This spicy chicken salad, also known as Laap Gai, is made with lime, chilies, fresh herbs, vegetables, and roasted ground rice. Traditionally prepared with minced chicken, my take on this classic dish is made with long bite-size chicken strips. The longer strips allow you to easily grasp the chicken with chopsticks or a fork. Serve with rice and a side of fresh herbs and vegetables.
Ingredients for Thai chicken salad – Laap Gai
Unlike Massaman curry, green curry is made with fresh chili peppers and herbs instead of being roasted. Herbs give green curry a light and slightly sweeter flavor. This recipe is made with lean pork and Thai eggplant, but you can substitute pork with beef, chicken or tofu. Green curry goes well with basmati rice or roti.
Fresh ingredients used for green curry.
Sriracha, let’s discuss one of our favorite hot sauces. Sriracha is, fair to say, the most popular Asian chili sauce. How much do you know about the origins of this sauce? Depending on which brand and what the manufacturer stamps on the bottle, Sriracha could be made in Vietnam, China, or the U.S. Let’s try a seaside town called Sri Racha on the east coast of Thailand – the origin of Sriacha chili sauce. If you were to ask me, my favorite is the Shark Brand of Sriracha made in Thailand. In my opinion, Shark Brand has the perfect balance of hot and sour with a hint of sweetness.
I recommend you give this brand a try. Make sure you read the label to determine medium heat or hot. You can purchase the Shark Brand at many of the Asian markets. To purchase the Sriracha chili sauce online – check amazon.com!
This is the most popular soup served mostly as an appetizer in U.S. Thai restaurants. It has a very distinct hot and sour flavor made with fresh ingredients such as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and cilantro. For those that prefer seafood, replace the chicken with shrimp.
The word Massaman means “Muslim” named after the Muslim traders who brought spices such as cinnamon, cumin, cloves, nutmeg and turmeric from India and the Middle East. This curry originated from southern Thailand and is one of my favorite curries to eat when the weather is chilly. It’s a hearty, comforting meal that’s commonly made with beef, potatoes and Indian spices.
You can easily substitute beef with lamb, pork, chicken or tofu. This curry is traditionally mild in terms of spiciness and not made with carrots; however, I love my curries spicy and I think the carrots add a subtle sweetness. Try the recipe with carrots first and then try it without and see if you can taste the difference. This curry will also be a little thicker than typical Thai curries. If you think the curry is too thick, just add a few tablespoons of water to thin it out.
A light, crispy salad with a combination of sweet, sour and spicy to welcome the warm weather. It has shrimp, cucumbers, bell peppers, shallots, chili peppers, Thai basil, and cilantro. The sauce contains lime juice, fish sauce and palm sugar. This salad is great to have as an appetizer or entree. You can substitute the shrimp with shredded chicken, beef or tofu.
