Thai Meatballs

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Takes quite a few ingredients, but should be fairly staple items in your kitchen!

Can be a salad protein, lettuce wrap, with rice or just eat them straight up!

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Ingredients:

• 1 inch Ginger, grated

• 4 + 1 Garlic cloves, grated or minced or pressed through garlic press

• 1 lb Ground Pork

• 1 tsp Salt

• 1/4 cup + 1/2 tbsp Cilantro, chopped

• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp Sambal Oelek

• 2 tbsp Fish sauce, divided

• 2 tsp Brown or Palm Sugar, divided

• 1/4 cup Lime juice (half a lime)

Optional:

• More Sambal Oelek if you like it spicier!

What’s Next:

1. Add grated ginger, 4 garlic cloves, salt, 1/4 cup cilantro, 2 tbsp Sambal Oelek, 1 tbsp fish sauce and 1 tsp sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add ground pork and mix well. Let rest / marinate for 30 minutes or up to 8 hours. (Don’t put away the sauces and sugars just yet, you’ll need them again for next step)

2. Mix lime juice, 1 grated/minced garlic clove, 1/2 tbsp cilantro, 1 tsp Sambal Oelek, 1 tbsp fish sauce and 1 tsp sugar in a small bowl for the dipping sauce

3. You can either grill them on skewers or roast them in the oven. If you are grilling them (remember to soak your wooden skewers ahead of time!), form a flat oval shape across 2 skewers, so it doesn’t spin around on the grill. If you’re roasting in oven, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil, for the meatball in an oval shape on your palm, then press the meat balls onto the foil

4. Drizzle with some oil and grill for 7-9 minutes, turning occasionally until lightly charred, or roast for 15-20 minutes until the surface is lightly charred

5. Serve warm with the dipping sauce on the side

Roast Carrots with Nuoc Cham

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I have to admit, I had no idea what Nuoc Cham is before I attempted this recipe. I’ve never had it, but thought the ingredients might make a delicious sauce.

I was not wrong.

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Required Equipment:

• Hand blender / Blender / Food Processor

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs Carrots, scrubbed / peeled (cut in half if some carrots are thick or vary significantly in size)

• 2 tbsp + 2 tbsp Oil

• 1 Shallot, thinly sliced

• 2 Thai chilis, sliced (if you don’t have this at hand, substitute with dried chili flakes)

• 1/2 inch piece of Ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

• 3 Garlic cloves

• 2 tbsp of Fish sauce

• 2 tbsp of Brown Sugar (or Coconut Palm Sugar even better!)

• 2 tbsp of Lime juice

• 1 tbsp of Mayonnaise

Optional:

• Cilantro, garnish

What’s Next:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, drizzle 2 tbsp of oil and lightly coat the carrots in a foil lined roasting pan or Pyrex. Lightly season with salt. Roast for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned (this will depend on the size of your carrots)

2. Add shallots, chili, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, sugar and 2 tbsp of water in a small sauce pan. Cook with low-medium heat until gentle simmer, 8-10 minutes just until the shallots are softened. The sauce shouldn’t be thick. Remove from heat and let cool

3. Transfer to a blender or food processor or a deep bowl if you’re using a hand blender. Add mayonnaise and lime juice. Blend until smooth (don’t worry if you’ll still see tiny bits of shallots, it’d be hard to get this completely smooth). Drizzle in another 2 tbsp of oil, mix until you no longer see the separation of oil and sauce

4. Drizzle over carrots just before serving

5. Sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill in fridge.

Sambal Coconut Charred Chicken

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The marinade for the chicken is extremely easy, 0 chance for failure. If you like the southeast asian sweet and spicy flavor, this will be your favourite chicken recipe.

The reason why I wrote “charred” is because you can either grill or broil these chicken!

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Ingredients:

• 3 inch piece of Ginger, grated

• 6 Garlic cloves, minced

• 1/2 cup of Coconut milk

• 1/4 cup of Sambal Oelek

• 1/4 cup of Lime juice

• 2 tbsp of Brown sugar (or coconut palm sugar - I think this gives a lot more complexity to sweetness)

• 2 tsp of salt

• 2 lbs of Boneless chicken thigh

Optional:

• Cilantro, garnish

• Lime wedges, garnish

What’s Next:

1. Mix ginger, garlic, coconut milk, Sambal Oelek, lime juice, salt and sugar together in a small bowl, until sugar dissolves

2. Line chicken in a shallow dish, pour the marinade over and massage lightly

3. Let sit for 2-4 hours

4. If you’re broiler, line a broiler-friendly pan with foil, place the chicken in single layer. Turn on broiler, broil for 20-30 minutes or until the chicken is charred

5. If you’re grilling, then go right ahead! Should take about 10 minutes, until you see grill marks

6. If you like this dish saucier, pour the remainder of the marinade into a small sauce pan and boil until it thickens to coat the back of a spoon. Or make extra marinade and proceed with this step!

Sambal Shrimp + Pork Lettuce Wrap

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The first time I made it, it was already a huge success. Perfect balance of heat, tang and savor. This is really 2 recipe, but if you like shrimp and pork, why not make both and have a bit more fun mix + matching?

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Ingredients:

• Lettuce leaves, Washed and slightly dried

• 1/2 to 1 White radish, peeled

• 1 Cucumber

• 1/2 cup Rice vinegar

• 2-3 tbsp Fish sauce

• 3 tbsp white sugar

• 2 tbsp salt

• 1 Lime, wedged

  Shrimp

• 1 1/2 lb large shrimp

• 1/2 cup Sambal Oelek

• 1/4 cup Honey

• 1/4 cup Rice Vinegar

• 2 tsp Sesame oil

• 1-2 tbsp Vegetable or Olive oil

Pork

• 1 lb Ground pork

• 2 tbsp Soy sauce

• 1 tbsp Dark brown sugar or Coconut / Palm sugar

• 1 tsp Fish sauce

• 2 tbsp Sambal Oelek

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

• 3 scallions, thinly sliced, use only white and pale green parts if you can

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Optional:

• Scallions / Basil Leaves / Mint / Cilantro / Toasted Peanuts for garnish

What’s Next:

Pickling the veggies

1. Mix salt onto radish and cucumber in a colander in the sink or onto a plate/bowl, let sit for 15 minutes and for water content to drain slightly

2. Transfer the now softened radish and cucumber into a mixing bowl

3. Mix in sugar, vinegar and fish sauce. Let sit for 15 minutes, in fridge if you like your pickles chilled!

Shrimp

1. Mix Sambal, honey, vinegar, 2 tsp of sesame oil in a small bowl to combine

2. Transfer shrimp to a small mixing bowl, spoon over just enough sauce to coat all the shrimps. Let marinate for 30 minutes

3. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat until shimmering.

4. Lay the shrimp onto the skillet to cook, undisturbed for 2 minutes, until the sugar has caramelized. Turn shrimp over and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Transfer to plate

Pork

1. Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, fish sauce and sambal in a small bowl, set aside

2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium. Add scallions and ginger and cook, stirring slightly until fragrant, until golden.

3. Add ground pork and lightly season with salt. Use a wooden spoon to break up the ground pork and toss slightly.

4. After the pork is cooked through, 7-10 minutes. Add the reserved sauce and toss until all coated. Remove from pan when almost all liquid has been reduced.

Final Steps!

1. Lay out lettuce wraps, pickled vegetables, lime and herbs on a plate

2. Lay out shrimp and pork in 2 separate bowls

3. Assemble, drizzle the lime, mix and match and enjoy!