I love Thai food (and anything Southeast-Asian) and that is a fact. It all started when I fell in love with authentic Tom Yam soup and Mango Fish served home-style in a restaurant managed and operated by our company’s Thai staff back in Brunei. Its distinct taste is just something we crave that we regularly frequent a small but cozy Thai restaurant in Yong An Li. Though there are few recipes I bookmarked for quite sometime now but have yet to recreate, particularly from Eet Smakelijk!, this is the first time I had the time (and the heart) to try. I happened to find a packet of Thai Green Curry Paste a week ago with a recipe attached that is surprisingly easy. Of course, I didn’t follow it exactly as written; made a few alterations on the how-to and voila! My first time to cook Thai! I’d say the result’s a success what with the added Thai spice in our lives for lunch.

Ingredients:
1 packet of Thai Green Curry Spice Paste (a mixture of chili pepper, soyabean oil, garlic, lemongrass, shallots, shrimp extract, galangal, basil leaves, white pepper, coriander seed, fish sauce and cumin)
Chicken legs and thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
Julienned galangal
Garlic, crushed
Shallots, diced
1 1/2 cup of coconut milk
Nam pla (patis or fish sauce)
Chili (optional)
Blanched aubergine slices (slice them only when about to cook)

Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Fry garlic and galangal until aromatic. Add the chicken and sear to render fat and natural juice then saute with nam pla and shallots. Stir in the spice paste and stir-fry until the meat until is nicely coated. Add half of the coconut milk and cook until natural oil appears. Pour in the remaining coconut milk and bring to a boil. Cook until the chicken is done and the liquid is creamy. Garnish with sweet basil leaves, chili or coriander. Serve hot with blanched aubergine slices and Thai jasmine rice.

Iska

I am not a professional cook. My only claim to having a culinary background is a short stint as my dad’s teen ‘sous chef’ in his carinderia ages ago. Dad ran small eateries since I was a young kid - serving standard ‘turo-turo’ food ranging from the likes of menudo, adobo, pritong isda, dinuguan, binagoongan, bopis, munggo, pinakbet and giniling to merienda fares like goto, ginataan, pancit bihon, halu-halo and saging con yelo.

My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.

Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.