Simply Thai's Panang beef with son in law eggs recipe

By Grazor

Thai restaurant Simply Thai served this impressive beef recipe in the semi finals of the F Word. If you're feeling adventurous, have a go at recreating the dish, or if you're just curious as to what son in law eggs are, read on!

Ingredients

• For the Panang curry paste:
• Ingredients
• 400 g beef sirloin, trimmed and thinly sliced into pieces 1-2 inches long, sealed in hot oil, leave to cool
• 3 tbsp Panang curry paste
• 100 ml sunflower oil
• 600 ml coconut cream
• 250 ml coconut milk
• 1 ½ tbsp palm sugar
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• Handful of Thai sweet basil
• 8 dried long red chillies, chopped and soaked in water
• 1 tsp of chopped coriander roots
• 1 tbsp chopped galangal
• 1 tbsp chopped lemongrass
• 2 tbsp chopped red shallot
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic
• ½ tsp of ground roasted cumin seed
• 1 tsp of roasted coriander seed
• Pinch of cracked black peppercorn
• ¼ nutmeg, coarsely pounded and roasted
• For the coconut rice:
• 200 g Thai jasmine rice
• 110 ml coconut milk
• For the son in law eggs (caramelised quail eggs):
• 8 quail eggs hardboiled and peeled
• 3 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp of palm sugar
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp of finely chopped shallots, deep fried
• For the cucumber and pomelo salad:
• 1 small cucumber
• 2 tbsp pomelo, peeled, segmented and flaked
• 3 red shallots, sliced
• 1 tbsp dried salted shrimp flakes (if available)
• For the lime and coriander dressing:
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp rapeseed oil
• 1 long red chilli finely sliced
• Handful of coriander leaves
• For the garnish:
• Coriander leaves for garnish
• Handful of Thai sweet basil
• 1 long red chilli, finely sliced

Preparation

Step 1

Method: How to make traditional Panang beef with son in law eggs and cucumber and pomelo salad

1. To make the curry paste, use a pestle and mortar to pound one or two ingredients at a time. Follow the sequence in which the ingredients are listed and grind until the mixture becomes a fine paste.

2. Bring the 250ml of coconut milk to a gentle boil and remove from the heat then add the thinly sliced sealed beef.

3. In another pan heat some sunflower oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add 3 tablespoons of curry paste and fry until fragrant. Add 400ml coconut cream and leave to simmer and reduce until the sauce is almost dry. Remove the beef from the coconut milk and add to the curry sauce. Season with the sugars and fish sauce and adjust seasoning if needed. Add the remaining 200ml of coconut cream and basil. Transfer to a warm serving dish and garnish with sliced red chilli.

4. For the coconut rice, wash the rice gently but thoroughly until the water runs clear and drain in a fine sieve. Place the washed rice in a large saucepan. Mix the coconut milk and coconut cream together and pour over the rice. Cover and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a minimum and leave the rice to cook for 10-15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

5. To assemble the salad, wash the cucumber, top and tail, cut into quarters, remove the seeds in the middle and slice finely on an angle. Mix the cucumber, pomelo pieces and sliced shallots together. Combine all the ingredients for the lime and coriander dressing leaving half the red chilli and half the coriander to one side. Mix the dressing through the salad and finish by scattering with the shrimp flakes, remaining coriander and chilli.

6. For the son in law eggs, slice each hard boiled quail’s egg in half. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the eggs for one minute on each side then transfer to serving dish. Melt the sugars in a small dry pan then add fish sauce over medium heat for one minute. Pour the caramel coloured mixture over the eggs. Garnish with deep fried shallots.

7. Serve the curry in a warm bowl with the coconut rice, salad and eggs on the side.