I never knew I could like liver until I had paté! Fantastic stuff, especially if you have the right combination of spices and a touch of lime or something sour. This recipe uses the wonderful combination of onions, garlic and ginger that I love so much from Burmese and other Asian dishes. Mix and match spices to find your own favorite combinations–don’t be afraid to use a heavy hand when flavoring it up!
- 1 lb liver
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1/2 head garlic, pounded
- 2 inches ginger, pounded
- fat for frying (lard, olive oil, butter etc)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 Tablespoons ground coriander
- 1/2 – 1 c butter, soft
- 1 – 2 limes juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Heat your fat and add the turmeric. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and allow to caramelize. Add a little water if it begins to burn to de-glaze so you can get a sweet, rich flavor. Add the liver and sauté until cooked, add the coriander and cook a couple more minutes.
Set the cooked mixture aside and allow it to cool to around room temperature. Use a food processor to blend in the butter and lime juice. Alternatively if you don’t have a food processor, cook the meat mixture really well and mash it with a potato masher. While still partially hot mash in butter cut into cubes, this will be slightly chunky but it works pretty good.
Variations:
Try adding cumin, fenugreek, sumac, or go a different direction and add oregano, basil and tarragon.
Excellent! Such good liver. This is by far my favorite recipe for liver pate. Thank you Hella D.
Hi I want try this…sound good. How do I store this and how long will it keep. Thanks for answering my questions.
I usually put it into glass jars and keep it in the fridge. You can also freeze it and it will keep for a long time. In the fridge you should eat it in a week or so.
what kind of liver have you found to work the best. We have used beef and didn’t like it so much. We are going to make it this coming weekend and are going to try chicken liver. What do you think?
Oh yes, I usually use chicken liver. I agree with you about beef liver!
That sounds absolutely fantastic. I wouldn’t have thought of using turmeric and ginger in pate, but I will definitely give it a try.
okay, so it looks like you prefer to “pound” the ginger rather than chop it. i’ve been chopping it and adding it here and there but wonder if it’s better somehow to pound it. btw, does pounding eliminate all those fibrous thingies? and do you happen to have any good recommendations for a good mortar? seems you use a
oh, another question (since you’ve become the ginger expert), sometimes i get ginger and it’s slightly bitter, although it appears the same both inside and outside — at least to my eyes — as all the other pieces i’ve bought. is there any way you know of to tell if ginger will be either bitter or sweet from the look of it?
Hey good points! Yeah I like to pound the ginger. I believe that it releases the flavor really well that way and also if you really give it a good pounding it does do a good job on the fibrous bits, except if the ginger is excessively fibrous.
I use a mortar and pestle that I brought back from Burma and I just love it. I really don’t like those ceramic ones so much but I could just be biased. I use my mortar and pestle all the time, so it is really good to have a big solid stone one like the one used in our videos. Sometimes you can find them in Chinese grocery or cooking equipment stores.
It is interesting what you mention about the ginger being bitter. I am not sure if I can help you in that area. The only thing that might make a difference that you can observe by looking at the ginger is if it is young or old, the young ginger has a thinner, more translucent skin and the taste is more crisp and biting, whereas more mature ginger roots will get more fibrous and mellow. Some people prefer the more mature ginger, but there is a place for young ginger too. Hope this helps 🙂