My Aunt Anna makes the best sukiyaki paste. It's all about the paste. It is a labor of love, it takes awhile to make, but she was nice enough to teach me this weekend. You can't rush the process, which was hard for me, but I respect the time needed to make this delicious dish. It has a lot of ingredients but totally worth it. We only get this once a year, but now that I've learned the secret, I will attempt to make it more often! It is originally a Japanese dish, but we've adapted it with a Lao twist. It's sweet, spicy and sour... just a burst of flavor!
Ingredients:
Broth: 1 pack Pork Bones
1 pack Beef Bones
1 tbsp Salt
Water
Sukiyaki Paste:
1/4 cup Olive Oil
6 oz Sesame Seeds, toasted
1 1/2 Garlic Heads
4 Shallots
3 oz Dried Shrimp
2 Pickled Garlic Heads
32 oz Dry Peanuts
3 chucks Fermented Wet Bean Curd
1 tbsp Tamarind Soup Mix
2 cans 19 oz Coconut Cream
19 oz Water
12 oz Red Curry Paste
20 oz Peanut Butter, creamy
1/4 - 1/2 cup Sugar
1-2 tbsp Salt
Veggies, Meat and more:
Firm Tofu, cubed
Beef Flap Meat, thinly sliced
Tripe, sliced
Shrimp, deveined
Squid, sliced
Spinach
Watercress
Baby Bok Choy
Napa Cabbage, roughly chopped
Celery, chopped
Green Onions, sliced
Cilantro
Lime
Bean Thread Noodles
Sugar
Crushed Red Pepper
Fish Sauce
Instructions:
Start by making your broth, the longer this stews, the better it will taste. Wash the bones and place them in a large pot, cover with desired amount of water and 1 tbsp of salt. Bring this to a boil and make sure to clean out all the frothy foam that appear. You'll need to add water occasionally if it's evaporating quickly. Just let it boil for a couple of hours while you are preparing the paste and prepping the other ingredients, you can leave it on medium high heat.
In a small pan on low to medium heat, add in the sesame seeds. You will be toasting them slowly, it's important that they are golden brown and not burned. Make sure to keep a close eye on this, and continuously stir to avoid any burning. Once it's perfectly toasted, add it to a small blender and grind it until it's super fine, pour into a bowl and set aside.
Peel the garlic and add it to the blender and chop them until they become a paste, place in a bowl and set aside.
Peel and chop the shallots, place it in the blender and blend until it becomes a paste, place in a bowl and set aside.
Now place the dried shrimp into your blender and finely chop, place in a bowl and set aside.
Add the 2 full pickled garlic heads into the blender, again make sure it's finely chopped, place in a bowl and set aside.
In a large skillet, start roasting your peanuts until they are a golden light brown, add them to a large blender and finely chop, place it in a bowl and set aside.
Remove 3 large chucks of the fermented bean curd from the jar and smash it with a spoon in a small bowl, set aside.
In a large pot, on medium heat, add in the olive oil and a little bit of the coconut cream, maybe about a spoon full. Continue to heat it up, once it's nice and hot add in the shallots and garlic and sauté until golden brown. Continuously stir so it doesn't burn.
Add in the curry paste and continue to sauté until it becomes aromatic. You'll know once you start smelling the curry.
Add in the crushed peanuts and the rest of the first can of coconut cream. Mix well and then fill up the empty can with water and mix it into the paste, this will help make the paste more creamy.
Add in the 2nd can of coconut cream and mix well.
Add in the pickled garlic, mix well then add in the smashed bean curd.
Add in 1 tbsp of tamarind soup mix, mix and taste your paste, if you want it a little bit more sour, add in more tamarind.
Add in 1/4 cup of sugar fist, mix and taste, if you want more sweetness add in another 1/4 cup of sugar.
Add in the crushed shrimp and 1-2 tbsp of salt, mix well and then add in the ground sesame seeds last. Once it's all combined, taste the paste and add more of anything you want, it's all based on your preference. Turn off the heat and start to prepare the meat and veggies.
Soak the bean thread in hot water for at least 15 minutes.
Once you are ready to enjoy your noodle soup, take a large mesh strainer, add in a desired amount of veggies and dip them into the hot broth pot to soften the veggies, add that to your bowl.
Now take desired about of meat, seafood and tripe, add it to the strainer and repeat by dipping them into the hot broth, make sure the seafood is cooked before adding them into your bowl.
Repeat the steps with the tofu and the noodles.
Add 3 heaping spoonful (or more) of the paste, pour the desired amount of broth into your bowl, squeeze some lime, a little bit of sugar and fish sauce, and as much red pepper flakes you want, mix it all together and enjoy!
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