I went International tonight

The latest Cooking Light has a great spread on Thailand.  The culinary adventure takes place in Chiang Mai (400 miles north of Bangkok).  I happily tried the Chiang Mai Pork Patties featured in the mag.  Along with some sticky rice and roasted asparagus.  Now, we don't have an Asian market around the corner (it's in Columbia), so I had to make some concessions.  I couldn't find fresh red bird chile's (although Whole Foods carried the jarred version. I used jalapenos instead.  No galangal (should probably look that one up), but was able to sub in fresh ginger.  Lemongrass was in Whole Foods, as were Kaffir limes, so all in all, had most of the original recipe to work from. 

It is somewhat time consuming, but could easily be condensed by prepping better.  I did everything at once, leaving a hot mess along the way (don't worry, I cleaned it up, just relax).

Some things I'll do next time ~ make the trip out to Columbia for everything.  Take the time to make sticky rice (needs to soak 8 hours).  Make the roasted eggplant salsa even though Ben hates all things eggplant.  Because really, it's all about me.

I highly recommend this recipe.  It's 3 patties per serving (comes in just under 300 calories) and full of diverse flavors.  If your saucy (and I am), serve with a sweet chili Thai sauce (Trader Joe's has a nice one). 

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chiang-mai-pork-patties-50400000116779/  (Ben grilled the patties for me...recommend that as well).

Enjoy!  Happy Cooking!  Happy Eating!

Yoyo