Thai Spicy Pork (or Chicken) Dipping Sauce for Vegetables (Nam Prik Ong)

I learned about Nam Prik Ong, a classic northern Thai appetizer, from my sister in law, Nai, who is from Chiang Mai, where it is a specialty. This is a milder and simpler Bangkok version of the original dish, which in the north has the heavy flavor of toasted shrimp paste and can be incredibly hot. 

It’s a colorful, savory appetizer or snack and pulls a role reversal, in that meat garnishes vegetables. Crispy fried pork rinds and lumps of steamed sticky rice are traditionally dipped into the sauce as is raw cabbage, string beans, cucumbers, and small green eggplants. Slices of pineapple are also delightful for dipping. 

For simplicity I like serving it with Boston-type lettuce, plus fried pork rinds, the Mexican chicharron. The recipe serves six.

3/4 pound of pork or chicken breast (or ground pork or chicken)

1 large shallot, finely minced

2 medium-large cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tablespoon finely sliced then minced lemon grass (the fat part) (lemon grass is available

fresh at Asian groceries; if not available, simply omit from recipe)

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as canola or peanut

2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste (available in cans at Asian groceries; store the

remainder in a plastic bag in the freezer)

1/4 teaspoon crushed dry red pepper or cayenne (optional)

18 grape tomatoes or 14 cherry tomatoes, chopped coarsely

3/4 cup water

4 teaspoons Asian fish sauce (available at Asian groceries)

1 teaspoon palm or brown sugar (palm sugar available at Asian groceries)

2 tablespoons lime (or lemon) juice

A large sprinkle of ground white or black pepper

Cilantro (coriander leaf) for garnish

Fried pork rinds for dipping (optional)

A few vegetables for dipping, small lettuce leaves, cucumber, string beans, cabbage, and (optionally) small Thai green eggplants and a few slices of pineapple

On a cutting board, trim away any tough parts from the meat. Slice the meat then chop it finely with a chef’s knife or cleaver. (Or use freshly ground meat.)  Finely mince the shallot, garlic and lemon grass together on cutting board (or pound them to a paste together in a mortar or chop them finely in a food processor with a little water).

In a frying pan or wok over medium-low heat, stir and fry oil and curry paste for a minute. Add shallot mixture and fry, scraping frequently, until shallot is translucent and starts to turn golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Add meat and break it up. Raise the heat and fry mixture until meat color has changed. Add chopped tomatoes and fry for several minutes. Add the water, cover and simmer over low heat 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the excess liquid has dried. Stir in the fish sauce and sugar. Remove pan from the heat and add lime juice. After several minutes, taste the mixture and add salt if necessary to make it slightly salty. Let cool and spoon into a decorative bowl for serving. Sprinkle with cilantro leaves.

 Serve with lettuce leaves to stuff with the mixture, or more traditionally cut a bit of cabbage into several 3-inch wedges, cut off ends of beans, slice cucumber, eggplant, and pineapple, if used. Arrange vegetables in groups on a platter around the pot of sauce, along with pork rinds, if used, plus sprigs of cilantro.

Easy Berry Topping or Sauce

For an easy dessert, like store-bought ice cream or angel food cake, a raspberry, or strawberry or mixed berry sauce is a great topping. Using store-bought frozen, or fresh, berries, making the sauce takes just a few minutes, plus a few more minutes to cool.

The typical packages of frozen berries are 12 ounces, and the fresh berries are a pint. Both work with this recipe. I prefer organic berries, to avoid the pesticides that are often used on these crops.

12 ounces frozen or 1 pint fresh berries (raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, or mixed berries), organic preferred

2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar for 12 ounces of frozen fruit OR 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar for a pint of fresh berries

1/8 teaspoon salt

If using frozen berries, place them directly in a small enamel or stainless steel cooking pot. If using fresh berries, remove any leaves or stems and place the fruit in the pot. Add the brown sugar and salt.

Heat to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently, and cook until fruit is becoming tender. Turn off the heat and break up the berries somewhat with a potato masher or fork. Let cool.

The sauce will keep, refrigerated, for a week or more.

Serve over your choice of ice cream, sherbet, cake, cheesecake, pudding, or even pancakes. An optional additional topping is whipped cream.

Lentil Dip in Ancient Style

Lentils, one of my favorite foods, go way back. I mean waaaay back. Lentils were among the first crops at the dawn of agriculture the Fertile Crescent some 6,000 years ago. Like other ancient field crops – barley, peas, emmer wheat – lentils emerged from wild predecessors, whose seeds were hard to gather. Early settled people accidentally replanted some of those wild seeds by discarding them near the garbage heap. Gradually, people began intentionally planting seeds saved from the previous harvest. As they reseeded from their better-performing plants their crops improved.

In that same era, another major breakthrough occurred in the Fertile Crescent. Terracotta (“baked earth”) pots were created by shaping then baking clay. Such pots permitted boiling and stewing food. It’s probably no coincidence that clay pots for cooking (and brewing!) co-evolved with the production of grains and legumes, which benefited from cooking. They made each other more valuable.

I started making appetizers from red lentils (tan/gray-green lentils that have had their skin-like hulls removed) when I joined my daughter, Maria Dondero, of Southern Star Studio, in her talks on pottery making. It’s customary in artistic circles to offer refreshments at “openings,” lectures, and demonstrations. Dips made from lentils and served from a terracotta dish humorously paired again that legume with pottery.

Here is a dip of red lentils (yellow when cooked) that draws on their history, using only ingredients that go back at least 4,000 years in the region where lentils originated. Besides lentils, these include onion, olive oil, coriander, cilantro (yes, probably the first herb used culinarily in the western world), wine vinegar, honey and sea salt. I obviously can’t guarantee that such a dip was actually made during the past 4,000 years, but it could have been.

The dip can be presented on a terracotta dish. The recipe serves six to eight as an appetizer.

1 cup split red lentils

1/2 of a small onion, very finely diced (3-4 tablespoons)

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for garnishing

2 cups water, plus more as needed

1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more if needed

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons wine vinegar (or cider vinegar)

1 teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped cilantro leaf, for garnish

Rinse the lentils, and soak them in water to cover by an inch or more while preparing the remaining ingredients.

In a pot, gently fry the onion in the olive oil, stirring frequently, until softened but not browned. Drain the lentils, and add them to the pot, along with 2 cups of water, Bring to a gentle boil, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pot. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils soften and break down (10-20 minutes). Add a little water from time to time, if needed, to maintain a creamy consistency.

Once the lentils have softened, add the salt and coriander, and continue to simmer, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add the vinegar and honey, and simmer another minute or two. Taste, and if needed add salt to taste.

Cool. Serve in a small bowl or serving dish. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Accompany with crackers.

Hot Blond Lentil Chili

“Hot BlondChili,” which I developed and won top prize with at a Super Bowl chili competition in Atlanta years ago is now a popular take-home dish sold from the freezer at our restaurant. (The recipe can be found elsewhere in this blog.) It is also a favorite among several of my grandchildren. But, since it contains meat (usually ground turkey plus bacon), it doesn’t work for several other family members who avoid meat. So here’s a vegetarian version of the dish, to close the gap. 

Lentils, one of my favorite food items, are a wonderful source of protein, dietary fiber, iron, and certain vitamins. They are also quick-cooking, easy to store, and inexpensive. I use them in two forms here, the green-tan whole lentils plus the split, hulled red lentils. They replace the ground meat. The smoky hint from bacon in the meat recipe is replaced by a chipotle chili, which is a smoked, dried jalapeño pepper. Otherwise, the chili is made similarly to the meat version. I usually make it with some real heat from the peppers.

 Most of the ingredients are available at supermarkets and natural food stores. Two items, chipotle peppers and ground annatto (called “achiote molido”), can be found in the dry chili and seasoning section at Mexican grocery stores. Habanero peppers are in some supermarkets, but always in the produce section of Mexican groceries.

The recipe serves six or more. Leftovers keep well and seem to taste even better at a later time. I like to serve chili with rice. Recently I’ve come to appreciate brown rice as an accompaniment.

1 cup regular green-tan lentils

1 cup split red lentils

2 (14-ounce) cans white Great Northern beans

1 medium-large onion

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic

1 whole dry chipotle chili (available at Mexican stores)

1 yellow or orange habanero pepper, or 2 tabasco peppers

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground annatto (“achiote molido”), at Mexican store

Water as needed

2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste

1 cup sour cream

In two bowls, separately rinse then soak the two types of lentils in water several inches above the lentils. Set aside until needed. Open the cans of beans and drain off the liquid, but do not rinse the beans. Set aside until needed.

Finely mince the onion, or chop it finely in a food processor. In a heavy pot, fry onion in the olive oil over medium heat, stirring often, until softened and just beginning to brown. Mince the garlic cloves or put them through a garlic press and stir into the frying onions. Let fry lightly for a minute, Add chipotle, whole, the habanero or tabasco peppers, whole. Add 2 cups water then stir in the dry spices. Bring to a boil.

Drain the whole lentils (but not yet the split red lentils) and add them to the onion mixture. Cook them, covered, over medium heat, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pot, until the lentils are becoming tender, 10-15 minutes. As needed to keep them very moist, add a little water from time to time.

Then drain the split red lentils and add them to the pot, along with enough water to just reach the surface of the lentils. Simmer, covered, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pot, until red lentils turn pale yellow and become tender, 10-15 minutes. Add a little water from time to time as needed to keep the lentils moist.

When lentils are tender, but not disintegrated, add the drained beans and salt. Cook at a light boil, stirring frequently, for two minutes. Stir in the sour cream and simmer two minutes further. Remove from the heat. Taste and add salt if needed.

Serve now, accompanied by rice, or store and reheat for serving later.

 Chicken Shish Kebabs

Skewered kebabs evolved over many centuries from their origins among the nomadic Turkik peoples in Asia Minor. Shish kebabs once were simply chunks of lamb roasted near fire after seasoning and skewering onto a sharpened stick or iron rod or, more romantically, a Turkish warrior’s saber. They grew widely in sophistication and geographic reach.

The recipe serves six, but is easily multiplied for a summer party.

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 medium clove of garlic

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 (or more) teaspoon cayenne

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice (bottled is OK)

Skewers, metal or bamboo, flat metal skewers preferred

“Street Vendor Style” Corn Salsa – Salsa de Elote

The Mexican word “Elote” (aay-LO-tay) means fresh corn.  “Mais” (my-EECE), the general word  for corn elsewhere in the Spanish-speaking world is limited in Mexico to corn as crop or the dry grain. “Mais” came from the indigenous language of the Taino people in the Caribbean Islands where Spaniards first encountered corn, while “elote” is from the word for corn in Nahuatl, the language of the native Aztec people of central Mexico.

In Mexico you find fresh corn, elote, being sold by street vendors in the plazas and other gathering places. Corn kernels, freshly steamed, or sometimes grilled, are piled into a paper cone, topped with “crema” (Mexican sour cream), a slosh of hot pepper sauce (a favorite being “Valentina”), a squeeze of lime, and sprinkled with chopped cilantro. It’s a delightful snack.

Here’s an easy salsa based on street vendor Elote that I sometimes make for tacos and fajitas, favorite foods of my grandkids. You can’t have too many different kinds of condiments when serving tacos or fajitas. The salsa also goes well as a dip for tortilla chips.  

1 large ear of yellow corn, boiled (or grilled)

1/4 cup sour cream

Juice from 1 medium lime

1/2 teaspoon (or more) hot pepper sauce (like Valentina, Frank’s RedHot, Crystal, Tabasco)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons coarsely chopped cilantro plus a sprig for garnish

Cook the corn and let it cool. With a sharp knife, slice the kernels off into a mixing bowl. Break up the corn to separate the kernels. Stir in the remaining ingredients except for the sprig of cilantro.

Place in a serving bowl and garnish with the sprig of cilantro.

Horseradish Sauce for Sandwiches, Burgers, Roast Beef, Corned Beef and Beef Pie

Horseradish sauce, or in British slang, “Horsey” sauce, is a frequent condiment for roast beef, corned beef, and meat-containing sandwiches in the British Isles. It was, and possibly still is, a typical sauce for roast beef sandwiches at the Arby’s chain of restaurants. It can also serve on a hamburger. The sauce is easily made and keeps for a number of days in the refrigerator. 

Here’s my version, aimed for the British-inspired beef pot pie that I will be posting soon on this blog. But the sauce makes a good general spread on meat sandwiches, burgers, or ,if you can afford it, roast beef.. 

Horseradish is native to eastern Europe and western Asia, and has long been used for medicinal as well as culinary purposes. It figures prominently into the cuisines of central and northern Europe and the British Isles, particularly as a condiment for meat and fish. Prepared horseradish is horseradish root that was grated and mixed with vinegar.

For this sauce, as a seasoning ingredient I suggest prepared English mustard (like Coleman’s). That’s my first choice, but since English mustard is not commonly available, French-style Dijon mustard is the next best --  and is actually quite good.

The recipe makes enough sauce for sandwiches for six or more, hamburgers, or for sliced roast beef or corned beef. Extra keeps in the fridge for later use.

10 tablespoons (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) sour cream

5 teaspoons prepared horseradish

1 teaspoon prepared English or Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix well. Store refrigerated until eaten. Serve in a small bowl with a serving spoon.