This one is a bit tough for me. My friend from Laos has been teaching me to cook, but won't provide measurements. Not only that, she won't slow down long enough for me to see what is going on or ask any questions.
This is completely trial and error, but well worth the effort. I'm hoping Meagan will jump in with some tips or corrections, since we accidentally reproduced the deliciousness once.
If you want to do this properly, you need to do it like my friend. First, wear latex gloves while you cook. Second, before and after you chop anything, wash the knife and cutting board for 5 minutes, even though they were clean when you picked them up. Third, after you wash anything, put it in a dishwasher full of clean dishes.
I know that last bit makes no sense. I have watched it happen a dozen times, and I can promise you that it makes no more sense to me than it does to you.
Anyhow:
1. 1 can coconut milk
2. 2 handfuls of medium sized shrimp (about 10? ish?)
3. 1 bunch green onion, green parts only
4. 1/3 cup white onion
5. 1 tsp chili paste (I can't read their words, so pictures to follow. just go to a good Asian market and ask for the aisle where they keep delicious stuff.)
6. 1/2 tsp tom sum (again, should be in the delicious aisle.)
7. Shallots, garlic, ginger to taste. I'd start with one shallot, 1 large clove of garlic, and about 1 inch of ginger (you still have that ginger in the freezer, right?)
8. About 1 tsp Knorr tamarind soup base (will someone please experiment with real tamarind, whatever the hell tamarind is?)
9. 2 chili peppers. I use the dried red peppers in a plastic bag from the "ethnic" section of the grocery store.
10. 1 tsp fish sauce
Add coconut milk to sauce pan, heat on high until boiling. Add ginger, shallots, garlic, tom sum, chili paste. Boil down until browned.
Add 1 cup-ish water, tamarind, fish sauce, and salt to taste.
Cut shrimp in half lengthwise and toss in with diced onion, green onion, and chili peppers. Bring to a boil and cook until shrimp are cooked, about 3 minutes.
One last note, don't worry about the heat. The burner was always on high, it was always boiling at a furious rate, and she never once looked to see if it was burning.
This is completely trial and error, but well worth the effort. I'm hoping Meagan will jump in with some tips or corrections, since we accidentally reproduced the deliciousness once.
If you want to do this properly, you need to do it like my friend. First, wear latex gloves while you cook. Second, before and after you chop anything, wash the knife and cutting board for 5 minutes, even though they were clean when you picked them up. Third, after you wash anything, put it in a dishwasher full of clean dishes.
I know that last bit makes no sense. I have watched it happen a dozen times, and I can promise you that it makes no more sense to me than it does to you.
Anyhow:
1. 1 can coconut milk
2. 2 handfuls of medium sized shrimp (about 10? ish?)
3. 1 bunch green onion, green parts only
4. 1/3 cup white onion
5. 1 tsp chili paste (I can't read their words, so pictures to follow. just go to a good Asian market and ask for the aisle where they keep delicious stuff.)
6. 1/2 tsp tom sum (again, should be in the delicious aisle.)
7. Shallots, garlic, ginger to taste. I'd start with one shallot, 1 large clove of garlic, and about 1 inch of ginger (you still have that ginger in the freezer, right?)
8. About 1 tsp Knorr tamarind soup base (will someone please experiment with real tamarind, whatever the hell tamarind is?)
9. 2 chili peppers. I use the dried red peppers in a plastic bag from the "ethnic" section of the grocery store.
10. 1 tsp fish sauce
Add coconut milk to sauce pan, heat on high until boiling. Add ginger, shallots, garlic, tom sum, chili paste. Boil down until browned.
Add 1 cup-ish water, tamarind, fish sauce, and salt to taste.
Cut shrimp in half lengthwise and toss in with diced onion, green onion, and chili peppers. Bring to a boil and cook until shrimp are cooked, about 3 minutes.
One last note, don't worry about the heat. The burner was always on high, it was always boiling at a furious rate, and she never once looked to see if it was burning.
What do you call this dish?
ReplyDeleteI'm going to make this one again soon so I can try it out again. I forgot about the tom sum so I have to find that somewhere. But quick note on the tamarind - it's a brown fruit in a pod and they sometimes have them in Asian or Latino grocery stores but I think the easiest is to look for tamarind paste - it's much easier to find than fresh tamarind and probably more tasty than the soup mix stuff but it's hard because I feel like it's one of those things that is only written in Chinese! Anyway will you post pictures of the tom sum and chili paste to help us out and I promise to make it soon?
ReplyDelete