Asian Cucumber Salad

If you love papaya salad, then you will most definitely, LOVE this cucumber salad! It's easy, fresh, and takes little time to prepare! It's a little salty, tangy, and suuuuper spicy! Of course, you can control just how spicy you like it, but I say...GO BIG, OR GO HOME.

INGREDIENTS:

2 large cucumbers sliced julienne (about 14 ounces)

2 small pieces of garlic

2-20 red Thai chili peppers

1/2 tsp of chili flakes

1/4 tsp of shrimp paste

1 Tbsp of liquid prahok

1 Tbsp of good fish sauce

1/2 Tbsp of sugar

1 whole lime PLUS a half

cherry tomatoes, halved

mortar and pestle

msg (optional)


INSTRUCTIONS:

Place your garlic cloves into your mortar and begin to smash them, just until you can easily remove the peel. Add in your chili peppers, chili flakes, and shrimp paste, and pound them until you've created a paste. Add in your tomatoes, and gently pound them until you've released most of the juices from them. Add in your prahok, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, and msg. Add in your cucumbers, and gently pound it, until combined. Adjust seasoning as needed. Serve immediately!

Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango and Coconut Sauce

Once you try this dessert, you will absolutely FALL IN LOVE. It's beauty really comes from the simplicity of the recipe, which takes very little time to make. If I can get my hands on the perfect mango, I always make this easy and beautiful dessert. The coconut sauce pairs perfectly with the sticky rice and sweet mango. You get a little bit of sweet, a little bit of salty, with A LOT of satisfaction, when you dip into that first bite.

HAPPY EATING!


INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of Thai sweet sticky rice (or glutinous rice) soaked in water for 2-3 hours

steamer

cheese cloth

2 ataulfo mangos


FOR THE COCONUT SAUCE:


1 cup of coconut milk

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 tsp of salt

FOR GARNISH:

1 Tbsp of split mung beans soaked in water for 2-3 hours (may sub for roasted sesame seeds)


DIRECTIONS:

1. Place your soaked glutinous rice into a strainer, and clean it a few times.
2. With your steamer on medium high heat, place your cheese cloth inside, and then place your drained rice on top. Make sure to flatten it, to make sure it cooks evenly. Steam for about 20-25 minutes or until done.
3. While your rice is cooking, dry roast your mung beans. Drain the liquid from your soaked mung beans, dry them well, and then cook them on medium heat until slightly roasted. Set this aside.
4. 5 minutes before your rice is done, make your coconut sauce. Place your coconut milk, sugar, and salt into a medium sauce pan and cook over medium high heat, just until it comes to a slight boil. Taste check. It should be slightly sweet and slightly salty. Turn off heat and wait for your rice to finish.
5. Place your cooked rice into a large bowl, and pour in 1/2 cup to 2/3 of your coconut milk. It should look like your rice is almost swimming in your coconut milk (don't worry, the rice will soak up all the liquid). Cover the bowl with saran wrap, and let it sit, undisturbed, for 30 minutes to an hour.
6. Slice up your mangos.
7. Place some of your sticky rice onto a pretty serving plate, add some sliced mangos, a drizzle of your coconut sauce, and then garnish with your roasted mung beans.

ENJOY!



NOTES: This dessert is best served at room temp and should be eaten in the same day, but you may make this dish a couple of hours in advance. Also, when purchasing the rice for this, the packaging will either say "Thai sweet sticky rice," or "glutinous rice," which is basically the same thing. You do not need to look for the words, "sweet" when purchasing the rice.

*UPDATE
I've been making this a lot lately, and today, I realized that when I let the coconut milk cool down to room temperature BEFORE pouring it into the HOT sticky rice, it gave me the texture that I like. This is just my personal preference, of course, but if you'd like, you can make the coconut sauce while you're letting your rice soak in the water for 2-3 hours. Just a tip. :)