Bangkok Guac
This may sound a little crazy, but the Thai flavors of lemongrass, makrut lime and fish sauce complement avocado astonishingly well, which is the idea between this Thai-inspired spin on guacamole — which is delicious scooped up with shrimp chips. If it’s hard to find fresh Thai ingredients where you live, it might be a bit insane to try to gather them all to make this, but if you happen to be gathering them to make actual Thai dishes and have these ingredients on hand, it’s absolutely worth it.
If you have a convenient Asian supermarket, you can probably find lemongrass there, and maybe makrut lime leaves, and sometimes they even stock lemongrass at better conventional supermarkets. Makrut limes themselves can be much harder to find; they are available (along with the leaves and lemongrass) through several online purveyors, including Angkor Food website (which specializes in Cambodian foods). If you can’t find makrut limes, regular Persian or key lime zest will do, though it doesn’t have the same incredible perfume.
Don’t forget to source shrimp chips to dip in place of tortilla chips!
To make the Bangkok Guac, it helps to have a Mexican molcajete to grind the aromatics, but you could also use a large Thai or Western mortar and pestle. If you don’t have any of those, a spice grinder or mini-chop will do almost as well.
Serves 4-6.
Ingredients
Bangkok Guac — a spin on guacamole that uses Thai herbs and aromatics in place of Mexican ones. It is made in a molcajete and served with shrimp chips in place of tortilla chips. It is garnished with julienned makrut lime leaves, plus diced shallot and cilantro.
1 stalk lemongrass
1 large shallot (about 1 1/2 ounces), finely diced
3-4 green Thai long chiles (depending how hot you like it), seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped makrut lime zest (you may substitute regular Persian lime zest)
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, plus additional for garnish
3 ripe avocados
Juice of 1/2 to 1 juicy lime
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 to 3 fresh makrut lime leaves, central vein cut out and cut lengthwise into thin julienne
Shrimp chips and/or diagonally sliced Persian cucumbers (about 3/8 inch thick) for serving
Instructions
1. Trim off and discard the leafy parts of the lemongrass (if they’re still attached), then remove the tough outer layers of the bottom near the root end until the smooth, paler green core is exposed. Trim off the root end and slice the bulb end into thin slices. You should have about 1 tablespoon.
2. Place the lemongrass in a molcajete or mortar with about 2/3 of the diced shallot (a heaping tablespoon), the chiles, lime zest and cilantro leaves. Grind them with the pestle to a rough paste. (Alternatively, place the lemongrass, 2/3 of the shallot, the chiles, lime zest and cilantro leaves in a spice grinder or mini chop and chop them as fine as possible, then transfer to a bowl.)
3. Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits and scoop the flesh into the molcajete. Use the pestle to mash it up, combining it with the paste (use a spoon, if necessary). Leave it a little chunky. Stir in the juice of half a lime and the fish sauce, taste and correct seasoning — adding more lime juice and/or fish sauce as necessary to make it more tangy or salty. Garnish with the rest of the diced shallots, cilantro leaves and the lime leaves.
Bangkok Guac
Ingredients
- 1 stalk lemongrass
- 1 large shallot (about 1 1/2 ounces), finely diced
- 4 green Thai long chiles (depending how hot you like it), seeded and chopped
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped makrut lime zest (you may substitute regular Persian lime zest)
- 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, plus additional for garnish
- 3 ripe avocados
- Juice of 1/2 to 1 juicy lime
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 2 to 3 fresh makrut lime leaves, central vein cut out and cut lengthwise into thin julienne
- Shrimp chips and/or diagonally sliced Persian cucumbers (about 3/8 inch thick) for serving
Instructions
- Trim off and discard the leafy parts of the lemongrass (if they’re still attached), then remove the tough outer layers of the bottom near the root end until the smooth, paler green core is exposed. Trim off the root end and slice the bulb end into thin slices. You should have about 1 tablespoon.
- Place the lemongrass in a molcajete or mortar with about 2/3 of the diced shallot (a heaping tablespoon), the chiles, lime zest and cilantro leaves. Grind them with the pestle to a rough paste. (Alternatively, place the lemongrass, 2/3 of the shallot, the chiles, lime zest and cilantro leaves in a spice grinder or mini chop and chop them as fine as possible, then transfer to a bowl.)
- Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits and scoop the flesh into the molcajete. Use the pestle to mash it up, combining it with the paste (use a spoon, if necessary). Leave it a little chunky. Stir in the juice of half a lime and the fish sauce, taste and correct seasoning — adding more lime juice and/or fish sauce as necessary to make it more tangy or salty. Garnish with the rest of the diced shallots, cilantro leaves and the lime leaves.