Of the more esoteric cuisines which have invaded our kitchens, the one which has most converted home cooks, and which has been at the forefront of bringing fusion cooking into our restaurants, has been Thai food.
Ask any good shopkeeper, and they will tell you Thai ingredients are the ones folk come looking for, keen to get the lemongrass and the galangal home to make a coconutty curry. That is why the staples of Thai food are now so widely available in our shops and supermarkets. The success of Cafe Mao and other fusion restaurants in Dublin over the past couple of years shows how we all hanker for these zippy, sweet, sharp and sour flavours.
And while many domestic cooks remain intimidated by the intricacies and delicacies of Chinese and Japanese cookery, there is an ease about the techniques of Thai cooking which we find irresistible. Add to that the irresistibly sweet flavours of this food, and the narcotic shock of chilli and coriander, and it is easy to see why we like Thai food so much.
"Of all the South East Asian cuisines, Thai is the one which most captures the Western imagination today," writes Rosemary Brissenden, one of the very earliest chroniclers of the cuisine, in her classic book South East Asian Food, first published in 1969. Brissenden explains its success succinctly: "Its flavours are subtle and complex yet at the same time clean, vivid and distinct; it is visually enticing and delicately perfumed; it is light, healthy and well-balanced." Exactly, and that is what you will find in the recipes we have chosen: a simple salad; a definitive recipe for Thai fish cakes, and a marvellous coconut and chicken soup, a signature dish of The Ivy Restaurant in London which shows how well Thai ideas adapt to our Western tastes.
Paul and Jeanne Rankin's new Cayenne restaurant, in Belfast, has stepped gingerly down the path of fusion food, but they first showed the sort of funky food they like to cook years ago when they published their wonderful book Hot Food. This Thai classic comes from there, and is simplicity itself.
Thai Cucumber Salad
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 small chilli, stemmed, deseeded and chopped
grated rind of 1 lime
1 shallot, or spring onion, finely chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and chopped
6 leaves lettuce
To garnish: 2 tablespoons salted peanuts, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh coriander, chopped
In a small bowl, combine the fish sauce and lime juice. Whisk the salt and sugar until they have dissolved, then add the chilli, lime rind and chopped shallot or spring onion. Arrange the cucumber on a bed of lettuce leaves, and pour the dressing over. Garnish with the peanuts and fresh coriander sprinkled over the top.
There are as many recipes for Thai fish cakes as there are tiger prawns in the ocean, but this is my absolute favourite, a very smart piece of cookery by Rick Stein. When using bunches of coriander, do bear in mind that there is as much flavour in the stalks as in the leaves: I often collect some leaves and all the stalks to make a Thai pesto.
Thai Fish Cakes with Sweet and Sour Cucumber Sauce
450g (1lb) ling, coley or other white fish fillets, skinned and cut into chunks
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 karrir lime leaf or 1 strip lemon rind, very finely shredded
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander, including stalks
1 egg
1 teaspoon palm sugar or light muscavado sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
40g (1 1/2 oz) French beans, thinly sliced
150ml (5 fl oz) groundnut or sunflower oil
Sweet and Sour Cucumber Sauce:
50ml (2 fl oz) white wine vinegar
100g (4oz) caster sugar
2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce
50g (2oz) cucumber, very finely diced
25g (1oz) carrot, very finely diced
25g (1oz) onion, very finely chopped
2 small red chillies, thinly sliced
Make the sauce: in a small pan gently heat the vinegar, sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons of water until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil for one minute, then remove from the heat and leave to cool. Stir in the fish sauce, cucumber, carrot, onion and chillies. Pour the sauce, which should be slightly syrupy, into four small dipping-saucers or ramekins; set aside.
Make the fish cakes: place the fish in a food processor or blender with the fish sauce, curry paste, kaffir lime leaf or lime rind, chopped coriander, egg, sugar and salt. Process until smooth, then stir in the sliced green beans.
Divide the mixture into 16 pieces. Roll each one into a ball and then flatten into a 6 cm (2.5 inch) disc. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the fish cakes in batches for one minute on each side until golden brown. Lift out and drain on kitchen paper, then serve with the sweet and sour sauce.
I DON'T know anyone who can resist these flavours together. The quantities of ingredients can easily be halved to make smaller domestic amounts.
Thai Spiced Chicken and Coconut Soup
8 chicken thighs, boned and skinned 50g cornflour
300g cream of coconut block, cut into small pieces
70g fresh root ginger or galangal, peeled and shredded
3 mild red chillies, seeded and shredded
2 sticks lemongrass, peeled and the bulbous ends finely chopped
100ml double cream
3 bunches spring onions, peeled, trimmed and shredded on the angle
25g coriander leaves, roughly chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Stock:
3 litre chicken stock 3 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
40g fresh root ginger or galangal, peeled and roughly chopped
2 sticks lemon grass, peeled and roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
5 lime leaves
2 mild chillies, seeded and chopped stalks from
40g fresh coriander (reserve leaves for garnish)
Put all the ingredients for the stock into a pan, bring to the boil and simmer for one hour, skimming occasionally to remove any scum. Poach the chicken thighs in the stock for 10 minutes and remove them. Mix the cornflour with a little water, stir it into the stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the stock and return to the pan. Whisk in the cream of coconut.
Blanch the ginger and chillies in boiling water for five minutes to remove the harsh flavours, drain and add them with the lemongrass to the soup. Shred the chicken thighs and add the meat and the cream to the soup.
Then put in the spring onions and coriander. Bring back to the boil and check the soup for seasoning.