Som Saa

Tucked away behind London Fields is the best Thai I've had in London. It's called Som Saa, and it's the kind of place where you walk in and feel like you're turning up at a friends house...a really, really cool friends house. 

It's in a huge concrete space, with walls decorated with fairy lights and chefs cooking on grills outside. In summer the courtyard is full of tables with hungry diner enjoying the sun (something I'm yet to experience in London).

We started with prosecco and one of my favourite Som Saa dishes of charred squid in a tangy, spicy sauce.

The slew of starters continued with beef mince and betel leaves and a green papaya salad. The food here is SPICY- especially the papaya salad, so make sure you have a glass of prosecco handy.

The starters were followed by eggplant salad and pork curry and cute little individual bamboo baskets  for rice...much more than we needed but we did manage to polish it all off.

Moo Chow Chow

Drum roll please.....may I present one of my favourite restaurants in Auckland: Moo Chow Chow. I must rave on about the place a bit because when I was thinking about starting a blog, a friend of mine suggested I call it ilovemoochowchow.com. You get the picture...

But, the raving on was in good reason; the food is fantastic and consistent, as is the service, and I find myself going back again and again (there's a drug in the pork, I'm sure of it).

To be honest I can't believe it's taken me this long to blog Moo Chow Chow. I've certainly been a few times in the last couple of months, but on those occasions I've generally been a few (fantastic) cocktails deep and would have stood on my camera or something.

This time however, I was on a work lunch, so the camera was in safe hands. Seeing as there were so many of us we were up the precariously steep stairs in the private dining room, and were treated to the banquet menu where the waiters decide what is good that day and serve it all up.

The food came, and just kept coming and coming until our chairs were groaning and top buttons on jeans were undone (literally). As usual, all of the food was incredible, I even liked the pineapple salad and usually I can't stand pineapple in savoury dishes.

I don't want to ramble on to I'll limit my rambling to my favourite three dishes:

1. The spicy yellow fish and prawn curry is HOT- beware. This taste explosion is an absolute standout on the menu and the winner in my books. I've often wondered if they would make this dish takeaway...
2. The caramelised pork hock is almost as famous as Ms. Moo herself, and with good reason. It's a crispy, tender, pork dish doused in coriander and chilli vinegar- absolutely delish. 
3. Coming in at number 3 is the amazing green papaya salad, a dish I order on every visit. This one also has a bit of a kick, and is a perfect pairing with the pork hock. 

Now if I'm not careful I'll end up numbering the whole menu off, so we will leave it there. But please, take my advice, and if you haven't already, give Ms. Moo a try.

P.S. Don't forget to try the cocktails!                                                                   

Thai Green Curry with Clams

I am a total sucker for Thai food. If I'm not stopping in at Mercury Plaza for my fix on the way home from work I'll be whipping it up at home. Now to tell the truth, on a lazy weeknight after a long day I usually don't have the time or the energy to make the paste from scratch. Solution 1: make a big batch of curry paste on the weekend and refrigerate until needed. Solution 2: when that runs out buy a pre-made paste from the supermarket (from a PACKET you say?? Yes, I say- bite me).

In the interest of maintaining some dignity in the food blogger world, in this instance I will be making the paste from scratch. I've you've got a spare 15 minutes I recommend doing the same.

Green Curry Paste:

• 1 Lemongrass stem, roughly chopped
• 3 Garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 Inch of fresh ginger, peeled
• 4 Shallots, peeled
• Zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1 Cup of coriander (leave some aside to garnish)
• 4 Fresh green chillis (less if you like it mild)
• 1 Teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 Teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

Put all of the paste ingredients in a blender and whizz it up into a gorgeous greeny paste. At this point be brave and have a little tester to check how spicy it is- throw a few extra chillis in if you dare!

Now you've got your paste ready (see it wasn't too hard, was it?), you can choose your star of the dish. Usually I go with chicken or fish, but this time I branched out and chose clams, ohhah. 

The Rest:

• Chicken/Fish/Prawns/Clams or whatever you like
• Green beans, top 'n' tailed and cut in half
• Bamboo shoots (these cost about $1.50 in the international aisle at the supermarket)
• 1 Can coconut milk
• 1 Cup fish/chicken stock (or water)
• 1 Tablespoon fish sauce, or to taste
• 1 Teaspoon brown sugar
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 Kaffir lime leaves (if you can find some)

Heat up a wok and throw your lovely green paste in. Stir it for a few minutes until the smell fills the room. Add your coconut milk and stock in a cook for another few minutes until bubbling. 

Add your fish sauce, brown sugar, lime juice and whole kaffir lime leaves into the liquid. Have a taste and see what you think- more fish sauce? More lime?

If you are cooking chicken add it in now to the bubbling liquid and cook for 5 minutes. Add the beans and bamboo shoots in and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes until everything is ready.

If you are using seafood, put everything in at the same time, and after a few minutes it should be ready. If you have fish or prawns they will be opaque once cooked, and clams will have opened.

Have one last taster for good luck, and pile it into a big dish with a scattering of coriander. Serve with fluffy white rice. She's a winner, I promise!

Mekong Baby

Oh dear, it seems we have a new contender for the best Asian restaurant. Hello Mekong Baby- the new kid on the Ponsonby block.

For the old school foodies, Mekong Baby is where beloved GPK used to reside, but fear not, it's the same owners, they've just thrown in the Italian apron and donned a wok instead.

To be honest, I felt a little guilty going to Mekong Baby, could I really cheat on another certain favourite fusion restaurant down the other end of the street? Ah well, I won't tell if you don't.

After being open for only two weeks, my expectations of Mekong Baby were not high. I walked in with the conceited air of someone who knows that the food could not possibly be that good.

How I was wrong.

After being tended to by friendly, helpful staff we were treated to dish after dish of faultless food. My favourites were the beautiful kingfish sashimi, the lamb ribs, the prawn and mango salad (from someone who thinks fruit and meat together is a crime), and the delectable, sticky pork belly.

With three other foodies in tow we were left in silence with nothing to critique. The mmmm's, ahhh's and nods of approval with wiggly eyebrows said it all. Not bad Mekong Baby, not bad.

Apparently the place has been packed from day one, so call up during the day and lock in your seat for dinner before anyone else finds out about it.

And if you get in quick you can be that smug 'oh I went there like a week ago' person.