Spicy Thai Basil Beef (easy Thai food #2)

 

 

 

 OK. Last week I was going on about the wonders of Thai Basil and since it doesn't last too long I wanted to get two dishes out of that bag I bought at Gilmours. And this is another favourite around here which needs fresh basil...

I reckon mince is pretty much the best comfort food there is whichever culture you happen to come from, be it a cottage pie or lasagna, moussaka or ma po tofu. And so it is with Thai food and this wonderful recipe which I should mention before we start has probably moved several steps away from authentic. 

And like that last chicken dish this one should probably use Holy Basil rather than Thai Basil to be true to its roots. Who cares? I like it better like this and Holy Basil is harder to find than hen's teeth. It's a super-tasty and super-easy dish to make, just five minutes chopping, a couple of minutes to mix the sauce, and five minutes frying. You can adjust the heat level by raising or lowering the number of chillis. If you put the seeds in with them I'd say 3 was "medium" hot... (and do watch hands and eyes when chopping them - those little buggers can really mess you up.)

OK. Here we go. This should serve two people, three if you add a vegetable dish or salad.

SPICY THAI BASIL BEEF 

(Pad Kra Pao)

 

INGREDIENTS

• 400g beef mince
• 4 Tbs cooking oil
  
• 2 eggs
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3-4 scud (bird's eye) chillis, chopped
  
• 1/2 medium onion or red onion or 2 spring onions, chopped (small dice) 
  
• Big handful of Thai Basil leaves

Sauce

• 1½ Tbs Palm Sugar
• 3 Tbs Fish Sauce
• 1½ Tbs Kecap Manis (sweet soy sauce)
  
• 2 Tsp Oyster Sauce
• ¼ cup stock (chicken, beef, vege, or failing that water) 
• Juice of 1 Lime (optional)

METHOD

• Mix sauce ingredients. (I grate the palm sugar.)
  
• Fry eggs in 2 Tbs oil. Set aside.
• Fry garlic and chillis in 2 Tbs oil, 1 minute.
• Turn up heat, add mince and fry at high temperature till it's brown, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add onion and fry till slightly softened, 1 or 2 minutes.
• Add sauce, it should immediately boil, mix it all up. 
• Add basil, stir in very briefly. Save some leaves for garnish.
• Sprinkle with lime juice (if using), garnish with basil.
• Serve over rice, topped with eggs. (Salt 'n' pepper them too...)
  

NOTE: Kecap Manis, or sweet soy sauce is, as the name suggests, sweet and also very thick. It is inexpensive and available at all Asian food stores. The lime juice is great for an extra kick but if you don't have it don't worry: I wouldn't bother to substitute lemon as it's not really the same, just skip it.

ANOTHER NOTE: You will notice that there are two eggs on that dish at the bottom. That's because I'm greedy and like an extra egg. One is traditional. The eggs are best fried quickly and hot so some of the white crisps up. 

FINAL NOTE: I've used light palm sugar here but it could just as well be dark. It's worth getting some, either light or dark. It is inexpensive and really is different from regular white sugar, not as sweet for a start...

OH, AND ONE MORE JUST FOR LUCK: There are, of course, many variations on the Thai name for this dish in case anyone wants to berate me for incorrect spelling. It could also be Pad Ka Prao, Pad Ka Pow, Pad Krapow or several other variations.

Another Lunch at Bar Centrale

BAR CENTRALE

Cuisine: Italian 

Address: 51 Willow St, Tauranga

Phone: 07 574 8200

Website

Drinks: Extensive cocktail list, wines, craft beers

Reservations: probably for dinner 

 

It was a sunny day, we were at a loose end, so Cohen and I headed back to Bar Centrale for some Italian snacks and a drink. There were a number of things on the menu that I'd been eyeing last time were there and I wanted to check them out.

 

Also, as Cohen is a sucker for a Negroni and as it's not a drink that's ever been high on my list he promised to guide me through them. That's because Bar Centrale have a couple of pages of their drinks list dedicated to the Negroni...

 

So we started with Negronis from their list:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cohen had a Classic Negroni (Gin Campari, sweet Vermouth, orange $18) while I opted for a White Negroni (Gin, Italicus, Lillet Blanc, Dry Port, Lemon  $18). Both were refreshing and excellent, perfectly made as their cocktails tend to be - the bartenders at Bar Centrale are serious specialists. I really like the idea of a bar exploring a particular drink at some length like this. To be presented with a bit of history and a road map to discovering the evolution and variations of a classic combo is a classy concept

 

OK, food. We we hit their sharing plates menu.

 

POLIPO Octopus, Oven Baked Fennel, Preserved Lemon, Olive Oil   $19

OX TONGUE SPIEDINO Shallot, Lardo, Salsa Verde                            $10
FISH BALLS SPIEDINO Fennel, Lemon, Caper Butter                         $10

FRITTATINA DI PASTA Croquette, Pasta, Carbonara                          $6 each

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we were very very happy. I love tongue. I know others don't but I bloody love it. And their tongue is not only delicious but remarkably inexpensive. Great stuff. Meanwhile, the croquettes are essentially the Italian version of Mac & Cheese bites which have recently been popping up on a lot of snack menus. The only difference is that the "mac" here is spaghetti.

 

The fish balls aren't balls but are otherwise extremely tasty and the octopus was tender (it's a cold dish). I'm not sure sure about eating octopus in general. It was Cohen's choice and certainly well-prepared but I think in deference to the creature's intelligence and character I'll be giving up munching on our eight-tentacled friends in future.

 

All in all - excellent lunch. Great service. Great spot. Great food and drinks. One of those sunny afternoons sitting on the terrace when you feel happy and lucky to live in Tauranga. 

Quick Pasta at Volare

VOLARE Ristorante & Aparitivo Bar

Cuisine: Italian

Address: 85 The Strand, Tauranga

Phone: 07 5786030

Website

Drinks: Wine, beer, Aperitivi, leaning Italian

Reservations: for Dinner upstairs

 

It's nice to have Volare back. And let me apologise immediately for this somewhat scrappy blog. We weren't planning to go there and didn't really eat much. And I forgot to take pictures of the pasta till we'd started tucking in. So sorry to y'all and sorry to Volare for not doing justice to some really good food.

 

After nearly 20 years Volare is something of an Italian institution here in Tauranga and has been closed for renovations (and I assume earthquake strengthening) for several months. Now it is back and very much the same, the main restaurant upstairs and a bar downstairs. We popped into the bar at around 7pm on a lovely sunny Friday evening and sat on the (new) deck.

 

From the drinks list we had:

 

Amaretto Sour       $16

Bellini Prosecco      $15

 

The was nothing unusual about either drink - both were well-made and made us feel very Italian!

Food-wise, we were just there on a whim and checked out a couple of pasta dishes, one from the bar menu, one from the restaurant menu. They were perfectly happy for us to order from either menu downstairs.

 

TORTELLI (V) $26
Homemade pasta, ricotta, pumpkin, lemon in brown butter and sage

CARBONARA $18
Maccheroni, Pancetta, Parmesan, eggs, pepper

 

SORRY AGAIN FOR PICKING AT THESE BEFORE TAKING PHOTOS - THEY LOOKED REALLY GOOD BEFORE THAT! (What happened was I hadn't even considered writing about stopping in here since we were just passing and hadn't ordered much but then I took one bite of the Tortelli and thought Holy Crap this is fantastic so I called for a halt and we took pics.)

 

Carbonara

Tortelli

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dishes were both excellent. The Tortelli was pretty much textbook perfect pasta, with a lovely pumpkin/ricotta filling, tender pumpkin caramelised at the edges and spot-on brown butter sauce. Absolutely delicious.

 

Meanwhile you could actually quibble about the Carbonara. It had both a little onion and a little parsley in it. I know some folk even more anal retentive than me who would consider this absolute heresy and who would insist that proper Carbonara should only include cheese, eggs and ham. Frankly I didn't care since it tasted fantastic.

 

The only thing I'd mention that we noticed that was different is that Volare used to offer a bigger range of small plates downstairs which filled a few early evenings for us. Perhaps that will start again when the restaurant settles back in.

 

There is big competition at the moment in the Italian sector down in the CBD, what with both Bar Centrale and Sugo hitting the market. Volare is a little more unassuming. But that doesn't mean its food is in any way lesser. They really know what they're doing. 

 

Funnily enough, as we walked to the car we passed Sugo on Wharf Street and watched a waiter deliver their version of what we had just eaten:

Massimiliano buffalo ricotta tortellini, burnt butter, pumpkin, sage, parmesan, pine nuts ($24) 

Looking at it, aside from the pine nuts, I would not have been able to tell the two dishes apart. 

Surely this can't last but for the moment it's an Italian Fiesta in the CBD!

Chicken with Chilli Jam (easy Thai food #1)

'Tis the season for cooking Thai! 

Of course you can cook Thai food all year round but some important herbs are noticeably seasonal in New Zealand so the menu of possible dishes increases markedly during summer. The two main seasonal things I use are lemongrass and basil. Lemongrass you can get away with because there are frozen stalks available all year and they'll do for a lot of things. But basil...

Thai Basil is one of the essential tastes of Thai cooking and it absolutely has to be fresh. Actually Thai cooking uses two main types of basil:

Thai Basil is the one that tastes of aniseed; it is quite widely available and you can grow your own during summer. Katikati's Liberty Growers sell it at the Tauranga Farmers Market and you can find it at Gilmours and good herb suppliers.

Holy Basil leaves have a slightly "furrier" surface and look "rougher" around the edges; it is damn near impossible to obtain unless you grow your own and has a slightly bitter, "dirty" taste. 

Thai Basil

Holy Basil

 

 

 

 

 

Because Holy Basil is relatively rare, many Thai dishes you find in New Zealand use Thai Basil for what should authentically be Holy Basil. This is one of them. But I must confess I don't actually like Holy Basil that much so I'm more than happy to make the switch.

Bottom line, there's a long winter when quite a few Thai dishes aren't really worth cooking (unless you have a greenhouse and year-round supply of these groovy herbs...).

But now summer is here! Last week I found a bag of Thai Basil at Gilmours, so I immediately made two of my absolutely favourite dishes. Or at least my Not-At-All-Authentic versions of them. Both are incredibly simple. And absolutely delicious.  

I'll start with the chicken one. You will - as the name suggests - need Chilli Jam. It is available from all Asian stores under several names, sometimes Roast Chilli Paste and this particular one Chili Paste With Soya Bean Oil. It is cheap and lasts forever.

CHICKEN WITH CHILLI JAM 

(Kai Phat Nam Phrik Phao)

 

INGREDIENTS 

• 400g boneless chicken thighs  
  
• 1/2 red capsicum
• 1/2 carrot
• 1/2 red onion
• 3 Tbs cooking oil
• 2 Tbs garlic, chopped
• 2 Tbs Chilli jam
• Big handful Thai Basil    

Sauce

• 2tsp Fish Sauce
• 2 Tbs Oyster Sauce
• 60ml coconut milk
• 1 tsp white sugar

METHOD

• Mix the sauce ingredients.
• Slice chicken and vegetables.
• Get a frying pan quite hot.
• Add oil and fry garlic and chilli jam until garlic starts to brown, a minute maybe.
• Add chicken, fry for 2 or 3 minutes till it changes colour, stirring.
• Add vegetables, fry for another minute or 2 until just starting to soften.
• Add sauce, stir in, cook for about 30 seconds till it's reduced and coating everything.
  
• Quickly stir in basil, maybe save a few leaves to garnish.
  
• Serve with rice.
  

NOTE: The uncooked mixed sauce smells quite unpleasant to some noses. That'll be the fish sauce. I once gave some premixed sauce to a friend so she could cook this and she threw it away because she thought it was "off". Don't worry - the smell disappears with cooking.

ANOTHER NOTE: Thai cuisine is one of the few to cook garlic to a "nutty" brown stage. Here, as soon as you see the garlic get a hint of brown when frying, add the chicken. 

MOST IMPORTANT NOTE: Neither of these two Basils are much like the Basil you use in Italian food, often called Sweet or Genovese Basil. It is not a good substitute. Save that one for tomatoes and mozzarella. 

FINAL NOTE: Success here comes from cutting the vegetables into slices of a size at which they all cook evenly. I find cutting carrots into thin oval slices on the diagonal and then in half works well (see the pic). Other veges can be added or substituted - if adding broccoli, beans, green capsicum or slower-cooking veges, give them a quick fry or blanch in advance.

The Nest review

THE NEST (2020)

Director: Sean Durkin

Starring: Jude Law, Carrie Coon, Oona Roche, Charlie Shotwell

Runtime: 107mins

 

The Nest has been anticipated with great excitement since director Sean Durkin's first film, the striking Martha, Marcy May Marlene, now ten years old, is highly regarded as a work of great subtlety and precision. That same precision carries on here. There is clearly not an accidental shot in the film. Everything is exact and exacting. That doesn't, however, make it much fun.

Of course not every film is meant to be fun. And since this is a film about a marriage crisis, fun is definitely not on the agenda. At all.

Law is a wide-boy financial trader, Coon is his horse trainer wife. They have a couple of kids, one hers, one theirs. But Jude's work life seems to be going less than well in America so he drags the family back to England to "start again". He reckons he can get really rich there and immediately buys a country mansion, sends the kids to the best schools and generally tears through money to bolster his perceived status. 

It's no surprise that when his one big deal falls apart - he does seem to bank his entire fortune on one long-shot idea which seems less than sensible or realistic - things in the marriage get strained. Simultaneously bad things happen to her favourite horse, leading to a slow-motion emotional train crash. Meanwhile the daughter has turned all snarky and the young boy seems so fragile that you seriously doubt for his safety. It's often the innocent who suffer in films such as this - think The Ice Storm or many others - allowing for parental redemption...

Good points: the film is directed like a horror film. Spooky music, spooky camera, strange things bumping in the night (what did happen to that horse?). This is an interesting approach. Especially with the big slightly threatening house it keeps you expecting something supernatural or genuinely horrible. On the downside, there is a slight feeling of disappointment when nothing of that sort actually occurs.

Also very good is the music which presents variations of jazz and is continually unsettling.

Also very good is the acting. All the actors are very subtle and serious. Jude is his usual slightly irritating self but as the status and money obsessed husband I guess that's intentional. The kids are good. 

In fact it's all good. From the camerawork to the music to the script to the cast it's all top notch. It's also very steadily paced and not much happens. Many descriptions call this a thriller. Nope. It's a slow very serious drama. It's a minutely-observed, unflinching study of a marriage falling apart. Make sure you're in the right mood before you start.