Summer Dish: How to make northern Thai 'hick food' aka Thai ceviche

This is the first in our series on summer dishes in Los Angeles. Listen to Take Two for more recipes on summertime eating in the coming weeks. 

"It's like Thai hick food," says Night + Market chef Kris Yenbamroong about his favorite summer dish, koi tuna. 

It's a mix of fresh tuna with fish sauce, sugar, chili and other pungeant ingredients, making it stinky, spicy, salty and sour. It won't cool you down during a hot summer's day, but Yenbamroong likes to embrace the sweat.

If you don't have a chance to join Kris for Dine LA, where he'll be serving the dish at his restaurant Night + Market in West Hollywood, you'll have a chance to make it yourself using the recipe below.

When you make this at home, make sure to mind the process. The layering of ingredients is important in Thai food, according to Yenbamroong. 

The sweet and savory base provided by the sugar and fish sauce is accented by the sour of the lime and topped with little bursts of heat in the roughly chopped birds eye chilis. Pair it with warm coconut rice and an extra cold bud light or a light Beerlao. 

Recipe:

Koi Tuna by Kris Yenbamroong from Night + Market in West Hollywood
Serves: 1-3 people

In a bowl add:

3/4 cup minced sashimi grade tuna
1 tbsp white table sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce

Thoroughly mix

Then add:

1 tbsp ground birds eye chili
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped scallions

Thoroughly mix

Then add:

1.5 tbsp of lime juice
1.5 tbsp of plara (fermented fish sauce)
2 tbsp roughly chopped lemon grass
2 tbsp roughly chopped kafir lime leaves

Finally, add:

A sprinkle of roughly chopped birds eye chili to taste
1 tbsp of rice powder

Lightly mix

Serve with warm coconut rice and a cold bud light or light beerlao.

Night + Market is located at 9041 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069. They're also participating in Dine LA - where you can pick up freshly made koi tuna, not found on their normal menu.