Neua Yang - charcoal broiled beef in a hot/sweet sauce

Yang dishes are the Thai equivalent of barbeque food. The most common is 
undoubtedly kai yang (chicken) where a chicken is split open, beaten 
flat, and gripped in a cleft stick to grill over the brazier. 

This version -- neua yang or barbequed beef -- has a more assertive 
sauce to go with the stronger flavor of the beef. It is best accompanied 
with a bottle of strong beer, especially when eaten as lunch during a 
break from working in the paddy fields... At dinner a good Italian red 
wine is I think the best choice... 

And of course if you don't have a charcoal brazier, or the weather is 
shade cooler than here (its 38 Celsius [100 Fahrenheit] outside as I 
type this...) then you could just as easily prepare this dish on a 
griddle or broil it in the oven (but it *does* taste best if it can 
absorb the flavor of the charcoal smake). 

For an evening meal I would suggest serving it with a salad such as the 
yam polamai (that I will post next), and a soup such as tam kha kai 
(chicken soup with a coconut milk stock). 

-- 

First prepare a serving platter, lined with lettuce leaves, and 
decorated with sliced cucumber. 

--sauce ingredients
-- 

1 tablespoon lime juice 
1 tablespoon fish sauce 
1 tablespoon dark sweet soy sauce 
3 tablespoons of shallots (purple onions) sliced very thinly 
half a tablespoon of palm sugar (or honey) 
half a tablespoon of prik phom (powdered dried red chilis) 
1 tablespoon of sliced spring onion/scallion/green onion, incl. tops 
1 teaspoon bai chi (coriander/cilantro leaf) chopped. 

Combine the ingredients to make the sauce. taste and if required add 
extra sugar/honey, lime juice and/or prik phom. 

Note you can substitute sauteed onion for the shallots if they are 
unavailable. 

Also, remember when using prik phom (and sugar) in sauce preparation 
that the diners can always add more at the table, but they can't remove 
it if you put too much in! 

-- 

barbeque half a pound of steak to whatever "doneness" you prefer, then 
slice into slices an eighth of an inch thick, and then cut the slices 
into bite sized pieces. Place on the lettuce, and pour the sauce over 
the steak. 

-- 

Served as a one-plate dinner, this serves one fairly hungry diner, but 
with the soup and salad should be adequate for four people. 

Accompany with the usual Thai table condiments (prik phom, sugar, and 
prik dong [red chilis in vinegar])
Special thanks to - Muoi Khuntilanont.