So, there's this word in Thai, "Yam". It roughly translates as "salad", but often has no real connection to how we would understand it. Case in point: "Neua Naam Tok", which is a steak salad that's pretty much just steak and herbs. For those of you in Boston, this is very similar to the "Tiger's Tears" at Myers and Chang.
Slice up some of the tender parts of lemongrass, and smash them in a mortar. Yes, this seems very... what's the right phrase... "Martha Stewart-y" maybe? A bit of "faux-authenticity", perhaps? Whatever. It's what the book calls for, I happen to have a mortar and pestle, so. Smash the lemongrass into a paste however you want to, along with some black peppercorns.
Scrape it into a bowl, and add some soy sauce. Less than you would think, like a teaspoon or so.
I'm using skirt steak, here. Massage the marinade into the steak, let it sit for about half an hour to an hour.
While we're waiting, let's get the rest of this going. Throw a couple of dried chilis into an unoiled wok, and toast them until they're brittle and very dark. Let them cool, break them open, discard the seeds, grind them into a powder. Combine some of the powder with lime juice, fish sauce, stock, sugar, and sliced lemon grass. Again, you don't need much, just about a quarter cup, total.
More prepping: Shallot, mint leaves, cilantro.
Also, cover sliced chilis with fish sauce, and let that sit.
It's not yet grilling season (read: the new place does't have a grill yet), so I broiled the steak, let it rest, then sliced it thinly. Note: As it turns out, this isn't thin enough. We're talking 1/8th of an inch, here.
Throw the dressing into the wok, and heat it until warmed through. That's it, just so it's warm. Throw in the steak, and the rest of the veggies. Turn off the heat, and toss to combine. Dump everything onto a plate.
Ok, that's a hell of a lotta meat. Let's go the other way. This is a lot more like a salad.
These are dried shrimp. They are salty, and funky. Rinse a few off, pat them dry, and throw them into an un-oiled wok and toast them until crispy.
This recipe asks for us to use a Thai clay mortar and pestle. That's something I don't have: a large, deep, clay or wooden mortar with a wood pestle, for smashing and bruising stuff. What I do have, however, is a plastic bowl and the pestle from my china cap. To work! Pound out garlic, chilis, and agave until you have a sludge. Note: The chilis I'm using is the discarded pulp from when I made my own sriracha (But that's for another post).
Quarter some limes, throw them in, smash them up.
Add the shrimp, gently bruise them (don't smash).
Add green beans, bruise 'em.
Add cucumber and tomatoes, bruise them, too. Notice that you're not turning these into paste, you're just beating them up a bit. This is the closest they'll see to cooking. Bruising the cell walls will help absorb the flavor.Anyway, toss in some peanuts, stir to combine, then toss the whole thing on top of a bowl of cold vermicelli noodles.
Serve family style, with the fish sauce chilis to be dumped over the steak salad (or, hell, over whatever the heck you want).
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