Thai inspired BBQ

[TylerK]

It's almost time for my annual August long weekend BBQ (15 to 20 people) and I'm thinking of switching things from the normal fare by adding in a bit of Thai. I don't want the main event to deviate too much from what people are going to expect (pulled pork, sausages, burgers, potato salad, some kind of slaw), but I'd like to add in some new flavours as well as provide some thai inspired appetizers through the day. Some of the ideas I've been playing with:

Pulled pork - once smoked and pulled toss with a Larb-like dressing. Do you think this would work? Any suggestions for a rub to go on before smoking?

Sausage - David Thompson has a recipe for smoked chiang mai sausage in his book that I'd like to try. In this recipe he smokes the sausage with dessicated coconut. Has anyone tried this before, or know what kind of flavour this would give?

Burgers - I don't want to mess too much with ground beef perfection, but are there any condiments that I might look at providing for them? I saw a recipe for a green curry mayo online that looked interesting.

Potato salad - maybe some kind of creamy/coconut red curry dressing. Toss in some ground peanuts and cilantro?

slaw - any suggestions here?

Suggestions for the appetizers? So far I haven't been able to think much beyond salad rolls and satay.

[basquecook]

There are beautiful grilled chicken recipes in thai cuisine

There are a few different marinades for Thai Grilled Chicken Gai Yang (ไก่ย่าง). This version, that's widely available in Nakhon Pathom is first soaked in turmeric (to make it orange), fish sauce, salt, garlic, and some kind of sugar to make it slightly sweetened. Once the chicken has been marinated, it's then attached to a bamboo stick. It's then thrown on the hot fire and roasted until done, but not overcooked to the point where it's dry. The great thing about the chicken vendor I bought from was that she had hand grilled every piece to perfection. I think she took some real care in her grilled chicken.

Not to mention their are countless grilled fish recipes. You can grill a flank steak and make a flank salad. Lots and lots of thai food is cooked over charcoal.

Edited July 23, 2013 by basquecook (log)

[rotuts]

Potato salad - maybe some kind of creamy/coconut red curry dressing. Toss in some ground peanuts and cilantro?

this sounds pretty tasty to me. green onions also in there

[Plantes Vertes]

You could cut a green mango into spears and marinate it in a mixture of bird's-eye chillies, fish sauce, brown sugar and water, then grill them and pour the rest of the marinade over with some chopped coriander.

[ElsieD]

I sent a PM to you for an Asian type cole slaw.

[TylerK]

That grilled chicken in the video looked great Thanks for the great suggestions.

Some green onions in the potato salad for sure. I'm also eyeing a shrimp and cucumber salad from Davit Thompson's book. He makes it with dried shrimp, but it looks like it would be good with fresh salad shrimp, dressed with fish sauce, lime juice coriander and mint. Something for the guests that won't appreciate the heat in some of the other dishes.

ElsieD - I got your PM and responded. The coleslaw looks great. Thanks

Almost two weeks to go until the BBQ, so if anyone has any other suggestions I'd love to hear them.

[C. sapidus]

Mom Leuang Neuang's famous satay, from David Thompson's Thai Food, is fantastic. Lots of satay options - shrimp, chicken, pork - and all cook quickly. Pick your favorite peanut sauce to go with.

Gai yang is also fantastic. There is a recipe in Thailand the Beautiful Cookbook where the chicken is marinated briefly with garlic, white pepper, minced cilantro stems / roots, whiskey, coconut milk, fish sauce, soy sauce, and ginger. The chicken is then baked and grilled to crisp. I usually grill the chicken indirectly, and then finish it over the fire.

Thai cucumber salad goes wonderfully with grilled meat. Sticky rice, too.

We have smoked pork butts and offered pulled pork sandwiches with American BBQ sauce (for traditionalists) and with banh mi fixings (hollowed-out baguettes, daikon-carrot pickle, mayo, Maggi sauce, sliced cucumbers and jalapeños, cilantro, and liver pate) for non-traditionalists. Banh mi is fun for a gathering because it is interactive food.

Good luck, and please post pictures!

[djyee100]

From Kasma Loha-unchit, charcoal-roasted fish in banana leaf. I've tried this one, it's yummy.
http://www.oaklandmagazine.com/Oakland-Magazine/November-2007/Cooking/KasmaRecipe.pdf

Also very popular, Kasma's recipe for Garlic Noodles. I have substituted old-fashioned sauerkraut for the preserved Tianjin vegetable in the Garlic Noodles. Rinse the sauerkraut, and dry well on paper towels, then use it in the recipe. The sauerkraut tastes similar to the Tianjin vegetable. Tianjin vegetable tastes more sour and more funky (which some people don't like).

I buy the BBQ pork or roast duck ready-made at an Asian market, slice it, and top the noodles with it.

The recipe is here:
http://www.sfgate.com/food/recipes/detail/?rid=9890&sorig=qs

[TylerK]

Mom Leuang Neuang's famous satay, from David Thompson's Thai Food, is fantastic. Lots of satay options - shrimp, chicken, pork - and all cook quickly. Pick your favorite peanut sauce to go with.

Gai yang is also fantastic. There is a recipe in Thailand the Beautiful Cookbook where the chicken is marinated briefly with garlic, white pepper, minced cilantro stems / roots, whiskey, coconut milk, fish sauce, soy sauce, and ginger. The chicken is then baked and grilled to crisp. I usually grill the chicken indirectly, and then finish it over the fire.

Thai cucumber salad goes wonderfully with grilled meat. Sticky rice, too.

We have smoked pork butts and offered pulled pork sandwiches with American BBQ sauce (for traditionalists) and with banh mi fixings (hollowed-out baguettes, daikon-carrot pickle, mayo, Maggi sauce, sliced cucumbers and jalapeños, cilantro, and liver pate) for non-traditionalists. Banh mi is fun for a gathering because it is interactive food.

Good luck, and please post pictures!

I think I'm going to have to do something like this, or at least produce versions without the chillies since some of the people confirming their attendance have an inability to handle any spice whatsoever. Thankfully for most of the dishes that will mean just keeping some of it aside and using a different sauce/dressing. Thanks for the recipe suggestions. They both look great.

I'll do my best to get some shots.

[TylerK]

From Kasma Loha-unchit, charcoal-roasted fish in banana leaf. I've tried this one, it's yummy.

http://www.oaklandmagazine.com/Oakland-Magazine/November-2007/Cooking/KasmaRecipe.pdf

Also very popular, Kasma's recipe for Garlic Noodles. I have substituted old-fashioned sauerkraut for the preserved Tianjin vegetable in the Garlic Noodles. Rinse the sauerkraut, and dry well on paper towels, then use it in the recipe. The sauerkraut tastes similar to the Tianjin vegetable. Tianjin vegetable tastes more sour and more funky (which some people don't like).

I buy the BBQ pork or roast duck ready-made at an Asian market, slice it, and top the noodles with it.

The recipe is here:

http://www.sfgate.com/food/recipes/detail/?rid=9890&sorig=qs

Thanks for the recipes. They both look great, especially the fish.

[dstevens024]

Pulled pork - once smoked and pulled toss with a Larb-like dressing. Do you think this would work? Any suggestions for a rub to go on before smoking?

Sausage - David Thompson has a recipe for smoked chiang mai sausage in his book that I'd like to try. In this recipe he smokes the sausage with dessicated coconut. Has anyone tried this before, or know what kind of flavour this would give?

Burgers - I don't want to mess too much with ground beef perfection, but are there any condiments that I might look at providing for them? I saw a recipe for a green curry mayo online that looked interesting.

Potato salad - maybe some kind of creamy/coconut red curry dressing. Toss in some ground peanuts and cilantro?

slaw - any suggestions here?

Suggestions for the appetizers? So far I haven't been able to think much beyond salad rolls and satay.

I guess I'll go down the line to offer my unique ideas. They may or may not fly.

1. Pulled Pork. Here are some things you could add to a BBQ sauce: Mango juice, thai peppers, teriyaki, pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice (a nice texture that compliments the pork nicely I've done this before.

2. Burgers. I'd maybe do a spicey ketchup, another thing you can do is make a mango pico de gallo with some thai peppers in it if you want a lil kick, pickled mango, ginger and rice vinegar mayo or bbq, or really anything. When thiinking of sauces keep in mind it's summer, it's hot, and you want something that is light and not to deep and full of essence of those winter flavors. Keep to what's in season, and to vinegars, sugars, peppers, fruit, veggies. <--- this will be kinda a general thought around my whole reply.

Potato salad. Though I don't think I could really stray far from German Potato salad, potatoes aren't what I think of when i think Thai. If I was you I'd keep it german or american style, but for those out of box ideas, I like your thought. Otherwise just change up the recipe just a little bit. Adding different thai style options here or there. If you need vinegar use seasoned rice vinegar, if you need a creamy substance use coconut milk instead.. Kinda like german potato salad, instead of the vinegar it asks for add rice vinegar, or even a saki vinegar. Or for regular american style use thai peppers, (very subtle you don't want to scare anyone off. Always keep the spice to a minimal unless you know everyone will dig into something spicy). Also ginger, coconut milk, a very light curry, and thai veggies is a good start.

Slaw. Papaya is an amazing fruit. Julienned into small strips it can be turned into a delicious salad/slaw base. add peanuts, a light peanut dressing kinda like the peanut dip you'd find combines with spring rolls.

Apps.

Spring rolls:

Apple pie wontons: -- If you have a deep frier.... or can make one Apple pie filling, jalapenos or thai peppers. Add a little minced peppers to the can of apple pie filling. enough to taste but not go overboard. Wrap it in wontons. Fry. Sprinkle with cinnamon and maybe top it over some ice cream for a dessert style app.

Another dessert style app is sticky rice with a half mango julienned over top and coconut milk drizzled over all of it. mmmmm

[Syzygies]

From Kasma Loha-unchit,

I second this recommendation. I've taken Kasma's weeklong intensive classes in Oakland, California, and I traveled to Thailand with her. I highly recommend both of these experiences. It is very hard to find Thai food outside Thailand as good as one eats in her intensive classes; she is resolutely authentic, and a very, very good cook and teacher. Reflecting what one finds in Thailand, many days there is a fire for grilling some of the day's dishes.

Her class menu web pages include links to photographs of most dishes; elsewhere on her site there are many recipes, and one can track down other recipes online or in books. Here, I'd try to recreate classic Thai grilled food before venturing into improvisation, but that's me: I don't enjoy the inventions of even the best cooks alive as much as the shared expression of millions of people. Improvisation works best when one is channeling what one believes other people do, choosing a point in a continuum, without a recipe. Kasma has worked out many of her recipes from taste memory of food that she has eaten repeatedly in Thailand; she does not believe that she invents.

Here is her weeklong class menu page: Thai Cooking Class Menus – Weeklong Classes

Here are grilled dishes from those classes:

• Thai-Style Marinated Grilled Chicken Served with Sweet-and-Sour Chilli Dipping Sauce
• Chicken/Pork Satay
• Charcoal-Roasted Striped Bass in Banana Leaf
• Sweet and Savory Grilled Coconut-Rice Hotcakes
• Spiced Twice-Cooked Smoked Eggplant Dip
• Crisped Catfish Salad with Sour Green Mango and Peanuts or Cashews
• Spicy Mesquite-Grilled Eggplant Salad with Roasted Peppers and Shrimp
• Grilled Plantain Bananas, Glazed with Sweet & Savory Coconut Cream Sauce
• Hot Lime and Garlic Grilled Beef
• Northern-Style Roasted Young Green Chilli Dip
• Charcoal-Grilled Catfish, “Sweet Fish Sauce” and Sadao or Neem Leaves
• Thai-Style Charcoal Grilled Corn on the Cob
• Northeastern-Style Charcoal-Grilled Pork Salad
• Acacia Leaf and Grilled Fish Curry
• Charcoal Grilled Prawns Topped with Aromatic Thai Herbs Seasoned with Roasted Chilli-Lime Sauce
• Leaf-Wrapped Charcoal-Grilled Mackerel and Herb Salad
• Charcoal-Grilled Hot Herbed Prawns
• Southern-Style Grilled Chicken on Skewers with Sweet and Tangy Curry Sauce
• Charcoal-Grilled Salt-Encrusted Whole Fish Stuffed with Crushed Herb
• Grilled Banana Leaf-Wrapped Sticky Rice
• Charcoal-Grilled Mushroom and Jicama Salad with Shrimp and Fried Cashews
• Nakhon Southern-Style Charcoal-Grilled Pork Belly and Young Tamarind Leaf Curry
• Charcoal-Grilled Marinated Pork on Skewers, Served with Roasted Chilli Dipping Sauce and Sticky Rice
• Northeastern-Style Crispy Grilled Sticky Rice
• Curried Salmon Grilled in Banana Leaf Packets
• Charcoal-Grilled Lemon Grass Pork

[Bill Klapp]

The pulled pork idea is a winner, but I think less is more. Rather than a sweet sauce with a tomato base, think eastern NC vinegar-and-pepper sauce and how it enhances the flavor of the pork. Fish sauce does the same. The classic pork larb (or laab) has shallots as a dominant ingredient, and while that obviously works well with pork and chicken, in the spirit of BBQ, I might omit the shallots and check a few larb recipes to come up with an interesting sauce. Fish sauce and dried Thai chilies is a strong start. Maybe a little palm or coconut vinegar. I would soft-pedal sugar for this purpose as well.

[TylerK]

Thanks again to everyone who posted advice. It's certainly more Thai inspired than Thai, but no one complained. My first time posting images on here, so hopefully it will work out. I apologize in advance... I'm a terrible photographer, and as will be apparent, I will never, ever have a career as a food stylist.

New red skinned potatoes, diced celery, green onions, cilantro and chopped roasted peanuts. The dressing is red curry paste, coconut milk, rice vinegar and a little palm sugar. Not very pretty, but it was tasty.

Smoked pork butt about half way through. Dry rub of sichuan peppercorns, anise seed, mustard seed, juniper, salt and sugar. Kind of random inspiration as I was pulling spices out of my cupboard, and not Thai at all, but it worked.

All finished. 8lbs pork butt smoked with cherry wood to an internal temp of 195F (12 hrs). It pulled very easily. Lightly dressed with green curry, rice vinegar, and a little palm sugar. Tasty, but I think I'll return to my maple bourbon sauce for next year.

Smoked beef burgers. Not any Thai influence at all. Half chuck, half flank, 5% bone marrow by weight, 0.75% salt and 0.5% black pepper, coarsely ground. Tasty, but I don't feel the need to try smoking them again... no need to mess with burger perfection.

Pork burgers inspired by a recipe Elsie PMed me (thanks Elsie). Coarse ground pork shoulder, diced mango, diced fresh red chilies, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, galangal, onions, garlic and cilantro. These were incredibly tasty. Served with brioche burger buns, green curry mayo and a spicy mango ketchup.

The David Thompson chicken satay referred to up-thread. Served with lots of chopped fresh red chilies in fish sauce, rice vinegar and palm sugar.

The brioche buns I mentioned earlier. A little too close together in the pan, but they were awesome. Best burger buns I have ever had. They really were the star of the BBQ.

I also made, but forgot to take pictures of, salad rolls and my aunt provided an Asian coleslaw.

Edited August 14, 2013 by TylerK (log)

[rotuts]

looks excellent!

[ElsieD]

It all looks very good. Can you tell me the ratio of butter to flour that you used for your buns? I'd like to make them. Thanks!

[TylerK]

Liquid ingredients were 1/2 cup milk (+ 2tsp dry yeast) and 6 large eggs.

Dry was probably around 4-5 cups of bread flour (I didn't exactly measure), 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 1/2 tsp salt

3 sticks of unsalted cultured butter.