Author: Christopher Kimball
Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street
Throughout Southeast Asia, vendors on the sidewalks offer hot skewers, bathed in the smoky aroma of burning charcoal and seemingly endless savory sauces.
In Thailand, they may be pork wrapped in coconut cream, or in Singapore, they may be charred chicken wrapped in spicy peanut sauce.
For this recipe in our book “COOKish”, which limits the recipe to only six ingredients without sacrificing flavor, we decided to highlight the lesser known but still familiar flavors of Myanmar. In the country sandwiched between India and Thailand, beef skewers are usually marinated and then coated with a delicious slurry featuring seasonings such as turmeric, fish sauce, garlic and ginger.
In the marinade, we use curry powder as a shortcut to the seasoning cabinet, and lime zest to brighten the sauce. Grated fresh ginger and garlic will also add a lot of stimulation.
If you like, cut off the ends of two medium-sized shallots, peel them lengthwise and cut them in half; cover each beef skewer with shallots before cooking.
Barbecuing will scorch the outer layer of shallots, and the inside will be sweet and tender, which is a good supplement to beef.
Serve with fragrant basmati rice or jasmine rice.
Garlic and Ginger Beef Skewers
Start to end: 30 minutes
Number of copies: 4
- 1/4 cup neutral oil
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 11/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 8 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 11/2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 lime grated zest, served with lime wedges
- black pepper powder
- 1 1/2 pounds beef flat iron steak or boneless short ribs, trimmed according to the texture and cut into 1/2 inch thick strips.
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Use racks 4 inches from the element to heat the broilers. Stir together the oil, fish sauce, ginger, garlic, curry powder, lime zest and a pinch of pepper. In a medium bowl, stir the steak and half of the sauce. Knead the meat into metal skewers, add the halved shallots to the ends, if using, then place the skewers on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until burnt on both sides, 6 to 10 minutes, turning once. Brush the skewers with the remaining seasoning sauce and let it sit for 10 minutes. Serve with lime wedges.
Optional side dishes: fried shallots or hot sauce or chopped roasted peanuts or Fresno or jalapenos, stemmed and chopped.
For more recipes, please go to Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street at
177milkstreet.com/ap.
