OK, back again.
I'll post a good Tom Yum recipe after consulting with Mrs. Meanie later tonight. She got the base recipe off the internet and then I tasted it and had her tweak it until it tasted like I remembered from Bangkok. I'll have her write down what she does.
As far as a meat dish goes: I like the meat dishes of northeast Thailand - they are usually zesty and flavorful. The classic northeastern meat dishes are laab (sometimes romanized as "larb" - same thing) and Nam Tok. Laab is easy to make and has some good pizazz that makes a complete meal.
Laab:
This recipe from Thai Table is pretty good but it needs some tweaking:
- Toasted rice powder isn't generally worth making by hand because you use so little of it but you can find packets of it in Asian stores. Look for "nam tok seasoning" or "laab or larb seasoning" on the packet:
The big drawback about using the pre-made toasted rice powder is that the packets often contain MSG.
- The recipe lists ground pork. Ground chicken is also good and is a little less greasy. I actually like ground chicken better than ground pork. When you cook the chicken/pork, do your best not to let the meat clump up.
- I would NOT let the mint be optional. The dish just isn't any good without it. The fresh mint adds a kick and flavor that is the signature flavor of the dish so don't make it unless you can get fresh mint. Dried mint just doesn't do the dish any justice.
- Red onion is a good substitute for shallots if you can't find shallots.
- Don't leave out the green onion either. It adds zest to the dish
- Fish sauce can be had at any asian store. Don't leave it out even though you may think it is gross.
We don't serve this dish over vegetables like the recipe suggests (although that is the traditional way it is served in Thailand). We usually serve this dish as a main course over rice. (Get the scented Jasmine Rice - there is no substitute. You can buy this at Sams club, in most grocery stores, and in every Asian store.)
Satay is also a fun dish to make:
I haven't tried
this particular recipe from Thai Table but it looks decent. Be sure to make the dipping sauce without a sweetened peanut butter.
Another dish is Nam Tok which has a similar flavor to Laab but is made with sliced beef instead of ground pork or chicken.
This recipe from importfood is pretty good. The tamarind paste can be hard to find even in asian stores but the dish is still good without it. Like with the Laab, you can use the Toasted Rice Powder you find in packets in the asian stores if you dont mind the MSG. I would leave out the sesame seeds. I don't like the flavor that sesame adds to this dish. Traditionally this is served with sticky rice but it is hard to find the right kind of rice and nobody usually has a rice steamer (not the same as a rice cooker which boils the rice) so we just eat it with plain rice (always the Jasmine kind though).
Those are my favorite Thai dishes but there are tons more you can make. Generally the recipes you find at Thai Table are a pretty good place to start. You can always tweak them until you get them to taste how you like.