I visit the Asian markets probably about twice a month. I often pick up green papaya for making som tam, maybe some dumplings, or siapao, and a couple of condiments. One of my favorite condiments is this Chinese fried red chili sauce. It’s basically a lot of red chili flakes, garlic, ginger, and fermented black beans that is slow cooked in a bunch of oil. It’s flipping amazing. I put it on everything, and I mean everything. It’s almost as addicting as Sriracha, but more mellow. It stores great as well which makes it even better. As I ran out, my buddy sent me a recipe that I tweaked ever so slightly, and it was just as good, if not better.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of Chinese black fermented beans
6 cloves garlic, grated into a paste
2 tbsp ginger, grated into a paste
1 cup red chili flakes
2 tbsp dark sesame oil
2 cups peanut oil
1 tbsp salt
Start by adding the fermented black beans, and any remaining garlic ends into a food processor. Pulse until it is nice and fine.
Add the oil to a saucepan on medium-low heat. Add in the ginger, garlic, and fermented beans, along with the red chili flakes. Give a good stir, and cook for about 30 minutes, making sure the oil mixture stays at about 225 degrees. Once cooked at that temperature for 25 minutes, remove from the heat and let cool.
Once cooled, stored in a sealed tight container.
Again, the sauce is awesome. It is perfect in every way. It’s not to spicy which is why it goes great with pretty much everything. I put it on my eggs in the morning, kebabs, rice, pasta, and well, you get the idea. Give this one a shot, I’m certain you will love it as much as I do.
I’ve told you before, but I will mention it again, I am a big fan of hard boiled eggs. They are so simple to make and provide a quick energy boost when you have a busy schedule. I have been hooked on the 8 minute eggs, but then again I am always thinking of other creative ideas such as these Son-in-Law eggs. If you have never heard of Son-in-Law eggs, don’t worry, that’s why I am here to tell you about them, and after you make them, you can thank me. Trust me, these are wickedly awesome.
I’m not too sure of the naming of this recipe, but it probably has something to do with having a man’s mother-in-law inflict a bit of fear into the man, that if you do not treat her daughter with respect and love, well, she will indeed inflect some fear into you and well, you probably get the point. But there is something beyond this, and something so amazing about the combination of flavor and texture that really makes this dish shine.
This is a perfect use of hard boiled eggs, and believe it or not, the eggs are deep fried. Yep, deep fried. Who would have thought?
The sauce has this great sourness and spice that when paired with the creamy deep fried egg and shallots, just blows ones mind. Again, trust me. You will probably want to use the sauce on things like fried chicken or fish. It’s awesome.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
3 whole eggs, cooked to your hard boil liking (I go with 8 minutes for a creamy, yet set yolk)
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp palm sugar (you could use light brown sugar as well)
4 tbsp tamarind sauce
1 clove garlic, grated
1 Thai chili pepper, smashed
1 pinch of chili flakes
3 cups of cooking oil for deep frying
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
Start by making your sauce.
Add the one tablespoon of cooking oil to a small pot. Bring to medium heat, then add in your garlic. Cook for about a minute, then toss in the fish sauce, palm sugar, tamarind, and chili pepper. Cook for a couple of minutes, then remove from the heat and set it to the side.
Peel your hard boiled eggs.
Heat another pot with the cooking oil on medium heat. After a few minutes, add in the thinly sliced shallots, and cook for about 5 minutes or so, until they are lightly browned and crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and set them on to some paper towel to drain.
Bring the oil back to about 350 degrees, then carefully add the peeled hard boiled eggs. Cook for about 8 minutes or so, until they are lightly browned. You can go longer if you want, but I always think they are going to explode. Once lightly browned, remove with the slotted spoon and let them drain on the paper towel, lightly patting.
Slice the eggs in half and add them to a serving plate. Shower the eggs with the fried shallots, then pour the sauce over the eggs. Shower with fresh cilantro and dig in. Feel free to serve with cooked jasmine rice if you desire.
Again, the flavor combination is out of this world. Thai food at it’s best in terms of texture, and flavor. Hope you enjoy!
I’m a huge fan of larb. Often referred to as laab, larb, laap, or lahp, it is a minced meat dish that can utilize chicken, pork, beef, or heck, even shrimp for all I know. The real key to larb is the combination of the ingredients that really make this dish shine. You get fresh herbs, toasted rice, and shallots, chilies, and lime that when brought together gets you wanting more, and more. Larb could possibly be one of my favorite dishes to eat along with Thai sticky rice. My kids are a big fans of larb as well, and when I make it for them, I typically leave out the fresh chilies and serve them on the side. This past week I made a fairly big batch of larb and had plenty of leftovers. That’s when it came to me, well it came to me as I was looking at the leftover larb and grated cheddar cheese in the refrigerator that I would make a larb quesadilla. It was awesome.
Get started by making your favorite larb.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp canola oil
1 lb of ground chicken
2 shallots, minced (approximately 3 tbsp)
1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves, chopped
1/3 cup of toasted rice powder
2-5 Thai chile peppers, minced
3 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp palm sugar, or regular sugar
1/2 cup roasted peanuts (optional)
1 whole lime, juiced
2 flour tortillas
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
Begin by adding the oil to a large skillet and warm it to a medium, high heat. Once the oil is heated, add the ground chicken and begin cooking until it is fully cooked. This is will take about 10 to 15 minutes.
During this time, prepare the remaining ingredients. If you have never toasted rice before, add about 1/2 cup of rice to a dry skillet. Bring it to medium heat, and give it a good shake about every 2-3 minutes. Your goal is to brown the rice, and once brown, add it to a coffee grinder to make into a course powder.
Once the chicken is fully cooked, make sure you break it all up with a wooden spoon as you do not want any clumps. Drain off any excess water from the chicken, then add the chicken to a mixing bowl.
Add in all of the remaining ingredients, and give it a good mix. If you are serving kids, I would suggest removing the chile peppers from this recipe, or divide the mixture before adding the chile peppers. I would recommend 1-2 chile peppers for the mild at heart, and 3-4 chile peppers for those that love the heat. Regardless if it is one chile or four, the balance is perfect.
To make the quesadilla, add a flour tortilla to the bottom of a skillet, and keep on medium heat.
Add 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese to the tortilla. Add about 1 cup of the larb on top of the cheese. Top with remaining cheese, and place the second tortilla on top. Lightly press. Cook for a few minutes, or until the tortilla lightly chars. You should be able to smell it, if not, lift with a spatula to check. Flip over, and cook on the remaining side, for another few minutes.
Remove, and slice, or eat whole, you’re call.
This larb quesadilla was was ridiculously good. It had everything you love in a classic quesadilla, but elevated with great Thai flavors. Give this one a shot, and let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy!
Begin by adding the oil to a large skillet and warm it to a medium, high heat. Once the oil is heated, add the ground chicken and begin cooking until it is fully cooked. This is will take about 10 to 15 minutes.
During this time, prepare the remaining ingredients. If you have never toasted rice before, add about ½ cup of rice to a dry skillet. Bring it to medium heat, and give it a good shake about every 2-3 minutes. Your goal is to brown the rice, and once brown, add it to a coffee grinder to make into a course powder.
Once the chicken is fully cooked, make sure you break it all up with a wooden spoon as you do not want any clumps. Drain off any excess water from the chicken, then add the chicken to a mixing bowl.
Add in all of the remaining ingredients, and give it a good mix. If you are serving kids, I would suggest removing the chile peppers from this recipe, or divide the mixture before adding the chile peppers. I would recommend 1-2 chile peppers for the mild at heart, and 3-4 chile peppers for those that love the heat. Regardless if it is one chile or four, the balance is perfect.
To make the quesadilla, add a flour tortilla to the bottom of a skillet, and keep on medium heat.
Add ½ cup of the cheddar cheese to the tortilla. Add about 1 cup of the larb on top of the cheese. Top with remaining cheese, and place the second tortilla on top. Lightly press. Cook for a few minutes, or until the tortilla lightly chars. You should be able to smell it, if not, lift with a spatula to check. Flip over, and cook on the remaining side, for another few minutes.
I am still a big fan of Sriracha. I think a lot of us are, especially ones that enjoy that bit of spice with their food. I put it on pretty much anything when I am in the mood. I think there was a big scare not too long ago as well with the idea that the Sriracha plant, Huy Fong, was going to shutdown. I was a bit skeptical as Huy Fong is a hot sauce giant, but I decided I would stock up on a couple of bottles, just in case. With that said, I was nearing the end of one of my bottles, one of many hot sauces I keep on my kitchen table’s lazy susan, and decided to use that and create Sriracha salt. Yes, Sriracha salt.
This salt is so good, and really easy to make. It is not spicy as is the salt, but it adds just this slight heat and vinegar to the salt, that makes it almost as addicting to the condiment itself.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
1 cup Kosher salt
2 tbsp Sriracha sauce
Parchment paper
That’s it. I said it was simple.
Add the salt to a container with a lid. Squirt in the Sriracha sauce. Tighten the lid, then shake, vigorously.
Pour the salt onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Make an even layer with the salt, then set on the counter for 24 hours. When ready, pour the salt into a container, and use as you would with regular kosher salt.
I’ve used this on ribs prior to smoking, omelets, and well pretty much everything. Give this one a shot, especially if you are getting ready to enter a fresh bottle of Sriracha sauce.
