Fire-roasted Shrimp

Jumbo shrimp, split open and slathered with a chili enriched savory glaze, crusts these shrimp as they broil to perfection in just a few minutes. I really prefer the texture of hand minced ingredients in the topping, but if you don’t have or are simply not in the mood, you can use a mini-food processor to chop the ingredients into a coarse paste. They are added in different stages so chop the garlic and bean paste together in one batch, then a separate batch of lemongrass, chilies, and ginger. If you can’t find the yellow bean paste you could substitute with brown bean paste or light brown Japanese miso paste. In Thailand these are best when served with the heads still on, split down the middle so you can pick out all the tasty bits.

Serves 4–6
 Preparation time: 20 mins
 Cooking time: 12 mins

¼ cup (65 ml) oil

2 tablespoons yellow bean paste (if beans are large, chop or mash them well)

3 tablespoons minced garlic

¼ cup (25 g) finely minced lemongrass, tender inner part of bottom third only

¼ cup (25 g) minced red finger-length chilies

2 tablespoons minced ginger

1 tablespoon Thai palm sugar or light brown sugar

¼ cup (60 g) minced green onions (scallions)

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

12–18 large shrimp with shells intact, about 2 lbs (1 kg)

6–8 coriander (cilantro) sprigs

2 limes, cut into wedges

1 Stir the oil, bean paste and garlic together in a small saucepan over medium heat, cook until the garlic is cooked and loses its sharp flavor, about 3 minutes.

2 Mix in the lemongrass, chilies, and ginger, and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Then add the sugar, green onions, oyster sauce, and black pepper. Remove from the heat. Continue to stir until the palm sugar is dissolved. Transfer to a bowl and taste, adjust seasoning with chilies, sugar, and oyster sauce.

3 Preheat the broiler to high, place one oven/broiler rack as close as possible to the burners.

4 Split the shrimp along the top of the shell to butterfly them. Arrange on a baking sheet and divide the lemongrass mixture among all the shrimp, spread on the shrimp to coat somewhat evenly. Broil on high heat until the mixture begins to brown and the shrimp are cooked through, about 3–5 minutes. I tend to rotate them half way through so they will cook evenly.

5 Arrange the shrimp on a platter, garnish with the coriander sprigs and serve with wedges of lime.

Garlic Crab with Green Beans

This flavorful dish comes together in minutes with remarkable results. My Thai cuisine mentors, Khun Ning and Kobkeaw Nijpinij of Khao Cooking School, showed me this recipe at a restaurant in Bangkok. Although freshly simmered and plucked crab is wonderful, it’s time consuming to make, so I usually splurge on premium refrigerated cooked crabmeat. They use spicy orange chilies, but they can be difficult to find so I tend to use finger-length red chilies or red Fresno chilies—and after chopping them I like to pound them slightly in a mortar so they release more of their flavor into the oil, if you don’t have a mortar simply smash them slightly with the side of a knife.

Serves 4–6
 Preparation time: 5 mins
 Cooking time: 7 mins

¼ cup (65 ml) oil

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 cup (100 g) long beans or green beans, ends trimmed, sliced into pieces

½ cup (50 g) roughly chopped red finger-length chilies, smashed lightly

1 tablespoon fish sauce

½ teaspoon sugar

1 lb (500 g) lump crabmeat, picked through for shells

1 Combine the oil, garlic, green beans, and chilies in a medium skillet or wok and heat over medium-low heat while stirring and cook for about 1 minute or until the beans are just cooked through (do not brown the garlic).

2 Mix in the fish sauce and the sugar until dissolved.

3 Gently toss in the crabmeat and heat until just warmed through.

4 Transfer to a plate and serve with steamed rice.