This is a fun twist on the classic curried chicken salad. It’s brighter and lighter with the apples and lime juice, and more flavorful with the lemongrass in the curry. The chilies in the curry also adds a nice kick! Increase or decrease the amount of curry to adjust the spice. This salad can also be served in sandwiches. Try substituting tuna for a “pescatarian” version.

Green Curry Chicken Salad

½ roasted chicken
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Thai Green Curry Paste
1 Lime, Juiced
1 tablespoon fish sauce
¼ cup green onion, chopped
1 head Romaine lettuce

Remove skin from chicken and then meat from bones. Shred meat, discarding skin and bones.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, green curry paste, lime juice, and fish sauce.

Mix in shredded chicken, chopped apple and green onion.

Chill and serve on a bed of Romaine or Bib lettuce.

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Categories:	Meat & Poultry • Salads • Thai	1 Comment
Tags:	chicken salad • curry • Food • foodista • green curry • salad

Do you ever have a craving for something, but you just can’t seem to put your taste bud on it? Not sure if you want something salty, sweet, sour or spicy? Maybe you want it all! If so, then I have just the thing to satiate your desires: mieng kum.

Whenever I go to a Thai restaurant I look for mieng kum on the menu, usually listed as an appetizer. To people who have never had this delicious dish I describe it as “a taste explosion in your mouth.” It has about every flavor, thus awakening any part of your tongue that has been neglected. If your tongue could grab pom-poms, do back flips and sing a cheer, this would be the dish it would root for.

You take a leaf and put a little of the following in it:

ginger (fragrant and sweet with a kick of spiciness),
shallots (aromatic and spicy),
Thai chilies (to give you that fire heat),
dried shrimp (adding the perfect amount of salty-fishiness, but in a good way!),
peanuts (a salty, earthy taste to balance with the sweetness),
lime (citrus adds the perfect amount of sour),
toasted coconut (giving it that sweet, tropical flavor),
top it with a sweet and savory sauce,
fold it up and pop it in your mouth…

POW!!!!

The perfect dish to satisfy all of your taste buds.

Mieng Kum

Any edible leaf can be used. Usually it is served in betel leaves, beautiful shiny dark green leaves, but they can be difficult to find. Check your local Asian market. When we can’t find betel leaves we use large spinach leaves.

Filling:

5 tablespoons grated coconut, toasted
3 tablespoons finely diced shallots
3 tablespoons diced lime, with the rind on
3 tablespoons diced ginger
3 tablespoons small dried shrimp
3 tablespoons unsalted roasted peanuts
2 tablespoons diced Thai chilies

Sauce:

1 tablespoon shrimp paste
1/2 tablespoon sliced galangal
1/2 tablespoon sliced shallots
2 tablespoons grated coconut
3 tablespoons chopped unsalted peanuts
2 tablespoons chopped dried shrimp
1 teaspoon sliced ginger
1 cup chopped palm sugar
2 1/2 cups water

Roast the shrimp paste, galangal and shallots in a small skillet until fragrant. Set aside and let cool. Once cooled toss into a food processor with the coconut, peanuts, shrimp and ginger, and blend. Transfer mixture to a saucepan and add the sugar and water. Mix well and bring to a boil. Simmer until it is reduced to about 1 cup, then let it cool.

Place all the ingredients in little individual bowls or in separate piles on dinnerware. Take a leaf and place a bit of each ingredient in the center, top with the sauce, fold it up and pop it in your mouth!

Recipe courtesy of The Food of Thailand: Authentic Recipes from the Golden Kingdom.

Note: if the sauce is too ambitious for you, or you are unable to find some of the ingredients, simply make a sweet/savory sauce with what you have in your pantry. We’ve made concoctions with Major Grey’s chutney mixed with a bit of fish sauce and a dash of Sriracha. Use your culinary creativity!

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Categories:	Asian • Cooking tips • Thai	5 Comments
Tags:	appetizer • Food • foodista • mieng kum • snack • Thai

There was an interesting AP article today about insects as food, titled: “Researchers say bugs could ease famine.” It chronicles a U.N. sponsored meeting of scientists in Thailand, where they eat bugs as a regular part of the diet. When Sheri and I visited Thailand several years ago, I was amazed to see whole carts filled with crickets, meal worms, and water bugs. These critters were prepared in a variety of ways and proudly displayed as snacks. One vendor setup shop right in front of a McDonald’s in Bangkok for those looking for true variety. Now, I’m an adventurous eater, but even I had a hard time imagining eating roaches. However, according to the article “1,400 species of insects and worms are eaten in almost 90 countries.” Much of the focus of the investigations are on how to use insects as a dietary supplement as a way of overcoming world hunger. However, the scientists seemed to be thinking much farther outside of the box, one “Japanese scientist proposed bug farms on spacecraft to feed astronauts, noting that it would be more practical than raising cows or pigs.” I can see that dealing with cow and pig manure in space would be a pain, but crickets just aren’t a substitute for bacon!

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Categories:	Asian • Hunger • Thai • Travel	1 Comment
Tags:	Bugs • Food • foodista • Insects • McDonald's • Thailand

One of the things I love about Thai food is the gentle balance of spicy, sweet and sour flavors. This is one of my favorite salads any time of the year. It’s easy to make and is so crisp and fresh with it’s mint, basil and spicy chili dressing.

Salad
Romaine lettuce, chopped in shreds
Julienned carrots
Green onions, thinly sliced
Chiffonade of mint and Thai basil
Rice vermicelli noodles (the amount is up to you)

Dressing
Use the below amounts as a starting place, as you may find that you want more or less of an ingredient. You want balance, however, not one particular flavor overpowering the others.

3 T fish sauce
3 T lime juice
2 tsp sugar (I’ve used Splenda and that works just fine)
1 small Thai chili pepper, seeds removed (unless you want it melt-your-lips-off hot)

Toss greens and noodles together, and either mix in the dressing or serve on the side.

Another tasty salad similar to this is Laab (sometimes spelled Larb, but pronounced “lob”). Add the above dressing to the following ingredients:

Meat or fish (such as ground beef, chicken, pork or shrimp)
Romaine lettuce, chopped in shreds
Equal amounts of mint and cilantro (I like a healthy amount of each)
Green onions,thinly sliced
Red onions, thinly sliced
Toss and sprinkle approx. 2 T rice powder on top

Here’s a nice step-by-step recipe for ground turkey laab from Jenny at Use Real Butter. Her photos are lovely too!

Recommended cookbooks:

The Food of Thailand: Authentic Recipes from the Golden Kingdom

Another book with the same title, but much larger, more in-depth and coffee table worthy.
The Food of Thailand

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• 5 Ways to Get Out of a Food Rut
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Categories:	Meat & Poultry • Salads • Thai	1 Comment
Tags:	salad • Thai