A little bird told me that the Thai ladies who prepare the best green papaya salad in town at RC Sunday Market also sell the best Thai green curry paste. To market, to market to buy the fresh Thai green curry paste.
Thai chicken curry should be a balance of spicy, sweet and sour and salty. Experts would advice to add fish sauce if not salty, add a little more sugar for a sweeter curry, add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice if too salty.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp curry paste (a blend of chilli, garlic, onion, galangal, kafir lime, Thai ginger, lemon grass)
boneless chicken thigh or breast, cut into chunks
1 can coconut milk
1 red bell pepper, de-seeded and cut into chunks
1 zucchini, sliced lengthwise several times, then cut into chunks
1 tbsp fish sauce
a cup of chopped coriander/cilantro leaves and stems
a handful of coriander leaves for dressing
1 tbsp lime juice or lemon juice
2 tbsp. oil
Procedure:
Heat oil in wok
Add curry paste and stir fry briefly to release the fragrance
Add coconut milk, and bring to the boil
Add chicken, stirring to incorporate
When curry sauce comes to a boil reduce heat to medium-low simmer.
Simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes, or until chicken is tender.
Stir occasionally.
Add the red bell pepper and zucchini, plus a cup of chopped coriander/cilantro leaves and stems
Simmer another 2-3 minutes, or until vegetables are softened but still firm and colourful.
Sprinkle with fresh coriander leaves just before serving
Serve with steamed rice.
The cyclone warning was cancelled last Tuesday by the Bureau of Meteorology. The weather forecast for today is a “Few showers and a storm about. Moderate northwest winds.” Chicken soup has always been the regular choice on rainy days. Several variations include chicken tinola, chicken sopas, chicken and corn, chicken malunggay soup etc.
My pantry offered the vermicelli noodles and the fridge stored the rest of the ingredients. Thursday’s supper is chicken sotanghon soup with miso.
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped chicken breast
½ medium onion – sliced
1 punnet fresh shiitake mushrooms
½ cup dried black fungus
50 gms vermicelli (sotanghon) noodles
1 chicken stock cube
5-6 cups water or chicken stock
18 gms of instant miso soup (optional)
1 medium carrot – julienned
1 celery stick – diced
spring onions – thinly chopped
ginger (thumb sized)
patis
salt and white pepper to taste
Procedure:
Soak dried black fungus in hot water for about 10 minutes.
Boil water, chicken, onions, ginger, and chicken cube for 10-15 minutes
Add carrots, celery, shiitake mushrooms, dried black fungus (squeeze out water before adding) and bring to boil
Drop the vermicelli noodles into the soup and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until noodles are tender
Scoop out some soup stock and dissolve miso in it and slowly add the miso mixture back in the soup (optional)
Stir gently and season to taste
Serve hot and garnish with chopped spring onions
Note: added only 50 gms of the sotanghon noodles as I don’t want it drying up the soup.
Larp of Chiang Mai
by: Kit Chan, The Essential Thai Cookbook
Ingredients:
450g minced chicken
1 stalk lemon grass, finely chopped
3 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped
4 red chillies, seeded and chopped
4 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp roasted ground rice (sticky or glutinous rice)
2 spring onions or 1 medium sized spanish onion
2 tbsp coriander leaves
mixed salad leaves, cucumber and tomat slices, to serve
a few sprigs of mint, to garnish
Procedure:
Heat a large non-stick frying pan. Add the minced chicken and cook in a little water.
Stir constantly until cooked; this will take about 7-10 minutes.
Transfer the cooked chicken to a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients.
Mix thoroughly
Serve on a bed of mixed salad leaves, cucumber and tomato slices and garnish with sprigs of mint.
Variation: beef can be used instead of chicken
Adobo in my family’s circle of relatives, neighbours and friends is cooked in the same manner: dry but oily. To say that all Cebuanos have the same style or that all Filipino adobo recipes contain soy sauce is, I think, an inaccurate generalization. One story tells that soy sauce in adobo is a modification by the Chinese. My understanding of my family’s joke — nagmantika ang baba (oily mouth) — comes from eating too much oily adobo.
Again as I come from another region, the identity of adobo is altered. Suka and sili, anyone?
Ingredients
Combination pork and chicken
Vinegar
Garlic (lots)
Bay leaf (2-3)
Black peppercorns (lots)
Cooking oil
1 chicken stock cube
salt
Procedure
Combine all ingredients but only 2 tbsp of vinegar, garlic, peppercorn, bay leaf, salt and chicken cube and marinade for 30 minutes.
Transfer the marinated ingredients in a large frying pan, cover and cooked slowly at a low temperature. When the meat is dry, add oil stirring constantly so the meat cooks evenly until golden brown. Before turning off the stove, turn to high heat and immediately splash 1tbsp of vinegar, do not cover. Turn off the stove and remove the pan.
Hingpit 