This is a Filipino dish which is not spicy, but the garlic will come through.  Best served with steamed white rice, this item has its origin in Spain, where it was a chicken stew.  Requiring a marinade, remember to leave for enough time for the flavor to permeate the meat.  I recommend putting the meat in a Ziploc plastic bag with the marinade for two hours in the refrigerator, turning once.

Ingredients                         serves 4-6 Chicken                               1 kg White vinegar                          150 ml Garlic crushed                        10 cloves Black peppercorns crushed      1 tspn Bay leaves                              2 Salt                                       1 tspn Stock (beef or chicken)            ½ cup Thick coconut milk                   ½ cup Vegetable oil                             3 tbspns

Cooking Method

Cut chicken into 5 cm cubes.  Prepare the marinade of garlic, pepper, salt and vinegar and bay leaves and pour over chicken (see introduction).

In a large saucepan pour meat cubes and marinade and simmer over a moderate heat till all the liquid evaporates.

Now add the stock, simmering on low heat and till all the liquid has evaporated and the chicken is slightly tender.

Pour in the coconut milk and cook over a moderate heat until the coconut milk is completely absorbed by the meat.  At this stage add oil and fry until meat is deep brown with a slightly crisp surface.

Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Fabulous seafood buffet at Kantary’s Nimman Bar and Grill

By Heather Allen

The Kantary Hills Hotel on Nimmanhaeminda Road is holding a seafood buffet until Sunday, September 18^th at the Nimman Bar and Grill and I must say, that this buffet will satisfy most seafood lovers. OK, certainly there’s no Alaskan King Crab or Lobster, but there are prawns, crab, squid, fish, and oysters enough to satisfy most seafood lovers.

This buffet has seafood salads, fresh cold prawns, crab, crayfish, and raw oysters along with fresh grilled seafood. There are seafood salads with salmon, crab and fresh vegetables. Delicious seafood main dishes with fish or crab. And desserts. Many delicious desserts, including a personal favorite; lemon meringue pie.

Guest Chef Philippe Belly is on hand to create delicious fish and seafood specialties from the ala carte menu such as mussel casserole with curry. But he also has cast his eye over the seafood buffet, titled Les Fruits De Mer, to great success.

The seafood is fresh and tasty, the main dishes well seasoned and the desserts, well, most likely extremely fattening!

I confess to being wary of seafood this far North and tend to stick to local ingredients but this seafood buffet tempted me and I couldn’t say no. The oysters were fresh and tasty and offered the way I liked, it with the Thai condiments including crispy fried shallots, fresh garlic and spicy sauce.

There were Western main dishes mainly, but the many Thai people in the restaurant were cracking into the crabs, splitting open the crayfish, and enjoying freshly grilled squid, prawns and crab.

So, if you are craving fresh seafood at a more than reasonable price, head over to Nimmanahaeminda Road and hit up the seafood buffet at the Kantary Hills Hotel. For only 590 baht plus tax and service, you can hardly go wrong. Children under 12 eat for half price.

The buffet runs through Sunday only, and could have been more widely publicized for my friends’ tastes. They plan on having a mushroom specialty in November, so be sure to keep your eyes open for that. (Photos by Martin Vanderklooster).

 

A nice outdoorsy buffet on Nimmanhaemin

By Shana Kongmun

Why Not restaurant on Nimmanhaemin is doing a very decent quality buffet dinner for 209 Baht every night except for the last Saturday of every month when they do a much higher quality buffet with a much higher price. If this lower priced buffet is anything to go by, it is worth the extra money as the quality for the lower priced buffet is still quite good.

The pasta is, as to be expected from Sergio owner of Buonissimo. It’s a simple affair, this buffet so don’t expect anything fancy but then at these prices, why should you? The pastas are generally quite good and there is grilling station that cooks your food while you wait. There are also fresh pizzas straight out of the oven if pasta or grilled meats don’t appeal.

The salad buffet is smallish, on a negative side, and not all of the pastas sit out in pans as well as others. But in general, they are very good value for money.

There is a limit of 90 minutes for this all you can eat buffet, or there is an extra charge. But, if you aren’t completely stuffed by 90 minutes then you must be doing something wrong. They do ask you to clean your plates and not waste food, which makes sense. Why pile your plate with food when you can just go back for more if you like it? I’ve never understood that mentality. Perhaps some feel it’s a nuisance to get up and walk. But as the venue is rather small and the walk not so far, it shouldn’t be too much of a hardship for most.

The desserts are small but generally fantastic. I have a particularly sweet tooth and really enjoyed the panacotta and the éclairs. Although they are not called éclairs in Italian but something else whose name escapes me. Bigne perhaps? Anyway, never mind the name, they were delicious as was the cheesecake.

The restaurant has a pleasant outdoors setting with large tents set up over tables, many of them netted. In the cool season, there is also a nice patio but with the rains perhaps a bit risky at this time. There is also seating inside for those who prefer that.

I tend not to visit all you can eat buffets as I feel it must be some sort of challenge to eat as much as I can to get my money’s worth. A foolish notion and one that generally leaves me feeling rather overfull at buffets. But, with such a reasonable price on their buffet I was less tempted to stuff myself silly and instead left pleasantly full.

The buffet is open from 6 p.m. to 9:30 0.m. and Why Not is easily found on Nimmanhaemin Soi 13. As always, parking in the area is a joy so you may work off some of that excess food walking back to your car.

You really can’t go wrong with chicken breast.  Look at the menu in all good restaurants, and you will find a chicken breast dish.  This one matches the delicate taste of chicken with the piquancy of lime juice as a sauce.  The preparation time is 15 minutes and the same for cooking.  For a little extra flavor you can sprinkle on some dill to add to the seasoning.

Ingredients                            Serves 4 Chicken breast halves skinless,boneless 4 Egg, beaten                                  1 Dry bread crumbs                         2/3 cup Olive oil                                        2 tbspns Lime juice from                             1 lime Butter                                          6 tbspns Fresh chives, minced                    1 tspn

Cooking Method

Pound chicken breasts until flat and then coat with egg, and dip in bread crumbs.  Place on a wire rack, and allow to dry for about 10 minutes.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Place chicken into the skillet, and fry for 3 to 5 minutes on each side.  Remove to a platter, and keep warm.

Drain grease from the skillet, and squeeze in lime juice.  Cook over low heat until it boils.  Add butter, and stir until melted.  Season with chives.  Spoon sauce over chicken, and serve immediately.

Larb Moo

This is a traditional dish which originates from North Eastern Thailand.  Being an Isaan item can have problems for the western taste buds, with the extreme degree of chili ‘heat’.  This recipe has been modified, to retain the original taste and texture, but tone down the spiciness.  However, if you wish to increase the amount of chili powder indicated this will increase the ‘fire’.

Larb may be prepared as beef, pork or chicken.  The recipe presented here is for pork as I believe it is the most popular variation.  Serve with side dish of iced sliced cabbage and runner beans.

Ingredients           Serves 2-4 Groundpork                   200gm Onion diced small          1 Shallotschopped            15gm Dryfriedice                     1 tbspn Fishsauce                     1tbspn Lemonjuice                     tspn Chilipowder                    1pinch Mint and dill leaves for garnish

Cooking Method

Dry-fry rice in a pan or roast in oven till golden brown.  Grind or pound it coarse with mortar and pestle and set aside.

Cook the pork in a non-stick pan over a low heat.  Mix in the other ingredients, stirring well.  Check the mixture for seasoning, adding more fish sauce or lemon juice to suit and serve, garnishing with mint and dill on the top.

Mushroom, bacon and tomato omelet

This traditional omelet makes for a simple brunch. Filling and flavorsome, serve it with a bowl of garden greens.

Ingredients           Serves2 Eggs                                      4 Milk                             2 tbspns Salt and freshly ground pepper Olive oil                         4 tspns Mushrooms, thinly sliced   100g Bacon, finely chopped  2 rashers Tomato, finely chopped            1 Butter                                 10g Cheddar cheese grated     ½ cup

Cooking Method

Use a fork to whisk eggs and milk together. Season well with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Heat oil in a small (16 cm base) non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and bacon. Cook for 3 minutes or until mushrooms soften. Stir in tomato. Cook 1 min. Remove from pan and set aside.

Melt butter in the frying pan over medium-high heat. Add eggs to the pan. Use a fork to quickly draw the cooked egg back from edge of pan to allow uncooked egg to run to the edge. Cook for a further 30-45 seconds or until egg is just set.

Spoon mushroom mixture over half the omelet. Sprinkle over cheese. Use a fork to lift one side of the omelet over to enclose filling. Carefully slide onto serving plate.

EATING OUT

KHUN OCHA'S COOKBOOK

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