There's a couple Thai restaurants in town that have served two variations of this, one breaded and fried and the other swimming in a sauce. I decided to make a much simpler variation that's primarily a marinade but was crafted as a simple side for a padh Thai dish I made for a friend of mine. The next time I make these, I have a feeling they'll go into some bloody maries.
Prep time: about 5 mins.
Cooking time: none.
Est. servings: 2.
Today's Specimen
Ingredients
- Thin asparagus tips from 1 lb. bunch asparagus
- 4 tbsp. chili garlic paste
- 1 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tsp. rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp. sesame oil
- 1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
- ¼ tsp. salt
Directions
- It doesn't get any easier than this: just mix everything but the asparagus tips and pour into a sealable bag, add the asparagus and remove as much air as you can and fold so all of the asparagus is immersed in or covered by the marinade. Cook it however you like, or let it sit in the fridge for a day or two and eat raw or rinse off and stick into bloody maries.
Next Time in the Lab
I always cringe when I read the non-food ingredients on these bottles, so I'm going to make my own chili garlic paste next time and use that. Adding some fresh basil also sounds good, and maybe I'll try a dab of hoisin to see how it affects the flavor.
- Make 4 oz. of chili garlic paste by processing 4 arbulo peppers with 1 cayenne pepper, 1 Thai pepper, 1 medium clove of garlic, 1 tsp. rice vinegar, 1 tsp. water, and ¼ tsp. salt.
- Add 1 fresh basil leaf (about 1 tsp.) and process with the paste.
- Add ¼ tsp. hoisin sauce.
- Omit the additional ¼ tsp. salt.
- Add ½ — 1 tsp. water to thin slightly if necessary.
