Thai Spicy Beef & Whole Peppercorn Pasta

Whenever I visit Bangkok, one of my favourite dishes to eat there is a Thai-Italian fusion pasta at The Greyhound Cafe. It is a pasta with Thai ingredients like raw, green, whole peppercorns and Thai basil.  Whole green peppercorn is the dried, unripe fruit of the pepper plant.  It has an interesting, fresh taste and is not THAT spicy.

See more here on the different kinds of pepper:

Peppers - black, green, white and pink....

I buy the green, whole peppercorn and the Thai basil (which is different from Italian basil and more pungent) from Golden Mile Complex in Singapore, the frequent habitué of Thai workers here. I have tried looking for these in the neighbourhood wet market or supermarket, but have not seen any. Lots of authentic Thai ingredients at Golden Mile, including Sriracha sauce!

Here's my take on this Thai-Italian dish.


THAI SPICY BEEF & WHOLE PEPPERCORN PASTA

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, minced
5 - 7 twigs of green, whole peppercorn; remove from twigs but leave some for topping
1 bunch of Thai basil
1 bunch of lemon mint leaves
1 small red bell pepper and 1 green bell pepper, cut lengthwise into strips
500 grams linguini noodles
250 grams of thinly sliced beef, marinated in 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 finely sliced chili, 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 beef bouillon
1/2 cup of white wine
Ground black pepper to taste
Chili flakes to taste

1. Cook the linguini until al dente.

2. While the linguini is cooking, make the sauce at the same time.  Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil. Saute the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté until slightly brown. Add the whole peppercorns and continue mixing for about 30 seconds. Add the green and red bell peppers. Set aside.

3. In the same oil, add the beef and sauté until cooked (If you see that the oil has disappeared, just add some more.

4.  Cook until the beef is brown, and add 1 beef bouillon and mix well. Add the wine and simmer.

5.  Once the noodles are cooked, add them to the sauce and mix well.

6.  Add back the bell pepper mix.  If you find the pasta to be dry, add a splash of the pasta water or more white wine. Season with black pepper and chili flakes to taste.

7.  Turn off the heat and add the lemon mint leaves and Thai basil leaves and mix well.  Transfer to a serving dish and decorate with more leaves and the whole peppercorns on stems. (By the way, you can actually pick those peppercorns from those stems and eat them raw together with the pasta. It's not spicy at all.) Enjoy!