Thai One On #EattheWorld

Another year. Another cooking project. Yeah, I'm a sucker for any cooking project that gets us out of our own culinary traditions. So, I was excited to see the new #EattheWorld project, being spearheaded by Evelyne of CulturEatz. Here's her challenge.

In February  we kicked off the project with Cuba; in March we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a tabletop trip to Ireland! And you'll see a new country celebrated on the 10th of every month. This month, the group headed to Thailand. I can't wait to see what country she has planned for us next time. This is already one of my favorite monthly events!

Eat the World: Thailand Edition

You can see what the other bloggers are sharing for our third edition of #EattheWorld...

• Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Thai One On 
• Amy from Amy's Cooking Adventures: Chicken Satay 
• Evelyne from CulturEatz: Thai Steamed Fish Recipe with Lime and Garlic Sauce 
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm: Gai Pad Gratiem Prik Thai 
• Margaret from Kitchen Frau: Shrimp Laksa - a light and luscious Thai Soup 
• Loreto and Nicoletta from Sugar Loves Spices: Thai Noodle Shrimp Spicy Salad

  
Thai One On

This was actually a birthday dinner party we threw for a friend in the Fall, but I never blogged any of it. Whoops. So, I decided this was the perfect time to share. My Kitchen Elves and I cooked for most of the day; our menu was inspired by the newish cookbook from Kris Yenbamroong entitled Night + Market: Delicious Thai Food to Facilitate Drinking and Fun-Having Amongst Friends*. Isn't that just a great title?!? I love it.

And I was especially tickled to see that Yenbamroong called out the vintner I had planned to feature anyway. And I quote, from the section Pét-Nats (Sparkling Wines with Anything Fried (and/or to Begin/End a Meal): "They are perfect to begin the meal because they cleanse your palate, which is another way of saying they reset your tongue and tell your taste buds to get ready for what's coming. ...there are also great domestic Pét Nats from California wineries like Donkey & Goat...." Yep.

Jungle Curry Clams (Gaeng Pa Hoi)

Startled Pig (Moo Sadoong)

Pad Thai and Garlic Green Beans

Those are just a few of the dishes we made and served. We ended the meal with Coconut Sticky Rice.  I'll get around to posting those recipes and my wine tasting notes. Soon. I promise.

And while we paired the dishes with several different wines from Donkey & Goat, the kids made their own libation that changed colors. It was pretty cool.

Magical Nam Dok Anchan

(Butterfly Pea Flower Lemonade) - recipe here

But the recipe I'm sharing with #EattheWorld was the dish that kicked off the meal...

Grilled Shrimp Spring Rolls
slightly adapted from Kris Yenbamroong's
Night + Market: Delicious Thai Food to Facilitate Drinking and Fun-Having Amongst Friends

Ingredients makes 8 rolls (I doubled these quantities to make 16 rolls)

• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 T minced garlic
• 1 t + 1/2 C organic granulated sugar
• 1/2 t ground pepper
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 t minced cilantro
• 1/2 C distilled white vinegar
• 1/2 C fish sauce
• 10 T water, divided
• 1 C julienned carrots
• 1 bunch Thai basil
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 1 organic cucumber, julienned
• 1 C chopped organic romaine lettuce
• 2 C cooked rice vermicelli
• 1 C fresh bean sprouts
• 8 round rice paper or spring roll wrappers
• 2 T sambal oelek or other chili paste
• fresh lime wedges for serving

Procedure
In a medium mixing bowl, toss the peeled shrimp with the garlic, 1 t sugar, pepper, soy sauce, and minced cilantro. Let stand for 15 minutes at room temperature. Preheat a grill or griddle over high heat.

In a small sauce pan, whisk together the remaining sugar, vinegar, fish sauce, and 5 T water. Heat until the sugar dissolves and remove from heat to cool. Place the julienned carrots in a small bow and cover them with 1/2 C of the fish sauce mixture and another 5 T water. Let the carrots stand for 15 minutes. The remainder of the sauce can be served as a dipping sauce for the rolls.

Remove the shrimp from the marinade and grill over high heat until just opaque, approximately 30 seconds per side.

To assemble your rolls, fill a shallow dish or wide bowl with hot tap water and arrange your ingredients easily within reach of your work space.

Submerge the rice paper wrapper in water until it's pliable and soft, approximately 10 seconds. Shake off the excess water and place the wrapper flat on your work surface or cutting board.

Place 3 Thai basil leaves on the bottom third of the wrapper. Top them with grilled shrimp. You should have a border of an inch or so from each edge of the wrapper. Quickly layer the rolls with cilantro, cucumber, carrots, bean sprouts, noodles, and romaine lettuce.

Fold the bottom part of the wrapper up over the filling, pulling as firmly as you can without tearing the wrapper. Fold in the sides, as you would fold a burrito. Then roll it tightly into a cylinder.

Repeat until you have used all of your wrappers. Place them on a platter and cover them with plastic if you are not serving them immediately so that they do not dry out.

Whisk the sambal oelek into the dipping sauce and serve. Enjoy!

*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.