Shopping, shopping, shopping to turn up an ex-pat kitchen

[Soda11111]

41 minutes ago, ChiFlyer said:

Hi Cheetos - I am looking at the Phillips Air Fryer on Lazada. My lady partner enjoys making me chicken nuggets and french fries from time to time and I do enjoy munching on them. It has occurred to me that getting some of the oil out of our diet is most likely a good thing cholesterol count wise.

What size capacity did you go with for your Phillips Air Fryer? I am thinking that 1.5 L is sufficient.

I purchased this one. I think it’s .8 liters. Good enough. I remember buying at Central Festival, fifth floor. Good luck, it’s excellent.

[ChiFlyer]

Got a chance to try out some of the new gear tonight. Btw - I bought the above air fryer as well, but other than a quick does it seem to work right test, I have not gotten around to using it.

I made Blackened Salmon on my new Lodge Grill Pan. I thought it worked out very well. The GF gave me a level 2 rating. I was pretty much in agreement. Although the salmon was spot on, the side of broccoli steamed in the new instant pot was disappointing. This is my first instant pot and we need some time to become a team. 

The spice that I used for the blackened salmon was Emeril Lagasse's Bayou Blast. Hard to go wrong with an Emeril recipe. I used half measurements of what is in the recipe and had plenty left over for next time.

https://www.emerils.com/121705/emerils-essence-creole-seasoning-also-referred-bayou-blast

Cooking the salmon is straight forward. Spice only the flesh side. Put a little oil on The Grill pan. Heat the pan on high. When the oil is about to smoke, turn the heat down to medium. Put the salmon fillets on the pan flesh side down and cook for 5 minutes. Flip the fillets and continue to cook on the skin side until done. I like to do a temp reading and look for 125 F. The cooking time, after the flip, depending on the size of the salmon takes about 7 minutes

In the pan

On the plate

The salmon was purchased at Villa Market and was very fresh.

 

 

Edited July 24, 2020 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

Finished up the weekend's cooking tonight with an old standby from the US -> Roast Chicken and Mashed Potatoes. It went pretty well and the GF gave me another Cat-2.

Used the new induction hob to boil the potatoes and that worked out very well. Water was boiling in 15 minutes. It took over 30 on the aging stove top.

I prepare my Roast Chicken by heating a large cast iron pan in the oven at a very high heat. The chicken is then prepared according to the following recipe.

Cast Iron Crisp Roast Butterflied Chicken with Rosemary and Garlic _ America's Test Kitchen.pdf

For the Mashed Potatoes I used Alton Brown's recipe.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/creamy-mashed-potatoes-recipe-1956220

like I said all in all this went well, but the chicken was not as crispy as I would get in the US. I suspect that my aging oven here is not getting to the temps that it says it is. I will probably  buy an oven thermometer to check out how badly it is off.

Some pics:

In the oven

 

On the cutting board

With the Mashed potatoes

Ready to go

 

Most items were purchased at Villa Market.

[expatdude]

A problem with roasting a whole chicken can be getting the different parts (breasts, thighs, etc) the right done-ness at the same time. How did you deal with that?

[ChiFlyer]

On 26/06/2020 at 07:35, expatdude said:

I assume it's rice wine. 120 baht at the big market next to the colloseum on Tepprasit.

 

I remembered that my recipes that called for Chinese Rice Wine specifically called for Shaoxing Chinese Rice Wine. I noticed that it is available on Lazada for 260.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/shao-cing-rice-wine-750ml-i1008072976-s2224072806.html?exlaz=d_1:mm_150050845_51350205_2010350205::12:1498579383!58089999096!!!pla-296030489971!c!296030489971!2224072806!232735304&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIr5Pe9cvs6gIVmHwrCh0E8gF1EAYYASABEgLHu_D_BwE

[ChiFlyer]

European style wide egg noodles.  I am talking about something like this.

https://www.lightnfluffy.com/en-us/products/3465/ExtraWideEggNoodles.aspx

I did not see anything comparable at Villa Market today. I like using these with a thicker sauce meat dish, such as Pot Roast.

Anyone notice something like this around town?

[badtaya77]

On 30/06/2020 at 03:26, Cheetos said:

when I moved here the first 2 important purchases for me were the Instant pot pressure cooker, and the Phillips Air Fryer

I fully understand you. I’m also a big air fryer fan but I like the one from Black & Decker, that is the one I use and it’s excellent: https://cookingparties.net/black-decker-purify-air-fryer-review-2020/

 

[ChiFlyer]

Time for the weekend cooking report.

I got the vaunted Cat-1 rating from the GF on this one and I do believe it was well deserved. I told her this is Chinese food and she said no this is Thai food now.

Anyway, I made Crispy Orange Beef and it turned out very well. Here is the recipe that was followed pretty closely.

Crispy Orange Beef.pdf

I used the new induction hob with a Dutch Oven as the deep fryer. I use an oil thermometer to watch my temp on dishes like this. The hob maxed out at 329 F. on the first pass, but went to 360 F. on the second pass, probably because the oil was not as clear. I was looking for 375. Good enough for now.

The GF made the rice, as she is much better at that than I am.

A few pics:

In the pan

Plated

 

I used Flank Steak for the meat. Most ingredients were purchased at Villa Market.

 

 

[ChiFlyer]

I hit a grand slam to finish the weekend cooking. The GF gave me a first time ever Cat-1+ rating. I had a friend and his lady over for this one and they were impressed as well.

I made Honey Fried Chicken, Mayonnaise Drop Biscuits, and Steamed Corn on the Cob. This is American Comfort Food. This is a 2 hour plus effort in total. The Chicken is the long leg in that there is a one hour brining process. During the one hour the other ingredients can be prepared. 

First the Mayonnaise Drop Biscuits. I really like this recipe as it comes together quickly and the biscuits taste great.

Mayonnaise Drop Biscuits.pdf

About the only negative on this method is that the batter is quite sticky and a little difficult to work with. Just oil a 1/4 cup measuring cup as a scooper and use a small spoon to help place the drop biscuits on the parchment paper. Please do use the parchment paper or you will be cleaning the bake sheet for what might be a very long time.

 

I used the new instant pot to steam the corn on the cob. It worked very well, but the corn was just ok. You can see by the size of the kernels that this is more like what is called "Pig Corn" in the US Midwest. It was decent, but a ways off of Summer Time US corn. I steamed the corn for 9 minutes. I might go 10 next time.

 

The star of the show was the "Honey Fried Chicken". This was my breakout dish as an amateur home cook back in the US. I remember the first time I made it for my son 5 years ago. He had one bite and said in a surprised voice "this is good". Geez thanks a lot I guess.

I use bone in chicken thighs for this recipe. Thighs stand up better to the high heat that is required to get the crispy finish that is required to make the honey sauce hold well. I have changed the recipe to use Sriracha Sauce instead of Hot Sauce for the honey sauce. I think it has a deeper flavor. 

I deep fried on the Induction Nob and it hit the 350 F suggested temp with no problem. I use an oil thermometer to keep an eye on my temp for frying things like this.

Honey Fried Chicken.pdf

Most items were purchased once again at Villa Market.

 

 

[expatdude]

I've never found wide egg noodles. I've substituted farfalle (sp?) noodles, which are bow tie shaped and as close as I've found. Fettuccine is a poor third.

[ChiFlyer]

21 hours ago, expatdude said:

I've never found wide egg noodles. I've substituted farfalle (sp?) noodles, which are bow tie shaped and as close as I've found. Fettuccine is a poor third.

There were a few US things that I wanted that were not available here in Thailand. I broke down and paid up for the shipping costs to have them sent from Amazon to my TX US mail forwarding service. I had a few packages of wide noodles included in the order. Let me know, if you want one. I appreciate the help with things. They will probably be here by October.

 

[ChiFlyer]

A substitute for Swordfish.

I make several Sicilian recipes that call for swordfish. I have never seen any swordfish here in Thailand. Yeah I know, I am a jerk as it is a severely endangered species, but I forgive myself for my a couple of times a year purchases.

Any suggestions on a locally available substitute? It is a firm fish. Grouper would be too light and Tuna is just wrong. Mahi Mahi is getting close, but still not firm enough. 

[expatdude]

Can't help you, haven't yet investigated fish enough. However, if you need a source for shrimp I know a great vendor at the big market on Siam Country Club road. They shell and devein them for you no extra charge, and the prices are very good. You have to get there before about 10 am.

[roderick]

On 28/05/2020 at 18:12, SirL said:

"Tomatos are different from herbs, and the toms here love full sun, as much sun and water as they can get, and they grow like on steroids".

Where do you get the steroids from ????

 

On 28/05/2020 at 18:12, SirL said:

I grow herbs in pots on the roof terrace of my house near the Mediterranean (not Pattaya).  In late spring now its about 20C and sunny every day, and in summer it gets up to the high 20'sC and very sunny, so it is not as hot as Pattaya.

Here, the full sun now is just about too much for delicate little herbs, so I use a beach umbrella open over them in the middle of the day to shelter them from the full sun.  I close the umbrella mornings and evenings so they get full sun.  In the summer the heat unsheltered would be just about too much for herbs.  Tomatos are different from herbs, and the toms here love full sun, as much sun and water as they can get, and they grow like on steroids.

Based on that, I reckon shaded till noon then full sun until sunset in Pattaya would be close to too much sun and heat for delicate herbs, and you might choose to find some umbrella-type shade arrangement in early afternoon.  Shade in Pattaya on the dark side of a building might well work better (though the plants would grow fairly slowly) than full sun on the light side of the building.  I reckon the full Pattaya sun would evaporate the water in earth in pots fairly quickly, so you'd have to be quite fussy in how often you watered the plants - watering is always more fussy in pots than in open ground.

 

[Greg_B]

On 10/07/2020 at 12:50, ChiFlyer said:

@expatdude I found this recipe for sweet Italian Sausage on the net. Does not sound too tough and a fair number of people seem to say that it is a winner. This yields a large patty rather than a sausage, but I could live with that.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/216319/homemade-sweet-italian-sausage-mild-or-hot/

I will give this a go before all that much longer and report back.

Homemade Bulk Italian Sausage, (Chicago Style)

This recipe is a little different than yours..

https://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-bulk-italian-sausage-chicago-style-329000

[expatdude]

3 hours ago, Greg_B said:

Homemade Bulk Italian Sausage, (Chicago Style)

This recipe is a little different than yours..

https://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-bulk-italian-sausage-chicago-style-329000

They lost me on 'lean pork.' Sausage has to be fatty from everything I've ever learned.

[tko]

Question guys: Do Villa and the other food markets in Pattaya make you bring your own bags, now?  All the stores in Rayong do.  I'm planning on visiting Pattaya for a few days next month and I always go to Villa, Friendship, etc for some things that are hard to find here.

BTW from your earlier discussion: I've found wide egg noodles in the Tesco here.  They're in a plastic wrapped white box rather than a bag, near the other noodles.  They're also not super hard to make fresh from scratch.

 

[frantick]

Yes, bring a bag.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[ChiFlyer]

Tough night in the kitchen so far this weekend.

The planned menu was Strip Steak, Baked Potato, and Corn on the Cob. The first two need the oven given my recipes. I get everything ready to start. Turn on the oven and it is not working. WTF.

Time to wing it.

I move the heat up of the cast iron pan over to the stove top. Not as good for sure.

I move the baked potatoes over to the air fryer. Even less not as good.

I am going to give myself a B+ for effort on this one.

Those are fried pancetta ladrons on top of the baked potato. I ordered the pancetta from the place that @expatdudementioned above. Very good pancetta IMO.

Weirdest thing of all is that I notice that the clock on the oven has started blinking, so I reset the switch for the kitchen, reset the clock, and now the oven works. WTF 2!!!

Welcome to Thailand CF.

Edited August 8, 2020 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

Things went much better this evening.

Chicken Marsala with Linguine tonight. I got the GF's Cat-1 rating and it was very good indeed IMO. I have made Chicken Marsala several times before, but this is the first time that I tried this recipe. It is a bit of a challenge in that it calls for some unusual ingredients by Pattaya grocery store standards (Pancetta, Unflavored Gelatin, Porcini Mushrooms, and of course Marsala Wine). I had bought the pancetta from the local guy as explained in the previous post. I found the gelatin and porcini on Lazada. Villa Market carries a Marsala Wine.

The recipe is a fair amount of work. The GF was a big help getting things chopped up and stirring at critical times. Anyway, it turned out well and I will make it again someday.

ATK Chicken Marsala.pdf

In the pan.

On the plate.

 

[ChiFlyer]

On 27/07/2020 at 06:46, expatdude said:

A problem with roasting a whole chicken can be getting the different parts (breasts, thighs, etc) the right done-ness at the same time. How did you deal with that?

Hi - sorry I missed your initial post.

The back of the oven is usually a little hotter than the front of the oven, so it is best to put the chicken in legs first. I temp my chicken to check on it. Breasts should be 165 F and Thighs 175 F. The combination of these two things usually works out well for me. I usually pull the bird a few degrees before the target temp as it will cook a little more while it is resting.

[ChiFlyer]

On 24/06/2020 at 20:28, expatdude said:

Italian guy on facebook just started making his own in Pattaya, good price. I'm about to go to sleep but hopefully I'll remember to hook you up in the morning. There are also several Italian stores in Pattaya that have that stuff. (off the top of my head Bottarga Truga)

Edit: found him, have tried his salami (excellent) and have his pancetta in the fridge but haven't tried it, looks good though:

https://www.facebook.com/bottargatrogusalumithailandia/

.....

Many thanks for this tip @expatdude. I bought some pancetta and percorino romano cheese from the guy. The pancetta is indeed very good, but the pecorino romano is off the charts excellent. Can't stop nibbling on it with a glass of wine. Just what my boyish pants size needs .

Looking forward to trying his parmesan reggiano as well. I had some store bought on hand, so did not order that this time. The cheeses in the Pattaya stores tend to be a little blah IMO, so I am very happy to have found out about this place. You say the salami is spot on as well?

My only complaint is that the smallest sizes he sells are 600 grams. I guess I will become popular here in the condo building gifting small amounts of this stuff, so that they do not get wasted by me not being able to use them in time, although salted meats (pancetta and salami) as well as hard cheeses keep well.

[Jebb]

4 hours ago, ChiFlyer said:

Many thanks for this tip @expatdude. I bought some pancetta and percorino romano cheese from the guy. The pancetta is indeed very good, but the pecorino romano is off the charts excellent. Can't stop nibbling on it with a glass of wine. Just what my boyish pants size needs .

Looking forward to trying his parmesan reggiano as well. I had some store bought on hand, so did not order that this time. The cheeses in the Pattaya stores tend to be a little blah IMO, so I am very happy to have found out about this place. You say the salami is spot on as well?

My only complaint is that the smallest sizes he sells are 600 grams. I guess I will become popular here in the condo building gifting small amounts of this stuff, so that they do not get wasted by me not being able to use them in time, although salted meats (pancetta and salami) as well as hard cheeses keep well.

Have you checked out the cheese selection at Siambury's on the Darkside? Maybe not the high end gourmet selection you need for cooking but if you like a nibble of a run of the mill cheese with wine and crackers like me then you will find it quite cheap.

[ChiFlyer]

Time for the weekend cooking at home report.

This Friday Night version should probably be entitled "Roast Italian Sausage and Peppers" a work in progress.

I used to make the following recipe in the US in order to give myself an easy night in the kitchen, but still with a tasty meal. It relied on a decent tasting Italian sausage.

https://www.popsugar.com/food/Roasted-Italian-Sausage-Onions-Peppers-707230

Converting this to a Thai expat kitchen had several problems. The most significant of these was the Chicago Style Italian Sausage. I tried the earlier provided recipe and it did indeed provide the taste, but it was a little tough.

https://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-bulk-italian-sausage-chicago-style-329000

I added 2/3 TSBP of brown sugar. Next time I will increase the fennel and add some red wine vinegar.

Also, when cooked the bulk sausage, which I rolled into meatballs was a little too tough. I will address this next time by adding a panade (bread, cream, garlic) mixture, just before cooking.

Some pics:

The veg.

The meatballs

On the plate

[ChiFlyer]

Finished the weekend cooking tonight and got my second ever Cat1+ from the GF. I tend to agree in that I nailed this one.

Back when I used to work for a living, I was a traveling IT consultant. I once did a 5 year gig in the Eastern part of the DC beltway. I stayed in Annapolis most of the time. Many a night we would work late and there was a Chinese takeout place on the way home that did a very good version of General Tsao's Chicken.

A few years later, when I started cooking at home more seriously, I decided to try and make this dish. I found the following link on the web and used it as a base.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/91499/general-tsaos-chicken-ii/

I have made some changes from this recipe, as I found it to be a little bland. The changes are:

• I cut back the soy sauce from 1/4 cup to 3 TBLS. I replaced the 1 TBLS reduction with 1 TBLS of Fish Sauce.
• I added 1 TBLS of Sambal Olek to the sauce.
• The recipe called for 1/4 tsp of Ginger Powder in the sauce. I use 1 TBSP of fresh grated Ginger and add it with the aromatics, instead of in the sauce.

Other than that I tend to follow the recipe. I believe my changes yield a deeper flavor.

Some pics and comments.

This is a multi step process. It is a stir fry type recipe, so get all of your ingredients ready to go before you start cooking. My lady friend helped out with prepping ingredients and that is a huge contribution. It gives the cook more time to think ahead a little

Steps 1 and 2 in the recipe call for flash frying the chicken. I bought bone in thighs at Villa Market and removed the bones and skin myself. This works well in our case as my lady likes using the bones and skin as a base for some Isan dishes. In order to flash fry correctly, one needs a well setup fry station. Here is a pic of mine.

 

The step 2 preparation of the chicken coated in corn starch is a pain in that it becomes a gooey mess. Keep working it and here is a pic of the end product.

 

The aromatics to add to the stir fry step all get added at once, so I prepare them in a small dish to add them at one time. Stir fry cooking goes quickly, so you want to do things like this.

My cast iron fry pan is too big for the stove top that I have. I should have super heated it in the oven first, but did not do so. Here is a pic of the aromatics and sauce cooking showing the problem. Just keep stirring.

After adding the corn starch slurry and chicken the end product come together quickly.

Plated.

I should have added some sesame seeds to the plated version.

All in all, it was really good.