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Central Thai Brown Rice Vermicelli with Lentil-Peanut Sauce

This elaborate recipe is as intricate in it's flavors as it is in its preparation
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time2 hours
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Central Thai
Keyword: Brown Rice Vermicelli, Peanut-lentil sauce
Servings: 4
Calories: 704kcal
Cost: $20

Equipment

  • Sauce Pan
  • Wok
  • Skillet
  • Colander
  • Mortar and Pestle
  • Food Processor

Ingredients

  • 20 Thai peppers
  • 4 Shallots
  • 6 Garlic Cloves
  • 2 ½ cups Water
  • ½ cup Lentils Dry and Halved, if not red, whichever you have
  • ½ cup peanuts Unsalted, Shelled
  • 2 cups light coconut milk
  • 2 tablespoon chili paste Store bought Thai style Or homemade jam, see above narrative
  • 5 tablespoon tamarind paste
  • 2 tablespoon stevia
  • 2 tablespoon galanga
  • 5 Thai peppers Dried
  • 1 teaspoon shrimp paste
  • ¼ cup coconut oil extra virgin
  • 2 tablespoon lime juice
  • 4 rice vermicelli Brown rice, 4 dried nests boiled and drained
  • 10 boiled eggs
  • 1 cup red bell peppers Sliced for presentation
  • 1 cup green beans Fresh sliced for presentation

Instructions

  • Stir-fry the Thai peppers;
    Using a handful of Thai peppers, maybe 10-20 to be safe as it's a topping, and 2 tablespoons of canola oil, stir-fry over medium heat until a little blackened and crisp.   Set the peppers on a plate  to be used as a topping.  They are yummy on their own, if you're like us, you'll eat them by themselves on other stuff if you make to many.
    Stir-Fried Thai Peppers
  • Prepare the shallots;
    First, peel the shallots.  Next, divide the shallots in half and cut half into cubes and the other half into slivers and place in two separate areas.
  • Prepare the garlic cloves;
    Again, peel the garlic and divide them in half.  Leave half of the garlic in whole and thinly slice the other 3 and then set them aside with the shallots.
  • Prepare the lentils;
    Get your strainer ready for the lentils if you have one.  Place a cup of water in saucepan or a pot.  In the mean-time, toast the dry lentils in a skillet or wok for 10 minutes over medium heat, stir regularly until a little brown.   I think at this step we went a bit on the dark side, which is why our sauce isn't as pink as it would have been.  Once they start to look and smell a little nutty and smokey, place them in the boiling water and start a timer for 5 minutes.
  • Prepare the peanuts;
    Add the peanuts to the same pan and toast about 10 minutes until dark around the edges.  Chop the toasted peanuts into tiny little pieces.  Place them on a plate.
  • Adding in the shrimp;
    Measure out 8 ounces of shrimp with tail off and peeled.  Turn the heat to high and boil and then turn down to medium and cook for 10 minutes.   Add the shrimp and cook until no longer translucent.  Place everything in a food processor or bowl with an immersion blender as we used.   Blend the shrimp and lentils into a paste and then place back into the sauce pan.
    Measuring out the shrimp
  • Combine what you've prepared so far;
    Pour the lite coconut milk into the saucepan where the lentils and shrimp were and pour the lentils and shrimp mixture back in as well.  Also, add in the chili paste or jam, chopped peanuts, tamarind, and stevia if you use it and set aside.
  • Prepare the other spices;
    Place the cubed shallots, whole garlic cloves, and galangal into the pan in which you toasted the lentils and toast on medium for 5 minutes, stirring as not to burn them.  Combine in a mortar or chopper with half the fried peppers and shrimp paste and pound into a paste and set aside.
  • Prepare the noodles;
    You can prepare the noodles at any time but now would be good as you are nearing the end.  I just boiled them in a separate pot until soft and placed in the strainer to drain in the sink. Make roughly one large family sized bowl of noodles if your noodles come a different way. Enough for 4 people.
  • Prepare the remaining sliced shallots and garlic;
    Using the same pan, place the coconut oil on the pan and heat over medium heat to melt the oil.  Add the sliced shallots and garlic over and stir-fry until golden and crisp.  Remove the shallots and garlic and place on a plate, leaving the coconut oil in the pan.
  • Prepare the chili paste;
    Turn the heat up to medium-high and add in the chili paste, stir-frying a couple minutes until it thickens up and is fragrant.  Remove the pan from the heat.
  • Finishing out the sauce;
    Turn the burner under the saucepan with the lentil-peanut mixture to medium-high, adding in another cup and a half water and bring to a boil.  Stir in the chili paste and coconut oil.  Add in the lime juice, orange juice and orange zest.  Taste and add in salt if you like or additional seasonings.
  • This is a good recipe to set up family style, as my wife puts it.  You can place the various vegetables you choose, noodles, some boiled eggs and condiments out on the table and people can arrange as they like.  This is especially helpful in more Western cultures where some of the ingredients may be overwhelmingly alien.   Everyone can ease into it at their own pace so to speak.  :) Each person can pour the amount of sauce they like over the amount of noodles they like. I personally like it all mixed together in a bowl with chopsticks.
    Creating the scene for brown rice vermicelli

Notes

Nutrition calculations are an estimate.  Some of the values were not exact in the computer api so nutrition for regular rice vermicelli was use used rather than brown rice vermicelli.  Also, there will be variations and irregularities in any product between samples due to good the good old fashioned law of entropy in of the universe.  ;p

Nutrition

Calories: 704kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 43g | Saturated Fat: 24g | Cholesterol: 481mg | Sodium: 313mg | Potassium: 980mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 2243IU | Vitamin C: 105mg | Calcium: 153mg | Iron: 6mg