Coconut Crusted Peanuts

Thais love to snack. When I am there the one snack that I am always on the look out for are oven-roasted fried peanuts, dried chilies, and kaffir lime leaves tossed in a tamarind glaze. The result is a sweet-sour-spicy flavor that never gets old. This recipe is inspired by this wonderful snack. Quality peanuts are essential, I prefer to buy raw peanuts and slowly roast them in a pan over low heat, tossing often—this takes about 15 minutes and the resulting semi-charred peanuts are fabulously flavored, or deep-fry them for a few minutes for a deep-roasted flavor. However, you may opt to buy dry roasted peanuts instead or even substitute cashews.

Serves 4–6
Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins

1¾ cups (250 g) roasted peanuts

2 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce

2 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

1 stalk lemongrass, tender inner part of bottom third only, finely minced

1 tablespoon minced kaffir lime leaves (substitute 2 teaspoon lime zest)

½ teaspoon dried red chili flakes or ground dried red finger-length chilies

½ cup (40 g) dried unsweetened shredded or grated coconut

1 Toss the peanuts in a bowl with the chili sauce, sugar, salt, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and chilies until coated evenly. Then add the coconut and toss again until it is evenly coated.

2 Spread them out on a non-stick baking mat or oiled baking sheet.

3 Bake in an oven preheated to 350°F (175°C) for 10–15 minutes or until the coconut is a golden brown.

4 Remove from the oven and let them cool before removing from the pan.

5 Keep the pan tightly covered until you’re ready to serve—the peanuts tend to absorb humidity in the air. They last for a few weeks, the few days after they are made they are at their peak of flavor, the flavors have blended well yet they are still very crunchy.

Thai Spring Rolls

Making your own spring rolls is not as difficult as you think and it enables you to fill them with what you want. The Thai style spring roll differs from the Chinese version in that is has more ground meat and resilient bean thread noodles for a different textural experience. Thin flaky layers of spring roll skin succumb to each bite as you chomp down on rich mushrooms, and ground meat with sweet shavings of carrots.

Makes 10–12 rolls
Preparation time: 10 mins + assembling time
Cooking time: 5 mins

2 oz (60 g) dried bean thread noodles (cellophane noodles)

2 tablespoons oil (divided use) 1 tablespoon minced garlic

4 Thai chilies, minced

½ lb (250 g) ground chicken

1 cup (40 g) sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms (stems removed)

1 cup (75 g) shaved green cabbage

½ cup (70 g) shredded carrots

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce

¼ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

¹⁄8 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)

10–12 defrosted spring roll wrappers

1 large egg, beaten until smooth Oil, for deep-frying

1 Pour some boiling water over the noodles, let soak for 5 minutes, drain and rinse with cool water. Cut the noodles so they are easier to roll (just snip a few times with a pair of scissors). Reserve at room temperature.

2 Heat a large skillet or wok over high heat. Swirl 1 tablespoon of the oil in the skillet to coat the entire surface, and keep heating the skillet until very hot and the oil begins to smoke. Add the garlic and chilies and stir-fry until aromatic but not brown, about 10 seconds. Add the chicken and continue to stir-fry breaking up the chicken until it is cooked, transfer to a bowl and reserve.

3 In the same skillet, add the remaining tablespoon of oil and heat over high heat. Add the mushrooms and stir fry until they wilt, add the cabbage, carrots, soy sauce, fish sauce, salt and white pepper, and cook until the cabbage wilts, about 3–5 minutes. Transfer the vegetable into a large mixing bowl, stir in the bean thread noodles, reserved chicken and coriander leaves. Let this mixture cool to room temperature. Squeeze out any excess moisture, a very important step!

4 Roll the spring rolls by peeling the layers of wrapper apart, re-stack them and keep them covered so they don’t dry out. Place a wrapper on a clean work surface with the bottom corner facing you, place ¼ cup of the filling on the bottom third of the wrapper. Use your hand to form the filling into a cylinder shape, with 2 inch (5 cm) margin away from the left and right corners. Fold over the bottom corner and pull back to make taut. Roll over once, then fold in the side corners to form a tight seal, brush the top ¹⁄3 of the wrapper with beaten egg, roll up to a tight cylinder. Fry immediately or refrigerate up to 8 hours or freeze for up to 3 months.

5 Deep-fry the spring rolls in preheated 350ºF (175ºC) oil for 3–5 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve with dipping sauces such as Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (page 35) or a mixture of soy sauce spiced up with chilies and tempered with sugar.

BBQ Corn with Sriracha

Koh Samui, the enchanted tropical island in the heart of Gulf of Thailand, is home to many gifted cooks. One street vendor showed me how simple grilled corn can be spiced up with a little Sriracha Chili Sauce. I tried to recreate this recipe and found that enriching the store-bought Sriracha chili sauce (or you can make your own by following the recipe on page 35) with aromatic lime-juice and coriander leaves (cilantro) made it taste even better. In Thailand, the corn is grilled without the husk, which allows the corn to scorch, creating a smoky flavor and chewy texture. Lightly brushing the corn with a mixture of oil, water, and fish sauce encourages the corn to steam while it is browning and seasons it at the same time.

Serves 4–6
Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins

6 ears of freshly husked corn ¼ cup (65 ml) water

3 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons oil

SRIRACHA SLATHER

½ cup (125 ml) Sriracha Chili Sauce (page 35)

1 tablespoon Thai palm sugar or light brown sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)

1 While the grill is preheating at its highest setting, remove the husks from the corn.

2 Whisk the water, fish sauce and oil together. Brush the corn with this mixture.

3 Make the Sriracha Slather by whisking together the Sriracha Chili Sauce, sugar, lime juice and coriander leaves. Pour into a serving bowl with a brush and set aside.

4 Grill the corn over high heat, basting occasionally with the fish sauce mixture until lightly browned in some places and the corn is cooked.

5 Serve with the bowl of Sriracha Slather and a brush.

Grilled Chicken Wings with Tangy Chili Glaze

Slowly grilling over indirect heat gives these wings a craveable crispy/chewy texture. Marinating them gives them a deep seasoning and then tossing in the aromatic kaffir lime leaf glaze creates an addictive flavor... you may want to double the recipe.

Serves 4–6
Preparation time: 10 mins + marinating time
Cooking time: 45 mins

12 chicken wings (about 2 lb/1 kg)

3 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon ground white pepper

1 tablespoon oil

GLAZE

2 tablespoons chili paste in soya bean oil (nahm prik pow)

1 teaspoon minced kaffir lime leaves (substitute 2 teaspoons finely minced lime zest)

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons minced ginger

1 tablespoon minced green onions (scallions)

1 Toss the chicken wings in the fish sauce, sugar, white pepper, and oil. Refrigerate and marinate for at least an hour, ideally overnight.

2 Preheat a charcoal or gas grill to medium heat. Grill the chicken wings over indirect heat for about 30–45 minutes turning them every 15 minutes until cooked through and golden brown.

3 Make the Glaze by whisking together all the ingredients in a large bowl. Toss the wings into the Glaze until well coated.

Sweet-n-Spicy Pork Ribs

One bite of this sweet-n-spicy glaze coating these ribs and your taste buds will be captivated. Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (Nahm Jim Gai) (page 35) that is used for the glaze is traditionally used for grilled chicken in northeastern Thailand. Want an extra level of spice? Add minced chilies or ground dried red chilies, or increase the amount of Sriracha Sauce in the Chili Sauceto the marinade.

Serves 4–6
Preparation time: 10 mins + marinating time
Cooking time: 2 hours

6 lb (3 kg) pork ribs (baby back, spare, country, or St Louis style)

1 lime, cut into wedges

MARINADE

¼ cup (65 ml) fish sauce

¼ cup (65 ml) soy sauce

1 cup (300 g) Thai palm sugar or light brown sugar

2 tablespoons ground black pepper

2 tablespoons minced coriander stems (cilantro stems)

CHILI SAUCE

½ cup (125 ml) Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (page 35)

¼ cup (65 ml) Sriracha Chili Sauce (page 35)

¼ cup (65 ml) roughly chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)

1 First peel off the thin membrane on bone side or rib rack (this will toughen when cooked)

2 Make the Marinade by whisking together the fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, black pepper, and coriander stems in a large bowl. Brush the ribs with the Marinade, transfer to a baking pan (meat side facing down), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, ideally overnight.

3 Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Add ¼ cup (65 ml) of water to the baking pan with the ribs (meat side facing up), and tightly cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 ½ hours, remove from the oven and allow it to cool to room temperature drain any excess liquid, then use or store in the refrigerator for later use.

4 Preheat the grill or oven broiler until very hot.

5 Whisk together the ingredients for the Chili Sauce in a large bowl. Cut the ribs into individual ribs, and toss them into the Chili Sauce and save the sauce coated bowl. Grill or broil the ribs until they are brown, remove from the grill or broiler and toss back into the same bowl—using the sauce to give them a second coating and moist appearance. Arrange on a platter and serve with lime wedges.