Meat

• 1 amount of Meat (pork shoulder strips, beef strips, chicken, but in long, thin strips)
• Many stalks of lemon grass, trimmed on both ends, out leaves peeled, and minced like a muthafuck
• 1 knob of galangal, peeled, julienned finely and pounded in a mortar
• 1 small knob of ginger, peeled, julienned, and pounded in a mortar
• Many cloves of garlic, peeled, and pounded in a mortar
• A few thai bird chilies, stems removed, and pounded in mortar

Oh yeah, you need a mortar.

• Stalk of green onions, coursely chopped
• Tablespoon(s)ish of turmeric
• Tablespoon(s)ish of sesame oil
• Tablespoon(s)ish of fish sauce
• Teaspoon or less ground coriander

Mix meat and marinade ingredients together. Allow to sit for a few hours or overnight. Soak wooden bamboo skewers (if using) for an hour in water.

Pork.

Beef.

Chicken. Etc.

“Thread” the meat onto the skewer The surface area of each piece of meat should pierce the end of the skewer at least three times.

Grill.

Peanut Sauce

• 2 thai minced bird chilies
• 1 stalk of lemon grass (de-nubbed and green tops snipped), finely minced
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
• 7 tablespoons natural creamy peanut butter (no sugar)
• 1/2 cup pounded (from a mortar) peanuts

Some people would say if you don’t use whole roasted peanuts and grind them yourself you’re a poser, but those people are most likely elitist egomaniacs and effete, latte-sipping Massachusetts liberals. My mom used Jiffy (or whatever corporate peanut butter that was on hand). A good choice is a natural brand that has no added sugar, and you can add sweetness yourself to taste (and the coconut milk lends sweetness as well). If you were really serious, though, you could go to New Seasons or the hippy aisle at Fred Meyer and grind fresh peanuts (which actually doesn’t sound that hard when I consider it), which would gain my admiration.

You could also experiment with the chunkiness factor, but mixing the ratio of creamy to chunky peanut butter. I would advise going against a pure chunky peanut butter, but that’s just a personal taste. For me, the right amount texture is achieved with a smash of a small handful of peanuts in the mortar, adding to the sauce at the end.

Heat a small amount of peanut oil in a saucepan. Add chilies, lemon grass, garlic, ginger and lime leaves, and sautee at high heat for a minute or two. Add coconut milk, fish sauce, turmeric and sugar, and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to lowest setting and let steep for 5-10 minutes.

Remove lime leaves. Add peanut butter, crank up the heat, and start stirring. Stir constantly until the peanut butter is completely incorporated, and sauce starts to boil. Reduce heat to lowest possible setting and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Watch out as the sauce can erupt and will bubble and possibly shoot hot projectiles of peanut sauce in the air like molten lava.

When the sauce is thick, it’s ready to serve. Garnish with chopped peanuts.