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 don't 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.Ingredients

For the burgers: 

2 pounds of beef 
1 cup of diced shallots 
2 tablespoon of seasoned fish sauce 
2 tablespoon of cornstarch 
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
1 egg 


sauce/relish: 

2 tablespoons of garlic, chopped 
half a cup of shallots (purple onions) finely sliced 
half a cup of sweet chilis, sliced 
quarter cup of hot chilis, sliced 
quarter cup of ginger, grated 
quarter cup of fish sauce 
quarter cup of dark sweet soy sauce 
quarter cup of sugar syrup 

Note: the chilis should preferably be a variety of coloursMethod

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!