Tag: appetizer
Green Curry Rice Balls
Green Curry Rice Balls
Green curry rice balls might be the ultimate Thai appetizer. They consist of a combination of jasmine and sticky rice, green curry paste, and coconut milk; breaded with panko and fried. The outside is crispy while the inside has the right amount of chewiness. Make a double batch. You’ll end up eating more than you should.
Equipment
- immersion blender
- instant pot
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup sticky rice uncooked
- 3/4 cup jasmine rice
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
- 3 tbsp green curry paste
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp red bell pepper finely diced
- 2 tbsp green bell pepper finely diced
- 4 lime leaves finely chopped
- 1/2 cup Thai basil
- vegetable oil for frying
Breading
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 tsp fish sauce
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Combine 1/2 cup coconut milk and basil.
- Purée until smooth. Set aside.
- Add your rice and water to an Instant Pot. Cook according to directions.
- Add the rest of the coconut milk and curry paste to a small pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil.
- Stir in the fish sauce, sugar, lime leaves, and the puréed basil coconut milk.
- Pour the green curry mixture into the rice. Mix in the bell peppers.
- Roll the rice into ping pong sized balls.
- Prep the breading assembly line. Mix the egg with the flour, water, and fish sauce.
- Dip the rice balls in the egg, then coat in the breadcrumbs.
- You should yield about 15 rice balls.
- Heat up 2” of oil in a pot over medium high heat. Drop in the rice balls, making sure to not overcrowd the pot.
- Fry for 5-6 minutes. Drain grease on a wire rack.
Green Curry Paste
This paste has the same base as the red curry paste, with the substitution of green chilies for red chilies, and the addition of cumin and coriander seeds, and basil. Since this paste uses fresh green chilies, it can get real hot if you add too many. 10 is a good number for a medium spicy. Store anything that’s not used within a week in the freezer.
Equipment
- Blender, food processor, or mortar and pestle
Ingredients
- 10-15 thai green chilies
- 1/4 cup shallots
- 1 head garlic peeled
- 3 tbsp lemongrass
- 1 tbsp galangal
- 2 tsp lime zest
- 2 tsp cilantro stems
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp white peppercorns
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 15 thai basil leaves
- 1 tsp shrimp paste
Instructions
- Dry toast the coriander seeds and cumin seeds. Add them to a spice grinder with the white peppercorns. GRIND!
- Add all of the rest of the ingredients to a food processor or blender.
- Blend until smooth. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the blender with a rubber spatula to make sure all of the ingredients are incorporated within each other.
Dynamite Lumpia
Dynamite Lumpia
Time consuming to make-yes. Worth all the effort-absolutely! These dynamite lumpia are an excellent appetizer to make for large gatherings, since no one in their right mind would go through the trouble to make just a couple. Fingerling chilies get stuffed with ground pork, then wrapped in lumpia wrappers and fried. Serve them with your favorite sweet and sour sauce. Make sure to talk up how big of a pain in the ass these are to make to your guests. You will deserve the credit.
Servings: 36 Lumpia
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 3 green onions finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 36 fingerling chilies
- lumpia wrappers
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Mix the filling ingredients together. Set aside.
- Ising a paring knife, make a long slit down the center of the fingerling chilies, making sure to not cut all the way through. Scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon.
- Stuff each of the chilies with a tsp of the ground pork mix.
- You should yield about 3 dozen .
- Place a stuffed chili in the left center of a lumpia wrapper with the stem sticking out.
- Fold the right side of the wrapper over the chili.
- Fold up the bottom. Wet the top with water and roll to seal.
- Anything you plan on not cooking immediately should be placed on a baking sheet in the freezer. Once frozen, store in gallon sized freezer bags.
- Heat up 1/2” deep of oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the lumpia to the pan.
- Fry for 4-5 minutes a side until golden brown. Drain grease on a wire rack.
Bahamian Salad
Bahamian Salad
Conch is found all over the Caribbean, Bahamas, and the Florida keys. It is kind of a cross between scallops and squid in texture, but light and sweet in flavor. Conch is typically eaten raw, only being “cooked” from citrus acidity. This is an item that you’ll have s hard time finding in a regular grocery store. I happened to have found really good quality frozen conch at my local Asian market for $8/lb. Bahamians call this particular dish a salad, but it’s really conch ceviche. The conch gets cleaned, tenderized with a mallet, cubed, then marinated in old sour for a few minutes. This helps with further tenderization and adds heat to the conch meat. After that, the liquid is drained. All of the ingredients get tossed together and a marinated for a half hour in lemon, lime, and orange juice. Serve with tortilla chips, tostada shells, or even eat as a taco.
Equipment
- mallet
Ingredients
- 3 conch
- old sour
- 1/2 medium red onion finely chopped
- 1 medium red bell pepper finely chopped
- 2 small roma tomatoes seeded and finely chopped
- 1 mango diced
- 1 serrano pepper finely chopped
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 orange juiced
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash and trim any inedible parts on your conch.
- Butterfly open the conch. Using a mallet, pound the fuck out of the conch on both sides.
- Dice into small cubes.
- Marinate for 10 minutes in enough old sour to cover the conch. Drain the liquid.
- In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients. Allow them to marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
