Thursday 13 October 2011

{Giveaway plus Review} Easy Thai Cooking by Robert Danhi

Last month while lasing with Bee's Easy Chinese Recipes cookbook giveaway with Tuttle Publishing, Margaret from the team suggest if I would like to review Chef Robert Danhi's cookbook on Easy Thai Cooking. (more information at www.chefdanhi.com). I was thrilled and immediately accepted the offer because my family (especially my mum) love Thai cuisines.

In this post I would be sharing 3 dishes (with a complimentary recipes) which I have tried a few days back from Chef Robert's Easy Thai Cooking cookbook. With the step-by-step photos and sample recipes you can easily follow the preparation on these delicious dishes shown below.



GREEN MANGO AND CASHEW SALAD


Mango Salad is one of the "Must" order dish whenever we visit a Thai restaurant because it is a very appetizing salad dish that burst with tones of flavour. And while flipping through the cookbook, my eyes immediately set on this Green Mango and Cashew Salad.

Each bite is packed with explosions of sweet, salty and spicy taste from the herbs together with mango and roasted cashew nut that infused with hint of aromatic fresh lime juice. And not to mention you would also be delighted with the unique fragrant of the Kaffri lime leaves lingering between each bite. If mango is not available you can replace this salad with green apples, unripe papaya or even pineapples with minimum adjustment on the seasoning to match the fruits.


RED CURRY SHRIMP CAKES
Recipe from Easy Thai Cooking cookbook by Robert Danhi


Thai Shrimp Cake is a perfect appetizer to serve as a finger food during party or as a snack. It's very tasty and easy to prepare with many variations of similar recipes in Thailand. Here I am sharing with you Chef Robert's recipe on how to make these delicious shrimp cakes in less than 20 minutes.

(Makes: 20 pieces | Preparation: 7 minutes + chilling time | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:-
250g peeled and deveined raw shrimp, roughly chopped
2 Tablespoon Red Curry Paste
1 Large Egg
2 Teaspoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Coconut Milk
25g Chopped Long Bean/Green Beans
2 Tablespoons Roughly Chopped Thai Basil Leaves
2 Tablespoons Oil

This sauce has a combination of sweet, savory, sour and spicy taste which is great to serve as a dipping sauce for spring roll or grilled meat. It is a very simple sauce that takes only a few minutes to combine all the ingredients together. Here I used those bottled Thai Chilli sauce to mix with the rest of the ingredients to make a quick sauce instead of follow the "Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce" recipe in the cookbook.

Sweet Cilantro Sauce:
65ml Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fresh Lime Juice
2 Teaspoon Chopped Coriander Leaves(cilantro)
1 Teaspoon Minced Ginger



Using a food processor to make these shrimp cakes takes just a few minutes to prepare and the results are spectacular. Chef Robert also suggest to serve these shrimp cakes on a bed of lettuce leaves and fresh Thai herbs like coriander and basil in way similar like a lettuce wrap.

Method:-
1. Prepare the Sweet Cilantro Sauce by whisking all the ingredients together in a small bowl and then set aside.

2. Spread the shrimp on a plate and chill the shrimp in the freezer for 15 minutes(this can ensures the springy texture of the shrimp cakes). Meanwhile get all your other ingredients ready.

3. Combine the chilled shrimp, red curry paste, egg, fish sauce, sugar and coconut milk in a food processor or blender. Process until smooth, about 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl. Mix in the green beans and basil.

4. Because different brands of curry pastes have differing amounts of salt you'll want to make a sample shrimp cake first by saute 1 tablespoon of the mixture in a skillet(frying pan). Taste, and if necessary, adjust the seasoning with fish sauce and salt.

5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. First use 1 tablespoon of the oil to coat the skillet, use a measuring spoon to drop 1 tablespoon of the paste into the skillet.

6. With a damp finger, flatten the paste slightly to about 1/2" thick. Make about 10 of these shrimp patties in the skillet.

7. Cook the cakes until they are golden brown on each side and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel, make more patties from the remaining paste and cook the same way.

8. Serve with a side bowl of the Sweet Cilantro Sauce.


We all love this Spicy and flavorsome Red Curry Shrimp Cakes which is infused with a light scent of Thai bail leaving you craving for more after each bite. This is definitely a great appetizer to be served during any party or gathering with chilled beer or cocktails while catching up with some conversations. 


GRILLED LEMONGRASS CHICKEN


In the cookbook, Chef Robert mentioned that in the rural roads of the northeast Issan region of Thailand, this Grilled Lemongrass Chicken is a very common street food that can be easily found along the streets. And here he recreate this traditional dish using our modern oven/grill at home.

If you are looking for new seasoning/marinade on poultry for a BBQ gathering, this can be a NEW flavour that you won't want to miss out. The combination of Lemongrass, Coriander stems and white peppercorns will definitely sparks a new "love" for your poultry dish. And if this for party food wise you can replace the chicken thighs with chicken wing mid-joints/drumlets.


COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY

Chef Robert Danhi has spent over twenty years traveling in Thailand and wants to share everything he’s learned about Thai food. And with complimentary from Tuttle Publishing,  Cuisine Paradise is giving away a copy of this Easy Thai Cooking cookbook by Chef Robert Danhi  to 1 Lucky reader. This cookbook is selling at a retail price of S$22.00 (before GST) with 75 Family-style Dishes You can Prepare at Home in Minutes. So if you want to impressive your family or guests with these easy Thai dishes, do grab a copy of this cookbook at any of the major bookstores in Singapore or order online HERE.

To enter the draw, leave a comment on what is your favourite Thai's cuisine together with a valid email address(for easy contact if you are the winner) on the comment form and the lucky winner will be randomly chosen. And in order to increase your extra chances on winning you can also choose either 1 or ALL of the bonus below:-

~ Share this post on Tweeter. Leave 1 extra comment for this.

~ Share this post on your Facebook. Leave 1 extra comment for this.

~ Like Cuisine Paradise on Facebook. Leave 1 extra comment for this.


Closing Date for the above Giveaway will be on Friday, 21 October 2011(Noon). Result will be announce on 24 October 2011. Good luck everyone!!!! Have fun!


WINNER OF THE COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY
(updated on Monday, 24th October 2011)

Congratulations to "Yeohkristen" for winning this fabulous cookbook and thanks everyone for your participation too! Have a great week ahead everyone!

p/s: Result for the Cookbook Giveaway is out.

60 comments:

  1. wow as usual your photography is absolutely beautiful! if the cover of the book is the same shrimp cakes that you're making, i have to say that yours looks so much better ;p 

    I love thai cuisine too, and have too many favorites - some of which include pad thai and the mango glutinous rice :D

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  2. Liked on Facebook!

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  3. Shared this post on Facebook!

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  4. I love Thai's salad (mango or papaya) as well as Thai's desserts. Yummy!

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  5. Ellena, I'd definitely love to make this shrimp cakes fro my family as I love Thai food too especially the pineapple rice. Will try to get the ingredients after my bad cough.

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  6. Your pictures are making me salivate already, will try these easy to follow recipes.

    there are just too many delicous thai dishes that i love but if i were to name one it would be the thai mango salad or somtham as it has sweet, sour, saltly and spicy taste all in one.

    yeohkristengmail .com

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  7. Thanks for sharing these 3 yummy recipes. My family are Thai cuisine lovers too! :) These are some of our all-time favourites: Mango Salad, Thai Sweet Basil Leave with Minced Beef, Thai Green Curry Chicken, Thai Olive Rice, Stuffed Chicken Wings and Tom Yum Soup. We love to end the meal with Sticky Rice with Mango or Steamed Tapioca with Coconut Cream. Just thinking of them makes me happy!

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  8. My fav is the Sankaya. Steamed Pumpkin custard.

    BTW, does the shrimp cakes taste like otak-otak?

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  9. I haven't had a chance to have good Thai cuisine since moving to this area three years ago (moved to the south from the north), so I guess I need to learn to cook it myself!  My partner makes a basic curry every few weeks, but I'd love to surprise him with something new.

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  10. Thai food have only fond memory of   from teh many holidays we had in that beautiful country:) Especially the fruit and the array of it.Mango salad..o yes please;)) Great giveaway too;)

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  11. My favourite Thai cuisine is Yam Pla Dukfoo in Thai which is Catfish Salad. It's really yum = )

    It's crispy bits of catfish with shredded green mango and cashew nuts and the sauce is tangy, salty and spicy.

    Thank you for the giveaway = )

    Christine T
    cteo23@gmail.com

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  12. my email yeowcs@gmail.com had entered in comment form but not showed up here.

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  13. thanks for sharing these recipes from the book.  Definately love tom yam and green curry!

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  14. Parsley Sage13/10/11 8:25 pm

    You KNOW that mango salad will turn up on my table :)  Great giveaway!

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  15. Share this post on your Facebook. - done

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  16. Like Cuisine Paradise on Facebook. - done

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  17. i love tom yum soup!
    springblue79@hotmail.com

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  18. I cannot resist GREEN CURRY!! Lovesss!

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  19. Liked on FB..Checked! =)

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  20. grilled chicken is my favourite

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  21. so many yummy thai dishes to choose from! but i love pad siew! 

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  22. tweeted! 
    http://twitter.com/#!/kaori_ikeda01/status/124709833629892609

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  23. liked on facebook

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  24. shared the giveaway on facebook!

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  25. i love thai cuisine!! combination of spicy, sweet, sour are so great!!! i love specially tom yum and minced pork w basil!

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  26. New Cookbook Giveaway>>>After backpacking all over Thailand twelve times I was so surprised and delighted to find my favorite dish to be Crab in thai/indian curry  or Boo Paht Pong Karee.
    ( ingredients include chinese celery, egg(s),chopped crab or crabmeat, oyster sauce, chili oil sauce, milk and love !)  easy to make and delicious to eat   yumyum
    from Joel F Smith/Florida     mangoe22@bellsouth.net   ( I grow the best mangoes in the world !!!)

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  27. The mango salad mad me drool a lot, looked heavenly delicious. I need to get my hands on the thai cookbook.

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  28. My favourite is phai thai.

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  29. Aiyo Wendy, I love steamed pumpkin custard tooo!!!!!! Emmm sort of like otak texture but more crunchy and bouncy due to only shrimp paste used.

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  30. Leann Lindeman15/10/11 10:27 pm

    Yummy... I love Thai food. My fav is green curry.

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  31. Leann Lindeman15/10/11 10:30 pm

    Like Cuisine Paradise on FB.

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  32. love phad thai !

    liked in FB ! :)

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  33. Thai food is amazing - I would have to say that tamarind curry is my favorite

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  34. Winnie Tan Wl17/10/11 3:03 pm

     my favourite Thai food is Green Curry.

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  35. Winnie Tan Wl17/10/11 3:04 pm

    liked Cuisine Paradise on Facebook

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  36. Winnie Tan Wl17/10/11 3:06 pm

    Shared this post on my Facebook

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  37. mango salad is my all time favourite  

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  38. green mango looks lovely and appetizing . one of my favourite.

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  39. green mango looks lovely and appetizing.

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  40. Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover17/10/11 9:17 pm

    I love Thai food especially Pai Thai.

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  41. Jane_Loh_poh_ling18/10/11 12:13 am

    I love the Thai style omelet. Kai jeow

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  42. Ellena, what a great review!  And thanks for 3 complimentary recipes. =)  Oh I love Thai food!  I like so many dishes, but if I have to pick, then I love Massaman curry!

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  43. All three dishes you prepared look delicious and perfect.  My family loves Thai food and I would love to win a copy of this wonderful book.  My favorite Thai cuisine is Tom-Yum-Kung, this spicy and tangy soup just warm my heart and yummy.  :)

    Amy [at] utry [dot] it

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  44. Just shared this giveaway with my Twitter friends.  https://twitter.com/#!/uTry_it/status/125999404002979840

    amy [at] utry [dot] it

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  45. Liked you on Facebook, of course.  :)

    amy [at] utry [dot] it

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  46. Just shared this giveaway with my Facebook friends as well.  http://ellenaguan.blogspot.com/2011/10/giveaway-plus-review-easy-thai-cooking.html

    amy [at] utry [dot] it

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  47. Hope to win this cook book
    mango salad is still my favourite

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  48. My favourite is mango salad.

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  49. I haven't tried Thai food yet, but I just found your site.  The food looks wonderful.  I can't wait to try the Lemongrass chicken and the shrimp cakes.  Even if I don't win, I intend to get the book and start cooking.

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  50. I have just found your blog, and although I haven't cooked any Thai food yet, the pictures and recipes look great and can't wait to try the Lemongrass chicken and the shrimp cakes.  Even if I don't win I intend to buy the book and start cooking. 

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  51. Oh, by the way, I shared this post on facebook. 

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  52. I just liked Cuisine Paradise on your facebook page also.

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  53. {Event Closed} Hi everyone, thanks for all your participation. Stay tune
    for the Giveaway Result coming up on Monday, 24 Oct soon :) Good Luck

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  54. It really brings out the flavor, but for some reason I never
    make it. I should - it's a perfect holiday treat.I can't wait  to be back to cooking again!

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  55. AJ@ Kampong11/1/12 10:46 am

    Yay! Thank you for sharing your food experience. I suggest that you try the best roti prata in Singapore and write a food review about it. Please keep us updated.

    -
    http://kampong.sg
     

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  56. Cannot find the Grilled Lemongrass chicken receipe??!

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Dear All,

Thanks for leaving down your comments. I do value each and every of your suggestion(s) or comment(s) so if you are signing off as Anonymous, please kindly leave your Name so that I could address you. Thanks

Lastly, please DO NOT SPAM as Spam comments will be deleted immediately.

Regards
Ellena (Cuisine Paradise)

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