Grilled baby octopus with hot sauce

 Grilled baby octopus with hot sauce ; ปลาหมึกย่างกับน้ำจิ้มทะเล. I always have the grilled octopus at Greek resturant and I love to enjoy the rich, meltingly tender taste of the marinated octopus mixed with the smoky taste of the grill. Here is the Thai style grilled octopus with hot sauce that I would love to share with  you. This is one of my favorite seafood dishes to prepare when the weather gets hot.

Ingredients for the sauce:
1) 2 cloves garlic
2) 2 sprigs Thai basil
3) 8 Thai hot chilies
4)  1/2 Tbsp palm sugar
5) 3 Tbsp lime juice
6) 3 Tbsp fish sauce
7) 1/8 tsp salt

Ingredients for the grilled octopus:
1) 1 Lb. baby octopus
2) 1/2 Tbsp turmeric powder
3)  1/2 Tbsp black soy sauce
4)  skewers

Preparation:
1) Thaw the octopus if is is frozen.

 2) Clean the octopus, use a small sharp knife to remove the gut by either cutting off the head entirely or by slicing open the head and removing the gut. Pick up the body and use the index finger to push up the beak. Remove the beak and discard. Clean the octopus thoroughly.

 3) Toss the turmeric powder, black soy sauce and 1/2 cup of water.

 4) Combine the octopus and the marinade and put in the fridge while you are making a hot sauce.

5) Peel garlic, remove chillie stems, and pick up Thai basil leaves then wash dirt, pat dry.

 6) Cut into small pieces, and well pound in a mortar.

 7) Add fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar.

 8) Mix well and taste for your own favor.

9) Fire up that grill. Please don't forget to add some kind of wood smoke. While your grill is heating up, skewer the octopus. 

 10) Grill over the smoky fire.

 11) Grill over the smoky fire - covered - for 3 minutes, then turn them over and grill for 3 minutes more.

 12) Serve while still hot with hot sauce.

Salt-Crusted Tilapia with Lemongrass, Kaffir lime leave, Galangal and Pineapple

This is salt-crusted tilapia, cooked on our new grill.

Ingredients for the hot sauce:

1) 3 cloves garlic
2) 3 Tbsp fish sauce
3) 10 Thai hot chili
4) 1 Tbsp palm sugar
5) 3 Tbsp lime juice

Ingredients for the grill tilapai
1) 2 whole tilpapia
2) 1/2 cup salt
3) 2 " length galangal
4) 5 kaffir lime leaves
5) 1/4 cup dice pineapple

Preparation:

1) Start with fresh cleaned tilapia, gutted, but preferably not skinned or scaled, and pieces of lemon grass, galangal root, pineapple, kaffir lime leaves and a small amount of natural salt.

2) This is the natural salt we used. You can use coarse sea salt as well.

3) Lay out the fish.

4) First place the pineapple inside for sweetness and moisture for the steaming.

5) Fill in the rest with the lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves.

6) Rub the salt onto the surface of the fish on both sides.

7) Lay out the fish to prepare to grill, and preheat the grill to about 350 degrees or more.

8) We laid the fish on hickory planks, to get a wood-fired flavor to the fish.

9) Close the grill and let it cook for about 20 minutes to get all the pineapple hot and steaming inside.

10) Boil water and cook the vermicelli noodles for 10 to 15 minutes. This will be served on the side with the fish.

11) Set out your ingredients for the hot sauce, garlic, lime and Thai chili peppers.

12) Grind the garlic and chili peppers together.

13) Grind into a even paste.

14) Add some fish sauce and palm sugar and lime juice.

15) Grind this into a sauce.

16) The fish looks great.

17) Turn the fish over to cook for another 10 minutes on the other side. Be careful when you do this, or get someone you don't care about to risk themselves to do it.

18) The hickory planks are burned a little, but the fish looks perfect.

19) Lay down a bed of greens to make a presentation.

20) Lay out the fish.

21) Put the hot sauce in the bowl, with the cooked noodles, garnish with piles of cilantro and enjoy your tasty grilled fish!

Grilled fish balls with thickened sweet and sour sauce

Grilled fish balls with thickened sweet and sour sauce or Luck Chin Pla with Nam Jim; ลูกชิ้นปลาปิ้ง. I love to eat a skewer of grilled fish balls for my snack. I learn to make a Nam Jim for fish balls. There are so many recipe to make the sauce to have with the skewer of fish balls. I choose to make the one that I like the best. It is easy to make.

Ingredients :
1) Fish balls http://amporn-oleski.blogspot.com/2012/02/thai-fish-ball.html
2) 1 Lime ( 2 and 1/2 Tbsp )
3) 1 tsp salt
4) 2 Tbsp sugar
5) 1 cup of water
6) 15 Thai hot chili
7) 1 Tbsp tapioca flour + 2 Tbsp water


Preparation:
1) Pick off the stems from the hot chili peppers. Grind the chili peppers in a food processor or mortar and pestle. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees, and put the fish balls on a tray in the oven.
2)Dissolve sugar and salt into a pan of water, and add some lime juice.
3)Put the hot chili pepper paste into the water.
4)Mix tapioca flour and water together, and put them into the pan. Stir until thick.
5)Continue stirring until it's thick.
6)Fish balls should be toasted a light brown.
7)Soak the fish balls in the sauce.
8)Serve with some sliced cucumbers and enjoy!

Thai sweet red chili sauce

Thai sweet red chili sauce or Nam Jim ;น้ำจิ้ม. It can be served as a dip with spring rolls, grilled chicken, vegetables or shrimp. It's versatile all purpose sauce. You can see from any supermarket. I will show you how to make it. It's easy.

Ingredients:
1) 1/2 cup vinegar
2) 1/2 cup water
3) 9 cloves garlic
4) 12 fresh chilies
5) 1/4 cup of white sugar
6) 1 Tbsp fish sauce

Preparation:
1) Peel garlic, remove chilies stems, wash pat dry.
2) Cut into pieces.
3) Bring to the blender.
4) In a small pot, pour vinegar, sugar and water over medium heat. Bring to boil. Stir constantly until sugar dissolved and the sauce is thick.
5) Add ground garlic and fresh chili.
6) Reduce the heat to low and stir constantly about two minutes.
7) Remove from heat. Add fish sauce into the pot then taste it. You should taste sweet, sour, then spicy and salty.
8) Pour sauce into a small bowl and serve with my fish balls. Enjoy !