Manfriend Spike mentioned that he wanted Thai food for dinner last night. So I naturally thought he wanted me/us to make Thai food. Since I was off from work first, I figured I'd do the cooking.
I have a well-stocked kitchen, with fish sauce, two kinds of soy sauce, coconut milk, etc. all on hand. I also have a Tom Kha soup kit in the freezer (see: Tom Kha soup so easy!).
Cooking Thai tonight? No problem. Oops I didn't have fresh galangal. Spike picked up a luscious knot of the stuff at Whole Foods.
So, I cooked beef satay with peanut sauce, coconut rice, and tom kha soup.
Here's the funny bit, he wanted to go OUT for Thai food, until I asked him to pick up galangal, he didn't know I was cooking Thai). LOL I didn't have to cook after all.
But I did.
Coconut rice
1 c Jasmine rice
1.5 cups coconut milk (or one can)
1/3 cup fresh basil chiffonade.
Rinse rice. Bring coconut milk to a boil. Add rice, return to boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove from the heat for 10 minutes. Stir in basil and serve immediately.
Beef Satay
(liberally adapted from About.com, Darlene Schmidt)
1/2 - 2/3 pound skirt steak
1 stalk lemongrass chopped and broken up with the side of the knife
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Thai chilies, finely chopped (seeds and all)
1 sq inch galangal, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp coriander seed
1 Tbsp cumin seed
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp peanut oil
2 Tbsp sugar
Wooden skewers, soaked in water
Use a food mill or mortal and pestle to grind the coriander and cumin seeds. Combine all ingredients, mix well.
Cut the beef into strips. Place in marinade and marinate for 30 minutes to 2 hours. I had mine in for about an hour and the flavors were lovely.
Skewer the beef and grill to desired doneness.
Peanut Sauce
(again, liberally adapted from a recipe by Darlene Schmidt on About.com)
1/2 cup creamy (unsalted, unsweetened) peanut butter
2 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp turbinado sugar
1 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Thai chilies, finely chopped (seeds and all)
2 Tbsp coconut milk
juice of 1/2 lime (about 1.5 tspns)
Combine all ingredients. The dipping sauce I made was more 'spread' than 'dip' but the flavors were right on and it had a lovely sheen. Really delish.
So now if someone want to go out to eat something, they have to say, "Hey, let's go out for Thai food tonight."
Happy eating and stay dry*
* It's pouring in Portland.
