Som Tum Lao with fermented fish sauce ( Pla Ra )

Som Tum Lao with fermented fish sauce ( Pla Ra ) or " Som Tum Pla Raa; ส้มตำใส่ปลาร้า" in Thai. This isn't really easy to find the Thai restaurant around here that has this recipe. I would like to thank you P'pom from West Bend, Wisconsin for hospitality us while we were Midwest last month and she give me a bottle of Pla Ra as a new kitchen gift including the recipe how to cook the Pla Ra sauce to make wonderful flavor for making Som Tum. Here I am going to share with you here and hope you enjoy it. This is my first time to cook Pla Ra in my kitchen. My husband who never experience it before. It may smell weird but its delicious. He never like my Somtum until I put tiny bit the fermented fish sauce or Pla Ra on Som Tum and now he likes it. Many people can't stands the Pla Ra smells, but once the food are done, I promise there won't be any smell and it tastes the best.

Ingredients for cook Pla Ra:
1) 1 Cup of fermented fish sauce ( Pla Ra )
2) 1/2 cup of water
3) 2 whole pickle garlic
4) 1 Tbsp water of pickle garlic
5) 2 Tbsp palm sugar
6) 1/2 tsp shrimp paste

Ingredients for Som Tum Pla Ra
1) 1 and 1/2 cup of shredded green papaya
2) 5 fresh chilies
3) 1 clove garlic
4) 2 Tbsp fish sauce
5) 3/4 palm sugar
6) 3 cooked fermented fish sauce
7) 8 grape tomatoes
8) 1/2 tamarind juice
9) 1 lime juice
10) 6 long green beans

Preparation:
1) This is fermented fish sauce from the bottle.
2) Open the bottle and pour the fermented fish sauce 1 cup into a small pot.
3) This is pickle garlic. Open it and gently pound then put into the pot.

4) In small pot, add all ingredients and turn on simmer until palm sugar dissolve.
5) Turn off the heat and remove from the heat.
6) When the sauce is cold, you can keep in refrigerator.

7) This is green papaya that you can find in Asian market.

8) Peel the fresh skin then wash the White milk off.
9) Prepare all of ingredients for Somtum that will be easier to take ingredients when we start to cook. Wash all vegetables that use with Som Tum Thai, tomato, lime, long green bean, fresh chilies and garlic.

10) In the mortar, coarsely pound fresh chilies, garlic, salt and small amount shredded green papaya.

11) Cut long green beans into 1 " strips then add into the mortar.

12) Cut tomato into small pieces then add to the mortar.
13) Add cooked fermented sauce, lime juice and palm sugar.
14) Add tamarind juice.
15) Fish sauce.
16) gently crush and mix thoroughly.
17) Add shredded green papaya.
18) Use pestle gently crush and spoon stir thoroughly.
19) Spoon into a plate.
20) Serve with steamed sticky rice and fresh vegetables like my husband is enjoying right now.

Thai Small Rice Noodle Soup with Shrimp

Thai Small Rice Noodle Soup with Shrimp or "Kuay Tiew Sen Lek Gung ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเส้นเล็กกุ้งน้ำใส" I am usually eaten for breakfast but sometime I also make it for great dinner too.

Thai condiment caddy :
Fish Sauce, Sugar, Lime juice and dried chili powder
This recipe for 2 serving.
Ingredients for Soup:
1) 5 cups of water
2) 4 roots of cilantro
3) 1/2 tsp salt
4) 2 Tbsp fish sauce or thin soy sauce
5) 1 tsp sugar
Ingredients for noodle:
1) 1/2 package fresh rice stick noodle
2) 15 shrimps
3) 4 springs cilantro
4) 5 fried garlic
6) 2 cups bean sprout
7) 7 morning glory

1)Clean shrimp and peel Shell.
2)This is pack of fresh rice stick noodle.
3) Fried garlic.
4) Wash morning glory and bean sprout. Then Discard yellow or hard part from morning glory then cut into 1 1/2 " length. 5) Wash green onions and cilantro.
6) Cut green onion and cilantro into small pieces. And wash dirt from cilantro root very well then put into the soup pot.
7) Pour 7 cuts of water into the pot on high heat, when the water is boiling, bring cut morning glory, bean sprout and noodle to cook.


8) After dip the noodle into the boiling noodle for approximately 5-10 seconds. Set aside.
9) Place cooked morning glory and bean sprout into a plate and set aside.
10) Pour a cup of water into the wok on high heat . When the water is hot. Add shrimp to boil on the water for a minute or until shrimp is cook. Be carefully, don't over cook seafood.
11) Pour 5 cups of water into the pot to boil with salt and cilantro roots.
12) Let 's boil for 3-5 minutes then turn the heat to slow and add the rest of ingredients for the soup.
13) Let's start how to put noodle soup together for serving. Add cooked morning glory and bean sprout.
14) Add cooked rice noodle.
15) Add 2 tsp fried garlic. 16) Then stir thoroughly.
17) Top with cooked shrimp.
18) Then add the soup.
19) Garnish with cut green onion and cilantro and sprinkle with fried garlic.
20)First, you taste your soup, if you like the way it is. You can just enjoy your soup. If you like it little more spicy you can put red chili powder. If you like it more sweet you can add sugar on it. If you like it more sour you can add lime juice.
21) Enjoy Kuay Tiew Sen Lek Gung ...