From Odd-Job Kid to Head Chef Lin Chen-Wei: Fundamentals Matter Most

Chef Lin Chen-wei, newly recognized with this year's Golden Hat Award

In recent years he has also brought the Japanese culinary emphasis on "freshness" into Thai cuisine. Lin Chen-wei says local ingredients are fresh and of good quality, and above all one should choose unprocessed ingredients. He also specially demonstrates a "coconut milk mussels" dish: just 20 easy minutes and the family dining table can transform into a Thai vacation beach.

20 minutes turns the dining table into a Thai vacation beach

Lin Chen-wei specially demonstrates for readers how to easily make Thai cuisine with Taiwan ingredients - "coconut-scented mussels" has simple ingredients, and the cooking process takes only 20 minutes, so the family dining table can transform into a Thai vacation beach.

Lin Chen-wei says that before cooking you must first prepare 1/4 onion, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 4 tablespoons coconut milk, 3 small tomatoes cut into chunks, 4 shrimp and 10 Matsu mussels. Because mussels grow in seawater, "so the seaweed and debris on the outside of the shells must first be scrubbed clean."

After the ingredients are prepared, first pour oil into a wok, saute the minced garlic and onion until fragrant, then add in order the diced tomato, fresh shrimp and Matsu mussels. While stir-frying, you can add a little salt, sugar and black pepper for seasoning, and add coconut milk and 5 tablespoons of water so the shrimp and shellfish can be heated evenly; you can also briefly cover with a lid so the shellfish are thoroughly cooked.

Wait until the shells open and the fresh shrimp turn red, and after stirring the broth evenly, sprinkle on a little cilantro and it is ready to serve. Because mussels themselves are salty, you can further reduce the use of salt according to personal taste.

(This article is funded by the Jianzhen Environmental Education Foundation for personnel expenses, but it does not interfere at all with news topic selection or reporting and writing, ensuring journalistic independence.)