Singha Beer Cookalong with Andy Oliver Review
Last Tuesday I joined Singha Beer for an authentic Thai cookalong class with Andy Oliver, MasterChef finalist and Head Chef of London’s acclaimed restaurant, Som Saa. We were welcomed with a choice of two Singha Beer Cocktails. The one I choose was a delicious rum cocktail concoction.
After these were finished we were taken into the heart of Cactus Kitchens and introduced to the man himself, Andy Oliver. He had prepared the first cooking demonstration of three and we then split up into pairs. At our cooking stations the ingredients for our first dish, Som Tam (Green Papaya Salad). It was quite fun using the Mortar and Pestle to mix the ingredients. Unfortunately i added way too much chilli so it was a bit too hot for me. Still tasted yummy though.
After the first dish was completed, Andy went through another two cooking demonstrations fro Seafood Stir-Fry and Red Curry With Grilled Beef & Thai Aubergines. We learned all about kitchen prep, why using fresh ingredients is important and how Thai food is not as intimidating to make as I first thought.
After finishing cooking we took the food we had prepared and sat down to eat together. All while enjoying a delicious can of Singha Beer. I was never much of a beer drinker before, but Singha beer have definitely converted me to the beverage.
The Red Curry With Grilled Beef & Thai Aubergines was definitely my favourite so I’ve included the recipe for all you lovely readers. Andy and Singha say ‘this recipe is full of the pungent flavours that make Thai cuisine so unique. The spicy red curry, combined with fragrant kaffir lime leaves brings the textures of the beef and aubergine together perfectly’.
Ingredients
For the Beef
Rump or Sirloin steak 300-350g
1 tbsp of fish sauce
A pinch of caster sugar
- For the curry
80g of good quality red curry paste
200ml of thick coconut milk
50ml of coconut oil
2 tbsp of palm sugar
2-3 tbsp of fish sauce
150ml of mild flavoured chicken stock
4-5 fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves, roughly torn
1 lemongrass stalk cut in half, one think slicke of galangal
1 long red or green chilli, sliced at an angle
2 tbsp of Thai pea aubergines
2 Thai apple aubergines, each sliced into 4 pieces
1 generous handful of Thai basil leaves
(for the vegetarian alternative replace beef with 160g of tofu and use soy sauce instead of fish sauce)
Method
- For the Beef
Cooking the beef
Rub the meat with the fish sauce
Sprinkle with the caster sugar
pre heat a BBQ or griddle pan to pretty hot
grill the steak for 1-2 minutes to get a good char on the outside but remove it when still rare to medium rare.
Set aside to rest for a least 5 minutes before slicing into bite sized chunks against the grain.
- For the Curry
skim the thickest 50ml from the top of your coconut milk and add it to a pan with the coconut oil
turn the heat to medium-high and allow the cream to boil become oily and reduce for a minute
turn the heat to medium-low and add the curry paste
fry the curry paste slowly in the oily cream for around 5 minutes, until darkened and aromatic and the oil rises to the surface.
add in your palm sugar and stir in to melt
cook for another minute before adding the fish sauce and torn lime leaves
cook for 30 more seconds before adding the stock, remaining coconut milk, pea and apple aubergines.
Lightly bruise the lemongrass and galangal and add them to the pot too.
Simmer this gently for 4-5 minutes.
Taste: it should be balanced – aromatic, slightly sweet and salty. Finish by stirring in the sliced beef, the cut long chilli and the picked Thai basil leaves.
Turn off the heat and serve.
It was such a fun evening but now it’s time to go make some delicious Thai cuisine yourself.
Website: www.singhabeer.com
Address:
Cactus Kitchens
1 St Luke’s Ave
London
SW4 7LG
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SinghaBeerUK
Written by Tegan LeBon
