Gai sabb- spicy fried chicken salad.

           Today I just finished organizing my house.  I didn’t have to much time to cook and I wanted something spicy, so my menu today is made from ready to eat fried chicken from Wal-Mart but spice it up with this recipe “Gai Sabb” a very easy fix meal for my spicy craving.

            This recipe actually came from one of the KFC menus in Thailand.  They just developed it for their fried chicken for Thai peoples taste buds. First time I tried this dish was around 6-7 years ago and I like it.  They still have this dish on the menu. That probably means they got it right!!! So you try it and let me know what you think.

Ingredients

1 Fried chicken breast cut into bite size

½ cup slice half moon onion

1 lime juice

2 tbsp. soy sauce or fish sauce

2 tbsp. water

1 tsp. sugar

1 tbsp. chop mint

1 tsp. green onion

2 tsp. rice powder (see how to make it in Num tok blog)

1 tsp. dried Thai chili flack or cunjan chili (up to your hot level)  

Cooking  instructions

1.  In mixing bowl mix sugar, water, lime juice and soy sauce/fish sauce until sugar dissolves.

2.  Add fried chicken, onion, chili flack, rice powder, mint, green onion.  Toss them all until mixed well.

3.  Serve with rice and fresh vegetable like carrot or cabbage  

Spicy grilled steak or beef salad : Num Tok

         

             Num Tok is a northeastern Thailand food.  It means waterfall.  The name came from the juice of meat when it grills it drips onto charcoal hence like a waterfall.

Actually Spicy grilled steak or beef salad when we translate in Thai can mean two different dishes.  One in Thai is called yum-nuea which is grilled beef spicy salad with Thai eggplant and use fresh chili(I’ll tell you the recipe later), but the one I talking about Num Tok has one special ingredient that makes the dish different.  It is a rice powder.  The rice powder is very easy to make, just toast the rice and pound it to make it fine like powder.  I use the mortar for this.  If you don’t have one use a Ziplog bag and pound it until it is fine or use a blender for coffee that works also.

  Also, we use dried red chili to season it.  So be careful when you order it in a Thai restaurant and make sure you know which one you order (best way ask server).

Ingredients

1 pound top sirloin.

1-3 tsp. Dried ground Thai Chili (If you don’t like, because it’s too hot use chili flack)

2-3 shallots or ½ red onion, slice very thin (If you din't have red onion use white onion it's OK)

5 tbsp. fresh squeezed Lime juice

5 tbsp. fish sauce

3 tbsp. rice powder

½ cup mint leave

¼ cup thin slice green onion

Cooking Instructions

1.       Grill or broil the steak until medium-rare (about 5 minute per side).  Slice thin, into pieces approx. 2 inches across and 1/8 inch thick.

2.       Mix chili, fish sauce, lime juice, roasted rice in a medium bowl. Add the sliced meat and toss with the shallots, mints and green onion until it is mixed well

3.       Make a bed of the lettuce on a serving plate. Place the salad on top.

4.       Server with Carrot stick, cucumber and cabbage for garnish (and cool down the heat during eating it !!! )

Som Tum (Papaya Salad) Part 1 original recipe!!!

Papaya salad

This is the number one of E-sann(Northeatsen)food “Som-tom” (Papaya salad). We almost call this dish the nation’s food of Thailand. That’s because they have it to sell everywhere and everyone loves it!! The ingredients of Som Tum is young papaya, chili, sherry tomato, lime juice, fish sauce and different ingredients depend on what people tastes, but some add nut, sugar, shrimp we call Som Tum Thai.  Some add fermented rice pattern crab call Som Tom Poo. The top chart is Som Tom Pra-Rha. Pra-rha is fermented fish with rice salt, some people add garlic depending on the recipe. It smells very strong and even some Thai folk cannot handle it (one of them is my dad).  Also some people use carrot, cucumber, long bean or fruit like apple, grape instead of papaya.  They just call Som-tum first word and follow with that ingredient  Ex. Som-Tum Pon la Mai (Som Tum fruit salad). 

In this blog I started with the original Som Tum Thai Recipe and continued the next blog with modern Thai food style Som tum Thai recipe.  Later on (after you get to use Thai food more) I will add more Som Tum recipes for you one bit at a time.

Som Tum Thai : Original recipe

Ingredients

1 medium carrot chopped

Green Papaya Salad

1 hand full chopped green papaya

1 long bean cut into 1 inch.

2-3 cherry tomatoes cut in half

2-3 globes of garlic

1-1 ½ lime juice

1-2 tbsp. fish sauce

1-2 tsp. Sugar

3 tbsp. peanut

1-7 Thai chili (depends on your spicy level)

Mortar and pestle

Cooking Instructions :  Original recipe

Original Som tum has to use the tool that’s called “Krok and  Sahk” or mortar and pestle.  It’s the best way to make it, because it makes the ingredients mix well and Som-Tum juicy,  but if you don’t have one I have the way you can enjoy Som-tum without it in the next blog Som Tum Modern Thai Food style.

1.       In the mortar put garlic and Thai chili and pound with pestle together about 5-8 times

2.       Add 1 tbsp. peanut, 1 tbsp. dried shrimp  and long beans pound it 2-3 times until it brakes

3.       Add lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and mix it well

4.       Add carrot and green papaya, pound 2-3 times and tomatoes pound and mix it together.

5.       Pour Som-tum on serving plate, garnish with remaining peanut and dried shrimp.

Note : you can use carrot or cucumber instead of papaya.



And next time I will show you how to make Som Tum with out mortar and pastle.