Beef Stew Northern Thailand Style (จิ๊นฮุ่ม)

Beef Stew, Northern Thailand Style

Beef Stew Northern Thailand Style (จิ๊นฮุ่ม)

Ingredients:

For the Paste

• 4 stalks of Lemongrass, soft portion only
• 6 ounces of fine chopped galangal
• 8 or so dried large red chili's, whichever style you prefer, ancho, chile de arbol etc.  or if you want it to be insanely spice add a few dried Thai Chili's
• 1 peeled garlic bulb broken into cloves halved lengthwise.
• 2-3 of thinly slice shallot.
• 1.5 tablespoons of shrimp paste

Put all of these ingredients in the mortar and pulverize with the pestle or blend them in a food processor or blender until you've made a paste.

For the Soup

• 2 Pounds of Lean Beef
• 6 Cups Water
• 6 Tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce
• 2 medium yellow onion, cut it about ¾ inch
• 3-4 lemon or lime leaves
• 1.5 teaspoons of ground black pepper
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• ¼ cup thinly sliced green onions

Mix the paste into the water and soy sauce and stir.  Add beef and cook for several hours until the meet is tender and falling apart.  At this point you can add the remaining ingredients:  yellow onion, cilantro, black peppers, lime leaves and green onions and it's ready to eat.