Thai-style Chicken with Coconut Milk Sauce – Iron Chef-Style!

July 1, 2011 § 3 Comments

Have you ever opened up the pantry and refrigerator, simply at a loss of what to make or eat? And then, reach into that very-same pantry, and pull out a package of ramyun and resign yourself to an extremely satisfying but unhealthy supper?

I grabbed that package of ramyun, and I heat the water for it. I was actually really looking forward to savoring those delicious, al dente noodles while reading THE HUNGER GAMES (freaking…AMAZING!!!) and having a relaxing night in. But then, I thought, “Stephanie, let’s have a challenge. Let’s try to make something interesting using the ingredients you have on hand.” I shut off the heat for my boiling water and looked inside my pantry and refrigerator again.

I found: a can of coconut milk, some chicken bouillon, S&B Curry, chicken breasts, garlic, green onion, an onion, leftover napa cabbage-hearts, ginger, sriracha, and peanut butter. I started to think, what could I possibly make using these, and the answer was pretty obvious – a Thai-inspired coconut chicken curry!

Then I got really excited.  Challenges are good.

I was a little disappointed that I didn’t have any Thai red-curry or green-curry paste on hand (come on, doesn’t EVERYONE have this in their pantry? ;)) so I was a little wary of using my go to curry-rice S&B cubes. I decided I would save those for the very last, and only put them in if everything else turned out horribly. But this was my only “set-back”.

And after a mixture of this, and a little bit of that, I ended up with a chicken coconut “curry” (no “curry” went into the final dish, but it just sounds better) that was really delicious. I WILL TOTALLY MAKE THIS AGAIN! And perhaps I’ll even pick up some red or green curry paste next time, but I’m happy knowing that I don’t need them to make this taste phenonemal.

Thai Chicken Coconut Curry-less Curry

From my very own mind

Approximate cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1.5-2 lbs chicken breast, sliced into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 TB mirin (rice wine)
  • 1/2 TB grated ginger
  • 1/2 TB coarse sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 TB Golden Mountain sauce
  • 1 TB soy sauce
  • 4 TB minced garlic
  • 2 TB vegetable oil
  • 1 TB sesame oil
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • Any vegetables you want, thinly sliced (*recommended: bell pepper, bok choy, mushrooms, broccoli, napa cabbage, etc)
  • 2 TB Sriracha sauce
  • 1 13.5 ounce-can coconut milk
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 1 cup chicken broth/stock
  • 1/2 TB grated ginger
  • 3 green onion stalks, thinly sliced
  • Curry paste or 1/4 S&B curry cube * COMPLETELY OPTIONAL, in fact, only put it in if you don’t like how everything above tastes at the end
  • Juice of 1 lemon * Also optional, cuts through the richness of the sauce a little

Directions

  1. Marinate chicken in rice wine, salt, pepper, ginger, Golden Mountain sauce, soy sauce for 15 minutes.
  2. Heat large pan with vegetable and sesame oil on high heat, add 2 TB of garlic and saute until fragrant (5-10 seconds).  Add chicken and cook until golden brown.
  3. Remove chicken from the pan, and set aside in a bowl.  Add more oil if necessary, turn the heat to medium, and add the onions and other vegetables.  Cook until tender, and then add the chicken back into the pan. Stir to mix all the ingredients together, and add the sriracha. Turn off the heat.
  4. In a bowl, mix together the coconut milk, chicken broth, ginger, 2 TB garlic, and pepper. Whisk together.
  5. Turn the heat back on to medium, and carefully add the coconut-milk mixture.  Mix together, and then taste.  Add salt if necessary. If you’d like, you can add about 1/4 of one of the cubes of curry, but again, completely optional.
  6. Add green onion to the sauce, and turn off the heat.  Serve with rice. Garnish with a wedge of lemon or lime.
  7. ENJOY!

DakDoriTang 닭도리탕 (Spicy Chicken Stew with Potatoes)

June 4, 2011 § 3 Comments

Dakdoritang is one of my favorite things to eat.  It represents “comfort on a plate” to me. It’s hearty, spicy, filling, and just all-around so satisfying!

I know most people put all the ingredients together and let it stew, which is the normal method and it comes out great, but I seem to have unfortunate luck with this.  Thus, I have created a system of staggering my ingredients so that my potatoes come out perfect. (They’re my favorite part of the dish.) I like my potatoes not too mushy and disintegrated, and whenever I do the one-pot method it always comes out this way so my staggering technique has become fool-proof for me.

Notes:

1. If you’d like to, you can bring the marinated chicken (without the 3 TB of sauce) to a rapid boil for around 10 minutes and then throw out the water, rinse under cold water, and add the 3 TB of sauce and start from step 3. This gets rid of most of the chicken fat and impurities that you have to skim later on. Next time, I will do this.

Stephanie’s 닭도리탕 – DakDoriTang Recipe

2 TB Rice wine (mirin)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 TB of coarse sea salt
1 whole chicken, cut up, around 3-4 lbs.

Sauce aka “magical elixir”:

2 TB minced garlic
1 1/2 TB rice wine (mirin)
4 TB Soy sauce
1/2 TB hot chili oil
1/2 TB sesame oil
1 1/2 TB honey
4 TB Korean chili paste ‘gochujang’
1/2 TB Sugar
3 TB Korean chili pepper powder ‘gochugaru’
1/2 TB Sriracha hot sauce

5-7 Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
10-12 baby carrots
2 large onions, chopped roughly
2 hot green peppers, sliced
4 green onions, sliced
2~3 cups water

Directions

1. Rinse and cut chicken into even-sized pieces, no need to trim extra fat or bones (we want these for flavor!) Add mirin, salt, and pepper to the chicken and mix well, and set aside for 15 minutes.

2. While the chicken is marinating, assemble the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix together well.

3. Place marinated chicken into a big pot, and throw out the excess liquid. Cover chicken with 3 TB of the spicy sauce and mix so that the chicken is lightly coated, and then add 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil on high heat and cover, and then lower the heat to medium high. Cook for ten minutes.

4. Remove the lid and skim off as much fat as possible. Add all but-2 TB of the sauce and the onions. Stir well and cover again, for 5 more minutes.

5. Add the potatoes carrots, green onions, and hot peppers and the rest of the sauce. Add 1 more cup of water if you like it a little more stew-like and extra saucy. Make sure you get every last drop of sauce in there! Cook for 10-15 minutes on medium-high heat, uncovered until the potatoes are cooked. (This is the time your sauce will get nice and thick and magical.)

6. ENJOY with a bowl of steaming hot rice.

Phat Kee Mao Gai (Thai stir-fried spicy chicken with basil)

March 24, 2011 § 1 Comment

I don’t know about you, but Thai food is an addiction of mine that I succumb to several times a week.  I also have attempted to make Thai-dishes in my kitchen that have been ultimate fails, I can’t seem to recreate that amazing restaurant-flavor at home! That is…until I found this recipe and tinkered around with it, and came up with something really delicious a few days ago.

I love basil, and even moreso I love Thai-basil, which feels like basil taken up a few notches.  I’m sure that this recipe could be done with American basil if you can’t find Thai-basil in your Asian supermarket, but perhaps add more of it than the recipe calls for because of the milder properties of American basil.  But definitely try to find and use Thai basil.

The prik-khing paste can be found in the curry/wasabi aisle of the grocery store and I’ve added a picture of it so that you won’t be completely lost looking for this Thai-product.

Also, I added eggplant to this dish because I seriously love eggplant.  I am sure you can add or not put in any vegetables in this dish, but it’s up to you really.  I wish I put in more eggplant, as I only put in one, so next time I am definitely going to add more.

I also used two green serrano peppers and three red chili peppers which weren’t that spicy…but I know I have an abnormal spice-resistance so only start with a little and add more if you can handle the heat.

Phat kee mao gai (Thai stir-fried spicy chicken with chili and basil)

Adapted from Cooking with Kai

Ingredients

  • 1 lb of boneless chicken thigh-meat, minced and sliced into tiny pieces
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon prik khing paste
  • 2 Chinese eggplants, washed and sliced in half and then into diagonal slices
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce (use 1/2 tablespoon if you don’t really like it)
  • 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 1 cup of packed Thai basil leaves
  • green and red chili peppers (according to how spicy you want it) sliced into diagonal pieces

Directions

Heat oil in large wok or pan in medium-high heat.  Add the prik khing paste and stir until fragrant, around 20-30 seconds.

Add the chicken and cook for around 5 minutes until almost done, and then add the eggplants.  Cook together until the eggplant is cooked through, another 4-5 minutes.

Add water, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar, and stir until well-mixed and coated over the chicken and eggplant.  Stir for another 30 seconds.

Add the basil, red and green chili peppers, and stir for 15 seconds.  Then take off the heat and serve with rice.

Enjoy this super quick, easy, and delicious recipe!

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