Pepper Teigen - Family Recipes from Everyones Favorite Thai Mom

acknowledgments

I cant believe Im writing the acknowledgments for my own cookbook. I have to say THANK YOU to all of the people who helped me make this book.

First of all, I want to thank my daughter Chrissy. Thank you for being proud of your Thai mom and the food from my country. Thank you for featuring me in your Cravings books and giving me the confidence to write my own cookbook.

Thank you to my cowriter, Garrett Snyder. He came to the house so many times, and we cooked and wrote everything together. Im not used to measuring things and putting everything in writing, but he helped me put down all my ideas so that you could make my dishes at home.

Thank you to Kate Malay Hopewell for testing all my recipes, and making sure that everything is easy to follow and perfect for all of you!

Thank you to the team at Penguin Random House: editor, Raquel Pelzel; publisher, Aaron Wehner; designer, Sonia Persad; art director, Stephanie Huntwork; marketing team, Stephanie Davis and Windy Dorresteyn; and public relations team, Jana Branson and Kate Tyler.

Thank you to Chrissys amazing team who adopted me and helped me with this entire process: Luke Dillon at 3Arts Management, Christine Shim from Cravings, and Erin Malone, our book agent at WME.

Thank you to all the people who helped make this book look so beautiful: pho-tographer, Jenny Huang, assisted by Pierce Liu; food stylist, Tyna Hoang, assisted by Scotty Fletcher; prop stylist, Beatrice Chastka, assisted by Stephanie de Luca.

My glam squad was so sweet and so great: makeup by Kristine Studden and Nova Kaplan Zekofsky; hair by Irinel de Leon; styled by Alana Van Deraa.

And thank you to my wonderful family. Im so luckyI couldnt do anything without their love and support.

Thank you to my daughter Tina, for always being with me in the kitchen and for becoming such a great cook yourself. I am so proud of the woman youve become. Thank you to my son-in-law, John, for tasting everything! You are such a wonderful man. And thank you to my beautiful grandchildren, Pasha, Luna, and Miles.

always

snacking

Sweet-Spicy Chile Salt
with Guava

Serves 2 to 4
One of the easiest snacks I make is cut-up fruit served alongside this spicy-sweet mixture of sugar, salt, and crushed dried chiles. All over Thailand, in bars and at little roadside carts, you see people dipping slices of tart and crunchy fruit into it. Just thinking about it makes my mouth waterthe salt, sweetness, and spiciness balance perfectly with the tangy fruit and pull you in for another bite.

My favorite fruit to use is slightly underripe green guava, which has a beautiful sour flavor. If you cant find green guavas, try this dip with any tart or firm fruit you love. Below is the rough ratio I use for the dip, but feel free to eyeball the measurement and add more or less to suit your taste.

4 dried birds eye chiles or 2 teaspoons Roasted Chile Powder ()

2 tablespoons kosher salt

6 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 sliced green (underripe) guavas (see Note)

If using whole birds eye chiles, break them up and add to a mortar and use a pestle to crush them. (You can also chop them up very finely.) If using the chile powder, you can skip this step.

Transfer the crushed chiles (or chile powder) to a small bowl and add the salt and sugar. Stir well.

Arrange the fresh fruit on a plate and serve with the dip. Any leftover dip can be kept in a sealed container in the cupboard for up to 2 weeks.

note

Other underripe or firm fruits are especially delicious, too. Try green mango, apple, pineapple, strawberries, jicama, watermelon, or orange.

Thai
Beef Jerky

Serves 4
What makes my Thai beef jerky different from the kind that Chrissy likes to buy at the gas station? Well, mine tastes much better for one! Here I keep the marinade simpleoyster sauce gives a very deep savory flavorand dont dry it too long in the oven so the beef strips stay soft. After that, I fry the jerky quickly in a pan so that it locks in the moisture and makes it a little crispy on the outside. The best of both worlds. And this beef jerky can be more than just a snack (see Note).

In Thailand, the old-fashioned way of making this jerky is to use the hot sun. When we stay in Malibu, if its very sunny outside, Ill dry some jerky while lying out by the pool. Usually I put it in the oven, though.

1 pound skirt, hanger, or flank steak

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

2 cloves garlic, grated or finely minced

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

cup vegetable oil

Place the steak on a cutting board and cut it into 4-inch lengths, then into by -inch strips.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, garlic, sugar, and white pepper. Add the steak slices and toss. Let marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 225F. Set a wire rack in a lined sheet pan.

Arrange the steak on the rack in a single layer. Bake until the steak is firm but tender, about 30 minutes. Turn off the oven and let the jerky sit in the residual heat for another 45 minutes.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering-hot. Working in batches, fry the jerky until glossy and slightly crisp, about 1 minute per side. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels. If youre not eating the jerky immediately, you can keep it in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week.

note

This jerky is so tender you can have it as a meal, too. Serve it with warm Traditional Sticky Rice () for the best quick lunch.

Crispy
Shrimp Toast

Serves 6 to 8
The secret to crispy, golden-fried shrimp toastwhich might seem complicated but are actually very easyis to flatten soft pieces of white bread (like Wonder Bread) between your palms so they dont absorb oil once the toasts are fried. Mine are like a cross between dim sum served at Chinese restaurants and a Thai street food snack called khanom pang na moo, which is deep-fried garlicky pork on toast. To make the shrimp paste that gets spread on the bread, I finely chop big, plump shrimp and brighten it up with cilantro stems and leaves. When the toast hits the sizzling oil, the bread becomes super-crunchy on the outsidethe bread should make a loud crackle when you take a biteand soft and fluffy on the inside. Make sure to serve this with Tangy Cucumber Salad on the side: Its a perfect sweet-sour contrast to the fried shrimp.