Hot Hot Hot
Posted: 05 August '09 by Kelly
It was Niall’s birthday at the weekend so we decided to cook up a hot and spicy Asian Feast. On the menu was -
- Singapore Chilli crab
- Salt and Chilli Squid
- Pad Thai Noodles
- Red-cooked Tofu
- Chicken and Thai Basil (Pad Ga Prao Kai)
- Chocolate and saffron fondant with Hazelnut Tullie and Milk Ice-cream (not an asian dish but I love chocolate)
We started the morning with a trip to St George’s Market in Belfast to buy the seafood for the dishes. The market is a great way to start the day with a crepe from the french stall (superb!!), a hot beverage and listen to the different bands that play every saturday morning. All the main ingredients were selected and purchased and now it was time to try and find the more unusual ingredients.
Off we went to ‘Lee foods’ asian supermarket on the Donegall Pass, Belfast. I have never been there before but I will certainly return. It sold an amazing array of asian products however some of the foods were slightly out of my comfort zone (dried cuttlefish snacks, Whole pigs heads and Century Eggs with black yolks!!). After stacking up the trolly with a new wok and some nibbles (Wasabi Peas and Asian dried fruits) we managed to find all the things we needed including the Thai Holy Basil (which for Belfast I thought was a treat). I suppose its just knowing where to look…
We also picked up some authentic chinese tsingtao beer to celebrate Niall turning 21, again….!!!
The dishes were relatively simple to prepare (apart from the squid which is a messy job, I left that to Niall) so we decided to take it easy and take our time cooking. I had pre-prepared the desserts so all they needed was 9 minuted in the oven after the main course.
The starters of Singapore Chilli Crab and Salt & Chilli Squid were served and they went down a treat with everyone. The chilli sauce on the crab was delicious, really hot and spicy, and the squid was so soft (it had been left in lemon for a while) and cooked to perfection thanks to Niall.
On to the main course and the Red-cooked Tofu was a first for me, weird consistency, almost egg-y but really tasty. The Pad Thai noodles were superb, really delicious – I think it could give the Bo Tree a run for its money – although I have to say the chicken was the winner for me. It was really tasty, packed with aniseed flavour from thr Thai Basil, and had a real kick to it.
We were fit to burst after all that delicious food, but not to be beaten – we had the dessert of Chocolate and saffron fondant with Hazelnut Tullie and Milk Ice-cream a few hours later. Now if your anything like me and love your desserts gooey and oozing of chocolate then this is for you. Shame on me though as I could only finish half of it, but luckily Niall’s brother was on hand (as usual) to finish it off for me.
The recipes will follow soon so enjoy making them and let us know what you think.
Tags: birthday celebrations, st georges market, thai food
Categories: Recipes
