Instructions: Neua pad prik (beef and chilis - a hamburger variant)

Some years ago, my wife and I were living near Oxford in England. One day she went to the asian market to buy the groceries, and disaster struck: no Thai chilis.

She managed, with poor grace, to buy some jalapenas and some Scotch Bonnet peppers, and the dish that follows is what we had for dinner that night.

We have since converted it back to Thai ingredients and methods. The following notes are relavant:
sweet chilis: in Thailand these are prik chi fa. Otherwise jalapenas hot chilis: in Thailand prik ki nu, otherwise Scotch Bonnets or Habaneros syrup: in Thailand, boil some water, dissolve sugar in it until no more will dissolce, and then reduce to form a syrup. otherwise Tate & Lyle brand golden syrup, or something similar, will do.

In Thailand we use shallots (purple onions). These are cheap and plentiful.

In the west, where they are often expensive and hard to find, ordinary yellow or red onions will suffice.

We cook it by wrapping it in banana leaves and placing it on the ashes of a charcoal brazier for 30 minutes. Otherwise you can wrap it in aluminum foil and grill it until cooked to the desired doneness.

You can slice and pound the beef as in a conventional neua pad prik recipe, or you can follow this technique for burgers. You could buy prepared hamburger (ground beef), but it is usually low grade meat and high in fat.

Better, we feel to make it as indicated.

The seasoned fish sauce is the fish sauce from nam pla prik, found on any table in Thailand. If you dont have any then take 4 tablespoons of fish sauce, add a tablespoon of green prik ki nu (birdseye chilis), sliced thinly, store in a stoppered jar for a week in the refrigerator, then it is ready to use. The excess can be used as a condiment for this dish.

Note: the chilis should preferably be a variety of colours

Dice the beef, and combine with the remaining burger ingredients, except the egg and leave to marinade for about three hours. If desired the meat can be ground in a food processor first.

Beat and add the egg. Form the mixture into 12 patties.

In a wok heat about 3 tablespoons of peanut oil, and then sautee the garlic, onions, ginger and chilis until aromatic. Remove from the heat, add the remaining ingredients, and process to a coarse chop.

Take 6 pieces of banana leaf (or aluminum foil), and on the first, place 2 tablespoons of the sauce mixture, and spread it into a disc the size of the meat patties. Add a pattie, add two tablespoons of relish, add a second pattie, and then add two more spoons of relish. Seal the package by folding it and clipping it with a toothpick or small wooden skewer. Repeat for the remaining patties to form 6 packages.

Place these on the ashes of a brazier (or on a medium hot barbeque) and cook until they reach the desired doneness.

To Serve: Open the packages, add a couple of tablespoon of cooked rice, and a fried egg.

This has the advantage that when the diners have eaten the plates do not need to be washed!

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.