"Lahb Gai" (Spicy Chicken Salad)
Lahb Gai is a popular Thai salad dish that originated from the eastern part of Thailand, or E-Sarn Province. E-Sarn food is typically spicy and full of robust flavor. This particular dish can be eaten alone or with rice. It is traditionally served with sticky rice, typical of E-Sarn food.
Ingredients:
2 pounds ground chicken
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup of sliced green onions
1/2 cup of sliced red onions
1/2 cup of shredded mint leaves
4 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup grounded roasted-rice (see below)
1-teaspoon green pepper (sliced)
Ground dry red chili
Directions:
Heat the chicken stock in a medium sized pot, and then add in the ground chicken. Cook for a few minutes until the chicken is done. Drain and allow the chicken to cool down, then add in the lemon juice, green and red onions, and mint leaves. Add in the fish sauce, and stir. At this point, you may add in more lemon juice if it suits your taste. I recommend adding in about 2 tablespoons of dried red chili, but you may use more or less than the recommended amount. The last step is to add in the roasted rice. This dish is typically garnished with a 1/4 head of lettuce and cilantro and green beans (these items are all optional)
Stir the chicken in the hot pan until it is almost done. Then mix the chicken with fish sauce and then add lemon juice; add green onion, red onion, pepper, and mint leaves; add fish sauce or lemon
juice to taste. Add the roasted rice powder. Taste it one more time and add either fish sauce or chili to suit your taste. Eat with rice or sticky rice. Look for some crunchy vegetables like lettuce or napa cabbage to eat it with.
Roasted Rice
Set your burner to the highest setting, and add in one cup of rice. Keep stirring until the rice becomes brown and color. It will almost achieve a burnt look. Then grind it using either a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle.
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"Som Tum" (Papaya Salad)
This particular dish is from the northeastern part of Thailand (E-san). Combined with barbecue chicken, and sticky rice, it makes a perfect meal!
Ingredients:
1 fresh green papaya
5 Thai chilies (prik kee noo)
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 medium sized tomatoes, sliced thinly
1/2 cup green beans cut into one inch lengths
2 teaspoons of fish sauce
1 quart cup of tamarind juice
Preparation:
Peel the skin off of the papaya, then use a cheese grater to shred the papaya. The seeds are not used! After you have finished, sprinkle some salt onto the shredded papaya, and let stand for 30 minutes
Directions:
Now you will need a mortar and pestle. (You can use a regular mixing bowl, but you just don't get the right effect.) Combine all of the ingredients except for the tomato into the mortar bowl and mix thoroughly. Then add the tomato and briefly mix (do not pulverize the tomato into liquid- you want it to be kinda' "bruised")
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"Yum Hoi Mang Pu" - Thai Mussel Salad
Yum is Thai for "Spicy Salad" (roughly translated). Yum usually consists of a type of meat or seafood, and basically fish sauce, lemon juice and chili. This particular variation is prepared with mussel meat. Thai people usually eat yum-type dishes as an appetizer or snack. But it is not uncommon to have Yum as a part of your main meal.
This recipe serves four.
Ingredients:
1 cup mussel meat. (You can buy mussel meat or mussels on the half-shell- but mussel meat is far easier to work with.)
2 tablespoons fresh lemongrass, finely sliced lengthwise and in one inch strips
1/4 cup finely sliced shallots
10 Prick Kee Noo (Thai chilies) (Use flat side of a knife to flatten them so that their seeds break through the skin.)
1 head of lettuce (for the garnish)
Hand full of fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Preparation:
1. Clean your mussels, and rinse them in water.
2. Using a small pot, bring some water to a boil, and add in the mussels. Boil them for a few minutes until done.
3. Strain the mussels, and put them aside.
4. Remove the water from the pot, and then add in all of the other items, followed by the mussels, and stir.
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"Yum Talay" - Seafood Salad
It says salad, but note that most Thai salads don't have a lot of vegetables!
This particular dish is easy to prepare and can be served as either an appetizer, or as part of the main course. It is normally prepared spicy, however you may feel the need to decrease the amount of chili that you use during preparation.
Ingredients:
1/2 pound of shrimp
4 imitation crab meat sticks, sliced into 1/4" chunks
2 oz. squid, cut into bite sized pieces
2 tablespoons of lime juice
1 tablespoon dry red chili, ground
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon palm sugar (or substitute regular sugar)
1 teaspoon shrimp paste (Ka-pi)
1 teaspoon very finely sliced jalapenos
1 shallot, sliced thin
2 lime leaves, sliced thin
2 tablespoons onion, chopped
Directions:
Add the fish sauce, lime juice, red chili, palm sugar, and shrimp paste into a small saucepan, bring to a simmer. Add in the seafood and jalapenos. Cook for about 2 minutes, or until the seafood is cooked through. Remove from the heat, and add in the lime leaves, shallots, and onions.
Serve at room temperature.