Thai-Style Grilled Chicken
5 tb Thai or Vietnamese fish 3 lb Chickens, quartered, rinsed,
-sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam) -patted dry
1/4 c Light brown sugar 8 Leaves of butter lettuce
1/4 c Canned, unsweetened coconut -(Boston, Bibb, etc)
-milk 2 md Tomatoes, quartered
2 1/2 Tbsfresh lime juice 2 md Cucumbers, sliced 1/4 inch
2 tb Five-spice powder -thick
2 tb Soy sauce 1/2 Red onion, sliced and
1 tb Crushed dried Asian chilis -separated into strips
-(about 8 small) Dipping Sauce
1 tb Plus 1 tsp curry powder -(separate recipe)
Servings: 8 Notes: This Asian-influenced dish is from Philipe La Mancusa,
the chef at Embarko in San Francisco. He serves the chicken with fried
plantains, rice and Singha beer from Thailand. The chicken must marinate
for one to two days before grilling.
DIRECTIONS: In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, brown sugar, coconut milk,
lime juice, five-spice powder, soy sauce, crushed chiles and curry powder.
Set aside for at least 2 hours.
Stir the marinade well. Place the chicken in a glass baking dish and coat
thoroughly with the marinade. Transfer the chicken to 2 large, heavy Ziploc
plastic bags. Pour in any extra marinade. Press out any air and zip the
bags to close. Set aside to marinate at room temperature for 2 hours, then
refrigerate for at least 24 hours or up to 2 days, turning the bags
occasionally.
Light the grill. Cut the chicken wings off at the second joint or fasten
the wing tips to the rib cages with metal skewers. The fire is ready when
you can hold your hand 7 inches above the coals for at least 4 seconds.
Grill the chicken, bony sides down, for 1 1/2 minutes, then turn and grill
for 1 1/2 minutes to seal in the juices. Turn the chicken again and grill
for about 6 minutes, until the surface meat is firm. Turn and grill for 6
minutes longer. If the fire is too hot, the skin will char, so watch
carefully and turn the chicken if necessary. Grill the chicken, turning
occasionally, for 17 to 25 minutes longer. It is done as soon as the meat
is white throughout and the juices run clear when the meat is deeply
pierced.
Alternatively, preheat the broiler. Broil the chicken for about 35 minutes,
beginning skin-side up and turning every 10 minutes.
-------------Dipping Sauce----------
Nam Prik Kapi (Universal Thai Dipping Sauce)
3.00 tb Nam pla (fish sauce) -birdseye chilis)
3.00 tb Nam manao (lime juice) 1.00 tb Kapi (fermented shrimp
2.00 tb Makheua phuang -paste)
1.00 tb Kratiem (garlic) chopped 1.00 tb Sugar
1.00 tb Prik ki nu daeng (red
In a wok, lightly fry the shrimp paste until aromatic. Crush all the
ingredients in a mortar and pestle or food processor, except the makheua
phuang which is coarsely chopped and added to the paste after mixing
Description This is the staple dipping sauce eaten with almost anything,
and almost universally added to the table setting of any but the most
casual dinner. It is as much a signature dish of Thai cuisine as the more
familiar (in the west) pad Thai and is traditionally the one dish, other
than desserts, cooked by the 'mistress' of the house, as opposed to the
servants (if ya' have money!), and is often extremely intricate in its
preparation. There are probably as many recipes as there are Thai people,
and this is but one example.
The eggplants used - makheua phuang - are very small; the size of green
garden peas, and are often added to curries as a crisp morsel that pops in
the mouth. You could substitute the golf ball sized makheua pro, but the
best alternative to the real thing is probably to omit them.
Serve the chicken on plates or a platter, garnished with the lettuce,
tomatoes, cucumbers and red onion. Serve each person 1/4 cup of the dipping
sauce in small dishes.
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