green papaya salad with shrimp

i'm not sure when or how it started,
but larry and i never go out for thai,
without ordering a green papaya salad.

have you had one?
they're everything i love:
crunchy,
salty
and spicy.
there are peanuts.
tomatoes and
green beans, too.
if you're lucky,
tiny flecks of fried shallots
on top.

it's my touch point for a new
thai restaurant.
just like some people order
guacamole in a new mexican restaurant
or always check out the omelets when
visiting a breakfast place for the first time,
i use green papaya salad to help me
decide if i'll be back
once the meal is over.

i want it to be spicy.
bright with fish sauce and lime.
studded with peanuts to help
add texture and break up the spiciness.
and the tomatoes? i don't want them
overly smashed, overly jostled.
i want it to have that indescribable something
that i just can't put my finger on.

so, i was always little afraid to make one at home.
if i am always hoping for that nameless thing,
how in the world was i going to figure out
how to recreate it?

ok, that's not entirely truthful.
i've always wanted to make one,
but finding green papaya is not so easy.
i searched my beloved asian markets many
times, until finally deciding that it wasn't meant
to be and that i would have to settle for this
salad as a restaurant-only treat.

and then one day,
a few weeks ago, my mother
called to tell me about a new asian market
that she was visiting after work. she asked if
i wanted anything. i asked for a green papaya,
but i wasn't hopeful.

and then, lo and behold.

i'll be honest with you:
i didn't think it was big enough.
i had imagined the salad topped with shrimp,
as a main course, but after seeing the smallish
fruit, i asked larry to pick up a green apple to
supplement. and, then, i started shredding this
thing with my spiked peeler (not an official name)
and felt foolish as the shreds of green papaya
started stacking up in the bowl.
we had more than enough.

i added things:


dried shrimp
fish sauce
lime
garlic
2 serrano peppers
(sadly, no scallions or
cilantro due to a small miscommunication
between larry and i)
green beans and
tomatoes.

i stirred it all around
and gave it a taste.
it sort of tasted like green papaya salad.
i chopped up more dried shrimp,
added more fish sauce,
more lime,
chopped more garlic and tossed in
a chopped shallot.
a third serrano went in.
i let the whole thing sit for ten minutes
and tasted it again. i think i drizzled in
more fish sauce. it was good. it really was.
but was i jumping out of my seat excited?
no.
would i make it again? yes.
and that? that's more than i can say for
several thai restaurants we've visited.
so, that's something.

green papaya salad with shrimp
adapted from molly wizenberg
i often find that i add more garlic, more fish sauce, more, more, more of everything with flavor than a recipe calls for. i don't know what it says about me. regardless. when tasting this salad for the first time, i wished three things: that i had let the mixture marinate for a bit before serving, that i chopped extra dried shrimp and garlic from the beginning and that my serrano had typical serrano-level spice. below, i've written the recipe with my changes and the way we made it, but keep in mind that the original had cilantro and scallions.

again, this was not exactly the original. i learned through this experience that a) larry did not know that there was a difference between cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes and b) larry cleans the fridge out much more than i realized. hence, this recipe was prepared without cilantro or scallions. we also used cashews instead of peanuts, because i love cashews and that was what was in the house.

a couple more things: i brought leftovers for lunch and they were great, so don't be afraid to let this sit overnight. the original recipe was six appetizer servings, but for us, it was three decent size main meals.

3 limes (about 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice)
2 tablespoons packed golden brown sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce
3 tablespoons dried shrimp, chopped
1 shallot, peeled, halved and finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
15 green beans, trimmed
1 green papaya (1 1/2-1 3/4 pounds), peeled, halved and seeded
10 large cherry tomatoes, halved
1-3 serrano peppers with seeds or 1 fresh red thai chile pepper, thinly sliced
15 large shrimp (about 20 count)
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped salted cashews

bring medium saucepan of salted water to a boil.

in small bowl, whisk together lime juice, brown sugar, fish sauce, shrimp, garlic and shallot. taste and adjust flavor, if desired. set aside.

add green beans to boiling water; cook 2-3 minutes, or until just crisp-tender. drain; rinse under cold water to stop cooking. cut into 2-inch pieces.

using julienne peeler or box grater, shred papaya. measure 6 cups papaya. place papaya in large bowl. add green beans, tomatoes and chile pepper. top with dressing; toss to combine. let sit. 

when ready to serve, divide papaya salad among serving plates. 

season shrimp with hot and pepper. heat grill pan or saute pan over medium-high heat. grill shrimp 4 minutes, or until just firm and cooked through, turning once midway through. top salads with shrimp. sprinkle with cashews.

thai melon salad

last week, larry and i had a really

lovely day. it was the day after my

birthday and we both took off from

work. i drank coffee in bed and, later,

we ate lunch outside, very close

to the ocean. we bought fig vinegar

from an olive oil shop and sat on the

boardwalk with our legs dangling over

the sand. we went to see the help,

which i've been hoping to see in the theatre,

since finishing the book last november.

in between the beach and the movies,

we stopped at the book store, where i was

given a really great gift: unlimited time

to look through as many cookbooks as i

wanted. and, truthfully, that's quite a gift.

as much as i love cookbooks, i rarely buy

them. and when, i do, it's a specific book

that i've had my eye on for a while. rarely,

do i just plant myself in front

of the shelves and read.

ultimately, i left with three - two baking

books that, it turns out, i actually had wanted,

but had forgotten about,

and a third, cooking in the moment

by andrea reusing.

to be honest, i keep picking up and putting down

the last one. i would decide that i was not

going to keep it and then i'd turn one last page

and see a recipe, like the one for

black sesame sauce.

in that case, i read the recipe twice

and thought, ok, i know

how to make this. as i shut the book,

i noticed a page reading

garlic and crab fried rice.

this happened several times.

ultimately, it was the kale panini and

salt preserved chilies that cinched

my decision.

that night, i got back in bed and read

cooking in the moment from cover to cover.

and, in spite of my curiosity about the

recipes above, i knew that the first dish i

would be making was the

spicy melon salad with peanuts and mint.

it uses fish sauce. and a lot of it.

need i say more?

and, then, you should have seen me the next

day, standing at the grocery store, staring at

the melons, trying to channel my melon

knowledge. is it the santa claus melon that's

really sweet or is it the canary? are any melons

really dark orange? or yellow? what will happen

if i add watermelon? will the color run?

ultimately, i was lucky.

a melon expert - or at least he seemed

that way to me - helped me pick three

small, sweet flavorful globes. he was spot

on. (except when the next day i realized

that i somehow had two green-fleshed melons,

but i'm very over it.)

after a search for my melon baller -

a tool i'm pretty sure i haven't used since

culinary school - i cracked open the melons

on sunday, prepared to make a cooling

summer salad for a hot summer night.

except it was sunday.

when there was lightening.

and thunder.

and rainstorms that made me fear

for our basement.

so, i scooped melons for a cool evening.

and, that's ok, too.

the melons were incredibly sweet,

floral and juicy. i pulled small

and large balls from

all three:

the honeydew,

the crenshaw and

the galia.

(as for the remaining melon in

each half, i used a spoon to separate

them from their skins, put all three

into the same container and have

been adding the pieces and sweet

juice to my smoothies in the morning.

it's been a nice change.)

i whisked together the juice of two limes,

a few glugs from a new bottle of fish sauce -

i forgot how powerful a brand new bottle

could be - a squeeze of agave and an

unfortunately, mild, chopped

red fresno chile pepper.

the dressing was powerful.

slightly spicy, slightly sweet,

tangy and salty. i tossed it over

the melons, took a premature bite

and knew that i would love this dish.

simplified, it reminded me of a

sweet green papaya salad.

the recipe said to let it the mixture

sit for at least 45 minutes or up to

several hours. we went for three.

before serving, i topped it with

shreds of mint and salted peanuts

and we dug in.

the marinating liquid is

unbelievably bold.

but, the melons, when picked up with

a fork, instead of scooped,

gave a significantly more subtle delivery.

i don't know how many fruit salads are eaten

with a spoon,

but it would be a shame to leave all that

limey-fish sauciness on the bottom

of the bowl.

team spoon. all the way.

regardless.

this salad slash side dish slash

potential dessert is everything i look

for in a recipe.

it's different, so it won't see itself

coming and going. but, more importantly,

it's sweet and salty and soft and crunchy.

it's slightly spicy and kind of tangy

and would be perfect on

a hot night spent outside.

it was a recipe that gave me

reassurance. it made me feel justified

about buying the cookbook. and, about

making larry amuse himself in the bookstore

while i dealt with my indecisiveness.

and, it made me find my melon baller.

worth it all around.

thai melon salad

adapted from cooking in the moment

i followed this recipe pretty closely. the only real changes were using agave instead of sugar and using a serrano chile pepper and a red fresno chile pepper, because neither were very spicy. with a spicy pepper, i would have stuck to one. i also chose not to measure the peanuts - just grabbed a handful and chopped.

i agree that this salad should only sit for a couple hours. by the next day, the melons had expelled a lot of their own liquid and mellowed the flavor of the dish significantly.

2-3 assorted melons

2 large, juicy limes, juiced

1/4 cup fish sauce

1 tablespoon agave

1 spicy chile pepper, chopped

10 mint leaves

1 small handful roasted and salted peanuts

halve melons. using melon baller, scoop melon into balls, transferring to a measuring cup as you scoop. measure 4 cups melon. transfer melons to mixing bowl.

in liquid measuring cup, measure 1/4 cup lime juice. whisk in fish sauce, agave and chile pepper. pour lime juice mixture over melons; toss to combine. cover; chill 45 minutes, or up to several hours.

when ready to serve, rip mint leaves into smaller pieces. chop peanuts.

using a slotted spoon, transfer melon to serving platter or bowls. top with spoonfuls of marinade. garnish with mint and chopped peanuts.

thai basil chicken (gai pad krapo)

as someone who grew up

deathly - not an exaggeration -

allergic to eggs, it is kind of

weird for me to realize that two

posts in a row, not only involve

eggs, but feature them front and center.

but lest you worry about my

need for benadryl or a hospital

(i was lucky enough

to lose the allergy by college),

my cholesterol (we actually ate these

dinners over a week and a half apart)

or this blog becoming an

egg-obsessed one,

don't.

this recipe is all about the tender,

fragrant, basil-laced chicken.

and chicken?

that's not something i speak

so much about. seriously,

the last time i wrote about chicken,

it was july. so, be assured - if i'm

telling you about this recipe, i'm committed.

the egg?

just a coincidence.

--

i often have restaurant guilt -

not necessarily because it's so bad

to treat yourself to a night out,

but because i often find myself thinking,

isn't a perk of being able to cook

that you don't have to go out to dinner?

yes, there are dishes i'll never have the

desire to try at home, like...

ok, i'll admit that i just had to consult larry.

it just took us five minutes to come up with

something i'd never ever attempt to make.

we landed on shrimp tempura

(i am not a deep fryer, but probably

my arm could be twisted in the

right situation),

a wedding cake (see: name of blog)

and haggis (which i'd also never eat).

ok, i know that even though,

a night out is about much more than

even the food,

like getting out of the house,

socializing,

not worrying about timing

five different elements of one meal,

my point is this:

i like to try to make new things.

and this:

often it's a much cheaper,

more satisfying experience.

so when i came across this

year-old thai recipe on serious eats,

i was instantly in.

it had everything i need for

a weeknight dinner:

speed,

serious flavor,

a better-than-the-restaurant possibility

and a bonus: meat for larry.

and even though

neither of us had ever ordered

gai pad krapo

in a restaurant, i felt

assured that it is something

we could have ordered.

the good news:

this dish was incredibly

restaurant-worthy and

absolutely satisfying.

after some basic prep work:

slicing shallots,

chopping garlic,

mincing two serranos,

trimming and shortening

green beans,

i was ready to go.

as the first three ingredients

sizzled in the skillet,

i got the chicken ready,

pulled out the sugar and

flipped the cap off the fish sauce.

that was kind of it.

this dish came together simply

and as expected, with one exception.

as the chicken browned -

a very curious thing happened.

the whole mixture turned

a very dark brown,

most closely resembling

ground beef. i fished the

package out of the garbage

to make sure i hadn't made

an accidental purchase, but

no, it said chicken.

when larry walked in a

few minutes later,

he told me that everything

smelled good and then he

looked down at the skillet

and asked, is that beef?

that felt like victory to me.

somewhere in the prep,

i had also gently fried two eggs,

kept an eye on a simmering

saucepot of brown rice and

made a fish sauce-based

dipping sauce, which i'll give

you the recipe to,

but i understand if at this

point you think i've

gone overboard with

fish sauce sauces.

maybe because of

this or this.

to serve,

my eye traveled back

and forth from plate to bowl.

but, when we sat down to eat,

i was glad for piling the

rice, egg and chicken

on top of each other, rather than assembling

everything onto a plate.

it wasn't so pretty,

but, it tasted like comfort food

and like so many other cozy dishes,

it belonged in an unpretentious bowl.

i turned to larry, curious

what he would think of this

take on takeout.

after his first bite,

he turned to me and said,

this is good. this is really good.

i would order this in a restaurant.

and just like that:

a restaurant dinner at home.

thai basil chicken (gai pad krapo)

adapted from serious eats

i doubled the recipe so that we'd have leftovers - but it was one of those running around in a grocery store trying to do math and sometimes failing situations. i upped the shallots from one to three (purposely), only went with two serranos instead of four to six (purposely), upped the sugar by one and half times the original (gladly) and only bought one bunch of basil (accidentally). next time, i will probably add another serrano or two and i will absolutely use more basil. but it's up to you to decide how much you love basil and how much spice you can handle.

instead of placing it all on a plate, i opted to smoosh it all together in one bowl. i started with brown long grain rice, topped it with an over-easy egg and then, the chicken. to me, it made sense to eat them all together, but if you like your food separate, plate it up. also, about that egg, i'm not quite sure why i flipped it...it was good, but sunny-side up would have been, too.

2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3-4 serrano peppers, halved, seeded and finely chopped (you could also use less of red thai chilies if you can find them)

3 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

6 large cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

2/3 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2" lengths

1 pound ground chicken

1/4 cup fish sauce, plus more if desired

1 tablespoon sugar, plus more if desired

2 bunches basil, leaves only

in wok or large skillet over high heat, heat oil until shimmering. add serranos, shallots and garlic and cook 1 minute, or until nearly golden, stirring constantly. add green beans and cook 3 minutes, or until softened, but still crunchy.

add grown chicken; using wood spoon or spatula, break up the meat into small pieces. cook 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through, stirring often.

add fish sauce and sugar to pan; stir to combine. add more fish sauce or sugar, if desired.

add basil leaves; reduce heat to medium-low. cook 1 minute, or until leaves are completely wilted.

you could serve this on its own, but brown rice (or white) and an egg with a runny yolk will make it a complete meal. once it was on the table, we drizzled with the fish sauce mixture, below.

nam pla prik (chili fish sauce)

it almost seems silly to give you yet another fish sauce dipping sauce, but they're all a little different and you never know when you'll stumble upon one that's perfect for you. i left out the chilies, that were supposed to be in this one (but i'm keeping in the recipe), and also added garlic. and this one, really wasn't even a recipe as much as a guideline - which can sometimes be fun. if your finished sauce is too intense, add water.

3 to 4 parts fish sauce

1 to 2 parts lime juice

1 chili, finely chopped (or more)

1 shallot, thinly sliced (or more)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or more)

whisk together all ingredients; taste and adjust seasoning.