey, toss in a few cups of cashews and a few cups of unsweetened shredded coconut (the kind that looks like shavings) and toast them. At the end, toss in a few seeded, finely chopped fresh red chilies and salt and pepper to taste. Wok it a few more minutes until everything is as you please. Nice party dish!

The spring rolls were UH-maze-ing. Sure, it takes some time to do all the chopping, etc., but once you get everything rolled up…guess what? You don’t have to deep fry. I’m serious. We pan fried these spring rolls, just rolling them around in a pan with some oil (again, I’d use coconut oil, but we use canola oil in class which I try to avoid) and they turned out fantastic. Next time you’re on a roll try a pan fry (and make sure you’re using spring roll wrappers, not egg roll wrappers).

The chicken satay was good but I’ve gotten so accustomed to the deep flavor of the dark meat on a pasture raised chicken that they seemed really dry to me. I would definitely try them at home along with their dipping sauce but I’d use thighs from a free range bird.

The snapper dish was really interesting. We made the curry sauce first (which tasted almost exactly like the red curry I get from my favorite Thai place – wow!) and let it cool while we prepared the fish. We cut banana leaves into strips, then crossed them, added the fish and some sauce and wrapped them up. Using kitchen twine, we tied them up and into the oven they went for a steam. The fish turned out really delicate and moist.

Snapper unwrapped!

I have to say this was probably my favorite class. The dishes and techniques were excellent, and the instructor was very enthusiastic. So exciting to see someone else get worked up over quality ingredients! Thanks for a great class Chef Sandra!