This is one of my husband's signature dishes. It is a recipe that he has been perfecting for a couple of years now. We make it every couple of months at home, and has comforted me through many a long night of studying. Asking him to put numbers to this recipe was little difficult, so hopefully the translation is close to his perfect balance of rich, creamy, and spicy. This curry cooks up very fast, so it is important to have all of the ingredients prepared and laid out before you begin to cook. You can make it more or less spicy by increasing or reducing the red curry paste.

Ingredients:
1 16oz pack tofu
4 T canola oil
1 T peanut oil
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. fresh green beans, rinsed and snapped.
2 t ginger, minced
½ cup Thai basil, coarsely chopped
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup vegetable broth
2 T red curry paste
1 can coconut milk
2-3 T brown sugar

Directions:
Slice the tofu into think strips. Heat 2 T canola oil and pan fry the tofu until light golden and firm, set aside. Meanwhile heat remaining oil in large wok to medium high and sauté onions and half of garlic till onions are translucent with some slight browning. Add green beans, ginger, and remaining garlic and cook until beans are bright green. Add basil and toss, then add soy sauce, broth, and half the coconut milk. Mix in the curry paste and sugar and toss till both are dissolved. Add the tofu and toss. Gradually add remaining coconut milk until it reaches the desired consistency. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Serves 6

Tom Yum Soup

Tom Yum is a simple lemongrass soup usually served with chicken, shrimp, or mushrooms. Regardless of main ingredient, it's traditional to use fish sauce in the broth. This vegetarian version is very hot and sour, using lots of lime juice, but not so much that it overpowers the lemongrass.

Ingredients:
6 cups vegetable broth
6 cups water
6 stalks lemongrass, sliced into 4 inch sections, and crushed with a meat tenderizer
6 keffir lime leaves
1 T ginger, grated
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T peanut oil
1 jalapeño, sliced
2 dried red chilies, ground
12 oz white mushrooms
8 oz shiitake mushrooms
¼ cup soy sauce
juice of 3-4 limes
cilantro
diced fresh tomatoes
thinly sliced jalapeño

Directions:
Mix broth and water in soup pot and add lemongrass and keffir leaves, bring to a boil. Boil for 2-3 minutes, then reduce heat to gentle simmer. Remove lemongrass and leaves with slotted spoon. Add peppers, mushrooms, and soy sauce. Cook soup until mushrooms are slightly cooked. Turn off heat, add more soy sauce to taste and the lime juice. Serve with cilantro, tomatoes, and jalapeño.

Green Papaya Salad

At first glance, the ingredients for this salad might seem strange, but the fish flavor is quite complimentary to the fruit and the ginger. Traditionally this salad is topped with dried shrimp, but I left that out for this dinner. I did all of the shredding in my food processor, a julienne wheel would be ideal, but a grater wheel will work just fine.

Ingredients:
1 large green papaya, peeled, seeded, and shredded
2 carrots, shredded
1 English (hot house, seedless) cucumber, julienned

Dressing:
6 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
3 T fresh ginger, grated
½ cup fresh lime juice
¼ cup fish sauce
1 t sugar

Directions:
Toss vegetables. Mix dressing ingredients together till well blended and then toss with veggies they are thoroughly coated. Serve immediately.

Serves 10

Sweet Rice Banana Cakes

I found this recipe on the interweb and made it my own by adding coconut whipped creme and toasted coconut. It was delicious.

Ingredients:
2 1 ft sq. pieces of banana leaves, fresh or frozen (if frozen, thaw for at least 1 hour)
2 regular bananas
1 cup Asian sweet rice
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
some twine or string for securing banana leaves
coconut flakes, lightly toasted

Whipped “creme”:
1 small carton coconut creme
1 t sugar

Directions:
First, make the rice. Place rice in a pot together with the coconut milk, water, salt and brown sugar. Turn heat to high or medium-high. Stir until coconut milk has dissolved and mixed with the water and rice. When coconut-water reaches a bubbling boil, stir to loosen any rice stuck to the bottom of the pot.
Turn down heat to low, and cover with a lid. Simmer like this for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan, until most of the coconut-water has been absorbed and the rice is only slightly crunchy. Turn off the heat, but leave the pot on the burner, and allow to continue "steam" cooking on its own for another 10 minutes. Leave to cool completely, or if you're in a hurry, put the pot in the refrigerator.

When rice has cooled, you're ready to wrap. Lay out one of the 1 ft sq. pieces of banana leaf. You will need to cut the leaf to size from package. Peel one of the bananas and lay it along one end of the leaf: this is how long your cake roll will need to be (you will want to have enough leaf left on either side of the banana to tie it later). Remove the banana and scoop half of the cooled rice onto the leaf, patting it down to approx. 1/2 inch thick, and as long or longer than the banana. You will also want to make this rice "bed" twice as wide as the banana (so that when you roll it, the rice will completely surround the banana). When you're finished making the rice bed, lay the banana on it, pressing it gently into the rice (you can break the banana in half to keep the roll straight). Lifting up the banana leaf, begin to roll so that the rice completely surrounds the banana. Tuck the leaf under and continue rolling until you reach the end of the leaf. Try to roll as tightly as possible. Secure each of the 2 ends with string (it will look like a firecracker). Place the roll in the refrigerator and leave to set for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Repeat with remaining leaf, rice, and banana.

When ready to eat, heat the roll in the oven for 15 minutes at 325 degrees, or bar-b-que it, turning the roll to cook on all sides (banana leaf will turn brown). Remove from oven, open banana leaves and allow cakes to cool. Meanwhile, whip the coconut creme until it starts to firm, add sugar, then continue to whip until it forms soft peaks. Slice cakes into 1-2 inch disks, sprinkle with toasted coconut, and serve with coconut whipped creme.