Nam Prik Ong - Northern Thai Tamato and Meat Dip

This is one of my mother's favourite dishes. I would see her sit down with a small bowl of Nam Prik Ong and a gigantic bowl of assortment of fresh vegetables - slowing picking and dipping her way until everything disappears. Her version is with tofu because she's a vegan. This one is with ground turkey - my meat of choice.

The dish is extremely easy to make once you have all the ingredients. Now that I have a food processor, I cooked the thing within 15 minutes. Nam Prik Ong is quite good by itself - looking like Italian meat sauce but with more spices and heat. Its flavor and texture improve significantly when you pair it with fresh crunchy vegetables - like cucumber, lettuce, green beans, etc.



Ingredients

• 5 cloves garlic


• 2 stalks of lemongrass* - discard a few hard outer layers and the leafy end


• 2 inches of galangal root* - peeled


• 5-6 shallots or 1 large onion - peeled


• 1 tablespoon cooking oil


• 1 pound ground turkey (or any other meat)


• 1 28 ounce can of crushed or chopped tomatoes


• 2 teaspoon dry red pepper flakes


• 1 teaspoon kapi or Thai fermented shrimp paste


• 2 teaspoon fish sauce


• A small bunch of fresh cilantro to garnish

Directions

1. Finely chop garlic, lemongrass, galangal and shallots or process them in a food processor.


2. In a large heavy bottom pot or a deep pan, heat up the oil. Stir in the chopped spices. Stir vigorously for 30 seconds or until fragrant but not burnt. Add ground turkey. Stir occasionally until the meat is cooked.


3. Add canned tomatoes. Reduce the heat. Season with red pepper flakes, shrimp paste and fish sauce. Let simmer for a few minutes.


4. The real Thai cook will tell you to pound kapi or the shrimp paste with all the spices and fry the paste in oil before adding the meat. Since I'm cooking in a small apartment with no window in the kitchen and I do not wish to disturb my neighbor with the extremely exotic aroma of the shrimp paste (it's pretty vile for people who are not used to it), I add it at the end.


5. When ready to serve, sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Serve with crunchy fresh vegetables like cucumbers, romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, etc.

* I got my lemongrass and galangal from Chinatown. I keep them frozen in the refrigerator - when ready to be use, just run hot water over them to soften.

Yum Woon Sen - Glass Noodle Salad - Two Ways

I have been craving Thai Salad. Maybe it's because I have been eating those make-your-own salads from the deli next to my work almost everyday for lunch. Maybe it's just another attempt of mine trying to eat healthy at home.

Last week I made Laab from ground turkey. I had a bit of the cooked turkey left so I bought these wonderful glass noodle or mung bean noodle or woon-sen in Thai.

From a package of woon-sen, I got two different salad based on what I had in the refrigerator.


Yum woon-sen with cherry tomatoes and cilatro.

One with less noodle but more vegetables - cherry tomatoes and flat-leaf cilantro served over lettuce. And the other one with more noodle and with dry baby shrimp.


Yum woon-sen with dry baby shimp and carrot.

The basic ingredients are the same - the woon-sen soaked in hot water for a few minutes, chopped shallots and chilies, cooked ground turkey (or other meat), fish sauce and lime juice. And whatever fresh vegetable you have that you deem fit to be in the salad. Everything tossed together and served immediately.

I love Thai food. So simple and tasty.

Turkey Laab

Laab is a delicious, very spicy Northeastern Thai meat salad. It's usually made with ground pork, chicken or beef. (We don't really eat turkey in Thailand.) The dish is extremely easy to prepare. You basically just mix cooked meat with fish sauce, lime juice, dry red pepper and minced shallot together. One thing that can make this salad different from any other Thai salad is ground roasted rice. It added unique crunch and aroma to the dish. Laab is usually served with a few fresh vegetables - lettuce, cabbage, or string beans.



Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon uncooked rice - preferably the kind that you use to make sticky rice


• 1/2 pound ground turkey (or other meat)


• 1 tablespoon cooking oil


• 4 shallots - chopped


• 1/4 cup shredded carrots (optional - we don't add carrots to laab in Thailand - I just happened to have them and thought that I should use them.)


• A few sprigs of mint - picked


• Juice from 1-2 limes, to taste


• About 2 teaspoon of fish sauce


• 1 teaspoon of dried red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Roast the rice with a non-stick pan on a stove top until slightly brown. Let cool and grind with coffee grinder.


2. Cook the turkey in heated oil on a medium high heat stove top. Stir occasionally until the meat is completely cooked.


3. Toss all the ingredients in a large bowl. Add more lime juice, fish sauce and/or red pepper flakes to taste.


4. Serve immediately with warm rice and your choice of fresh leaves.

Baked Turkey Meatballs

Enough with chicken...



Ingredients

• 3 pounds ground turkey


• 1 bunch fresh cilantro - roughly chopped


• 1/2 onion - chopped


• 1 head garlic - finely chopped


• 2 eggs - lightly beaten


• 1/2 cup soy milk


• 1/2 cup bread crumbs


• 1 tablespoon salt


• 2 teaspoon cayenne pepper


• 2 teaspoon ground white pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.


2. Mix eggs, soy milk and bread crumbs. Stir. Add salt, cayenne pepper and white pepper. Add to the meat. Add cilantro and onion. Combine all together by hands.


3. Ball a tablespoon of meat and place on baking sheet. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes. Make 50 meatballs.

Note to self: more spice next time! More chilies and peppers!!!