Gluay Ping / Thai Grilled Banana with Coconut Palm Sugar Sauce

Grilled bananas are my all time favorite snack. Whenever I go visit my family in Thailand, I’d always look for a vendor that selling this kind of snack on the side of the road and eat them like a starving monkey almost every day. I usually buy only grilled whole bananas that’s no smash and no sauce – you have an option of with or without smash and sauce – because the sauce can be very sweet, too sweet for my tooth sometimes. Thai people love eating grilled bananas as a quick snack because they are quick, cheap and very filling. It can also become an instant dessert just by dipping in the coconut palm sugar sauce.

 There are varieties of banana in Thailand as same as here in the U.S. that use for cooking which mostly are for making dessert However, Gluay Nam Wah bananas are famously used for grilling in Thailand but burro bananas and other kinds are also used as well. Bananas for grilling have to be just ripe and still firm so when press it won’t fall apart. 

I have burro banana trees at home that yield fruit all the time but the hubby doesn’t like them that much, which sometime I have to give them away to friends after I grilled them for myself, of course.

Maybe I could make another Thai dessert dish with these burro bananas called “Gluay Buad Chee” or Banana in sweet coconut milk, which usually serve warm. I think it’d be perfect for this kind of weather

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What you need: 

4 Burro bananas – ripe and firm 

3/4 cup coconut milk 

3-4 tbsp palm sugar 

Pinch of salt 

Bamboo skewers

How to: 

- First make the caramel sauce by combine coconut milk, palm sugar, and salt in small sauce pan over medium low heat.
- Simmer the sauce and keep stirring to prevent burn until the sauce is getting thicker and turn to caramel color for about 5 minutes. Set aside

- Peel bananas and cut them crosswise about 3/4 inch thick

- Skewer banana into bamboo skewers and grill them over low heat about 3-5 minutes each side or until they get grilled marks

- Place grilled banana stick into a plastic bag and use a heavy object such as a rolling pin or a bottle to press them slightly flat

- Soak or brush them with the coconut caramel sauce and serve them warm

Enjoy!

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Seaweed Salad

Honestly, I’ve never made seaweed salad or cooked with fresh seaweed before, but I love eating them which usually, of course, wrap around sushi in dried form of seaweed, crispy toasted seaweed snacks, seaweed salad, and in Miso soup at Japanese or Korean restaurants. I’ve always thinking about making seaweed salad at home but never had a chance to do it. So, I brought home a package of fresh seaweed from the Asian Supermarket that happened to have only one package left that day and was thinking about dishes that I could possibly make with it. I said dishes because there were 12 ounces in the package and seemed to be awful lot just to make a salad. So, I used half of the package and left the other half for my next dish.

The fresh seaweed I got from the market didn’t label the type of seaweed, but I believed they were Kelp. These dark green leafy plant came in a very long strips and still had the “salty-sea smell” with some slimy on them.   I wondered if they needed to be cooked before consuming.    So…I did some research. Some said that seaweed can be eaten raw and some said that fresh seaweed are needed to be cooked in boiling water for at least 3 minutes limit and no more to preserve its nutrition.   Therefore, some types of seaweed are dehydrated and dried and needed to be soaked in water for at least 5-10 minutes to make it pliable before prepare into salad or soup.

 

My research has led me to a little bit of confusion; however, what did I do with them?     “Let’s meet in the middle,” I thought.    So I washed off the slimy really well before I soaked them in the hot water for 15 minutes, and then rinsed them again with cold water and let them dripping out excess water in the colander until they were ready to use. 

The dressing for my seaweed salad was very easy to make which you could adjust the taste for your own liking, chili or no chili you decide, and add some of your favorite veggies. The completed salad is needed to be marinated overnight before eating, the longer it’s marinated, the softer the seaweed and yet taste a lot better!

So! What are benefits of eating seaweed, if you asked? There are plenty of good stuffs, especially to those who really need to shred some pounds and live healthier. Well, I don’t know about you, but I chose to live a healthy live.    You know?  Healthy life won’t bite! 

 You can find out more of seaweed benefits here

What you need:

6 oz fresh seaweed strips (kelp)
1/4 cup carrots finely julienned
1/4 cup finely sliced celery
1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tbsp Rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp Asian chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds 1 tbsp finely chopped spring onion

   

How to:
- Soak fresh seaweed in hot water for 15 minutes and rinse thoroughly with cold water and set aside. If you think the seaweed strips are too long, you can cut into your desired size. I didn’t cut mine.
- Making the dressing by whisking together soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sugar, and chili garlic sauce until sugar dissolve.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine seaweed, carrot, celery and toss in the dressing, sesame seeds and chopped spring onion and mix well.
- marinade it overnight before serving.

Enjoy!

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Kimchi and Tofu Udon Noodle Soup

Soon after the New Year, the hubby fell ill with a cold and bad congestion and that he had to stay home for almost a week. Days later, he got better and I was next! I’ve been sick as a dog for the whole week and was trying to get over it by eating soups, all kind of soups, almost every day but the one that actually knocked out the cold was this one – the spicy Kimchi noodle soup.

Both the hubby and I love Kimchi. He always goes to the same small Kimchi maker store in Korean Town and brought home a jar of napa cabbage Kimchi and a jar of cucumber Kimchi. We both go crazy about eating them every day, or I’d say, we fight over it every time.

This is a simplest version of making Kimchi noodle soup using chicken broth with Udon noodles and tofu. If you like Egg noodles and other type of meat, go for it. The vinegar and Sriracha hot sauce I used are optional but I really recommend for the more intense sour and spicy. Now you know how that nasty cold got knocked out of my system….for good!

What you need:   for 2 servings 

7 oz Udon noodle
5 oz Firm Tofu cubed
1 cup cabbage kimchi (chopped if cabbage still whole) + 3-4 tbsp kimchi juice
2.5 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (optional)
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp finely chopped green spring onion
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
2 soft-boiled eggs

How to:

- In a medium pot, bring chicken broth to a boil over medium heat
- Add Kimchi and its juice into the pot, add soy sauce and vinegar to taste
- Add tofu and noodles into the pot and let them cook for 3-5 minutes, stir gently
- Add sesame oil and turn off the heat - Serve each bowl with soft-boiled egg and sprinkle with chopped spring onion, sesame seeds and a drizzle of sesame oil on top if you like

Enjoy!

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