Thai Tacos & a Spicy Peanut Sauce.

It's a refreshing little side.

Thai tacos (as we call them) are a bit of a family treasure, and honestly, I’ve never made it as well as Grandma does, but it’s fucking phenomenal and deserves to be shared.

Going up in Thailand, my grandmother didn't have access to venison (or many undulates, really) like we do here in the States. When my parents would hunt a bear or deer, she would use the backstrap and other tender cuts as an added protein source, and that was my introduction to this dish. This recipe doesn’t include the meat because I think it’s beautiful as a vegetarian dish, but if you want to experiment or just like a little steak in your salad, I think a diced tri-tip should do just fine.

This dish was my introduction to enjoyably consuming spicy foods, and I remember forgoing anything green in this recipe and just eating handfuls of rice noodles with venison, all slathered in peanut sauce. My parents didn’t love my grubby mitts sifting through the fresh ingredients, but my grandma insisted that food was for your hands and that it was an inconvenience to add utensils to a dish like this.

This meal taught me to love food. I remember this dish came with a sense of occasion, like it was a friend you invite over when there’s something to celebrate. I make it when I’m smiling.

Ready In: 120 Minutes

Serves: 8 people

Ingredients

Peanut Sauce

  • 4 garlic cloves

  • 3 Thai chili peppers

  • 1 lime

  • 1.5 cups of peanuts

  • 3 tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter

Tacos

  • Green leaf lettuce

  • Thin rice noodles

  • Chives

  • Cucumber

  • Another lime

Preparation

Peanut Sauce

  1. ​​Smash peanuts, garlic cloves, and chili peppers in pestle & mortar

  2. Add lime juice to the mortar (to taste)

  3. Add 2 tbsp of crunchy peanut butter

  4. Mix and add the remaining PB, water, and lime juice to the desired consistency and taste.

Tacos

  1. Soak rice noodles for 30 minutes, then microwave noodles in water for 30 seconds, and let soak again for 30 minutes

    1. you can follow package directions, but this was my grandma’s little trick when she was in a hurry.

  2. Dice cucumber & chives

  3. Slice lime into wedges

Assembly

Make a lil’ taco using the green leaf as a shell and Thai Peanut sauce as a base layer (for adhesion), then get wild with it. Squirt lime to taste.

Tips

Add a splash of water to the peanut sauce before refrigerating. Keeps for a week.