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Tartar Sauce Recipe

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Tartar sauce, or more correctly tartare sauce is commonly served with fried fish and other seafood these days, but that wasn’t always the case.  While its creamy acidity does provide a perfect foil for greasy fried fish and seafood, it was actually developed as a sauce for chopped raw meat, known as tartare, in the 19th century.

1 cup mayonnaise 1 tbsp capers, drained and chopped 3 tbsp gherkins, drained and chopped 1 tsp caper juice 1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

While capers and a creamy sauce are still a good accompaniment for tartare, today’s tartar sauce is ideal when eating fried seafood of any kind.  Plus it’s simple and easy to make, taking less than 5 minutes and teasting far better than the tartar sauces that come from jars or squeeze bottles.  And if you live in Thailand, making your own tartar sauce might be your only option.

We have fried shrimp, squid, oysters or fish once a week on average, and it is always accompanied by this creamy, slightly acid and salty condiment.  I also make a killer cocktail sauce (another condiment that is unavailable in Thailand), but that will have to wait until another day when I have the energy to actually measure what I put into the wonderful concoction.

Fried seafood is something of a comfort food for me, and since Thais don’t really do breaded or batter fried fish, the only way to get it is to cook it at home.  And as I mentioned, both tartar sauce and cocktail sauce are totally unknown in Thai restaurants.  In fact, they don’t even do drawn butter for steamed seafood, and requests for such are met with confusion and disbelief on the part of the server and a total refusal on the part of the kitchen.  I know because I’ve tried.  Several times.  To NO avail.

To be fair though, seafood here is typically served with a slightly sweet, sour, and spicy lime/chili sauce that is heavenly.  On broiled, baked and fried fish it is simply sublime and helps to highlight the sweetness of the fish being served.  The few fried and breaded or battered seafood dishes are served with a spicy sweet chili sauce that is equally delicious.

That said, I sometimes crave the creamy, acid and salty tartar sauce from back home.  If you want a tartar sauce that really makes your seafood shine, this recipe will do quite well.  It hits all the right notes, with enough capers and gherkins to provide salt, lemon for acidity, and fresh parsley to give a brightness to the sauce.

5.0 from 1 reviews
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Tartar Sauce Recipe
Author: 
Recipe type: Sauce
Cuisine: American
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1 meal
 
To really highlight fried seafood you need the creamy bite of this traditional tartar sauce. You'll never want jarred sauce again.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp capers, drained and chopped
  • 3 tbsp gherkins, drained and chopped
  • 1 tsp caper juice
  • ½ tsp Old Bay seasoning
  • 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  • flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Mix all of the ingredients together and store in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to allow the flavors to combine and develop.

Yeah I cheated and used prepared mayonnaise (Kraft), but I’ll be honest with you…I haven’t been able to make mayonnaise on my own (sad cat).  For some reason it always breaks for me.  I don’t have an immersion blender and so I haven’t tried that method, but you can be sure I will at some point in the future.  And if I can get it to work you’ll see it here first.

If you're having fried seafood you need this tartar sauce. Nothing else compares.

Lucky – The Coolest Cat

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What happens to a cat who jumps from a 9th story window? Will his 9 lives be enough to save him? Lucky is a real cool cat…

The real COOL CAT at the CoolCatHotFood blog

So, we got a kitten for our daughter Alivia about 5 months ago and she (presciently?) named him Lucky.  Lucky, it turns out is a daredevil and most definitely a cooler cat than I.  You know I’ve always said that I wasn’t all that cool of a cat, but now I know who the cool cat in the house is.

Now, we all think cats are pretty cool to begin with, and they of course cultivate this belief in the way they pointedly ignore us and give the impression that they are doing us a huge favor when they do deign to spend their oh so valuable time with us.  This seemingly wasn’t enough for our cat, who had to resort to daredevil tactics to convince us forever that he is the cool cat in the family.

It began normally enough, with the ejection of adorable, but all too active Lucky from our bedroom before sleep time.  While he is quite cute, I am less than enamored of his cute tendencies such as biting my feet or laying on my head at 3am.  So, out he went as is normal.

What wasn’t normal was that we had fried something for dinner and my wife had the kitchen window open.  And neither of us thought to close it before going to bed.  Who would have thought this would be a problem?

The next morning we woke and were surprised that our slumber hadn’t been interrupted by the strident “maiow’s” of Lucky at the break of dawn.  He is even better than a rooster at getting us up at the crack of dawn normally.  As we emerged from the bedroom we were able to walk without a small furry body interposing itself between our legs, threatening to throw us to the ground.  Very strange indeed.  And then we noticed the window.

“You don’t think he would have jumped out of the window do you”, I asked Golf.  She didn’t think so, but as minutes passed and there was no sign of Lucky it became apparent that this is exactly what he must have done.  Not normally a huge deal, but we live on the 9th floor, making it pretty big deal after all.

I was immediately dispatched to the ground floor to see if I could find any signs of the rogue cat, and I went with a definite sense of disquiet.  After all, cats are known for landing on their feet, but this was a nine story drop.

I got to the ground floor and immediately began searching for any signs of a cat having fallen or jumping to the ground near our window.  The window looks out onto a narrow walkway, so there wasn’t too much ground to cover, and there was no sign of Lucky what-so-ever.  No broken bushes, no blood, and no cat.  Of course there are small entrances that a cat could crawl into that lead under the building.  Oh crap I thought, the fall didn’t kill him and he crawled under the building.  I tried calling, and even tried to get down on the ground to look into the small entrances…all the while thinking of the stinging centipedes and other creepy crawlies we have here in Thailand.  Again, no luck.

I went back upstairs and reported my lack of findings and we all got ready to head out, with explanations to Alivia that Lucky had “run away”.  Yeah we would have to deal with his disappearance eventually, but we weren’t ready to do so at 7 in the morning before school.

I checked several times throughout the day and there was still no signs of Lucky.  My wife also talked to the housekeeping staff, security guy and motocy drivers outside our place, asking them to keep an eye out for the cat.  With no news by evening I was pretty assured of the worst.  Golf was not to be deterred though (feeling guilty for opening the window in the first place) and said she would continue the search when she got home from work.

I thought it was a lost cause, but wished her luck anyway.  Imagine my surprise when she showed up around 7:30 with Lucky in her arms!

It turns out that he had been fighting with one of the many dogs outside our place early in the morning and one of the housekeeping staff had saved him and put him in the basement of the building to avoid further dog/cat altercations.  As for how he got out there in the first place we will never know for sure, but that open window was the only way out, so you draw your own conclusions.

He was favoring a back leg, so we immediately headed off to the veterinarian, where it was found that the total sum of injuries from his nine story leap followed by a brawl with a dog was a single broken claw.  The vet cut the claw back and said it will grow back, and off we went with a cone on Lucky’s head, the paw bandaged, a week’s supply of antibiotics, and an appointment to return in two days to have the dressing changed.  Oh course our scrappy cool cat had the cone off in 10 minutes (there’s nothing cool about a cone on your head – even the coolest of cats can’t pull off THAT look), and the bandage off soon after.  We called the vet to let them know and they said not to worry about it and to bring him back in two days as scheduled.

He went back today for the followup visit and all is fine.  The wound looks good and there is no sign of infection.  The vet we saw today was also a bit amazed to meet the cat who had jumped from a ninth story window and not only lived, but came away relatively unscathed.

Naturally, Lucky is somewhat nonplussed by all the attention…

Lucky is one cool cat, and lives up to his namesake to boot!

Laab Moo (Thai Chopped Pork Salad)

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In Thai cuisine there are a large variety of salads, and many of them are made from meat.  One of the most famous is called laab (also written larb, lap, lab or lob), and it is really simple to make.  Plus it tastes fresh from the lime and coriander, and has a kick of spice from a generous amount of chili.  This particular recipe is for laab moo or pork laab (“moo” is the Thai word for pork), though there are other versions made with chicken, duck, beef, and even a raw version which is seasoned with fresh blood.  Maybe not for everyone, but I find it to be quite delicious and somewhat luxurious.

Laab Moo is a spicy Thai salad made with pork, chili and plenty of fresh herbs.

Anyway, there is no blood in this recipe, just plenty of porky goodness and a generous dose of fresh herbs and chili.  We’ve dialed down the spicy factor for you because when made here in Thailand laab can be one of the hottest things I (or you) will ever eat.  There are actually laab pastes that can be purchased here, and our favorite comes from Golf’s home town, but it is amazingly hot.  If you like the heat it is amazing, and plenty of beer is needed for washing down the laab moo.

This recipe is a serving for 2 people, but understand that it will be 2 small servings.  Thais like to eat meals with several dishes of small sizes, so you get to enjoy a full range of flavors and textures during your meal.  So, this dish might be paired with a stir fried vegetable dish, a curry, a soup of some king (maybe Tom Yum Goong) and of course rice.  You can opt for jasmine rice or if you want make some sticky rice, which is the traditional accompaniment.

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Laab Moo (Thai Chopped Pork Salad)
Author: 
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Thai
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2-3
 
This minced pork recipe combines many of the traditional flavors of Thai cuisine in one amazing dish.
Ingredients
  • 1 pound pork shoulder, finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped mint leaves
  • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped spring onion
  • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped coriander
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
  • 3 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 2 tablespoons ground roasted rice powder (can be made by heating rice in a saute pan until lightly browned and then turn to powder in a blender)
  • ½-1 tablespoon chili powder (depends on your tolerance)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ¼ cup water
  • 3-4 long yard bean (side dish vegetable)
  • A small head of cabbage, quartered (side dish vegetable)
Instructions
  1. Place a pan with ground pork over medium-high heat. Add water and break up the ground pork so it doesn't stick together. Simmer and stir well until the pork is cooked through and then pour the water out. Let the pork cool down a little bit before placing into the mixing bowl.
  2. Add mint leaves, spring onion, coriander, and shallot to the pork. Mix well.
  3. Add the rest of the seasonings; lime juice, fish sauce, chili powder, sugar, and stir until everything is well mixed together. Sprinkle with ground roasted rice powder and toss lightly.
  4. Serve on the plate with vegetables (long yard beans and cabbage).

 

After You’ve tried the traditional laab, you might want to try the fried version of laab, which is equally delicious and comes in small bites for the perfect appetizer, snack or party food.

Thai pork salad (laab moo) is an easy introduction to spicy Thai cuisine.

Shrimp Scampi Recipe

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Shrimp Scampi is most certainly one of those classic dishes, and I’m sure all of you have eaten it at one time or another.  If you’ve had a good version you will likely remember the bright notes of lemon, the “bite” of the perfectly cooked pasta, the sweetness of the shrimp or langoustine, and the silky smooth butter that holds it all together.  If you’ve had a poor version…well forget all about the scampi you had before and try this recipe instead.

Lemon, butter and garlic combine in luscious shrimp scampi.

One of the great things about shrimp scampi is that it is easy to throw together, you probably have all the ingredients on hand (except possibly the shrimp), and damn near everyone loves scampi.  Even our daughter, who is notoriously a picky eater, admitted that the shrimp scampi was delicious.  Yay Dad!  She’s a challenge to feed on most every day, so when I hit on a winner I’m quite proud of myself.  Unfortunately one good showing has no bearing on her feelings next time she encounters the same dish.  I have hope for her though since she’s only 4.

Did I mention how quick this meal is?  If you get your shrimp already peeled and butterflied (or if you spent a summer butterflying shrimp for a busy Red Lobster in your youth), you can literally finish the scampi part in the same amount of time it will take you to boil water and cook your pasta.  I think we can all manage that, even on the most rushed nights when we’d really just like to stop for fast food and hibernate on the couch.  Don’t do that!  Instead make some shrimp scampi and enjoy it with a nice crisp glass (or three) of white wine.

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Shrimp Scampi Recipe
Author: 
Recipe type: Seafood / Pasta
Cuisine: Italian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2-3
 
Shrimp scampi is a classic and with this recipe you can make it quickly and easily at home.
Ingredients
  • 8 ounces linguine (or similar pasta)
  • 2 tablespoons good olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 pound jumbo shrimp (16-24), shelled and deveined
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
  • ½ cup white wine
  • ¼ cup lemon juice (~1 lemon)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1-2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
Instructions
  1. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water for 6-8 minutes or as directed on package. The pasta should be not quite finished when you drain it.
  2. While the pasta is cooking heat a heavy pan over medium high heat. Add the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter and wait until the butter and oil are sizzling.
  3. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook for 1 minute until the shrimp are just beginning to turn pink. Do not overcook the shrimp.
  4. Add the garlic, shallot, and red pepper (if using) and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the shallots are just translucent. Transfer to bowl.
  5. Add wine and lemon juice to pan to deglaze and then reduce liquid by ⅓ (2-3 minutes).
  6. Mount with remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, whisking until fully incorporated.
  7. Return shrimp to pan and mix to coat with sauce. Add salt, pepper, lemon zest and parsley and stir.
  8. Pour shrimp with sauce over pasta and toss to coat.
  9. Optional: Can be served with grated Parmesan.

That’s all there is to it.  Like I said, if you’re using shrimp that have already been peeled and butterflied you can have the scampi done even before the pasta is finished cooking.  I like to use linguine so more of the sauce sticks to the pasta, but you can certainly use angel hair pasta or regular spaghetti pasta if you want.  Give it a try and let me know if you family sings your praises like mine did for me.

Have a bite of this bright and buttery shrimp scampi.

Garlic, wine, butter and lemon makes a simple and delicious shrimp scampi sauce.

Tom Yum Goong Recipe

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So, we start off a tour of Thai food with one of the most recognized of all dishes – Tom Yum Goong.  In case you weren’t aware, “Tom” in Thai means “boiled, “Yum” is “salad” and “Goong” is “shrimp.  So, literally this is a boiled salad of shrimp, but it is really so much more than that as you’ll soon find out.

Tom Yum Goong is a spicy, sweet, sour, and ultimately delicious Thai soup.

The true genius in Tom Yum Goong comes from the flavor and mixture of many herbs like lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, chili, and galangal. Just thinking about it and my mouth starts to water and I inadvertently let out a sigh of “mmmmmmmm”.  You’ll note that there is a distinct sour note to the soup, as well as heat from the chili and a lusciousness provided by the coconut milk.  When combined with the sweetness of the shrimp and the earthiness of the mushrooms the combination is a delight to the palate, one of the prime reasons that Tom Yum Goong is one of the most widely recognized Thai dishes.

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Tom Yum Goong Recipe
Author: 
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: Thai
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 3-4
 
Tom Yum Goong is one of the most recognized Thai recipes and for good reason. This soup combines so many flavors in one bowl to create a true culinary masterpiece.
Ingredients
  • 12 medium shrimp
  • 10 straw mushrooms (10 Button mushrooms, optional)
  • 4-5 pieces thin sliced young galangal
  • 1 medium tomato, sliced in 4 pieces
  • 1 lemongrass stalk, lightly smashed and cut into pieces 2 inches in length
  • 3-4 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
  • 3 small shallots, peeled and lightly smashed
  • 3-5 fresh chili, lightly smashed
  • 3-5 spiny coriander, roughly chopped
  • Juice of 2 Key limes
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1-2 tablespoons roasted chili paste
  • 2 cups coconut milk or whole milk
  • 2 cups water
Instructions
  1. Clean, peel (but leave the tail part), and then de-vein the shrimps.
  2. Wash the mushrooms thoroughly and cut in half (big ones can cut into 4 pieces).
  3. Mix roasted chili paste with coconut milk (or whole milk) until fully blended and set it aside.
  4. Add water to the pot and turn on medium-high to high heat until boiling (you can also use the leftover shells and shrimp heads to make a delicious broth instead of using plain water – simply add them to the water, bring to boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Then strain and use this liquid as the base for your soup).
  5. Add galangal, lemongrass, and shallots to boil for about 5 minutes or until you start to smell the aroma of the lemongrass and galangal.
  6. Put in mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, mixed roasted chilli paste and coconut milk (from no. 3). Stir and wait until it boils for a few minutes.
  7. Add the shrimps into boiling water. Do not stir. Wait until they turn pink (please do not let the shrimps cook too long because they will get shrink and get tough).
  8. Turn off the heat, put in the shredded kaffir lime leaves. Season to taste with smashed fresh chili, lime juice, sugar, salt, and fish sauce.
  9. Scoop the soup into the serving bowl, sprinkle with spiny coriander leaves and serve hot.

You can certainly add more chili if you like things a bit hotter, I have had Tom Yum Goong here in Thailand that is so hot it makes you sweat.  And yes, it is still just as delicious when the heat is turned up like this!  To make the meal a bit more filling serve with jasmine rice (that’s how it’s done in Thailand), using the rice as a plate of sorts for the soup ingredients and broth. And maybe start off your authentic Thai meal with some delicious spring rolls.

Thai Tom Yum Goong is a soup you'll want to come back to again and again as an exotic SE Asian delight.