HOLY SWEET JESUS

IT'S WORSE WHEN THE TOILET OVERFLOWS.

OH GOD. OH GOD.

WHY DIDN'T THE WATER SHUT OFF WORK?!

New Place, Calm Feeling

I am happily gazing out the window of my bedroom at my new apartment. Tonight will be the first night that I will actually spend it here. It's a little unnerving and awkward uprooting yourself at first, but it's so damn nice here that I'm glad I made the move.

It's also easier moving one person with 7 people and a Uhual. Let that be noted.

The internet and cable were installed today, and cable is a luxury I haven't had in years. It's that On Demand crap, but I have found a network that plays the old game show 'Legends of the Hidden Temple.' Holy shit. This is awesome.

I am happy.

My Back...

I hate moving day.

T's Thai Spicy Beef Salad

Time for T's recipe corner! Today we're making Mom's Thai beef salad. I'm forever working on this recipe. For this version I used sirloin top steak, but usually you should use flank steak. The key to a perfect beef salad is succulent non-tough cut of beef. I usually cook according to how much I feel I need, so it's hard for me to tell you how much you need of something.

Ingrediants:
Fresh Cilantro
Fresh Mint
Fresh Chives
Onion (I used shallot this time, but usually use a sweet onion)
3 limes
Ground dried rice
Ground Thai chili pepper
Nampla (Fish sauce)
2 steaks

A wok

If any of these sound foreign to you, go find an Asian supermarket.




Directions:
Prepare your meat for frying. Juice the three limes and wash your fresh herbs.

Cook the steak until it's barely rare. DO NOT OVERCOOK. While this is going on you can chop the chives and cilantro. Chopping the cilantro is the best part of this recipe! I loved the smell of freshly cut cilantro. Also chop the onion into rings.

Ah, now your meat is done! For reference, this isn't rare enough. Now you want to thinly slice the steaks after they cool a bit. The key is THIN. I'm still having trouble with this. My mother can slice meat a millimeter thin. I've learned that putting the knife flush against your finger at the edge of the meat tends to work best.

That's not thin enough. Anyway, now that every thing's prepared, heat up your wok over medium heat. I put a tiny bit of vegetable oil in the wok. Put in the beef and add the lime juice and nampla. The nampla is just to suit your taste because it's a very potent, salty sauce. I'd say you would use less than a teaspoon.

While you are cooking in the wok, remember: Do not overcook. You want it a little raw. And always stir so you don't burn your dish! You can turn the heat down a bit now.

Add about a tablespoon of ground rice powder into the mix. I usually end up using more because the rice powder gives the beef that unique texture. You now can add the chili pepper.

CAUTION: Do not use too much! A teaspoon of the good stuff can give your mouth a nasty burn. Add a tiny bit at a time to suit your level of spiciness.

Here I add all the fresh herbs except the mint.

Taste test your beef and see if you want any more lime, pepper, etc. Otherwise you are done!

Remove from the wok and add some remaining fresh cilantro and the mint. Served best with sticky (glutinous) rice. (Recipe in a future post.) Make sure you don't drain all of the juice, and wrap the beef with saran wrap when you aren't eating it. Beef salad has the tendency to dry out quickly.

Personally I love beef salad cold, but you can serve it hot as well.


Enjoy!