Yikes! I haven't blogged in awhile. There's a lot going on right now so I haven't had a lot of time, but I'll try to update as much as possible! For one, our dreams of a Greek vacation were dashed after weeks of trying to get Awards Travel tickets through United. I'm not going to spend almost $4K on airplane tickets that we could get for FREE, and there simply are no open seats that they'll give us, unless we want to spend 2 days on planes and in various airports. So, thanks for the advice on Greece, but we'll have to go another time when it's less hectic. We've switched gears completely and have decided to spend a few days in Mexico City and a few more in Zihuatanejo (which is where Morgan Freeman decided to "get busy living" and finally met up with Tim Robbins at the end of Shawshank Redemption........one of the best movies of all time!!!). Although I was initially disappointed that my hummus fantasies (um, nothing kinky, ok?!) were dashed, I am getting really excited about trying some restaurants in Mexico City and wading through the blue seas of Zihuatanejo. As always, any recommendations are utterly appreciated.
Now, onto the food! Almost every time I dine at a Thai restaurant, I order the beef salad- yum nuea. I love the combination of limes, chilies, cilantro, onions, fish sauce, mint and beef, but it's one of those dishes that vary greatly depending on which restaurant you go to. At some places, it's a sad pile of iceberg lettuce with a few overcooked slices of beef on top; at others, it's a glorious combination of many flavorful ingredients.
I've often wanted to make it at home, but never took the time to look up any recipes. Since our friend JN was kind enough to send us some fantastic beef as a thank you gift, I thought now was as good a time as ever to make this salad. I did a bunch of research and came up with a few recipes. It was easy to make and came out pretty well for a first try. After I made it, my friend D mentioned that his dad makes a fantastic version and uses shrimp paste ("the stinkiest stuff on earth" he says) in the dressing which really makes a difference. Although I have to admit I'm a little concerned with his description of the stuff, I'll have to add that next time.
You can find a version here.
1 comment:
This looks delicious. I agree with your buddy D that shrimp paste would make a difference in flavor though. The Filipino version of shrimp paste, Bagoong, is damn stanky, but creates a certain depth of flavor when added to certain dishes.
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