Bag Of Fire

On a previous trip to Thailand I decided to bring back some mind-blowing Thai chillies, known in Thailand as prik kee noo (mouse shit chillies). So on my last day in Bangkok, I went in search for them. Outside my hotel I waved down a tuk-tuk and asked the driver to drop me off at the nearest market. After weaving in and out of the Bangkok traffic at a death-defying speed and flying straight towards on-coming traffic with my eyes tightly shut, I was extremely relieved when we arrived at our destination alive, even though I had inhaled what felt like a pack of cigarettes worth of smog. As I rummaged through the market I came across pots, DVDs, counterfeit jeans; but there was no food to be found. I then realised there was no food here at all, so I decided to go on a walking mission to find the elusive chillies.

After wandering for a while in the direction that my nose led me, I found a street vendor selling various noodle dishes. I bought a flavourful Pad Thai from him and asked him where he bought his chillies? While I devoured my food with chopsticks I tried to pay attention to his directions, but there were far too many turns to take in. I thanked him in Thai (“Khap khun krap”) and headed off in the general direction he seemed to be pointing. I walked up and down various little streets, coming across all sorts of shops, but still no chillies.

It was hot and humid and my clothes started sticking to me, so I decided to give up and go back to the hotel for a nice cold shower. As I was walking towards the main road to get a tuk-tuk, I saw an old woman scuttle in to the back of a restaurant with a bag full of chillies. I couldn’t believe my luck, I ran after her to ask where she bought them.

Unfortunately she didn’t understand a word of English so I pointed at the bag and put my hands in the air, doing my best impression of “where”. She seemed to understand me, so those family evenings of charades weren’t a waste of time after all! She pointed towards the canal and indicated stairs, I thanked her in Thai, which put a smile on her face, and rushed off towards the canal; inwardly thankful that I wasn’t a woman and didn’t have to say the dragged-out version of thank you, “ Khap khun kaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

When I got there, I found a narrow set of hidden steps that I had definitely passed more than once. I went down the stairs and followed a path along the canal. A man passed me with a bag overflowing with Thai basil and another of lemongrass, so I knew I was on the right track. I became hypnotised by the smell of a medley of exotic ingredients and before I knew it I was standing in the stall. There were barrels full of lemongrass, pea aubergines, lime leaves, herbs and many more. Right at the end of the stall was a barrel full of what I had come for: the tiny, slim but fiery red Thai chilli. I had a lot of Bahts left so I got one of the large transparent bags and filled it with chillies.

I took all my money out of my pocket and went over to the owner and held it out. I expected her to take the majority of my notes, but instead she took most of my coins. She had a huge smile on her face because she had probably overcharged me and I had a huge smile on my face because I just bought a bag of fire for 70p! I went back to my hotel feeling incredibly savvy with myself. Ironically the chillies were the only authentic product I bought in Thailand. I am not really sure what customs would have to say about my bag of chillies, but I got them back successfully.

When I got home it registered that I had enough chillies to keep a small Thai restaurant running for a week. In order to increase the shelf life, I made chilli paste. I like to make a simple chilli paste because of the diversity of dishes it can be married with. I must admit when I have it in my fridge, I do go a bit mad and add it to everything. I put it in curries, stir-fries, bolognaise, I even put it on toast with cream cheese. It keeps for a long time, but you can also freeze it in jars and take them out when you need them. You’re probably thinking chilli paste is a task to make, but it’s not, it is quick and easy and adds life to everything. I don’t expect you to go off to Thailand to buy chillies, just go to your local market and haggle a bit. At least you will be able to understand the price.

Chilli Facts

• The hottest part of the chilli is the white pith that holds the seeds.

• There are over 400 different varieties of chillies grown.

• Chillies have high levels of both vitamin A and C.

• Capsaicin, a chemical found in chillies, helps to speed up your metabolism.

Chilli Paste

This is the minimum amount of chilli paste you can make but if you can get more chillies at a good price just keep multiplying the recipe. If you get the tiny Thai chillies, don’t bother de-seeding them, it would take far too long and if you are using them you want a hot chilli paste. If you want a milder chilli paste use larger chillies and remove the seeds and pith.

Hot chilli paste Mild chilli paste

40 small chillies 20 large chillies (remove seeds and pith)

1 small-medium onion 1 small-medium onion

8 cloves of garlic 8 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoons brown sugar 2 teaspoons brown sugar

Olive oil Olive oil

Chop the chillies

Chop the onion

Chop the garlic

Completely cover the bottom of a large saucepan with olive oil. Then sweat all the ingredients on a gentle heat till they are completely soft; be careful not to burn them. When they are all soft, add them to a blender and blitz whilst adding olive oil until it is the consistency of a paste. Take out and put in sterilised jars (jars heated in oven and lids boiled in boiling water), top with a layer of olive oil and put the lid on when they have cooled down.

Chilli Pesto

This is another useful item to keep in your refrigerator, especially if you live a hurried lifestyle during the week. When I am too busy to cook, I simply put some spaghetti on and when it’s cooked add 4 teaspoons chilli pesto, 12 chopped olives and a handful of rocket. This is a healthy meal in just 8 minutes and it keeps your energy levels up for the rest of the day.

100g basil leaves

25g pine nuts, fried in a dry pan until golden brown

1 clove garlic, chopped

1-teaspoon chilli paste

50g grated Parmesan cheese

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Add basil, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan and chilli paste to a blender; blend while slowly adding olive oil. When the pesto stops soaking up the oil, stop and season to taste. Put in sterilised jars, as explained above.

Thai Beef Salad

Serves 4 as starter

I came across this in a restaurant in Bangkok and I was so disappointed when it was finished that I ordered another one for dessert. When I got back home all I could think of was going back to Thailand to eat this again and unable to wait that long, I created my own version of the dish.

2 (8oz/225g) sirloin steaks

125g baby salad leaves

1 handful mint, coriander and basil (optional)

1 handful bean sprouts

1 red pepper, quartered and sliced

1 red onion, halved and sliced

Marinade

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped

Zest and juice of 1 lime

1-teaspoon fish sauce

3 tablespoons soy sauce

Dressing

Zest and juice of 1 lime

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1-teaspoon fish sauce

½ teaspoon chilli paste

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1-tablespoon olive oil

Season steaks with black pepper, rub with olive oil and fry in a hot pan for 2 ½ minutes on either side. Once cooked put on a plate and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Whilst the steaks are resting, mix up all the ingredients for the marinade. Once rested put them in the marinade for 15 minutes, turning and spooning over marinade occasionally.

Now mix all the ingredients together for the dressing and put the remaining salad ingredients in a large bowl. When the steaks have been in the marinade for 15 minutes take them out and carve into thin slices, then put back in the marinade for 1 minute.