00:00I have been actually cooking with my mum since I was little in my childhood.
00:08Oh my god, I wasn't expecting that. That was scary.
00:11Hi, my name's Hallie Alton and I'm a food and drink writer for National World. I do plenty
00:16of reviews and I know what I'm talking about when it comes to good quality food. However,
00:21I actually cannot cook myself. Come with me on my journey as I discover my way around a kitchen.
00:27Today we are making a prawn Thai green curry. I absolutely love Thai food and if I'm going to
00:36a Thai restaurant or a Thai takeaway I will always get a king prawn Thai green curry. So I thought I
00:42would make it at home for the very first time. What I've got today is a bit of a cheat of the
00:48system like I've been doing this whole time. I've got Thai green curry ready-made sauce,
00:54three packets of prawns. There's going to be plenty of prawns in this and two packets of
01:00microwavable jasmine rice. Now I will say I do feel like I am cheating because it would be much more
01:07interesting if I could make the sauce myself but I do think that's well beyond my means.
01:12So I've decided to do this the easy way but it's still quite an achievement for me because as I say
01:17I've only been using the kitchen and the oven while I've been doing this show so actually putting
01:23this all together it'll still be quite an achievement. I had a little bit of an issue
01:27though when it came to gathering the ingredients. Now as someone who doesn't cook, gathering ingredients
01:31is not something I ever have to worry about. I just go to the ready meal section and get one and it's all
01:37perfectly packaged in one place. So when I went to get these there was actually no prawns left and I
01:43really wanted to make this a prawn Thai green curry as that's what I eat. So I had to do a last minute
01:48dash to the shops to pick up some prawns and if there was no prawns I would have probably had to
01:53choose a different meat but that would have just totally ruined my whole plan. So yeah I realise now
01:59that it isn't just about cooking it is about making sure you've got all the right ingredients and I
02:04think as well if you're making the sauce yourself that would be even more difficult because obviously
02:08there's so much stuff that goes into that. I'm going to kind of follow the same steps that I did with
02:12the chicken tikka masala is it's pretty much the same. You've got your pre-made sauce, you've got
02:16your meat and then you have your microwavable rice. Obviously as well I don't have to cook these prawns
02:21because they are ready to eat so I will just have to heat them up in the pan and I think this one is
02:26actually going to be the most simple. On a previous episode you saw me cooking a lasagna for the first
02:32time and the verdict was that yeah it was all right. I have an update for you, it was actually terrible
02:38because we only had a little bit and once I'd left it to one side and then reheated it in the microwave
02:44for people to eat for dinner that night I realised quite how bad it was. I don't know if it was because
02:48of the reheating situation but I don't because I've had reheated lasagna before. This was disgusting.
02:55It was really hard on the bottom so the lasagna sheets were rock solid and there certainly wasn't
03:01enough sauce. In fact once you'd reheated it and it dried out a little bit it was just mint and it
03:06wasn't great and those who chose to eat this with me agreed that it wasn't very nice. So I think I've
03:13got a few more things to do before I can make a lasagna for the whole family and somebody recommended
03:19as well getting fresh lasagna sheets because that means that it's less likely for them to go hard.
03:25So just an update. I am going to pop the prawns in just to heat them up and then I'm going to pop
03:31the sauce in as well. I did buy two sauces instead of one as well because I've learned from a mistake
03:37even though it's a completely different dish from lasagna that the more sauce the better.
03:42Do I need all of these prawns though? That is the question.
03:49Oh my god I wasn't expecting that. That was scary. I think as well a lot of my apprehension towards
03:57cooking is based on fear like I'm so scared that I'm going to
04:04set the house on fire or give everyone food poisoning like it's a lot of pressure.
04:10Also I did actually not set my house on fire but when I lived at home with my mom
04:15I left a tea towel on the hob when I was trying to cook pasta and it went on fire so
04:20that just that didn't help the situation and I've never used a hob since until this show.
04:29I actually think that's going to be more than enough prawns so I'm going to
04:33put this one back in the fridge. Seafood is my absolute favorite food ever. I love like Chinese,
04:43Thai and Japanese food because I do think that they incorporate like a lot of seafood into their food
04:48and yeah just delicious. I will just eat, I'm so happy actually that I had a pack of prawns left
04:52over because I will just eat them. They look really small and I'm also starting to think,
04:58did I need two sauces? I might even just do one and then I'll make this again someday.
05:06We'll see how we get on. Oh my god. I didn't expect that to splash all over me face.
05:12We'll see how we get on with this. Oh it looks so nice. I love Thai green curry. The best Thai meal
05:22I've had was at, it was an Asian fusion restaurant in South Shields that I used to work at and they
05:28did like loads of type of Asian food that just like combined it all and they used to do an unreal
05:33Thai green curry and I was just thinking about it funnily enough and I've realised something,
05:37it's not just the meat and the sauce. I've normally got like mushrooms and bamboo shoots in there,
05:43whatever they are. So this will be a very basic version. But I'm not a bamboo shoot kind of girl,
05:49I am just the meat and sauce so. So I've decided to stop that from cooking, turn the hob off.
05:56I looked at the jar and I said actually you only need to heat up the sauce for about three minutes
06:00and I definitely did longer than that. Also I didn't need to cook the prawns,
06:04so you know it was just a sense of heating them up. So I've taken that off the hob,
06:10I've popped the jasmine microwavable rice in the microwave for two minutes, that's done now as well.
06:16So let's get it out and let's have a taste. I'm just going to break it up a bit because it's very
06:22stuck together. But it is sticky anyway isn't it jasmine rice? I love it, it's my favourite kind of rice.
06:27That'll do. Actually I'm lying, I love an egg fried. I forgot how heavy this pan is. Another thing you
06:34need to cook strength. Well I think this looks delightful. Could this be my best dish yet?
06:42This looks so nice and it was so quick. I'm really excited. Right, it's all been put together,
06:49I'm really impressed. There's loads here, probably more than for one person but also I like a big portion
06:54and it looks nice so I'm going to give it a try. Oh my god I've just thought it's going to be really hot.
07:06Oh my god I love it. Oh that is so nice. That's what I want for tea every night.
07:15And also I'd be interested to try different pre-made sauces because I've used one particular brand
07:20that this is lovely but it doesn't taste like the one from the takeaway. I will say that but it is
07:26really nice. But the one from the takeaway I like when it's got a bit of spice in it and I like it a
07:32bit more coconutty than this which this doesn't have but it is still delicious and because it's going
07:36to be the same process I'll just try loads of different brands till I find my favourite. So behind
07:40that camera we have Graham who is here for a lot of guidance as well as filming but he's also great to
07:47ask to have a taste as I could be biased. Graham doesn't like prawns though do you Graham so
07:52come on over and have a taste. You don't like prawns do you? Yeah right not traditionally a fan of
07:59prawns but maybe I've just never given them enough of a go. Yeah maybe not. Because you get put off
08:04things when you're a kid don't you? Absolutely. And I was always convinced they had eyes still in them.
08:09I don't think they actually do. These ones don't. Right I'm gonna I'm getting a good helmin of prawn
08:16and the rice and the sauce. So that's like the complete package. Yeah I didn't do that. Oops.
08:22Oh see the prawns tried to get away. It's because. It's because you said it had eyes. Yeah it's because
08:28they're still hot for life. Right. Still hate the prawn or? That is nice. I think it is the texture
08:38of the prawn. Yeah. I'm not a big fan of. But if this was with chicken. Yeah. Would you like it? Yeah.
08:47And that in corporate. It's not like the worst thing in the world. I think it's delicious. Oh yeah I mean
08:52with the prawn but yeah. Oh yeah. Delicious in it and I do like Thai green curry so that's. Yes. Very nice.
08:57And quick. Yeah. A success there. Yeah 100 percent. Best thing I've cooked will cook it again.
09:03So you've just seen my efforts of trying to cook Thai food but now I've come to meet a real chef.
09:08I'm meeting Chef Ko who is the chef at Chao Praia. My favorite part about my job is definitely is
09:15cooking in the kitchen. Yeah. When I cook in the kitchen it's like I'm in my own world with my own
09:22people and you know trying to do what I love and present my best to the guests. When it comes to
09:29cooking I know it's not everybody's cup of tea but actually it's not that difficult. Well first thing
09:38is you just need to have a passion and then it is very important that when you you know what you
09:47want to cook and you want to have basically and the ingredients is very important the the good quality
09:58of ingredients is the best and also the preparation is the key. I have been actually cooking with my mom
10:08since I was little in my childhood. How do you feel about people who choose to cook Thai food at home who
10:16use pre-prepared sauces. How do you feel about that? Chili paste or sauces and stuff if you have
10:23time to do that that's great but if you if you are not having enough time to do that that's fine
10:29because nowadays we've got so many premium ingredients and and products from Thailand imported to the UK
10:36unlike in the past where those products are very difficult to to find and using ready-made product
10:46isn't bad in my opinion because you know for foreigners sometimes it may be difficult to understand
10:54the the true nature or the authenticity of the Thai food the taste how it should taste like I mean
11:03authentically but yeah in that kind of that kind of products could somehow help in for preparation
11:12What year did the first Thai food restaurant open in London? 1928 1950 or 1967?
11:22Erm... 1967. Yes. Where does Thai cuisine rank in UK Google search statistics? Fourth, fifth or sixth?
11:33In what order do these cuisines rank ahead of Thai food in those statistics? Italian number one,
11:48Indian and Chinese, Indian, Chinese, Italian, Indian, Italian, Chinese. Ooh I think it's C, Indian,
11:54Italian, Chinese. Yay! Gordon Ramsay once made a quick and easy version of Pad Thai on Channel 4's show,
12:01the F word. What were the first words of Blue Elephant Executive Chef Chang upon tasting it?
12:06Why do I feel like I've seen this? I've never eaten Pad Thai so poorly prepared,
12:10this Pad Thai makes me feel ill, this is not Pad Thai at all. I think it was C, this is not Pad Thai at all.
12:17Yeah! In 2023 a Burger King branch in Bangkok hit the headlines when it introduced which variation to
12:24its menu. A burger patty made from a combination of chicken and noodles, a cheeseburger that was all
12:30cheese and no meat at all, or Salmon Katsu nuggets in a wrap. Ooh I'm so torn between A and C. But if it's
12:36Salmon Katsu nuggets, which I think it is, I want to try them. I'm going to go with C.
12:43What? No way! I would also have that.
12:46What does Thai culinary consist of? A knife and fork, a fork and spoon, or chopsticks?
12:54I think it's chopsticks, but I think that's also wrong. But I'm going to, it's not chopsticks is it?
13:01It could be fork and spoon. I'm going to say chopsticks, but I think it's wrong.
13:06Oh my god, yeah, fork and spoon. Should have trusted that gut instinct.
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