Most Thai dishes are named after the main ingredients or cooking techniques. But occasionally, a dish has a playful or poetic name, such as Drunken Stir-Fried Beef With Green Beens. Serve over jasmine rice.

Thai food is renowned for its complex and surprising flavors -- often a result of the simple but precise process of pounding dried and fresh herbs and spices into a seasoning paste. Using a mortar and pestle is important: It not only bruises the ingredients to release natural oils, but also combines and purees. While traditional Thai mortars and pestles -- which the author prefers -- are made from stone, we successfully used a standard 1 1?2 -cup-capacity marble version. (If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, we recommend using a food processor.)

Step 1 - Blend mortar, salt and garlic
Place a mortar on top of a damp towel on the kitchen counter. Add the salt and garlic to the mortar, and blend them together by holding the pestle securely in the center of the palm of one hand. Pound straight up and down into the center of the mortar, anchoring it with the other hand.

Step 2 - Add chile, galangal, lemongrass and lime leaves
Add the chile, galangal, lemongrass, and lime leaves, one at a time, pounding until each ingredient is incorporated into the paste.