Aeb Goong Fawy (Shrimp Grilled In Banana Leaves)

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Aeb is a Northern Thai-style of cooking meat in which the food is wrapped in banana leaf and roasted on a charcoal fire. Aeb Goong Fawy cooked from shrimps thoroughly mixed with prik kaeng (chile paste), fish sauce, and are then wrapped in banana leafs to form square packets pinned together with bamboo toothpicks. The meat is then roasted until cooked and gives off a pleasant aroma. The word aeb also means a container which can be round or square. The round and square type for holding glutinous rice is called aeb kao or kao eab.

Ingredients:

• 300 grams (about 10.5 ounces or 2/3 pound) Goong Fawy see note below
• 3 tablespoons scallions/green onions, chopped
• 3 tablespoons cilantro, choped
• loose banana leaves
• 2 large dried chiles, seeds removed and soaked in water
• 4 tablespoons lemongrass, chopped
• 1 teaspoon galangal, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon fresh tumeric, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground salt
• 1 teaspoon gapee (shrimp paste)

Directions:

• Make a chile paste by crushing and pounding the chiles in a motar and pestle until it is fine paste. Wash the shrimp until clean. Put in a strainer to drain water. Mix shrimp with chile paste, green onions and cilantro. Mix gently and divide into three portions. Tear banana leaves about six inches wide and clean thoroughly. Lay the leaves next to each other. Add a scoop of the shrimp mixture to one side of the leaf. Fold over into a square packet and secure with a bamboo toothpick.
• Grill the shrimp packets over low heat charcoal until done.

Note:

Goong Fawy are small freshwater shrmip with small, transparent bodies generally found in fresh-food markets [in Thailand].