Thai/Isaan Recipes




Gai Yaang (Barbecued Chicken)

Barbecued Chicken

  Ingredients
1   large chicken
2 tsp   sugar
1-1/2 tbsp   garlic powder
1/2 tsp   salt
1/2 tsp   turmeric
1 tbsp   fish sauce
1/4 tsp   curry powder
1/2 tsp   black pepper
1 tbsp   minced lemon grass
4 tbsp   coconut milk
1-1/2 tsp   Golden Mountain sauce (can sub soy sauce)

Cut chicken in half with sharp cleaver. Mix all ingredients except chicken in deep mixing bowl. Place chicken in bowl with other ingredients and turn until completely coated. Let chicken marinate in sauce for at least 4 hours.

Place chicken on hot grill. Baste with remainder of sauce from bowl when cooking.

Turn every 10 to 15 minutes. Grill until done. Serve with barbecue sauce.






Laap Gai (Spicy Chicken with Lime Juice)

Spicy Chicken

  Ingredients
2   chicken breasts
4 tsp   lime juice
1 tsp   sugar
1-1/2 tbsp   rice powder
1/2 tsp   MSG (optional)
1   red onion
1 tsp   ground red pepper
2-1/2 tbsp   fish sauce
2   green onions
1 stalk   lemon grass
3 oz   fresh mint leaves

Thinly slice red onion and lemon grass. Chop green onions into small pieces.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken breasts in baking pan and place in oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Change heat to broil and leave 5 more minutes, or until the meat is cooked. Remove breasts from oven and let cool. With a sharp knife, remove bones from chicken. Chop meat with cleaver to a coarse consistency. Place in a deep bowl. Add all other ingredients one at a time while stirring. Reserve lime juice as the final ingredient to be added. Place on serving plate bed of lettuce. Serves 2.






Thai Peanut Sauce

You can make this peanut sauce and serve it on Quaker rice/oat crackers (which you can get a local supermarket). (Sometimes you can find Thai peanut sauce in bottles at local markets too. Check it out.)

  Ingredients
1/2 tsp   cayeen pepper
1 tbsp   sugar
2 tbsp   peanut butter
1-1/2 cup   coconut milk or cream
1 tbsp   lemon juice
1 tsp   salt

Heat the coconut milk until boiling.

Add the pepper, peanut butter, sugar, salt and lemon juice. Stir until well blended.

This sauce should have a salty, sweet and a little sour taste. Serve with chicken barbeque or just spread on pieces of rice and oat crackers as a spicy snack.

Cucumber pennies, cherry tomatoes and sliced pinapple served with toothpicks would make an easy accompaniment which has some Thai flavor. Best of all would be if you could go to a local Thai restaurant and ask them to steam you some "sticky rice". Served as fingerfood in small balls this is excellant dipped in the peanut sauce, too!