Pad Thai

This is one of my favorite Thai dishes and the one I most want to try some day IN Thailand, bought from a street vender. Compared to traditional Pad Thai, this version is pretty boring. But it's tasty and does have the sweet, tangy, spicy taste that drew me to Thai food.

Pad Thai

Ingredients:

• 1 8 oz. box rice noodles
• 8 Tbs lime juice (juice of 4 limes)
• 6 Tbs fish sauce
• 5 Tbs sugar
• 1 tsp Thai chile paste (to taste - this doesn't make it very spicy)
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 4 Tbs coconut oil
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 8 green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts + 3 Tbs chopped peanuts (for garnish)
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts

Directions:  

1. Prepare rice noodles according to package directions for stir fry.
2. Keep one slice from the middle of each lime for garnish. Juice the limes into a small mixing bowl. Add the fish sauce, sugar, and Thai chili paste and whisk together.
3. Slice chicken into bite-sized pieces and toss with soy sauce.
4. Cut green tops off of onions, leaving about an inch of green with white, and save for garnish. Finely mince the remaining pieces of onion.
5. Put 2 Tbs of coconut oil in large skillet (or wok) over high heat. Crush garlic cloves into oil while it is heating. Stir in the minced onions and 1/4 cup of chopped peanuts, and reduce heat to medium high. When onions are soft, add in the chicken and soy sauce mixture. Continue stirring until chicken is cooked through. Push mixture to side of pan and on the other side add 2 Tbs coconut oil and scramble the eggs. When eggs are done, stir together entire mixture.
6. Reduce heat to low and add prepared sauce, a small handful of bean sprouts (optional), and noodles. Toss together until all ingredients are well incorporated.
7. Garnish with lime slices, long slivers of green onion tops, remaining bean sprouts, and 3 Tbs of chopped peanuts.

This was adapted from the Restaurant-Style Pad Thai recipe on the back of Annie Chun's Pad Thai rie noodles.

I thought it was pretty tasty and the family loved it, but didn't think it was quite as good as Siam Thai (their website says they are open on Sunday, but they are not). I don't know if it's possible to make a good pad thai at home without tamarind paste. On my next try I'm going to use Annie Chun's Pad Thai Sauce since it's all-natural and has tamarind, plus use more traditional ingredients (tofu, dry shrimp and fresh bean sprouts to see if it makes a difference.

~ Enjoy!

Sweet & Spicy Asian Pork Shoulder

Pork shoulder that was supposed to be chicken thighs. Leftover rice. Sweet & Spicy. Sounds like a winning combination!

Sweet & Spicy Asian Pork Shoulder

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 2 Tbs chili garlic sauce
• 1 Tbs ground ginger
• 1 Tbs granulated garlic
• 1 tsp Chinese 5-spice
• Salt, to taste
• 2 1/2 lbs. pork shoulder

Directions:

Salt (and pepper, if you must) the pork shoulder to taste.
Whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, orange juice, ginger, garlic, and 5-spice in a large bowl. Add pork shoulder and turn it in the mixture until it is well coated. Put pork shoulder into slow cooker and pour remaining sauce over the roast. 
Cook on low 7-8 hours (high, 4 hours).
Serve over rice or noodles.

I'm going to roast asparagus to serve alongside this, but if I didn't have the fresh asparagus I would roast some Chinese vegetables - maybe Bok Choy, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and sweet pepper.

If the sauce isn't thick enough, I may pull some out of the cooker and thicken it up with cornstarch.

(Almost) Thai-Style Chicken Soup

Thai-Style Chicken Soup
adapted from America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution
 
Ingredients

• 1 onion, minced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbs Garden Gourmet ginger
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 - 14 ounce can of coconut milk
• 2 Tbs Garden Gourmet lemon grass
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 10 cilantro stems, tied together with twine
• 1 lb bonesless, skinless chicken thigh
• 6 ounces sliced white mushrooms
• 1 1/2 Tbs of lime juice
• 1/2 Tbs sugar
• 2 tsp Thai red curry paste

Directions

1. Microwave onions, garlic, ginger and oil in a bowl, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, about 5 minutes and transfer to slow cooker 
2. Stir borth, 1/2 can coconut milk, lemon grass, carrots, 1 tbs fish sauce, and cilantro stems into slow cooker. 
3. Season chicken with salt and pepper and nestle into slow cooker 
4. Cover and cook until chicken is tender, 4 to 6 hours on low. 
5. Transfer chicken to cutting board, let cool slightly, then shred into bite-size pieces. 
6. Discard lemon grass and cilantro stems 
7. Stir in mushrooms, cover and cook on high until mushrooms are tender (5-15 minutes). Microwave remaining can of coconut milk in bowl until hot, then whisk in remaining tablespoon of fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and curry paste to dissolve. 
8. Stir hot coconut mixture and shredded chicken until soup and let sit until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

SO...  in the interest of full disclosure, I forgot to add the second half of the coconut milk (I actually added the whole can from the beginning), the additional fish sauce, the lime juice, sugar, and curry.  When I realized I'd forgotten those things, I stirred two tsp of Thai chili garlic sauce into the soup to give it a kick.

Yes, it was still really good, but I can only imagine how much better it would have been if I would have remembered the rest of the ingredients.  Hopefully, y'all won't make my mistake!

~ Enjoy!

Indonesian Chicken Curry

I found this recipe for Indonesian Chicken Curry in Saveur's The New Comfort Food: Home Cooking from Around the World.  I love the magazine.  I love the website.  I *really* love this cookbook!

I live in rural Kentucky and finding odd Asian spices isn't going to happen without an hour plus drive, so I made some adaptions to adjust to my pantry.  The original recipe is linked above, what follows is my adaption.

INDONESIAN CHICKEN CURRY in KENTUCKY

• 1 Tbs ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp crushed red chili flakes
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 Tbs Gourmet Garden squeezable ginger
• 3 Tbs coconut oil
• Zest of one lime
• 5 - 4" sticks of cinnamon
• 1 Tbs Gourmet Garden squeezable lemon grass
• 3 lbs mixed chicken legs and thighs
• 1 can coconut milk
• kosher salt (to taste)
• 4 cups cooked brown rice, for serving

Put coriander and crushed red chili flakes into a blender with garlic, onions, and ginger; purée to a paste. Add 1–2 tbsp. water, if necessary.(It was necessary!)
Heat oil in a 5-qt. Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add paste; cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 5–7 minutes. Add lime zest, cinnamon, and lemongrass. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cinnamon is fragrant, about 2 minutes. 
Increase heat to medium, add chicken, and cook, turning once, until golden brown, 8–10 minutes. 
Stir in 1 cup coconut milk, 1 1⁄4 cups water, and salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until chicken is tender, 40–50 minutes. 
Add remaining coconut milk; cook for 2 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving with the rice. 


The house smelled DELICIOUS while this was cooking, but the actual curry was blander than we were expecting.  When I make this again (and I will!), I will probably double the ginger, lemon grass, and lime zest.  This is the first time I've tried the Garden Gourmet products and after I'd already cooked dinner I discovered that the paste is milder than the real deal.

In a perfect world, I'd get all of the ingredients fresh and make it EXACTLY as the recipe is written.  Okay... maybe not exactly, but I'd definitely use the Kaffir lime leaves (mostly because that would be easier than zesting a lime!), fresh ginger, and stalks of lemon grass bruised and tied in knots.

~ Enjoy!

Operation Clean Out the Freezer - Day #5

Noodles with Broccoli and Meat (Cambodia)

I substituted a bag of Asian mixed vegetables for the broccoli and used imitation crab and chicken for the meat.  As always, it did not disappoint!

Cucumber Salad (Indonesia)

2 small cucumbers (I used one large English cucumber)
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 T olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 Tbs sugar
slices of hot chili pepper to taste (optional)

Whisk together all ingredients except the cucumbers and onions in a largish bowl.  Add cucumbers and onions, toss with dressing.  Marinate at least 30 minutes before serving.

I skipped the pepper because my family just isn't all that fond of pepper.  Then I increased the garlic powder because I knew I wasn't going to be using the hot chili peppers but I still wanted some kick.  Lastly, I used about 2 tsps of chili powder in place of the hot chili peppers.  This was a perfect side with the stir fry!


Both of these recipes are from Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook by Joetta Handrich Schlabach, 1991, Herald Press. (It's also available from Amazon.)  My number one, absolute favorite cookbook. Ever. I can't recommend it highly enough to my ethnic food loving friends.

Best New Recipe of 2008

This recipe gets the award for being beautiful to look at, simple to prepare, and incredibly tasty. It is the entire family's new favorite on our menu.

Noodles with Broccoli and Meat (Cambodia)
Kuy Tew Cha (goi dieu chah)
Serves 4

Cook according to package directions:

• 8 oz. Chinese noodles or thin spaghetti (250 g) (I use spaghetti.)

Drain. Add 1 T. oil (15 ml) to keep noodles from sticking together, cover, and set aside.

In separate saucepan, cook or steam until tender-crisp:

• 1 1/2 c. broccoli, cut in pieces (375 ml)

Meanwhile, in separate frypan saute 8-10 minutes in 1-2 T. oil (15-30 ml):

• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 1/2 c. pork, cut in small pieces (125 ml)


• 6-8 shrimp, shelled and deveined

Add broccoli to meat along with:

• 1-2 T. soy sauce (15-30 ml)


• 1 t. sugar (5 ml)


• 1/2 t. salt (2 ml) (optional)

Toss with noodles and serve with additional soy sauce as desired.

Note: We make substitutions for the meat frequently, with great results. We've used pork, chicken, beef, and frozen imitation crab each on and its own or in combination with one of the other meats. I love that I can make it with whatever I have on hand.

— from Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook by Joetta Handrich Schlabach, 1991, Herald Press.


Not only is this dish tasty, it's very easy to make and only dirties one frying pan. Our family eats this at least once a week now!