I have a special weakness for whichever dish bears the adjective “Thai”.  I would probably try a stew of frog’s tripes if you told me it was “Thai”…or maybe not, but you know where I’m heading to 

These precious balls would be great as an appetizer, or as a party snack.

Ingredients:

- 350g – 12.35 ounces chicken minced meat

- 120g – 1/2 cup roasted peanuts (I roasted them in a non-stick frying pan without oil), chopped

- 1 tbsp fish sauce

- 50g -  1/4 cup breadcrumbs

- 1 tbsp red Thai curry paste

- 1 tbsp lime juice

- 3 kaffir lime leaves (I used the dried ones, and removed the central nerve of each of them), crushed

- 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce

- 2 tbsp coriander, chopped

- 3 tsp brown sugar

- vegetable oil, to fry

- more Thai sweet chili sauce, to dip

Cooking instructions:

Could not be easier: mix all ingredients but the vegetable oil. Form balls with this mix of the size of large marbles.

Fry the balls in hot oil, until golden. And that is it!!

I served them with Thai chili sauce and accompanied with a salad made of Chinese cabbage, red pepper, cucumber, seasoned with a mix of brown sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, water in more or less equal quantities.

Enjoy!!

What can I say, I have a weakness for Asian cuisine…This, combined with my Spanish penchant for tapas explains why I absolutely adore dumplings, sushi, and all bit-size delicacies from the Far East.

This recipe derives from David Lebovitz’s…In his Parisian blog he explains about food and French cultural habits (which more often than not clash with the American’s), quite hilarious at times…

Ingredients for the dumplings:

- 1 pound (500g) minced pork meat

- 1 pound (500g) raw, peeled, clean shrimp

- a handful of chopped cilantro

- 2 tbsp fish sauce

- 3 tbsp cornstarch

- 1 egg

- 1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil

- 2 tbsp grated ginger

- won ton wrappers

Ingredients for the dipping sauce:

- 1 tbsp grated ginger

- 1 tbsp grated garlic

- 2 tbsp fish sauce

- 1 tbsp rice vinegar

- 1 tbsp brown sugar

- 1 tbsp sesame oil

Cooking instructions:

Mix all ingredients except the wrappers. Put a teaspoon of mixture in each wrapper, gather the ends up, press firmly together and turn them to ‘close’ the dumpling.

The recipe said to use a bamboo steamer to cook the dumplings, but mine is really tiny and I was too impatient, so I stir-fried the dumplings instead of steaming them.

Serve with some greens, white rice, the dipping sauce and sweet chili sauce.

Enjoy!!

Do not be fooled by the picture, they are the size of a large marble…These mini-meatballs are extremely easy to make, and quickly done. They are tiny, they are tender, they are tasty and they are cute! Perfect for children and picky eaters.

I based myself on a recipe from canarygirl, and I served them with some white rice and sweet chili sauce. Some lettuce or cucumber would have been lovely too, but when I made this dish I had ran out of greens!

Ingredients:

- 1 pound/500g of lean pork meat
- half onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- ground black pepper
- 1 tsp sugar
- vegetable oil, to fry

Cooking instructions:

I put all ingredients in the food processor (except for the oil) to obtain a paste. I then took little portions of the meat and rolled it to make tiny balls, which I then fried. That is it! I told you it was quick and easy…

Enjoy!!

So far, my all-time favourite Thai dish. Sweet, sour, spicy and salty at the same time. Shrimps, noodles, egg, vegetables and sauce in perfect harmony. Impossible not to love it!!

I base myself on a recipe from Chez Pim. Yum, yum, yum.

Ingredients:

- 1 pound peeled, clean shrimp (500g)

- 13 ounces rice stick (375g)

- 3.5 ounces beansprouts (100g)

- 2 handful peanuts, grilled and roughly ground on a mortar

- 2 eggs

- 3 garlic cloves, chopped

- 2 tsp dried shrimp paste (how can an ingredient stink so much and still give such an amazing flavour?)

- 1/2 cup lime juice (I’m not so fond of tamarind) (125ml)

- 1/2 cup sugar (125g)

- 1/2 cup fish sauce (125ml)

- (dried) chili to taste, chopped

- vegetable oil

- coriander, chopped

Cooking instructions:

Fill in a cooking pan with water, when it boils add the noodles and a bit of salt. Let cook during 3-4 minutes, drain. It should not be too soft or else it will turn all mushy when mixed with the other ingredients in the wok.

While the noodle are cooking, prepare the sauce by mixing the fish sauce, the lime juice, the chili and the sugar.

Heat a large wok over high heat, when it becomes smokey add a splash of vegetable oil.

Add the garlic and the shrimp paste, let the oil infuse with these flavours for one or two minutes.

Now add the noodles and toss. Then push the noddles to one side of the wok and crack the eggs open on the open space. Let the egg set for 15 seconds and then toss everything all together.

Add the shrimp, the peanuts, the beansprouts and the sauce. Toss everything together again, leave for 5 minutes, remove from the heat. Sprinkle with a bit of coriander, and ta daaaaaaa! There you have it, a dish of pure glory.

Enjoy!!