Tag Archives: thai

Turn Soup into a Meal – Tom Kha Asparagus with Jasmine Rice

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vegetarian asparagus tom kha soup
Spring nights are chilly here in Portland, and this vegetarian Thai tom kha soup with a big scoop of jasmine rice on top brings wonderful warmth and spice to a cold night. Thai soups at restaurants are often not vegetarian. They contain chicken stock and fish sauce. So when I’m graving a spicy, tangy Thai soup, I make it at home, using a vegetarian stock.
kaffir lime, galangal, lemongrass and vegetables for vegetarian tom kha soup
Tom kha is a spicy coconut milk soup. The stock contains what I call the “Thai Trio” – lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves. You can find all three ingredients at Asian markets, and they’re all you need to make a deliciously fragrant base for any Thai style soup. I used asparagus as the main vegetable in soup because its one of my favorites and its in season.
To make it a complete meal, serve the tom kha asparagus soup with cooked jasmine, brown, or basmati rice.

Tom Kha Asparagus with Jasmine Rice

Serves 2

Ingredients
4 cups vegetable stock or water
6 kaffir lime leaves
one 1/2 inch piece of galangal
2 lemon grass stalks, cut into 6 pieces
1-2 thai chillies, slit
1/2 can straw mushrooms, drained
16 spears asparagus, tough stems removed,and cut into 3 pieces
1 cup coconut milk
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 cup cooked jasmine, brown or basmati rice

Method
1. Place the vegetable stock or water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. While that is heating up, lightly bruise the kaffir lime, galangal and lemongrass pieces in a mortar and pestle. Add to the stock/ water and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Strain the stock, reserving the liquid. Discard the solids in the stock. Return the stock in the saucepan, add the chili, mushrooms, asparagus, coconut milk, lime juice, sugar and soy sauce and bring back to a boil. Boil the soup till the asparagus is cooked but still crisp, about 1 minute. Taste the soup and add more soy sauce if needed.
4. Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice.

Easy Vegetable Pad Thai Recipe

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I love Pad Thai and have been experimenting with a recipe that is easy, vegetarian and something you can make with just your pantry ingredients (no tamarind or palm sugar!). When I eat Pad Thai at restaurants I always have to ask for it vegetarian and without fish sauce, and even then sometimes they give it to me with the fish sauce! Probably because the pad thai sauce is pre-made.

My Pad Thai is totally vegan and vegetarian, and the Pad Thai sauce is very easy to make!

But before we get to this delicious home made Pad Thai recipe, here’s a story of how it happened..

Emilee is a Veggie Belly fan and has been following the blog for a few years. She, her husband and new baby recently moved back home to Portland after living in Beirut, Lebanon.

As a special surprise for Emilee, her family arranged a cooking session for her with me! How sweet is that?! Emilee had no idea what she was in for until she arrived at my door! Imagine her surprise!

We made this Pad Thai together, and had so much fun chatting and cooking! We talked about food in Lebanon, adjusting to life with a new baby, how awesome Portland, OR is (it really is, trust me!)…all while chopping garlic, squeezing lemons and soaking noodles. My kind of evening!

And the noodles turned out delicious! Below, Emilee squeezes a wedge of lime over her noodles because she likes it tangy.

Check out her nails, I love the color!
Thanks Emilee, for cooking with me!
I love hanging out with my readers!

Some tips for making veggie Pad Thai

- The Pad Thai sauce needs to have a balance of sweet, salty and sour. Everyone likes it a different way. Follow my sauce recipe to start with, and then feel free to adjust the sugar (for sweetness), soy sauce (for salt) and lime juice (for sourness)

- Pad Thai noodles are called Banh Pho. Look for the flat wide ones, sometimes labeled as size “XL”. The ingredients must only have rice or rice flour and water.

- Make sure you soak the noodles correctly (see package instructions). If they get too mushy, you’ve either soaked them too long or they’ve spent too much time in the wok. Or both. And if you don’t soak them long enough they will be crunchy.

- When you soak the noodles, they don’t have to soften all the way, but make sure they are soaked enough that they become pliable, and are no longer stiff.

- I like the boil the pad thai sauce. It gives it a deeper flavor, and caramelizes the sugar a bit. If you dont want to do this extra step, thats fine, simply whisk the sauce ingredients together and set aside.

Easy Vegetable Pad Thai Recipe

serves 2-3
Ingredients

for the sauce
3-4 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 2-3 limes)
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup water

for the noodles
8 oz wide Pad Thai rice noodles, also called Banh Pho
2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil
crushed red pepper, as much as you like
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups of broccoli florets
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into rounds
1 heaping cup of cubed fried tofu, available at Asian stores
a big hand full of bean sprouts
2 green onions, chopped
3 tablespoons roasted, chopped peanuts
3-4 cilantro sprigs, chopped
1/2 lime, cut into wedges

Method
1. Place all the sauce ingredients in a non stick sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer on low for about 2 minutes, or till the sauce has thickened just a little. Turn off heat and set aside.

2. Soak and drain the noodles according to package instructions. If the package does’nt have instructions, soak the noodles in warm water for about 15 minutes or till they become pliable. Then drain.

3. Heat the oil in a large wok. Add the crushed red pepper. As soon as they sizzle, add the garlic, broccoli and carrots. Toss on medium-high heat till the broccoli turns bright green and the garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes.

4. Add the soaked noodles, tofu and the sauce. Toss on medium-high heat till everything is well combine and the noodles are cooked, but still a little chewy, and not mushy.

5. Turn off heat, and add the bean sprouts, and green onions and mix well.

6. Garnish with cilantro and peanuts. Serve with lime wedges on the side.

Quick Thai Red Curry Fried Rice with Green Beans

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If you have left over rice, you can make this Thai red curry fried rice in 10 minutes. This is a quick, easy meal and a great way to use up left over rice and vegetables. Add some scrambled tofu or a couple of scrambled eggs to add extra protein to this fried rice recipe.

Blanched asparagus, or broccoli, or frozen mixed vegetables will also work in this instead of the green beans. I just happen to think green beans taste nice with Thai red curry paste.

 

Day old rice is best for fried rice. Also called overnight rice, day old rice it is drier than freshly made rice, so it absorbs flavors nicely, and the rice grains stay separated. If you don’t have left over rice from the previous day, make rice like you usually would (should not be mushy), then spread it out on a plate and place it under a fan or in the fridge till it is completely cooled.

Check out Jaden’s secrets to cooking the best fried rice.

 

Fried Rice with Thai Red Curry Paste and Green Beans Recipe

serves 4-6

3 cups cooked jasmine rice, preferably a day old (brown rice, wild rice or basmati will also work)
20 haricots verts or green beans
1 tablespoon or according to taste, thai red curry paste
2 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
1 small red pepper, diced
2 tablespoons roasted peanuts, lightly crushed
Chopped cilantro, mint or thai basil for garnish

Trim the ends of the green beans, and cut them in half. Bring a medium saucepan full of water to a boil. Salt the water generously. Add the green beans, and boil for about a minute or till the beans tender but still a little crisp. Drain the beans. Fill the pot with cold water and enough ice cubes to make the water very cold. Dunk the beans in the ice water. This will stop the cooking process and keep the beans bright green and crisp. Drain well.

In a small bowl, whisk the red curry paste, soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons water together till they form a paste. Set aside.

Heat oil in a wok. Add onion and sauté till translucent. Then add red pepper, and sauté for about a minute. Add the drained green beans, and the whisked red curry paste. Stir on high heat for about 30 seconds.

Add cooked rice (must be cooled) to the wok. Using a wide spatula, gently and quickly stir the fried rice to incorporate everything.

Top with crushed peanuts, fried garlic slices, chopped cilantro or mint or thai basil.

Optional: add 2 scrambled eggs to the fried rice.

This fried rice tastes better the next day!

Thai-Burmese Curry Noodles (Khao Soi). Thailand part 3.

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Before I tell you about this amazing noodle dish I learned to make in northern Thailand, here are more pictures from my recent trip. (And in case you missed my previous Thailand posts, they are here and here).

A Thai Market Outside Bangkok

I visited several markets in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. The format seems to be pretty much the same everywhere – vegetable section, fruit section, then there are some bug vendors (yes, insects), rice vendors, fresh noodle vendors, dessert section and prepared foods section. Every single market I went to was extremely clean and organized.

This one was outside Bangkok, in the suburbs where I was staying with my uncle. So this market wasnt touristy, which is always a bonus.

Left: Sapodilla vendor. Right: My uncles wife Da, on her phone & buying guavas. Da showed me around here and so patiently explained everything and translated for me so I could communicate with the vendors 

Left: bugs and insects; I was feeling very Andrew Zimmern-ish.  Right: lime, red and green chillies

 

Pink preserved eggs (Chinese thousand year old eggs or century eggs) and pink noodles

Khao Soi Curry Noodles from Chiang Mai (Kow Swear or Khauk Swear in Burma)

Now lets travel up north to the cool mountains of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Chinese Muslim traders have greatly influenced this region’s cuisine. Their delicious, spicy noodle dish, influenced by Burmese cuisine, called Khao Soi was everywhere in this city. My favorite vegetarian Khao Soi is from Aum Vegetarian Restaurant. in Chiang Mai.

Left: Chiang Mai Aum restaurant’s Khao Soi topped with coconut cream. In the background, chilli paste, lemon iced tea, and British kid.    

Right: My home made version

When I took a Thai Vegetarian cooking class at May Kaidee’s, Duan the owner and instructor was kind enough to show me how to make Khao Soi, even though it wasnt on the class schedule. See this post  for more on Duan and the cooking class.

Khao Soi, also spelled Khao Suey or Khao Soy, is also eaten in Myanmar or Burma and Laos. The Burmese version of Khao Soi is called Kow Swear or Khauk Swear. From what I understand, the Burmese curry noodles, are also in a coconut milk broth, but use more Indian influenced spices like coriander and do not have the crispy noodle topping. Since both the the Thai and Burmese versions are quite similar, I’m sending this post off to AWED Burma, hosted by Kitchen Swathi 

Other Khao Soi recipes:

Khao Soi by the amazing Chez Pim
A Khao Soi battle between an American guy in Bangkok and a Thai girl in Iowa
A Khao Soi recipe from Rosas Yummy Yums
And then there is this whole blog dedicated to the quest for the perfect Khao Soi in New York city!
A recipe for the Burmese version – Kow Swear on We Are Never Full blog

The version I learned to make at the cooking class had shredded chinese cabbage, cauliflower, and tofu. Ive used shiitake mushrooms, baby corn, carrot, zucchini and beansprouts. But I highly recommend adding some pan fried or deep fried firm tofu to this.

If there is an Asian store where you live, that is best place to buy the specialty ingredients for this recipe. But you may be able to find fresh chinese noodles (not the dry stuff) at the regular grocery store. For the pickled mustard greens, you may have to make a trip to the Asian store (if you want to make your own, here is a good recipe).

All the amazing Khao Sois I had in Chiangmai were topped with crispy fried noodles – the best part! I didnt feel like deep frying, so I used store bought La Choy brand crispy Asian noodles.

Curry Noodles in Coconut Milk Broth or Khao Soi or Khao Soy Recipe

serves 2-3

1 tablespoon oil
1 cup chopped shiitake mushroom
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
1/2 cup chopped baby corn
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 teaspoon curry powder or according to taste
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
2 cups fresh Chinese wheat based noodles or about 3 oz dried thin wheat based noodles
1 cup bean sprouts

Toppings and garnishes
1 cup store bought crispy noodles (I used La Choy brand)
2 shallots, chopped
1/4 cup chopped pickled mustard greens (available at Asian stores)
3-4 lime wedges
Chopped cilantro
Chopped green onion

Heat a large wok with oil. Add shitake mushroom, zucchini, baby corn and carrot and cook on high for about 2 minutes. Then add curry paste and curry powder. Toss to coat the vegetables. Add light soy sauce and cook about 30 seconds so the vegetables absorb the liquid. Then add dark soy sauce, brown sugar, and coconut milk. Let the curry simmer for about 2 minutes.

Then pour in water and bring back to a simmer. Taste curry and adjust soy sauce, and sugar to taste. 

Bring a large pot full of water to boil noodles. If using dried noodles, cook in boiling water till noodles are very al dente. If using fresh noodles, boil for about 1 minute. No matter what noodles you use, make sure not to over cook them. Drain well.

Add cooked noodles and bean sprouts to the curry broth. 

Serve Khao Soi in individual bowls, topped with crispy noodles. If you dont have store bought crispy noodles, increase the fresh or dry wheat noodles quantity in this recipe by 1/2 cup. If using dried noodles — deep fry this extra half cup of boiled, drained noodles in oil, till golden. If using fresh noodles, deep fry them as is. Then top Khao Soi with the fried noodles.

Serve with chopped shallots, pickled mustard greens, lime wedges and cilantro on the side.

Temples, Monks and a Thai Raw Mango Salad with Tofu. Thailand Part 2.

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I love Thailand for its sensuous food, elegant people and spectacular sights. Out of the 30 or so countries I’ve visited, Thailand is easily on the very top of my favorites list. Here, I share with you some pictures of Bangkok – a city that is a beautiful mélange of ancient culture and modern lifestyle. You will find serene Buddhist temples along the Chao Phraya river. And a hop away, you will find racy go go bars in Nana plaza. It is incredible that these cultural extremes co-exist. With its night life, beautiful Wats (temples) and amazing food, Bangkok is a truly exciting place. If only Bangkok was cooler, Id move there in a heartbeat!

Above: Wat Pho in Bangkok;  the gigantic reclining Buddha with mother of pearl in His feet

The most memorable part of my trip to Thailand is of course, the food. Thai cooking is seductive; and I cant think of a better recipe to showcase the beauty of Thai food like this one. Salty soy sauce, rich, sweet brown sugar, fresh zesty lime, crunchy, nutty peanuts, hot chillies, and crisp, sour mangoes. Every flavor in the world is packed into this mango salad.

Traditional Thai mango salad doesn’t have tofu in it. I added tofu to make this salad more filling.

Some tips:

Make this salad a day ahead and store it in the fridge. The flavors get so much better the next day
Only use raw, green mangoes (not the ripe yellow ones)
Leave out the chili if you prefer a milder salad
Add strips of pan-fried tofu to make this salad heartier
If you dont have a mortar and pestle, use a food processor to crush the peanuts

Thai Raw (Green) Mango Salad with Tofu Recipe

serves about 4

2 large green, raw mangoes
3/4 cup roasted peanuts
2 shallots, peeled
1 thai red chili (use more or omit according to taste)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
a few sprigs cilantro
6 oz firm tofu, drained (optional)
Salt

Peel the mangoes and cut around the pit. Discard the pit. Grate the peeled mango using a box grater. Alternatively, slice the peeled mango into very thin strips.

Place the roasted peanuts, peeled shallots and red chili in a mortar and pound to a rough paste. Add this crushed peanut mixture to the shredded mango.

In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar and lime juice. Add this to the shredded mango and peanuts. Toss well. Taste and add salt if needed. Garnish with cilantro. Serve chilled.

To add tofu to this salad: Drain tofu and pat dry. Cut it into thin strips. Pan fry the tofu strips in a little oil till golden. Toss the tofu with the mango salad.

A Vegetarian Thai Cooking Class and Trip to a Produce Market in Chiang Mai. Thailand part 1.

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When I visited Thailand, I was intoxicated by the sites, sounds, smells and tastes. The sensory explosion was just incredible. And the food…oh man the food..where do I even start?! Thailand has a huge street food culture; so this only means one thing – tasty, fast, cheap food. Batter fried bananas, sticky rice steamed inside hollow bamboo sticks, street-side penang curry, morning glory (a spinach like green vegetable) with garlic..the list is endless!

I had no problem being a vegetarian traveling in Thailand and finding vegetarian food. I asked for my dishes without meat and with vegetables only and most often got what I wanted. They all probably had fish sauce in them, but I was ok with that. Also, I was very excited to learn how to make vegetarian thai food without fish sauce and shrimp paste! That was the highlight of my trip – a vegetarian cooking class I took at May Kaidee’s restaurant in Chiang Mai. May Kaidee’s is a vegetarian restaurant run by two sisters. May runs the Bangkok restaurant and Duan runs the Chiang Mai one.

Above, Duan is all set to go to the produce market next to her restaurant.

I didnt know which to admire more, the delicious straw mushrooms at the market or Duan’s beautiful fingers! Dear Duan, you will always have a back up career as a hand model for Veggie Belly.

Duan holds up some essentials for Thai cooking – kaffir lime leaf, lemongrass, galangal (ginger-like rhizome), turmeric, cilantro, red chillies.

At the market: noodle lady and beans and rice man.

Fresh tofu! Colored a brilliant yellow using turmeric. Wood ear mushrooms really felt like ear cartilage.

Back at the restaurant, Duan gave me some tips:

-          Fry tofu in vegetable oil, keep the tofu in the oil till you are ready to use it. Use the same tofu flavored oil while cooking your dish.
-          Look for the “Jay” symbol on Thai sauce bottles, this means they are vegetarian


Look what Duan found at the market! Gorgeous Thai basil.

Here are excerpts from a chat with Duan:

On an average day, what do you and your family eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks? 
We usually eat traditional items such as curry with rice , fried egg with rice etc. We almost always have papaya salad and sticky rice for lunch. Dinner may be noodle soup or rice soup. We dont really snack much, maybe a fruit shake or ice tea with milk.
 
Thai food has a lot of fish sauce and shrimp paste, how can a vegetarian cook make thai food without these ingredients?
That is the thai way..lots of fish sauce and shrimp paste. They add saltiness to dishes. You can use salt, soy sauce, mushroom flavored soy sauce or thick mushroom sauce instead.
Sala’s note: Healthy Boy brand mushroom flavored soy sauce is really good! Available in Asian stores.
 
What items do you use instead of meat?
In my restaurant  I use soy protien, tofu and sometimes vegetarian sausage or seitan.
 
Tell me about the food Thais eat during the Kin-Jay vegetarian festival
You can see fried yellow noodles with shitake mushrooms as the main dish everywhere during the festival.  Yellow is for goodness and prosperity in our culture.
 
What are the basic thai ingredients a thai vegetarian cook needs?
Chilli, garlic , onion, lemon grass, galangal, kaffir leaves — these are used in the paste for curry and in everyday dishes like stir fry and soup.
  
What is the most important element to thai vegetarian cooking?
The balance of spicy, sour, salty and sweet. Also important are fresh produce and freshly prepared pastes and ingredients. 
 
Are fake meats (seitan) popular in Thailand? Do you use them?
Yes. There are some dishes like a vegetarian ‘fish’ wrapped in seaweed.
 
What are some of your favorite ingredients to cook with? why?
I like to cook noodles because I love to eat pad thai and pad see ew. Noodles are also really easy to cook.
 
What are your favorite dishes?
I love Pad Thai.  And my mother’s pumpkin cashew hummus is really good.

If you want to learn more about May Kaidee’s:

Restaurant website: http://www.maykaidee.com/
Cook book: http://www.maykaidee.com/site/cookbook/ebook

I’m not affiliated with May Kaidee in any way; I just think they are awesome!

Easy Thai Green Curry (Gaeng Keow Wan)

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I don’t know what I’d do without an Asian store near me. The one I go to is huge, cheap and stocked with every ingredient you’d need to make any Asian meal imaginable. One of my favorite things at the Asian store is tofu or soy puffs – little cubes of golden fried tofu. When you add tofu/soy puffs to curries, they absorb all the flavor and become incredibly flavorful. If you cant find tofu puffs, oven bake or deep fry some firm tofu and use in this recipe.

I learned how to make fresh green curry paste when I was in Thailand (more about that in future posts!), but I think store bought green curry paste is good enough when you are in a hurry. No pounding lemon grass in a mortar and pestle here! Freshly made curry paste ofcourse is much tastier, but if you are in a rush, canned paste is just fine.

 The Maesri brand green curry paste I use contains:

green chili
shallots
ginger, garlic
lemon grass
kaffir lime
sugar
galangal
turmeric
coriander
cardamom
cumin

You simply add coconut milk to the paste, boil, then add vegetables, boil again and you are done!

I like to garnish my thai curries with lots of fresh thai basil. Cilantro or green onions will also make great garnishes.

Thai Green Curry (Gaeng Keow Wan) Recipe

serves about 4

1 can (4 tablespoons) green curry paste (you may need to use more or less depending on the brand)
1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk
1/2 cup water
2 cups napa cabbage or chinese cabbage, shredded
1 medium red pepper, cut into thin strips
1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 cup fresh or canned straw mushrooms
1/2 cup canned baby corn
1 cup tofu puffs (or firm tofu cubes that have been deep fried)
1/4 – 1/2 cup Thai basil leaves, loosely packed.

Heat a large wok and place the green curry paste, coconut milk and water in it. Bring to a boil while stirring. Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add all other ingredients, except Thai basil, and boil gently for about 4 minutes or till the cabbage has wilted and the vegetables are cooked but not mushy. Turn off heat. (If the green curry is too spicy for you, add more coconut milk). Sprinkle chopped Thai basil on top. Serve with jasmine rice.

Thai Tapioca Pearl Dumplings (Saku Sai)

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saku sai

For a long time now I’ve been wanting to try out a savory tapioca pearl recipe. Until I made this dish, Ive only had tapioca pearls in puddings or in bubble tea. But Saku Sai (or sakoo sai) is a great way to enjoy the chewy texture of tapioca pearls in a savory dish. ‘Saku’ means tapioca and ‘sai’ means stuffed. Traditional Thai saku sai is filled with pork (saku sai mu) and the filling is slightly sweet. I made a savory filling with peanuts and morningstar crumbles and served the dumplings with a dipping sauce. This makes a great appetizer. I served the dumplings on a platter lined with a banana leaf. They were all gone in 5 minutes!

This is is my entry for the AWED Thailand event.

Thai Tapioca Pearl Dumplings (Saku Sai)
about 20 dumplings

Tapioca pearls – 1 cup
Boiling water – 1 1/4 cups
Morningstar Crumbles (frozen) - 1 cup (or crumbled tofu or your choice of minced mixed vegetables)
Peanuts – 1/4 cups
Onion – 1 very small
Ginger, minced – 1 tbsp
Garlic – 2 cloves
Soy sauce – 1 tbsp
Cilantro – 2 tbsp chopped
Vegetable Oil – 1 tbsp
Sesame oil – 1 tsp to coat dumplings

Finely chop the onion. Mince the ginger and garlic. Chop the cilantro. Coarsely chop the peanuts in a food processor.

Heat a skillet with oil. Add the onion and saute till brown. Then add the ginger and garlic and cook till fragrant, about 45 seconds. Stir in the morningstar crumbles, peanuts and soy sauce. Cook till the crumbles have thawed and become soft. Mix in cilantro and turn off heat.

Place the tapioca pearls in a bowl. Add the boiling water a little at a time. Knead the pearls to form a mass. They should not be dry but must resemble tight dough.

UPDATE: some readers have had trouble forming the tapioca ‘dough’. You may need more or less water depending on the brand and size of tapioca pearls you are using. Its important to add the boiling water a little at a time, untill you get a dough like consistency that you can stuff and form into balls easily.

Keep a bowl of water near you. Dip your fingers into the water. Then take about a tablespoon of the tapioca pearls mixture and form a disc. Place a small amount of morningstar crumble mixture on the center of the disc. Bring the sides up and form into a ball. Dip your fingers in water as you go to prevent sticking.

Place the balls in a steamer, make sure they don’t touch each other. Steam for about 30 minutes or till the tapioca pearls are completely transparent.

Don’t go by the pictures in the post, where you can still see some white tapioca pearls. I realized they were under done after taking the photos. So I put them back in the steamer till they were completely transparent.

When you remove the dumplings from the steamer, spray or coat them with a little sesame oil so they don’t stick to each other.

Serve dumplings with cilantro, Thai chillies, crushed peanuts and soy-sesame dipping sauce.Soy-Sesame Dipping Sauce
 
Soy sauce – 1/4 cup
Sesame oil – 1/4 cup
Water – 1/4 cup
Peanuts – 2 tbsp
Rice wine vinegar – 1 tbsp
Honey – 2-3 tbsp
Ginger, minced – 1 tsp, optional

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend till well combined.

Note: You can find tapioca pearls in any Asian store. Buy the white, small sized pearls.

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