Tom Yum Poached Chilean Sea bass

This is one of the ways I have combined one of my favorite soups (Tom Yum) with one of my favorite fish (Chilean Sea Bass) The concept is pretty simple - first you make the soup and then you slowly poach the fish until it's cooked through. Because I was making three dishes at the time I was making this one, I opted to make a very quick Tom Yum soup with easy ingredients.

Ingredients:

Chilean Sea Bass (4 ounce cut)
1 stalk lemongrass
2 inch piece of galangal thinly sliced
1 quart chick stock
4-6 kaffir lime leaves
4-6 Thai chili peppers (roughly chopped) or 2 tablespoon Nam Prik Pao (Thai chili paste consisting of fried garlic, shallots, chili peppers, and shrimp paste)
2-3 tablespoon tamarind powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3-5 tablespoon fish sauce
1 can straw mushrooms
3-4 Roma tomatoes (quartered)


Directions:

Add chicken stock, lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves in stock pot on high heat and bring to a boil. Once the ingredients have come to a boil, reduce the heat down to medium low and add salt, tamarind powder, chili peppers or nam prik pao, fish sauce, tomatoes and mushrooms. Adjust the tartness by adding or reducing the amount of tamarind powder. You can also adjust the spiciness by adding or reducing the chili peppers or nam prik pao. I suggest that you add half the amount listed above for both ingredients first and then add more later to please your palette.

This is the base of all Tom Yum soups, so if you decide to add shrimp, chicken, tofu, etc. this is the time to add it. Your final step is to reduce the soup down to a simmer and place the fish in the soup. Depending on the size of the fish it shouldn't take longer then 6-10 minutes for the fish to fully cook in the soup.

Yam Neua (Thai Beef Salad)

Normally you would see this beef salad tossed with all the vegetables to incorporate the meat and the sauce. However, I prefer to eat this as an appetizer and have displayed it as such in the above picture. I don't go to Thai restaurants very often but when I do, this is one of my favorite dishes. The thinly sliced beef and pungent vegetables pair perfectly with the spicy sesame vinaigrette.

Steak Ingredients:

1 pound beef (skirt steak, rump roast, or sirloin)
2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon lemongrass (finely ground)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients above and let the beef marinate for at least 2 hours. You then have different choices of cooking methods; obviously grilling is preferred but if you live in an apartment like me, using the broiler in the oven isn't a bad option. You'll want to cook the beef to your desired doneness (rare, medium-rare, medium, etc.) I would recommend to not cook this cut of meat well done; as this will definitely dry out and become tough to chew and eat. Unfortunately, it’s hard to determine the time to cook the beef since the cut and thickness of the beef may be different. When the meat is at your desired doneness; let the meat rest for at least 5-10 minutes before cutting - as all the juices will run out if you cut the meat without resting. To cut: slice the beef as thin as possible against the bias.

The best way to check for your desired doneness of the meat is with a thermometer. Here is the temperature range:

(Temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit)
Rare 120 - 125
Medium-Rare 130 - 135
Medium 140 - 145
Medium-Well 150 - 155
Well Done 160 - above

Spicy Sesame Vinaigrette Ingredients:

2 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
2 tablespoon palm sugar
2 tablespoon sesame oil
4 Thai chili peppers (finely chopped)
2 garlic cloves

Sauce Directions:

Combine the lime juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, and palm sugar and mix well. Next, slowly drizzle the sesame oil into the mixture while whisking. Lastly, mix in the chili peppers and garlic.

Salad Ingredients:

5-7 green leaf lettuce leaves (roughly chopped)
1/2 white onion (thinly sliced)
1/2 red onion (thinly sliced)
1 tomato (thinly sliced)
1/2 cucumber (halved and thinly sliced)
1 scallion (roughly chopped)
8-10 sprigs cilantro (roughly chopped).
2 jalapenos (thinly sliced)
Handful Vietnamese coriander (just the leaves)

Plating:

Add the salad mixture to the bottom of your serving vessel (plate, bowl, etc.) and place the thin slices of beef on top of the salad. Now drizzle the dressing on top of the beef. This dish can be served warm or cold. However, if you are serving warm, try not to place the hot beef on top of the salad as this will wilt the vegetables.

Balut, Khai Luk, Hột Vịt Lộn (Steamed Fertilized Egg)

This item has many name and you can call it whatever you want; most people would probably call it disgusting. However, these eggs are a delicacy to some and an everyday item for others. All I know is that I woke up this morning and had a craving for it. Everyone knows that Sunday is normally my lazy day; where I don't leave my place at all, but in order to satisfy my craving I had to pay a visit to the local Asian market. After searching for a few minutes and not being able to locate these eggs, I reluctantly asked the Asian lady behind the counter. I asked for the duck eggs and she responded by telling me that she had some but they were too far in development and that she didn't want to sell them to me. But, she said she had the chicken eggs available and guaranteed me that they were just as good and if not, even better. Most people would eat these eggs plain. But I love wrap it in various Asian herbs and dip it in jeow som (see previous posting for Laotian Chimichurri).

Ingredients:

Dozen fertilized chicken/duck eggs

2 whole scallions (roughly chopped)

10-12 sprigs cilantro

10-12 sprigs fish mint

Handful sawtooth herb

Handful Vietnamese coriander

Laotian Chimichurri (Jeow Som)

Directions:

Steam the eggs for approximately 12-15 minutes. Crack the egg open on the larger side carefully. You'll want to keep all the juices in the egg so you can slurp it. Trust me, the juice inside is very flavorful. Then, crack open the rest of the egg and discard the hard white part - it has no taste and has a very rubbery consistency. You can eat the yellow (yolk) part and the young chick/duckling at the same time. I like to savor mine and divide the two and eat them one at a time. I like to shred all of the herbs and veggies on top of each portion and drizzle some sauce on top of that.

If your afraid or disgusted by this dish, you shouldn't be. As I stated before, this is a common everyday dish in other cultures plus it tastes good.

Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa (Jeow Mak Len)

I've been asked by several of my friends to cook and post this, so here it is. Normally, this would be part of an ordinary lunch for Laotians. All you need see some sin lot/sin savanh (beef jerky) and some sticky rice to go doing with it. I've also paired this sauce with tamales to give it an extra kick. With the right equipment this can be made very easily.

Ingredients:

1 pint cherry tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
4 Thai chili peppers
10 sprigs cilantro (roughly chopped)
2 scallions (thinly sliced)
Juice of half a lime
3-4 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

Fold a piece of foil that's about a foot long at the edges about 2 inches on each side to create a box. Place the tomatoes, chili peppers, and garlic on three foil. Set you oven to broil with the rack on the second highest level from the top. Place the foil containing the ingredients on the rack and let it roast for about 4-5 minutes or until the contents begin to char. Remove the chili peppers and garlic and rotate the tomatoes to where the charred side is now in the bottom. Roast for another 4-5 minutes and remove from oven. Fold and enclose contents in foil and let it steam for another 5 minutes. If you have a torch, open the foil and begin torching the tomatoes for extra charredness.

In a mortar and pestle, add the toasted chili peppers and garlic along with the salt and begin mashing into a paste. Add tomatoes along with any juice that is remaining in the foil. Begin mashing into a paste. Now add the lime juice and fish sauce. You may want to add a little bit of each at a time and taste, adjust your tartness by adding more lime juice and saltiness with more fish sauce. Once you get the taste that pleases your palette, add cilantro and scallions.

This salsa is very versatile and here are few suggestions of how to use it.

-Dip with sticky rice
-On top of steamed jasmin rice
-As a sauce with tamales
-Toasted bruschetta
-Tortilla chips

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Pork Belly Stew (Thom Kem/Thit Kho)

Nothing reminds me more of my mom's cooking than this dish, this is true Southeast Asian comfort food. The pork belly itself pretty much melts in your mouth before you can even swallow it and the egg yolks just asks you to slurp down the the sweet and savory broth. After dieting last weekend by eating nothing but lettuce wraps for 5 days, I surpassed my goal of losing 7 pounds by an extra pound, I felt like I deserved a gift. No one should ever try to figure out how unhealthy this dish is, instead just save it for one special guilty pleasure day like myself, we all deserve one every so often.

Ingredients:

1-1.5 pound pork belly (cut into 2-3 inch pieces)

7 eggs (boiled and peeled)

8 tablespoon fish sauce

4 tablespoon oyster sauce

6 tablespoon sugar

4-6 garlic cloves (minced)

1 large shallot (minced)

3 inch piece galangal root (1/4 slices)

5 whole star anise pods

1 can bamboo shoot (thinly sliced)

6 cups of water

Directions:

In a large stock pot or dutch oven, caramelize the sugar on medium high heat. Then add garlic and shallots until they are candied. Add water and all other ingredients immediately. Cover the pot and continue cooking for 2-3 hours on medium low heat. Serve over Jasmin rice and allow rice to soak the broth a bit and enjoy this sweet and savory dish.

Sin Dahd (Korean Style Barbeque) with a Trio of Sauces

This dish always brings back good memories. When I was teaching and traveling throughout Laos I couldn't wait to get back to Vientiane just so that I could hangout with family and head out to the restaurant Poisan and enjoy a night of eating and drinking. This restaurant is known for their Sin Dahd or Korean style barbecue. They serve it with an assortment of vegetables and your choice of protein (pork, beef, chicken, shrimp, etc.). What was unique was the dome shaped griddle that was heated with hot coals, I truly believe that once the fat drips and singes the coals the aroma it creates is incomparable.

Unfortunately, I live in an apartment and I don't have the dome shape griddle to mimic this experience. Here in the States we tend to just use a regular non-stick flat top griddle. Many of you who have had this during a family gathering know all too much about the electric griddle. I'm probably not alone when experiencing the power outages and blackouts this creates at home, especially when you have two or more griddles cooking at the same time.

For dinner last night I went with simple and very basic Sin Dat. The vegetables included red leaf lettuce, cilantro, scallions, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, chili peppers, and garlic. For the protein I opted for pork and lamb, both thinly sliced for quick cooking. I prepared a trio of sauces for dipping that included tamarind infused chili soybean, sweet and sour soy, and savory and spicy pineapple.

Wrapping Ingredients:

1 head red leaf lettuce (or any lettuce of your choice)

1 package rice paper (from wrapping)

Several sprigs of cilantro,

2 scallions (roughly chopped)

10-15 cherry tomatoes (halved)

1 large onion (quartered and thinly sliced)

1/2 cucumber (julienne cut)

5 chili peppers (thinly sliced)

4 garlic cloves (minced)

1 pound pork butt w/skin (it's actually the shoulder, paper thin slices)

1 pound lamb arm (thinly sliced)

Directions:

You'll want to separate the skin from the pork butt where the fat meets the actual meat. Save the skin and fat pieces, you'll be using this to cook you meat in. Set your griddle to 275 degrees and add your skin and fat pieces. Once the oil starts releasing from the fat start adding your proteins and onions. Cooking until done and being wrapping with your favorite ingredients and dip in your favorite sauce.

Tamarind Infused Chili Soybean Sauce:

4 tablespoon chili soybean paste

2 tablespoon granulated sugar

4 tablespoon tamarind paste (reconstituted)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients well and set aside for dipping. Because the chili soybean paste is fermented it has a very salty taste so use this sauce sparingly.

Sweet and Sour Soy Sauce:

1 large shallot (minced)

4 garlic cloves (minced)

1/2 tablespoon canola oil

1/4 cup light soy sauce

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

4 tablespoon tamarind paste (reconstituted)

Directions:

Add oil, shallots, and garlic to a sauce pan on medium high heat. Saute until shallots are transparent. Add soy sauce, sugar, and tamarind paste to the same sauce pan. Mix all ingredients in the sauce pan well and set aside. You can either serve the sauce as is or you can opt to puree the mixture for a smoother and more well rounded taste.  Add thinly sliced chili peppers and garlic for that extra kick.

Savory and Spicy Pineapple Sauce:

1 1/2 cup fresh pineapple (1-2 inch chunks)

1 large shallot (thinly sliced)

3 garlic cloves (roughly chopped)

2 Thai chili peppers

4-5 tablespoon fish sauce

Directions:

Add pineapples to a saute pan on medium high heat. Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until pineapple starts to caramelize. Then add shallots, garlic, and chili peppers to the saute pan. Continue cooking all ingredients for about 3-5 minutes. Add the entire contents of the saute pan into a blender and puree. Add fish sauce for the added salty taste.

Cabbage Wrap (Panh Mieng)

My mom was in town this past weekend and she brought me some healthy goodies, tons of fresh veggies straight from her garden that consisted of fresh Thai chili peppers, basil, eggplants, lemongrass, rice patty herbs, Vietnamese coriander and also brought me a refill of pa dak (homemade fish sauce).

Last week I had some health issues causing the doctor to prescribe me a regimen of steroids. The medication caused some weight gain, so this week, I'm back on my wrap diet since this is an ultra low carbohydrate diet with minimal protein. Normally, the diet consists of lettuce but since I haven't had the cabbage wrap in years, I thought I would change things up a little bit (still the same concept, however).  Eating like this helped me lose 25 pounds in a 4 week period; thankfully I'm only looking to drop 7 pounds this week.

By now, everyone should know how to wrap things. If not, it's pretty simple, it is just putting your favorite ingredients on a base - this case it's cabbage - wrapping it up without over filling and enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 head of cabbage (quartered)
2 scallions (sliced)
Several sprigs of cilantro (roughly chopped)
5 chili peppers (sliced)
3 inch piece ginger (julienne cut)
1 stalk lemongrass (thinly sliced on bias)
10 cherry tomatoes (halved)
1/2 lime (cut into tiny 1/4 squares, with peel on)
1 bag pork rinds
5 Thai eggplants (quartered)
1 shallot (sliced)
1 handful vermicelli (cooked)
1/4 homemade fish sauce
4 tilapia filets (or 1 whole fish)
4 garlic cloves (thinly sliced)

Cooking the fish:

First, you'll need to lightly batter the fish with rice flour (all purpose flour is too dense for this application) so that the fish doesn't fall apart in the deep fryer.  You will then deep fry the fish in canola oil that has been preheated to 350° for about 4-5 minutes. Once the fish has completed frying, place on a towel to drain and cool.

A different and healthier alternative to cooking the fish is simply putting the whole fish (skin on) in a preheated 375° oven for approximately for about 15 minutes or until fish is crispy on the outside.

Dipping sauce:

The dipping sauce is basically a homemade fish sauce (using the whole amount listed above), chili peppers (half the amount listed above), and garlic (half the amount listed above). You can also add tamarind paste  for extra tartness or sugar for added sweetness; of course add these according to your taste.  Beware: this sauce is super potent so use it sparingly. If you don't have homemade fish sauce you can also try using the bottled unfiltered fish sauce from the store or contact me if you need some homemade fish sauce.

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Lemongrass Brisket with Laotian Chimichurri and Spicy Bitter Fish Sauce

This dish is the most common dish prepared when you attend a Laotian barbecue. Growing up, our parents never took us to any barbecue restaurants so we weren't familiar with the slow smoked style that we're familiar with now. Quite honestly, I'm not sure of why we chose the brisket cut of meat. Maybe because it was cheap and fed a lot of people or maybe because of its fat content that bares its true flavor once grilled. Many Americans would probably shun the way we cook the brisket. They prefer the low and slow method and we grill it just like any other cut of meat. I know one thing, no one has ever complained once they've tasted it.

The two sauces I prepared are the most commonly used with this dish. The Laotian "chimichurri" for lack of a better description contains garlic, chili peppers, ginger, scallions, and cilantro. Because it lacks oil, I'm not sure you can really call it a chimichurri, but it's close enough for my comfort. For my baker friend who came to dinner last night, this sauce is for you. The second sauce I prepared is not for the faint of heart or stomach. It's a combination of unfiltered homemade fish sauce, bottled fish sauce, and beef bile. Yes I know, gross right. Well it's definitely an acquired taste but you'll love it if you like the incomparable bitterness that makes one lost for words trying to describe it.

Of course, no Laotian meal is complete without sticky rice. It's been brought to my attention that just because you have the equipment and the correct grain of rice doesn't mean you actually no how to cook it. To my former roommate, I told you to pay attention when I cook instead of just watching television the whole time.

Brisket ingredients:

10 pounds brisket (cut into 10 inch steak pieces along the grain)
3 stalks lemongrass (pureed)
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/4 tablespoon kosher salt
6 tablespoon hoisin sauce
6 tablespoon oyster sauce
4 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar

Directions:

Marinate your brisket for at least 3-4 hours if possible, overnight is even better. Set your oven to broil and place the rack on the upper middle section. Cook the brisket on a baking sheet layered with aluminum foil. Cook for 10 minutes on each side for medium rare or to your preferred temperature. Let it rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing.

Chimichurri ingredients:

10 Thai chili peppers
1/2 cup ginger (loosely packed)
4 garlic cloves
Juice of 3 limes (approximately 1/2 cup)
8 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup cilantro (loosely packed, roughly chopped)
1/8 cup scallions (loosely packed, finely chopped

Directions:

In a mortar and pestle, combine garlic, chili peppers, ginger, and salt. Mash into a paste and then add all other ingredients and mix well. Add more lime juice or fish sauce to adjust tartness or saltiness.


Bitter fish sauce ingredients:

3 tablespoon unfiltered fish sauce
6 tablespoon bottled fish sauce
Juice of 2 limes (a little more than 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon dried crush Thai chili peppers (more or less depending on how spicy you want it to be)
2 teaspoon edible beef bile
1/8 cup cilantro (loosely packed, roughly chopped)
1/8 cup scallions (loosely packed, finely chopped)

Directions:

Combine the two fish sauces and mix well. Then add lime juice and edible beef bile. Incorporate all wet ingredients well before adding dry ingredients.

Sticky rice:

2 cups Glutinous/Sticky rice
Enough water to cover rice plus a few extra inches above (the rice will absorb some water)

Directions:

Rinse the rice thoroughly, approximately 3-4 times in cool running water. Then soak the rice in a large bowl for at least 2-3 hours or until the grains look completely translucent. You're also going to need some special equipment to cook sticky rice. These are cheap but may be hard to find (contact me if you need help finding it). You're going to need a concave boiler and an open face bamboo steamer (I'll post pics up later). Add enough water in the boiler (approximately 3-5 inches deep) and bring to a boil on high heat. Add rice from bowl to bamboo steamer and set in concave boiler. Cover the top of the steamer and cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, you'll want to get a wooden spatula and stir the rice around so that it cooks thoroughly from the inside out. Cook for another 8-10 minutes and then stir the rice again to release some of the steam. Remove rice and place in bamboo basket or a similar device to keep warm.

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Chicken en Papillote

Initially, I was just going to stir fry the chicken but I thought I would showcase another method of cooking. This dish is also call "mok gai" in Laotian cuisine. It is made by using an "en papillote" technique is which basically cooking your food by wrapping it in paper, leaves, foil, etc. I chose to steam the chicken so I chose foil since I forgot to get the banana leaves from my sister's house. This was served with a refreshing papaya salad (no not the super spicy Laotian style).

Ingredients:

3 chicken thighs (bone removed and discarded, meat sliced into 1/2 inch cuts)
1 pound Thai eggplants
1 cup fresh shiitake mushrooms (stems removed and discarded, tops sliced 1/4 inch)
1 cup fresh Thai basil (tightly packed)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon fish sauce
5 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 kaffir lime leaf per package
4 garlic cloves (minced)
1 shallot (thinly sliced)
4 Thai chili peppers (roughly chopped)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients except kaffir lime leaves in a large bowl and set aside to let it marinade for at least 10 minutes. Tear off a piece of foil paper about a foot long. Add about a cup of the chicken mixture to the bottom end of the foil and place 1 kaffir lime leaf on top. Starting from the bottom lift and fold the foil to cover the mixture. Then fold the sides in and continue folding the foil upwards to the top end of the foil. You're going to want to make sure it has a good seal so that all the juices stay in tack during steaming.

You are also going to need a steamer to complete cooking this dish. On high heat bring the water to a boil. Place each package in the steamer basket and cover. Cook for about 30 minutes.

To serve simply cut the top of the package diagonally from both ends (X marks the spot!). Open from the center and enjoy.

Serve with a bowl of steamed rice or a handful of sticky rice. As I mentioned earlier, I also served this dish with a refreshing papaya salad (See previous entry on making this).

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Spicy Shrimp Salad (Lahb Goong)

Traditionally lahb is made of different varieties of protein such as chicken, beef, fish, pork, and shrimp. For the most part the vegetables and herbs remain the same. The key herb that makes the dish is mint (pak hom lahb). For this dish I've added fresh dill, which I believe is a perfect compliment to the shrimp. Also, many people will make this with raw shrimp but since I don't live near the coast and I don't know how fresh it really is, I've decided to quickly saute the shrimp instead. This is one of my favorite lahb dishes and also my friends from New York. To my friend in New York, I hope your wife will make this for you.

Ingredients:

1 pound peeled shrimp (roughly chopped)
2 scallions (thinly sliced)
1/4 cilantro (loosely packed)
1/4 mint leaves (loosely packed)
8-10 kaffir lime leaves (chiffonade cut)
1/4 dill (roughly chopped)
1 large shallot (thinly sliced)
6 fresh Thai chili peppers (thinly sliced)
3 teaspoon roasted rice powder
1 teaspoon dried crushed chili peppers
Juice of 1 1/2 lime (more or less, depending on how tart you like it)
3 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

Quickly saute shrimp in canola oil on medium high heat. Try not to over cook the shrimp. Strain all the liquid and let the shrimp cool down. Toss all the shrimp in a mixing bowl and add all other ingredients and continue tossing until everything is mixed thoroughly.

Normally this dish is served with sticky rice and accompaniments of lettuce, cucumbers, and just about any other type of vegetables and herbs. If you have fresh bean sprouts don't forget to toss that into the salad as well, it'll give the dish a refreshing crunchy texture.

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Braised Short Rib Rice Crepes

This dish always reminds me of my Vietnamese step-grandmother. When she used to own a restaurant my brother and I would always get a large plate of banh cuon. Of course she made it with more of the traditional ingredients such as ground pork, wood ear mushrooms, and onions. I would never turn down a plate of this; when made the traditional way. But me being me, I felt like I had to change it up a bit. Instead of ground pork, I used braised short ribs, marinated the same way with fish sauce, salt and pepper. I replaced the wood ear mushrooms with fresh shiitake mushrooms and the onions with shallots. For the crepe, however, I kept it very traditional, rice flour and tapioca starch, cooked on a non-stick pan since I don't have the traditional cloth steamer.

Short rib ingredients:

1 pound boneless short ribs
1 garlic clove (finely diced)
1 large shallot (thinly sliced)
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup shiitake mushrooms (stems removed, caps thinly sliced)

Directions:

Once again I went with the pressure cooker to save some time. You should too if you have one. Sear the meat on all sides thoroughly, and then add shallots and garlic. Wait for about a minute or two then add the chicken stock and mushrooms. Cook under high pressure for 35-40 minutes. Release the pressure and begin shredding meat with a fork. Strain the mushrooms from the liquid and add the mushrooms to the shredded meat, mix well and set aside.

Rice flour crepe ingredients:

7 ounces (1 1/4 cup) tapioca starch
8 ounces (1 1/2 cup) rice flour
6 cups water
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Combine all ingredients well (make sure you mix before pouring onto pan). Now comes the tricky part. I actually failed about 5 times before I got the method and temperature right. If anyone out there the would like to sponsor me with a new non-stick pan, I would be more than grateful. Lightly coat the pan with oil and preheat on medium high heat (about 3 minutes) then add crepe mixture with a ladle and swirl pan around, cover for about 30 seconds and then cook for another 30 seconds. You'll want to flip the crepe on to a lightly oiled plate (good luck with this too, you'll want to flip hard and fast).

Apply a small spoonful of the meat on the crepe and begin folding. Keep on doing this until either the filling or crepe batter is gone. Serve with accompaniments and the same sauce you would use for egg rolls (nuoc mam/jeow som van).

Accompaniments:

Blanched bean sprouts
Cilantro
Scallions
Fried crispy shallots
Pork meatloaf (cha lua/yaw)
Cucumbers

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Fried Tilapia with Asian Herb Papaya Salad

Finally, back from Houston where the dim sum was amazing and the traffic sucks. Earlier today I was craving seafood, particularly Dungeness crab, but apparently they're not in season yet. After pacing back and forth in the seafood section, I opted for a fresh, live tilapia. I think what I was really craving for was the spicy chili and ginger sauce that pairs perfectly with either the crab or the fish. The fresh herb salad was the perfect side dish.

Tilapia ingredients:

1 whole tilapia (scales removed and cleaned)
1 quart canola oil for frying
1/4 cup rice flour (to dust the fish)
Handful of rice patty herb
Handful of thinly sliced lemongrass (on bias)

Directions:

Preheat the oil to 350°. Cut 3 - 4 slits on the fish on both sides. Lightly coat the fish on both sides and gently place in the hot oil. Cook 5-7 minutes on both sides. Let fish rest on paper towels after frying to cool off and the residual oil on drain a bit.

Spicy chili, ginger sauce:

10 Thai chili peppers
3 garlic cloves
5-6 inch piece of garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoon fish sauce
Juice of 2-3 limes

Directions:

In a mortar and pestle combine chili peppers, garlic, ginger and salt. Pound into a paste. Add lime juice and fish sauce.

Finishing up:

Place the fish on a bed of rice patty herb and liberally add sauce on top of fish.

Asian herb salad:

1 cup fresh green papaya (shredded)
2 carrots (thinly sliced or shredded)
6 sprigs fish mint herb
6 sawtooth herb (roughly chopped)
1/4 jicama (julienne cut)
6 sprigs Vietnamese coriander
1 tablespoon crushed peanuts
1/4 nuoc mam (same sauce as the egg roll doing dipping sauce)
1 jalapeno (thinly sliced lengthwise)

Directions:

In a large bowl combine all ingredients except for peanuts and toss well. Let the veggies and herbs soak in the sauce before plating (3-5 minutes). Add peanuts as the finishing touch. You can add more fish sauce or lime juice to the salad if you prefer.

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Sour Soup "Canh Chua"

This is just a very basic version of this refreshing dish. I was very limited in ingredients while making this dish but no need to worry I'll tell you what other goodies you can add to this dish. After a long labor day weekend I'm still too lazy to go to the grocery store. Thanks to Tropical Storm Hermine and the constant downpour I'm definitely not heading to the store today. Actually, it doesn't make any sense to do so since I'll be heading out of town again this weekend. I did manage to purchase a fresh whole pineapple the last time I was at the market though. Every time I'm getting ready to carve up a pineapple it always reminds me of my mother since she's the one who taught me how to properly spiral cut a whole pineapple. I'm willing to past that on to anyone who cares to learn.

Ingredients:

5 cups water
1 cube Knorr chicken bouillon
1 tablespoon tamarind powder
1 fresh jalapeno (sliced)
1 cup fresh pineapples (cubed)
2 small Roma tomatoes (quartered)
8-10 shrimp (shell on)
1 cup roughly chopped cabbage


Directions:

Bring water to a boil in a stock pot and then add chicken bouillon and tamarind powder. Reduce heat to medium low and add all other ingredients except for the shrimp (add the shrimp 3-5 minutes prior to serving to prevent over cooking).

Optional/alternative ingredients:

Fresh okra (I normally always have okra in my soup) thickly sliced on bias
Rice patty herb "Ngo Om"
Elephant ear stalks "Bac Ha" peeled and cut into 3 inch french fry shapes
Catfish (peeled and chopped into 3-4 steaks)

Bonus:

If you're reading this post and would like a free 1 year subscription to Bon Appetit magazine let me know. The first person that responds will win this prize. You can respond in the comments section, thanks!

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Papaya Salad (Tham Mak Hoong)

This is obviously a party size papaya salad, but I'll do my best to help you make a regular portion of this dish.
As I said yesterday, this was requested for my friend's birthday party (I think the Vietnamese people enjoy this dish a lot more than Laotians do these days, maybe we just take it for granted because we grew up eating this stuff). The hardest part about making a party platter is the transportation of it to the party. I never realized how many hills and ungulations there were in Austin (especially on one road) until I had to transport this. Everyone knows you DO NOT want to spill this in your car. Someone must have been watching over me (maybe the Papaya Salad Gods) because not even a drop spilled in my truck while transporting this tray.

This dish may require some extra tools such as a clay mortar and wooden pestle (I'll post a pic later). If you don't have this I can tell you where to pick up a set. I've also seen people use gloves (or even zip lock bags) and a large mixing bowl.

Ingredients (for average portion):

1/2 lbs (or two handfuls) shredded green papaya
3-4 garlic cloves
3-4 Thai chili peppers (less or more depending on how much heat you can handle, my aunt would put 20!)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon crab paste (you can leave this out, but I love the extra salty kick it gives)
1 teaspoon shrimp paste (again, you can leave this out as well, some people can handle the odor)
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
4-7 tablespoon fish sauce
6-8 cherry tomatoes (halved or quartered)
1 lime
2-3 Thai eggplants (you can leave this out if you can't find it, but I love the extra crunchy texture it gives the salad) thick slices

Directions:

Preparing the green papaya:

First you'll need to peel the papaya of course, then give it a quick rinse and pat dry with a towel (this will help it from slipping out of your hands). I shred my papaya the old fashion way (doing it this way gives it a better overall texture and a slight crunch factor) by using only a sharp knife and then chopping down at the papaya creating 1/8 inch slits and rotating the papaya until the whole surface has an abundance of slits on it. Then with your knife angled ever so slightly (1-2 degrees) you'll want to thinly slice those slits away until you have a clear surface again, repeat until you get down to the core of the papaya. This may sound difficult (and to some it really it is) but with enough practice you'll get the hang of it and if you cut too big of a chunk out, don't worry about it, just cut that chunk into thin slices. For those of you who think you really can't do it, you can use a mandolin set a the 2nd lowest level or even and julienne hand slicer (Kiwi brand makes one and shame on you if you're Laotian and use this) to create thin slices.

Directions on preparing papaya salad:

In a mortar and pestle combine garlic, chili peppers, and salt. Mash ingredients well to create a paste, then add crab paste and shrimp paste and continue making a paste of all these ingredients. Once paste is done, add papaya, tomatoes, 1/2 of lime juice, sugar, fish sauce and eggplants. Continue mashing all ingredients in the mortar and pestle until the color consistency is uniform (you'll see it turn a darker color). Give it a taste and you can adjust the saltiness or tartness by adding more fish sauce or lime juice. You're papaya salad should be somewhat juicy (my mom used to tell me that if you're papaya salad is dry, it means that you're stingy) from the tomatoes, lime juice, and fish sauce.

Hint: Keep a little bit of the shredded papaya on the side just in case it is to salty for you, by adding more papaya it'll help drown out some of the salty taste.

Once you're satisfied with overall taste you can start devouring this addictive treat. I like to eat my with accompaniments such as water spinach, cabbage, vermicelli noodles, and even more Thai egg plants. Oh and remember that juice from the salad? Don't let that go to waste, pour some on steamed rice or get your sticky rice and start dipping.

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Lahb Gai (Laotian Minced Chicken Salad)

I still don't understand why when you go to any Thai/Laotian restaurant they call this "larb", the mispronunciation of this word by everyone drives me nuts. So I'm spelling it more like how it sounds "lahb". This is probably the most classic dish in Lao cuisine and every one and anyone who knows a Laotian or Thai person has probably had different variations of this dish.

Side note:

I was having a late night dinner in downtown Austin so my friends and I went to Thai Passion since they opened up late. We ordered several dishes including their "Larb Gai" yes...that's how they spelled it there too. When it came out, you could barely notice what type of meat/protein they used for the dish. In all my times I've had this dish I don't think I've ever seen anyone use a blender to process the meat. Needless to say, that's very nontraditional and it takes away from the texture needed in this dish. My mom would've laughed and returned the dish as soon as she saw it (actually, she probably would've gone back to the kitchen to show them how to use a clever or a knife to minced the meat correctly). Anyway, I'm not saying stay away from this restaurant, but if you're looking for something more traditional and authentic, definitely don't order this dish there.

Lahb Gai (minced chicken salad):

Ingredients:

8 kaffir lime leaves

1 medium shallot

Mint leaves

1 large scallion

Cilantro

1-2 fresh chili pepper

2 limes

6 tablespoon fish sauce

1/2 tablespoon dried crushed chili pepper

1 tablespoon roasted rice powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 chicken breast, skin on

1 chicken quarter

6-8 chicken gizzards

6-8 chicken hearts

3-4 chicken liver

Directions:

Cut (chiffonade) the lime leaves and thinly slice the scallions, shallots and chili pepper. Rough chop the cilantro and set all vegetables aside.

Cut the gizzards, skin, hearts and liver into small thin pieces. Mince the rest of the chicken.

In saute pan begin to cook all of the chicken and chicken parts in medium high heat until done.

Drain fat from cook chicken meat and let cool for 5-10 minutes.

Start adding fish sauce, lime juice, rice powder, dried chili peppers and salt. Mix ingredients into chicken thoroughly. Then start adding 1 vegetable at a time and mix after each.

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