Thai Food: @Siam

On Sunday, I met up with a dear friend of mine, Y for a long awaited dinner. It's been SO long since we last met up, with our busy schedules, it was hard to find time that would fit both of us. She suggested @Siam, located in Soho, London.

Before dinner, I googled it, and visited their website; wow, it looked posh! It didn't look like something I was used to; I also tend to avoid posh looking restaurants when I'm looking for Oriental/South East Asian food. My experience so far has indicated that if you're looking for good quality food of oriental/south east asian food, fine dining isn't the way to go.

However with @Siam, I was wrong. When I stepped into the restaurant, the place looked more like a cosy family restaurant, rather than a fancy posh place. There were a few patrons there already at 6, but the place was mostly empty. We were seated at a small corner of the restaurant. Y was seated in front of a silver sparkling statue of Buddha. I was facing it! So I was being watched when I was tucking in :)

Prawn spring rolls

We both ordered a starter and a main each. Y got a voucher off the Time Out website, that gave us a 50% discount off our meal. Always a plus for me :) For starters, Y ordered prawn spring rolls. The prawns were wrapped in rice paper, and deep fried till golden. I thought this was really good! It was served in a crispy edible shell (which reminded me of papadom), and sweet chilli sauce. The shell was rather bland, and a bit greasy. However I don't think it was meant to be eaten, more like a decorative piece on the plate. I'm certain that the sweet chilli sauce was shop bought, however, I love sweet chilli sauce, so no complaints there from me.

Thai fishcakes-sorry for the slightly blurry pic!

I ordered Thai fishcakes for my starter. When it came (also with sweet chilli sauce by the side), I was a little surprised that it looked a lot like slices of fishballs you can get from a chinese supermarket. I'm not sure it was made in the restaurant, but it was yummy indeed. They had a hint of lemongrass too.

Y's pad thai

For main, Y order a chicken pad thai, while I ordered tofu green curry. I'm a huge fan of tofu :) Y's pad thai was DELICIOUS! It had a slight sweetness to it. Yums. It also came with pieces of tofu and crushed peanuts by the side. Y was a tad disappointed there weren't slices omelette at the top. I don't eat Thai food very often, so I wasn't aware whether that is a common (possibly essential?) addition.

Tofu green curry

My tofu curry was rich and very good. It had some pieces of bell pepper, green beans and chunks of baby aubergine. Quite substantial. I had my curry with steamed jasmine rice. The curry was very drinkable; it wasn't too spicy, and I thought that the balance of flavours were very good. The curry came warm; I was expecting it to come a little hotter. The curry didn't come with the rice, so I had to order it separately.

Overall, it was an enjoyable dinner! Service was efficient, and the dishes came relatively quick. Portions were good sized, not massive, but more than enough to fill you up. The starters were about 6 pounds each before discount, the mains, about 10 pounds. The entire came to about 20 pounds, after the discount, and I thought it was very worth it :) The food was great, and the company-even better! :)

@ Siam
48 Frith Street London W1D 4SF
T. 020 7494 4511


Disclaimer: This entry was not a sponsored post, and is entirely based on my personal tastebuds.  I have not received any monetary or non-monetary payment to write this post. 

Asian style steamed cod

I had this for dinner a couple of weeks ago. I don't often have cod, and if I do, it's usually battered and served with chips. I've been telling myself to eat more fish, but because cod tends to be a bit tasteless on its own, I'd go for salmon instead.

Steaming dishes are a healthy way to cook, and it's also pretty convenient, as the steamer does all the job for you! I bought a steamer a few months ago, as I suddenly got into the healthy eating mode. Unfortunately, I didn't use it as often as I like since then, as fried food often appeals to me! (Tempura anyone?)

This was a quick dish to make; it didn't take more than 20 minutes, and most of the time was used to steam the fish, during which you don't really have to do much anyway!

Asian style steamed cod
(Serves 2 as a main)

Ingredients

280-300 grammes of fresh boneless cod fillets, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper
1 inch of fresh ginger, half sliced into matchsticks, and half sliced at an angle, thinly
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 stalks of spring onion, finely sliced lengthwise
2 tablespoons of light soya sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil
Handful of coriander, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon of sugar

Method

• Rinse the fillets and pat them dry. Place them on a heat resistant plate, and place the ginger slices (sliced at an angle) on top of the fish and a small handful of the spring onion.
• Steam on high heat for about 15 minutes. If your fillets are thick, it may take another 2-3 minutes to cook, check as you go along.
• In the meantime, heat the oil in a wok. Add the matchstick ginger pieces and garlic, and fry for about 1 minute.
• Add the light soya sauce and sugar. Continue cooking on low heat until the sugar dissolves.
• Once the fish is cook, dish it up from the steamer and place it on a serving plate. Pour the hot soya sauce mixture on the fish, and garnish with the remaining spring onion and the coriander.

Prawns with chilli and garlic

I had this for lunch yesterday, a pretty light lunch I reckon! It didn't take long to prepare and cook at all, possibly not more than 20-30 minutes. Quick, easy and yummy, what more do you want? :)

Only thing I would stress is to use raw prawns in this recipes, it provides the all important flavour; the sweetness from raw seafood.

Prawns with chili and garlic
(Serves 1 as a main)

Ingredients
250 grammes of raw prawns
1/2 inch of fresh ginger, sliced into matchsticks
2-3 cloves of garlic
A handful of fresh coriander
1 1/2 tablespoons of plain flour
1 teaspoon of sugar
A pinch of chilli flakes
Zest and juice of half a lemon
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Method

• Mix the flour and prawns together in a bowl, lightly seasoned with salt. Add about 1 teaspoon of water to combine.
• Heat the oil in a wok/frying pan.
• Add the garlic and ginger and fry until lightly browned.
• Add the prawns and fry for about 1 minute. Add the chilli flakes.
• When they're starting to turn pink, and crispy around the edges, add the lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar.
• Add the coriander, and continuing frying until the prawns are cooked.
• Serve immediately with some crusty bread, or as I've done, some lightly fried boiled new potatoes.

Spaghetti with meatballs, peas and lemon

I never used to eat much pasta when I was growing up, but these days, I even have cravings for it! I love tomato based sauces, cream based sauces, or even those without any sorta sauce! (like aglio olio recipes, with just butter and garlic). As I don't eat beef, I haven't had the true bolognese sauces, although I have used pork and minced chicken in the past.

This recipe was inspired by a recipe found on the BBC Good Food website. I did make some tweaks to adjust it to my taste, and ended up not referring to that recipe at all when cooking it.

Spaghetti with meatballs, peas and lemon

Ingredients
For the meatballs (makes 8-12)
250 grammes of minced turkey
2 slices of fresh baguette
1 medium sized carrot, grated
2 stalks of spring onion, roughly chopped
3-4 sprigs of parsley
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Grated cheddar (about 50 grammes)

For the pasta
250 grammes of spaghetti
100 grammes of frozen peas
3-4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
zest and juice of 1 medium sized lemon
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons of creme fraiche
salt and pepper to taste
finely chopped parsley for garnish

Method

• First, we make the meatballs: Blitz the baguette along with the parsley and 1 tsp of olive oil. The fresh baguette helps makes the meatballs moist and juicy.
• Mix the breadcrumbs with the meat in a mixing bowl. Add the grated carrot, spring onions and egg. Stir until well combined, and add the cheddar. Lightly mix, and season with a little salt and plenty of black pepper.
• Shape the mixture into meatballs about the size of the centre of your palm, say about 2-3 cms in diameter. They don't have to be of a particular size though! Just bear in the mind the time needed to cook them will increase the bigger the balls are :)
• Pan fry the meatballs in a deep pan (or wok) until golden brown with the remaining oil. Drain and leave aside.
• Cook the pasta according to the packet's instructions, until al dente. Drain and reserve some of the starchy liquid.
• While the pasta is cooking we finish up the sauce. Using the oil used to cook the meatballs, add another tablespoon of oil into the wok. The oil used to cook the meatballs has SO much flavour, don't throw it away!
• When the oil is hot, add the garlic and frozen peas. 
• When the garlic starts to turn a bit brown, add the lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir well with a spatula and season with salt and pepper.
• Add the spaghetti to the sauce.  
• Turn down  the heat to low, and add the creme fraiche. Stir well until well combined. If the sauce is too thick, add the liquid from cooking the spaghetti. 
• Add the meatballs and gently stir them in, be careful not to over do it, else they'll fall apart. 
• Garnish with chopped parsley.
• Enjoy!

The meatballs were so juicy! Don't leave out the carrot, as it helps keep the meatballs juicy and gives a lovely sweetness. So yummy! The creme fraiche in the sauce gave the dish a richness, thus not much was needed. Although the dish was slightly rich, the tang from the lemon juicy livens up the flavours of the dish, and makes it even better! Don't leave that out either! :)

Pan frying the meatballs

Stirring in the creme fraiche, I may have gone overboard on the peas :)

Yummy dinner! I did go back for seconds :)

Cheat's garlic bread

It's as per the title says! This is a very quick breakfast, good for afternoon snacks, or whenever you're in a hurry.

Cheesy crust. Mmmm..

Cheat's garlic bread

Ingredients

3 slices of baguette
a handful of parsley (roughly chopped)
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
some grated cheddar

Method

• Mix the butter, garlic powder, and parsley until well combined.
• Spread the slices with the butter mixture.
• Top with grated cheddar, and grill it for 2-3 minutes, until the cheese melts, the slices become golden brown.

Seafood fried rice

Fried rice is, to me, one of the easiest and yummiest ways to use leftover rice! I cook rice very often, using a rice cooker. Using a rice cooker to cook rice is the easiest, and most convenient way to do it. You don't have to stand over the stove, making sure the rice doesn't get burnt. It does all the cooking by itself, while you can continue with your prep of other ingredients.

Yummy fried rice

Anyways, back to the fried rice! I cooked quite a lot of rice last week, and I couldn't finish it! So I ended up making fried rice the next day. Using leftover rice is often recommended, as it's not too clumpy and wet. You can use any meat in fried rice; I've used chicken and pork in the past, and I've also made vegetarian versions too. There are so many ways to jazz up the dish, and you can add the ingredients as to your liking.

Hot fried rice in a wok!

Seafood fried rice

(Serves 3-4)

Ingredients

2-3 cups of cooked rice
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 small carrots, sliced at an angle
1/3 of a head of broccoli, cut into small florets
400-500 grammes of seafood (I used prawns and squid)
2 red onions, finely sliced
2-3 tablespoons of oyster sauce
2-3 tablespoons of light soya sauce
2 eggs, beaten and seasoned with peppers and light soya sauce
2-3 tablespoons of ketchup
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Method

• First, make a simple omelette with the beaten eggs. Once done, set aside.
• Heat some oil in a wok. Add the sliced red onion, and cook till soft.
• Next add the garlic, and cook for about 1 minute, until lightly brown. 
• Add the carrots and broccoli. Cook for another 3-4 minutes.
• Add the seafood, and fry until they're almost cooked.
• Add the rice and fry for 2-3 minutes, until all the vege and the garlic pieces are well combined in the wok.
• Add the oyster sauce, light soya sauce, pepper and ketchup. Stir until the sauces are well combined.
• Cook for another 3-4 minutes, and serve!

Carrots and onions in the wok first!

Broccoli next; you always need your greens!

Almost done now :)

Omelette, fried potatoes and tomato salad

Sometimes I just have cravings for certain types of dishes, or food of certain textures. On one fine morning last weekend, I craved for eggs. In my mind, I was thinking of the Lurpak advert, where a guy comes home from work late at night, and makes himself the most delicious looking omelette ever. It looked buttery, with soft insides. Yum!!

I wanted to replicate that, but I had only had one egg in the fridge! Just one! So I thought it was a bit hard to make a thick omelette, like in the advert. So I tried to jazz it up a little.

To make the omelette, I first beat the egg, and seasoned with pepper. The twist was the addition of ground cayenne pepper. I don't use cayenne pepper much before, but these days, I tend to add it to almost everything! The cayenne pepper gives a lovely sweetness to the egg, and I didn't find it spicy at all. Once the egg was almost cooked, I added a generous portion of shredded cheddar, that's why I didn't add salt earlier.

The potatoes was easy as well! I cubed one large potato, par boiled it, and fried it in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until slightly brown. Again I added the cayenne, and seasoned with salt and pepper.

The tomatoes was even easier! Just roughly diced, and seasoned with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and a touch of sugar, served which some baby rocket leaves.

I also had one frankfurter. Breakfast was so good! Definitely gave me the morning boost that I needed :)

Chicken enchiladas

On my shopping trip to Tesco last weekend, I purchased a packet of tortillas. I was thinking of bringing some wraps to work for lunch, I haven't done that for a while, and am getting a bit bored with the lacklustre choices at the workplace canteen. 

Baked enchiladas! I made 3 as as to have leftovers :)

Colourful!

I wanted a relatively quick and easy lunch during the weekend, to use up the tortillas. I usually don't manage to finish the whole packet, so I thought might as well use some during the weekend. Fajitas came to my mind, but I didn't have avocado to make guacamole with, or sour cream for that yummylicious zing. So instead, I make this version of chicken enchiladas instead.

The enchiladas before going into the oven

I'm not very well-versed with Mexican food. I can only think of fajitas, enchiladas, burritos and quesidillas. But based on what I have tried so far, Mexican food is full of flavours, with lots of spice and heat. I have fallen in love with Mexican food, and I think I should really try to cook them more often! It's so easy to make, and often packs a punch with every mouthful. What's your favourite Mexican food? 

Chicken Enchiladas.

Ingredients

(Serves 1-2)

2 tortillas (I used Mission Deli's Mediterranean tortillas)

300gs of chicken breast, sliced in relatively large strips

2 bell peppers, cut into strips

1 red onion, roughly sliced

2 tins of plum tomatoes (I used whole plum tomatoes, rather than chopped ones)

1-2 teaspoons of sage

1-2 teaspoons of sugar

1 red chilli, roughly chopped. I kept the seeds in as I wanted the heat.

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Grated cheddar

salt and peppers to taste

Method

• Heat the oil in a deep saucepan/pot and add the red onion and bell pepper strips. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the chicken strips, and fry them until they are cooked and have a slight golden tinge at the edges.
• Drain the tomatoes, and reserve the liquid. Roughly chop the tomatoes (I used kitchen scissors) and pour them into the pot.
• Fry for another 2-3 minutes until well combined. Add the salt, sugar and pepper to taste. Sugar cuts through the acidity that tinned tomatoes sometimes have.
• Add the reserved liquid from the tomatoes, and add the sage. Taste as you go along.
• Add the chilli and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling
• Now, to assemble the enchiladas: Using a slotted spoon, spoon the chicken and the peppers onto the middle of a tortilla. Fold the left and right sides to the middle, then fold the bottom side to the top, to get a pocket. Carefully fold the top end to the bottom, to get a parcel. 
• Note: It is important not to overfill the tortilla. I'm always for 'more is better', but not this time I'm afraid!
• Next continue with the remaining tortilla.
• Lay the tortilla parcels on a shallow baking tray line with foiled or baking paper. Ladle some sauce on top of the parcels, and sprinkle generously with the grated cheddar. (and I do mean generous! You want that salty gooey stuff! :D )
• I used a trick I saw on Food Network: I froze the cheese for a couple of hours, before grating. It really was easier to grate, and the cheese did not clump together.
• Put in a hot oven at 180 degrees celcius for about 10 minutes, or about 4-5 minutes under a hot grill until the cheese bubbles and the parcels turn a lovely golden brown.
• Garnish with some sprigs of coriander(also known as cilantro). I served mine with some sliced iceberg lettuce.
• Enjoy!

Garnished enchiladas; the coriander goes so well with the tomato-ey and cheesy sauce!.

Misato

Misato is a no fuss little cafe located in Chinatown, London. There's always a queue, but believe me, it's worth it. Food comes in large portions (which is always a plus for me), and always piping hot. I can't really comment on the authenticity, but the flavours were good, and I never leave the cafe feeling dissatisfied.

Chicken karaage with rice, salad and a dollop of mayo

I ordered the chicken karaage, deep fried juicy pieces of chicken, that came with some steamed rice and salad. The salad was very simple; it consisted of sliced lettuce, some tangy dressing, and a single cherry tomato. But it fulfilled the role of a compulsory vege side dish. I was extremely hungry (I had this meal at about 2.30pm) and this hit the spot.

Z ordered a serve of tempura, which consists of vegetable (aubergine, sweet potato and mushroom) and prawn tempura. The batter was crunchy, and oh so good!! The tempura came with some sweetish, salty dipping sauce.

Z also ordered a bento, that came with a generous serving of salmon cooked in some teriyaki-wine sauce. The sauce was so delicious! I plan to order that the next time I go to Misato.

It's not fancy at all, far from it, but service is quick and efficient. If you're keen on fuss free, good, affordable Japanese food, Misato is definitely the place to go to.