Larb (Minced Meat Salad)

A Laotian/Thai minced-meat salad made with ground pork (or chicken), fish sauce, lime juice, toasted ground rice, and fresh herbs/vegetables.

I'm a big fan of Southeast Asian cuisine.  Mostly I've had Vietnamese and Thai food but, looking for something new to try, I searched for recipes online.  I found this recipe that sounded delicious and simple with easy to find ingredients.  I also saw a local cooking show where the chef made this dish and gave me more ideas on how to make it and what to serve with it.  Many of the recipes for larb use ground/minced chicken but you can also use pork, beef, or even fish.  It's easiest for me to pick up ground pork in Chinatown (and I prefer pork) so that's what I used.  This recipe has so much flavor I think any meat would be delicious or you could even try mushrooms (for a meatless version).

Like many Thai dishes, this is spicy, salty, sour, and sweet.  It is served with fresh vegetables, herbs, and sticky rice.  I like to pile the larb and rice onto lettuce leaves and eat it like that.  I made mine with fresh cilantro and green onions on the side as well as a shredded daikon, carrots, and cabbage slaw.  Then before eating I mixed it all together.  Mint is another herb that is commonly served with this dish.  In my opinion, you can use just about any fresh herbs and vegetables you like with this salad.  Once you have all the ingredients prepared it all cooks in no time and is a delicious, fresh, quick, and easy meal.

Larb

Ingredients:

1 pound ground pork
1/4 red onion (or 1 shallot), thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
*2 Tbsp toasted, ground rice
**1 tsp toasted, ground, dried Thai chilies (or you could use fresh or try Sriracha)
fresh herbs such as cilantro, green onions, and mint
**Daikon, carrot, and cabbage slaw
Crisp lettuce leaves

First prepare all of the side ingredients (those with *s).

* Toasted ground rice:  toast about 1/2 cup of sticky rice in a dry frying pan until it browns.  Remove it from the heat and grind it roughly with a mortar and pestle (or by pulsing in a blender).  Extra can be kept in a sealed container (like a spice jar).
**Toasted ground dried Thai chilies:  (I often buy extra Thai chilies and let them dry out) Place the dried chilies in a dry frying pan and toast them at medium heat until they start to brown and become brittle.  Crush the dried chilies with a mortar and pestle or in a blender (be careful of the chili powder/dust it will make you sneeze like crazy...I tied a bandanna over my nose and mouth).  Again store extra in a sealed container.
***Daikon, carrot, and cabbage slaw:  Shred one small daikon (about the size or a carrot), one carrot, and about 1/2 head of cabbage.  Mix it together with the juice of 1 lime and a dash of fish sauce.  Refrigerate in a sealed container.

In a large frying pan cook the pork until browned/ cooked through.  Pour out extra grease and add the onion cooking until soft.  Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar, toasted rice, and chilies.  Taste and adjust seasoning to suit your tastes.

Serve with fresh herbs, slaw, lettuce leaves, and sticky rice.  I put everything on the side so each person can mix it together how they like.  Sprinkle a little more toasted rice on top for added crunch.

Makes 4 servings.

Enjoy.

Linked to: 2 cup, Best of the Weekend, Snickerdoodle

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Chicken Green Curry

A spicy Thai green curry with chicken, veggies, and rice.

Green curry is one of my husband's favorite foods. It is the spiciest of the 3 Thai curries (red, yellow, and green) which is a big reason why he favors it. Green curry paste is mostly mashed Thai green chilies giving it a powerful heat.  This dish is not for those who can't tolerate spicy chilies. If you are able to get past the chili burn this curry has many delicious, complex, flavors common in Thai cuisine. It is sour, sweet, and savory with lime, shrimp paste, cilantro, and coconut milk. I've made green curry paste from scratch, which is pretty simple and an easy way to control the heat level (see my Tofu Thai Green Curry), but for a quicker dinner sometimes I use store bought paste. Another perk of Chinatown (but you may find it in the Asian section of many grocery stores...it's pretty popular)

Chicken Green Curry

Ingredients:

1-2 Tbsp oil

2 chicken breasts, cubed
2-4 cups vegetables (I like to keep a green theme: sugar snap peas, zucchini, green bell pepper,  broccoli...you get the idea)
2 Tbsp green curry paste (use less for less heat)

1 can coconut milk
Jalapeno, sliced
Thai basil
Lime wedges
Rice

In a large saute pan, cook the chicken pieces (medium heat) in some oil until cooked.  Remove and set aside.

Add more oil to the pan if necessary and then add the curry paste.  Stir it around the pan for a minute or two to slightly cook the curry paste then add the veggies.

Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a boil then lower heat to a simmer. Allow to simmer until vegetables are tender to your liking then stir in the chicken.  Taste for seasoning and add more lime juice or fish sauce to adjust the saltiness or lack there of and serve.

Makes 4-6 servings.  Serve with rice, jalapeno, lime, and basil.

Enjoy.

Linked to:  Whimsy Wednesday, Eat Create Party,  Freedom Fridays,. Best of the Weekend, Show Stopper Saturday, Shine a Spotlight Saturday, Saturday Night Fever, Random Recipe Roundup, Much Ado About Monday

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Lemongrass Chicken Stir Fry

Chicken pieces flavored with lemongrass and chilies then stir fried with vegetables and served with rice.

Wow, I know finally another chicken recipe.  If you haven't noticed I don't often cook chicken.  I have nothing against chicken, but I just don't love it as much as other proteins.  However, I found some chicken thighs on sale last time I went to the store and couldn't pass them by.  I have also been on a lemongrass kick lately so I thought I'd try lemongrass chicken (which I've seen on menus but never tried).

This lemongrass chicken turned out great.  Lemongrass is a very subtle flavor but it shined in this stir fry and chicken has a light enough flavor to let the lemongrass stand out.  The sauce adds just enough salty sweetness to balance the spiciness with out masking the lemongrass.  This made a wonderful dinner and had enough leftover for my husband to take to work for lunch.

Ingredients:

Marinade
1 Tbsp lemongrass, minced
2 Thai chilies, minced
1 Tbsp rice wine
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp lime juice
1 pound chicken, cut into strips

2-3 Tbsp lemongrass, minced
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 Tbsp ginger, minced
2 Thai chilies, minced (optional)
1 small onion
3-4 cups veggies (I used cauliflower, sugar snap peas, and julienned carrots)
2 Tbsp chicken broth

Sauce
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1/3 cup chicken broth
2 tsp lime juice
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 heaping tsp cornstarch

Mix together the marinade ingredients and pour over chicken in a seal-able bag. Massage the marinade into the chicken and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or over night.

Mix up the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Heat about 1 Tbsp oil in a large saute pan (or wok) over medium high heat.  Add the chicken and marinade and stir fry until chicken is just browned.  Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Add more oil to the pan if needed then stir fry the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and chilies until fragrant (it should take less than a minute).  Add the onions and cook until just soft then add the veggies and stir fry until tender (lightly season the veggies, most of the saltiness will come from the fish sauce in the sauce).  Since I added cauliflower and peas I poured in 2 Tbsp of chicken broth, covered and let it steam for a few minutes to help tenderize the veggies.

Add the chicken back to the pan, pour in the sauce and lower the heat.  Stir to mix and allow the sauce to thicken (you can add more chicken broth if needed) and finish cooking the chicken.  Remove from heat and serve with rice.

Makes 3-4 servings.  Enjoy.

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Sweet and Sour Beef Soup

Left over Beef and Pineapple Shish Kabobs turned into a soup with beef broth, coconut milk, and spices served over noodles.

I was looking to make a new meal from the left over shish kabobs.  My husband took some of the leftovers to work for his lunch and I don't like making him eat the same thing for lunch and dinner (as well as I had an idea I wanted to try).  So I turned the left overs into a soup.  The idea for this soup came from a combination of Vietnamese pho and Thai coconut curry.   This made a delicious soup that  was rich in flavor and I would not hesitate to make again.

Ingredients:

1 cup Thai basil leaves
1 Tbsp garlic
1 Tbsp ginger
1/4 cup shallots or red onion
2 Thai chillies
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 chunk of pineapple or 2 Tbsp juice
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp shrimp paste
1/4 cup coconut milk

4 cups beef broth
rest of can of coconut milk
about 3-4 cups leftover kabobs
thin bean thread noodles or rice noodles
cilantro and crushed peanuts for garnish

In a blender puree the first list of ingredients into a thin paste.  Pour the paste into a stock pot and turn to medium heat until puree begins to simmer.

Then add 4 cups of beef broth and allow to come to a gentle boil.

Reduce heat to low and add the leftover kabobs (cut into bite sized pieces if necessary) and the rest of the coconut milk.  Let cook until the leftovers are heated through and the soup is simmering.

Ladle the soup over uncooked noodles (the hot soup will soften the thin noodles) and top with cilantro and crushed peanuts.

Makes 4 servings, serve with salad or spring rolls (I made vegetable spring rolls with a peanut sauce for dipping, I will post that next time).  Enjoy.

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Tofu Thai Green Curry

The sweetness of coconut milk, the sourness of lime, and the saltiness of fish sauce. A Thai green curry made with tofu and vegetables.  Delicious.

Green curry is the spiciest of the Thai curries and my husband's favorite.  He doesn't even mind that I use tofu in it sometimes (and he actually enjoys it).  I like to try to make things from scratch as much as possible.  Since I live so close to Chinatown, I can find most of the ingredients to make my own green curry paste and it is awesome.  Another good thing about making it yourself is that you can adjust the spiciness to your own taste.  The curry paste I make is probably not authentic, I found the recipe on thaifood.about.com, but it is simple and tastes wonderfully fresh and is better than many restaurant versions.  I love this recipe and make it frequently.

Green Curry Paste

Ingredients:

Modified slightly from about.com Thai Green Curry
**Makes 1 serving, enough for 4 servings of Green Curry**

 
4-5 cloves garlic
2 jalapenos (or Thai green chillies)
2 shallots (about 1/4 cup)
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro (use the roots too if you can find them)
1/2 cup Thai basil
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp shrimp paste
2 Tbsp lime juice (2 limes)
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk

Puree all of the above ingredients together in a blender until smooth.  Pour into a container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Tofu Thai Green Curry

Ingredients:

the rest of the can of coconut milk
1-2 Tbsp lemon grass, minced
1 block tofu (12 oz), chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 hand full long green beans, 1 inch pieces

Heat a large skillet or wok over medium low heat.  Add a little oil, then all of the curry paste (it's not really paste like, there is enough liquid in it that it pours easily), lemon grass and the rest of the coconut milk.

Cover and allow mixture to come to a gentle boil then add the the tofu (I used deep fried tofu because I like the texture the best) and cover.

Reduce the temperature and let the tofu simmer in the sauce for a few minutes and then add the veggies.  Cover again and let simmer for 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.

Remove from heat and serve over rice with more cilantro, basil, lime, and jalapeno.  Makes 4 servings.

This meal is delicious.  The ingredient list is long, but it doesn't really take very long since most of the ingredients are being blended you could even make the sauce a day or two before you plan to make the curry.  This time did not turn out very spicy at all, I kept the seeds in one jalapeno and removed them from the other, next time I may use more jalapenos and keep the seeds in them all.  My husband (who likes a lot of spice) just loaded his with sliced, raw jalapenos as the garnish and he was happy.  Enjoy.

I made cocktails to  accompany the meal too.  I will post about this cocktail next time.

Linked to:  Retro Repin

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Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry

A healthy stir fry made with shrimp, vegetables, and lots of garlic.

I have been waiting to post this recipe.  It is one of my quick standby recipes that I have made many times and know it is delicious.  Once every thing is ready it cooks up in minutes and the only time consuming part is peeling the shrimp.  This can be made easier if you buy pre-shelled shrimp or shell the shrimp the night before and let them sit in the marinade overnight.

I have found it is easier to shell and de-vein shrimp using kitchen shears.  I take the headless shrimp and stick my shears into the center of the head side and cut a line down the middle of the back (where the vein is), then I can pull the vein out and peel the shrimp easily.  This is also a great method if you want to leave the shell on but remove the vein.

One thing I will add to my marinade in the future is about 1 tablespoon of oil.  I watched an episode of America's Test Kitchen and learned that garlic flavors are oil soluble so to bring out more flavor from the garlic in a marinade add some oil. (I tried this and it works-4/7/14)

(Updated with new pictures 4/7/14)

Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry

Ingredients:
recipe from about.com Thai food

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 head broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces
1 red onion, chopped
1 carrot, julliened
1/4 lb shredded bamboo shoots (about 1/2 cup


Marinade:

2 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2-4 Tbsp oyster sauce
4 Tbsp fresh lime juice (about 2 lime)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 red chillies, minced (more or less depending on your tastes)
1 head of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp dried shrimp, optional (I just added them because I have them and I could)
1 Tbsp canola oil and I added a splash of hot chili oil

Mix the marinade ingredients and pour over the shrimp in a resealable bag. Mix the shrimp and marinade well, then, refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients (the vegetables I used are just what I like and can get easily feel free to use anything you like or have on hand).

When ready, heat a large fry pan or wok over medium heat. When pan is hot, add vegetable oil (about 1 Tbsp) then the broccoli, onions, and carrot. Stirfry until vegetables are slightly tender (if the pan is hot enough this should only take a few minutes or less).  Next, mix in the bamboo shoots and finally the shrimp and their marinade sauce. Mix around until shrimp are pink and cooked. You may want to add up to 1/2 cup of water depending on how dry it looks and how much sauce you like. Once shrimp are cooked (should be very quick, just a few minutes), remove from heat. Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro or green onions. You may also serve with lime wedges, fresh jalapeno, and some Thai basil if you like.

Serves 4.

Enjoy.

Linked to:  Much Ado About Monday. Two Cup Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Brag About It, Whimsy Wednesday, Lou Lou Girls, Eat Create Party, Freedom Friday, Best of the Weekend, Show Stopper, Saturday Night Fever, See Ya in the Gumbo, Food on Fri


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Rice Noodle Stir Fry

This easy stir fry was made using leftovers and some Thai flavors.  It was quick and made with left over cabbage, carrots, and barbeque pork.  A very tasty last minute meal.

A few days ago, in China Town, I found brown rice noodles.  They were very thin and I have never tried brown rice noodles, so I picked them up.  Since I had them on hand I used them in this recipe.  They were very good and supposedly more nutritious than regular rice noodles.  The noodles only took a 5 minute soak in cool water before they were softened enough to add to the stir fry, so it was great not needing to boil any water, and it's fun to use something different.  Here is my recipe.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced ginger
1/2 head red cabbage, sliced
3 carrots, julienned
1/2 red onion, sliced
about 2 cups BBQ pork, chopped bite sized
1 Tbsp dried shrimp soaked in 1/4 cup water (optional)
1/2 package rice noodles, about 100 grams

Sauce:

1 Tbsp fish sauce
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 lime, juiced
2 Tbsp brown sugar
minced fresh or dried chilli to taste (optional)

As usual prepare everything and have it ready to go, when stir frying things move fast.  Begin to heat a 12 inch skillet, or wok over medium-medium high heat.  While pan is heating start the noodles soaking in a large bowl of tap water. When the pan is hot add about 1-2 Tbsp oil (I used veg.) and toss in the ginger and garlic. Cook while stirring for about 1 minute until it becomes fragrant then add the veggies.  Cook until vegetables begin to soften (a few minutes more) then add the drained, soaked noodles and shrimp and their soaking water (if using).  The noodles will have softened a little but will continue to soften in the stir fry.  Add the sauce and pork, at this point I added about 1/2 cup more water to help mix the noodles around.  When using noodles, I find it hard to separate them and get them mixed with the other ingredients.  So I used 2 forks to help pull the noodles apart and mix them with the other ingredients.  This is ready to serve when the liquid is mostly absorbed and the ingredients are mixed.  Makes 4 servings.

This turned out so delicious.  I love the basic Thai flavors of fish sauce and lime juice.  I did not have fresh ginger for this recipe but I remembered I had some frozen so I used that and it was perfectly fine.  The fish sauce and oyster sauce add great flavor, but I realize not everyone keeps them on hand.  You could use more soy sauce, or other flavored sauces, but if you like to make stir fries I encourage you to find some it adds such wonderful flavor.  This is very versatile, you can use any combination of vegetables you have on hand, or any meat, chicken or beef would be fine in this recipe.  You could also use tofu and make it vegetarian.  This is the joy of stir fries, they can use up just about any left over you have.  Be creative and enjoy.

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