Recipe - Thai Marinade

If you've been following my blog you'll know that our family loves spicy food.  We seek out recipes that have the right amount of heat and flavor.  I blame my own palate on my parents, who met and married in Corpus Christi, Texas, and later spent their New Jersey years trying to find the Tex-Mex food that they loved.  In the late 50s and throughout the 60s, the best they could do was to heat up Patio brand frozen enchiladas and serve the occasional Spanish rice with dinner. These were the years before Taco Bell.  I finally found a Mexican restaurant in Richmond, Virginia, in the late 70s.  It was Hot Love at first sight.  Now my family achieves a sufficient heat index using dishes from many cultures and cuisines.  This Thai marinade works really well on a flank steak.  Grill the steak and slice it up thin.  No matter what you do with the slices (salad, wraps, stir-fry) you'll notice a little kick in every bite.

Thai Marinade

Ingredients

4 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons sriracha

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 jalapeno or similar hot pepper sliced thin

1/2 red onion sliced thin

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons peanut oil

Procedure

Whisk the fish sauce, sriracha, and lime juice together.  Whisk in the oil to incorporate it and then stir in the pepper, onion and cilantro until well mixed and coated.  Pour mixture into a large zipper-lock bag and add the flank steak.  Marinate, turning, at least one hour in the refrigerator.  Can be marinated up to 12 hours.   Grill the steak using indirect heat and slice thin when done.