European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 23, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Hot stuff continued from Page 13 yellow Curry paste for one minute add Chicken fish sauce Coconut milk and potatoes. Bring to a boil reduce heat to Low. Cook until potatoes Are softened about 15 minutes add remaining ingredients. Cook for 3 minutes remove from heat and serve. Kang pet Dang Moo red pork Curry dish 1 cup pork sliced thin 2 cups Coconut milk or Light Cream 2 Tablespoons red Curry paste 1 cup Makh Ueha Bor or eggplant Cut into 3/4-Inch cubes v2 cup sliced Bamboo shoots optional 2 Green Chiles Cut Lengthwise 10 Sweet Basil leaves 2 Tablespoons Nampula fish sauce optional 2 Tablespoons vegetable Oil in a Saucepan heat Oil Over medium heat. Stir Fry red Curry paste for approximately 3 minutes. Add sliced pork and fish sauce stir. Add Coconut milk and stir until Well mixed. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. Add Zucchini and Bamboo shoots. Cook until tender. Add Chiles and Sweet Basil leaves remove from heat and serve Kang Kiew warn Gui Green Chicken Curry dish 1 cup sliced Chicken breasts 2 cups Coconut milk or Light Cream 2 Tablespoons Green Curry paste 1/z cup Makh Ueha Huang or Sweet peas 1 cup sliced mushrooms optional Viz cup sliced Bamboo shoots optional 2 Green Chile peppers Cut Lengthwise 2 Tablespoons Nampula fish sauce optional 2 Tablespoons vegetable Oil 1 Tablespoon sugar in a sauce pan. Heat Oil Over medium heat stir Fry re Rcck Curry paste for one minute add Chicken and fish sauce stir Fry until Chicken is done about 10 minutes add Coconut milk and bring to a boil add remaining ingredients stir remove from heat and serve in England i a typical thai meal consists of five dishes and Plain boiled Rice with soup for starters. Story and photos by Amy Geiszler Jones . Bureau garlic fish sauce coriander leaves and roots. These Are ingredients that give Many thai dishes their distinctive flavor. But Don t let the thought of garlic or fish sauce put you off of trying the thai culinary experience. If you enjoy spicy food you la enjoy thai food says Sirikul Sirisant chef at Sala thong a thai restaurant in the English University town of Cambridge. A typical thai meal consists of five dishes and Plain boiled Rice. There s soup for starters followed by a Curry a stir Fried dish deep Fried or grilled meat accompanied by either raw or cooked vegetables served in various sauces. A popular dessert is steamed bananas in Coconut milk. Customers at Sala thong who decide to enjoy a total thai experience can quench their thirst with Singha lager Beer imported from Thailand. Thai cuisine has been influenced by chinese Indian and malaysian cooking Rice is a mainstay in both the chinese and thai diets. The thai dish of whole fish with soy sauce and Ginger Pla Pho wan is almost identical to the chinese dish. Honan Jum Choa Yue says Sirikul. A popular malay dish in the Kra isthmus Region joining Thailand and Malaysia is satay which is marinated grilled meat skewered on Bamboo Sticks served with a Peanut sauce. It is also occasionally on the Sala thong menu. Curry one of India s better known dishes is also found in thai cuisine. Although thai Curry is less hot than its Indian counterpart it nevertheless can pack a punch pineapple is used in Savory thai dish depending on whether the Cook uses fresh Green chivies or dry red chivies and the Quantity of either. A few of the important ingredients besides the chivies Are Coconut milk coriander Root Sweet Basil and Kafir leaves along with the fish sauce Nampula. This fish sauce sold in stores stocking Oriental foodstuffs is to thais what soy sauce is to the chinese says Sirikul. The bottled sauce is a watery Amber coloured sauce made from salted and fermented fish. It is an essential ingredient in foods of other Southeast asian countries including Vietnam and the Philippines it needs no refrigeration and keeps indefinitely. Pineapple is used in Savory dishes including Fried Nee and Curry. Popular vegetables include chinese cabbage Spring onions and bean sprouts. Sirikul a native of Bangkok gives All the credit Lor her culinary skills to her Mother. Quot i Learned it from my Mother she s a very Good Cook. To this Day i love her cooking. Sirikul has lived in England since 1975, with the exception of two years during which she resumed o her Homeland. She has been the chef at Sala thong which Means Golden Pavilion since its opening last fall. The dishes Sirikul whips up for the customers at Sala thong Are made using traditional recipes from her Mot e Quot they re my treasures Quot she says of the recipes Sinku has compared her recipes with those in commercial cookbooks and says none come close to mom s Quot All the food we Cook is like Home made i Cook As i 0 at Home or for friends or dinner  when cooking stir Fried dishes Sirikul recommends using a wok. Quot it has lots of room to toss and stir to Cook a thai meal takes Little time. Quot it s the preparation time that takes Long Quot warns Sirikul at a Page 14 a the stars and stripes Friday Marc in Thailand the cuisine is fairly regional Zed with very hot dishes found in the South while More spicy dishes Are prepared in the Northern regions almost every thai Kitchen is outfitted with mortars and pestles Coconut shredders and Rice pots. Sirikul says the food she prepares is moderately spicy which makes it More suitable to those with a palate foreign to the thai cuisine. Most of Sirikul a recipes Are adaptable to vegetarian needs but customers need to voice their preference. Sala thong at 35 Newnham Road is located a few Yards from the Mill Pond on the Southwest Side of Cambridge not far from Queen s College. Lunchtime hours Are 11 . To 3 p.m., with evening hours of 6 30 to 10 30, tuesday thursday Friday and saturday. The restaurant opens Viz hour earlier wednesday and sunday nights. It is closed mondays. Each night three set menus ranging from $14 to $20, Are served. A la carte items from about $3.25 to $16.50, Are also available. Reservations Are recommended particularly on sts11 evenin9s the Telephone number is 0223 unum Pung a mood oeuvre mince Poffs on Brea snack or hours to 5 slices White bread Pound minced pork or minced prawn Tor m Pound each minced pork and prawn Tablespoons finely chopped onion is Teaspoon freshly milled Pepper is Teaspoon Salt 1 Clove garlic crushed and finely chopped 1 Tablespoon chopped coriander leaves 2 Teaspoons Light soy sauce 2 eggs 10 ounces cooking Oil in a Large bowl mix the meat thoroughly with the onion Pepper Salt garlic coriander leaves and soy sauce. Add the eggs and stir Well. Allow the mixture to marinate for 10 to 15 minutes. Quarter the bread into squares or use a cookie Cutter to create various shapes spread about 1 Tablespoon of the meat mixture on each Side of the bread. Deep Fry the pieces in the Oil until both sides Are Golden Brown and crispy. Remove and Drain. Serve hot with fresh Cucumber relish. Makes 4 to 5 Servings. Fresh Cucumber relish 1 Tablespoon vinegar v2 Teaspoon sugar Pinch of Salt to taste Viz cup thinly sliced Cucumber 1 Tablespoon thinly sliced Green onion 1 Tablespoon thinly sliced Green or red Pepper 1 thinly sliced Carrot mix the first three ingredients in a Small bowl. Just before serving add the Cucumber onion and peppers. Garnish with Carrot. Gway Tio pad thai thai Fried noodles 8 to 10 ounces thai Rice Sticks soaked in warm water for 1 hour 3 Tablespoons cooking Oil 3 cloves garlic crushed and finely chopped 1 onion sliced 1 to 2 carrots finely shredded it to 1/2 cup finely shredded White cabbage 10 to 15 fresh prawn optional 4 to 6 strips of Bacon chopped 2 eggs beaten 2 Tablespoons fish sauce or soy sauce 3 Tablespoons Ketchup Viz Teaspoon sugar a a Teaspoon red Choli flakes or Chili powder 1/2 Pound bean sprouts washed 3 Tablespoons roasted peanuts coarsely crushed 1 Tablespoon dried shrimp coarsely crushed 2 Spring onions finely chopped 1 Lime or Lemon slice thinly 2 Tablespoons chopped coriander heat the Oil in the wok or a Large frying pan. Fry the Bacon until Golden Brown. Add garlic and stir Fry for one or two minutes then add onion cabbage Carrot and fresh prawns tossing and continuing to Fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add fish sauce Ketchup and sugar stirring until everything is mixed together. Add the Rice stick noodles toss and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. If the noodles Are still hard Sprinkle with 1 to 2 Teaspoons of water add the beaten eggs and let the egg slightly set then toss a few times. Push the noodles aside in the wok. Add the bean sprouts and stir Fry quickly on High heat. Mix Well with noodles. Remove from the wok and Sprinkle the noodles with the peanuts dried shrimp Spring onion and coriander leaves. Garnish with Lemon or Lime. Serves 4. Klusay lad Nam Gati steamed bananas with Coconut Cream 6 to 7 bananas each Cut into 4 to 5 pieces 5 ounces of sugar 7.5 ounces water Coconut Cream 13.5 ounces Coconut milk 2 Tablespoons sugar 2 Tablespoons Rice flour or Corn flour 1/4 Teaspoon Salt place the bananas in a baking dish. In a Saucepan bring the sugar and water to a boil and simmer gently until the syrup slightly thickens. Pour Over the bananas in a Steamer bring the water to a boil and place the dish with the bananas inside. Steam for 15 to 20 minutes. In another Saucepan mix Coconut milk flour sugar and Salt. Heat the mixture Over medium heat stirring until the mixture is smooth and thickened. Serve hot Over the steamed bananas. Serves 4 to 5 people. Concern Over microwave Safe packaging by Charlyne Varkonyi Baltimore Sun the next time you Start to wrap Corn on the cob in plastic wrap and put it in the microwave or Quot Zap Quot a bag of microwave Popcorn Slop and think again. A Washington. D  consumer group says Many of these items we use every Day May not be As Safe As we once believed. Quot the containers and packages you microwave with a your cling wraps special Browning packages and even your microwave Safe cookware a All could be releasing potentially harmful substances into your food according to the Center for science in the Public interest in the latest Issue of nutrition action the group s newsletter. The Center a non profit consumer group has a track record of lobbying Lor food issues such As More informative nutritional Labelling and health warnings on alcoholic beverages although Many of the items were not tested at High microwave temperatures before marketing representatives of the packaging and processing Industry insist that their products do not present a health Hazard safety studies Are continuing while the products remain on the Market the . Food and drug administration fins Given the microwave packaging Industry until april 7 to gather data on the safety of Quot heal Susce tors Quot a those thin Gray strips or disks of metallized plastic film on microwaveable packaging Hal cause food to Brown at High temperatures the film heats when exposed to the microwaves and can reach 350 degrees in 20 seconds making Popcorn easier to pop and crisping prepared foods like French tries and pizza that otherwise would remain soggy Quot if we thought there was a real imminent health Hazard we would have pulled these products off the shelves quite a while ago Quot says Lester Borodinsky a chemist with the of Day a division of food chemistry and technology. Borodinsky s division conducted preliminary safety tests on the controversial heat Susce tors. And yet the Fra still has a lot of unanswered questions. Borodinsky says the Fra does not. Have enough data to know what actually happens when the Susce Tor components Are heated to High temperatures in a microwave manufacturers have been asked to identify chemicals that May Leach into the food from the packaging and to determine what health Hazard if any they pose. If new regulations Are necessary they will take at least another year to go into effect. The heat Susce Tor packaging was never approved by the Fra before marketing. The Fra approves All substances that go into food packages under its indirect food additives regulations but it does not approve the finished package. And when the Fra approved the separate components of Susce Tor packaging the regulators never anticipated that they would be combined or that they would be used above 300 degrees. Quot our Crystal balls weren t very Good Quot Borodinsky says. Quot Twenty years ago there weren t Many microwave ovens and Many of our regulations were written without upper temperature  23, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 15