Rambutan Martini Recipe

I went to Jungle Jim's today, and got some more rambutans.  Last time I only got the one, but I decided to really go crazy and get a whole sack.

I also found a recipe for a Rambutan martini, and it turns out that it's pretty delicious. 

It calls for ginger flavored vodka.  Did you know that existed?  It does.

Thai Chicken & Leek

*I didn't have enough leeks, so I changed some of the amounts -- I don't think it matters much at all.

Ingredients (from The Modern of Art of Thai Cooking)

2 leeks (about 1 pound; I used one small leek that was less than 1/2 pound)
1/2 tbsp flour
1/3 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp vegetable oil (I only used 1 tbsp)
6 cloves garlic, minced (I used 3 tbsp of the minced stuff from the jar)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (I used one breast...I don't know how much it weighed)
5 tbsp sugar (I used 3 tbsp)
3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp whole yellow bean sauce (I don't know what that is...I used the red curry paste from the previous post)

Trim off the root ends of the leeks and all but about 3 inches of the green tops. Angle-cut the green tops into thin slices. Cut the white bulbs in half lengthwise, then angle-cut them into thin slices. Put the sliced leeks in a colander and wash them well. Drain and set aside.

Stir the flour into the chicken stock until blended.

Place all of the ingredients within easy reach of the cooking area.

Set a wok over medium-high heat. When hot, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and stir-fry briefly, just until golden and aromatic. Add the chicken, raise the heat to high, and stir-fry for 1 minute. Stir in the sugar, fish sauce, and leeks and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the yellow bean sauce (or red curry paste) and the chicken stock-flour mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, just until the meat and vegetables are tender and cooked through, and the sauce reduces slightly, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

Transfer to platter and serve with jasmine rice. (I omitted the rice, but I bet it would have been tasty.)

2 servings, 7 weight watcher points each.


The picture is not great -- it looks gelatinous. It looked better in person and was scrumptious.

Bok Choy Stir Fry

I made some stir-fry that was mostly not from a recipe. I realize stir-fry takes almost no talent or creativity, but I'm proud of myself. Baby steps, folks.

Ingredients

1 head bok choy
mushrooms, quartered
baby carrots, chopped (they were the only carrots I had)
1 shallot
peanut oil (I actually used vegetable oil, but I wanted to use peanut oil)
1 tbsp red curry paste (recipe below)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil

Heat peanut oil. Cook shallots & carrots first. Add mushrooms and curry paste. Make sure the curry paste gets mixed in well. Add bok choy and cook briefly. Mix in sugar & salt. Take off heat and toss in sesame oil.


Red Curry Paste (from The Modern Art of Thai Cooking)

Ingredients

3 oz dried red New Mexico chilies
12 small Japanese chilies (I just got one kind of dried chilies -- I think they were Japanese)
1 tbsp whole coriander seed
1 1/2 tbsp shrimp paste, wrapped neatly in a double layer of aluminum foil
3/4 cup of shallots (I used regular onions)
1/2 cup peeled whole garlic (I used minced garlic in the jar)
1/2 tbsp minced domestic lime peel
2 large stalks lemon grass, tough outer leaves discarded, lower stalks trimmed to 3 inches and finely sliced
1/3 cup finely chopped Siamese ginger

Stem the chilies and shake out most of the seeds. (I was careful to shake out all of them.) Cut the chilies in half lengthwise and remove any tough, dried ribs. Cut crosswise into 3/4-inch and put them in a bowl. Add water to cover and soak the chilies for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, dry-roast the coriander seed in a small skillet over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, until toasty and aromatic, shaking the pan often to prevent burning. Transfer the coriander seed to a small bowl and set aside to cool.

Set the skillet back over medium heat. Place the foil-wrapped shrimp paste in the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes, until aromatic, turning the packet over once or twice. Remove the packet from the skillet and set it aside to cool.

Combine the shallot and garlic in the skillet and dry-roast over medium heat until tender and slightly browned, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Put the roasted coriander seed in a large, heavy mortar and grind to a powder. Transfer the ground coriander to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade.

Combine the minced lime peel, lemon grass, and ginger in the mortar and pound for a minute or so to break down the fibers. Transfer the crushed mixture to the food processor.

Pound the roasted shallots and garlic in the mortar just until crushed and transfer them to the food processor.

Unwrap the shrimp paste and add it to the food processor.

Drain the chilies, reserving about 1/2 of the soaking liquid. Add the chilies to the food processor.

Process the ingredients until a rich, moist paste forms. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the work bowl. Add a few tablespoons of the chili-soaking liquid now and then, if needed, to ease the grinding.

This paste can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 month, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Asian Market Hunt of '10: Target Identified

I have found my Asian Market, and I had no need to go to multiple markets looking for a decent one. I was talking to the departmental secretary, and she told me about Jungle Jim's in Ohio. Based solely on the website description (it will probably be a few weeks before I make it there myself), Jungle Jim's bears close resemblance to my idea of heaven: Forty varieties of rice, 78 types of olive oil, fine chocolates from the world's great chocolate makers, and, most amazingly, 1400 different cheeses!

As for the Asian department, they claim to have everything you need, "from soy sauce to rice vinegar to dried squid to kim chee and cans of caterpillars." Surely I can find what I need there. I can't wait to visit!

Asian Market Hunt of '10: A Preview

Not surprisingly, there do not seem to be any Asian markets in Richmond. (That's Indiana, for all of our many followers out there, not Virginia.) I have tentatively identified a few possibilities, none closer than an hour away. Given that I had to go to three Asian markets in Greensboro before I found a decent one, I'm expecting this to be a drawn out hunt. Wish me luck!

Chiang Mai Soup w/ Coconut Rice

This is two recipes combined, and the coconut rice is more than good enough as a small meal on its own. In fact, I was pretty full from nibbling on the rice by the time I actually got the rest of it cooked. I got both of these out of my Rice & Noodle Cookbook.

Coconut Rice
2 1/4 cups Jasmine rice
2 cups Coconut milk
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
(Calls for shredded coconut for garnish, but I left that out.)

Wash the rice in several changes of water until it runs clear. (The directions on the rice didn't call for this, but I did it anyway. It took 5-6 changes of water for it to run clear.) Put everything in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. (I used my pretty new dutch oven!) Cover & bring to boil. Lower heat & simmer for 15-20 minutes. Take off heat & let rest for 5-10 minutes, then fluff the rice.


Chiang Mai Soup
2 1/2 cups coconut milk
2 tbsp red curry paste (I used this before, but I didn't have any this time -- still tasted fine)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 lb chicken thighs, boned & cut into bite-sized pieces (I used 2 frozen chicken breasts, thawed)
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
4 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce (I don't know the difference b/w dark & light. Kikoman seems to work fine.)
juice of 1/2-1 lime (I used bottled lime juice. I just squirted some in there -- I don't think it needs to be precise. You can put more in any time if it is a little bland.)
salt & water to taste
[The recipe calls for egg noodles, but I didn't use them -- I used the rice instead]

1. Pour ~1/3 of the coconut milk into the saucepan & bring to a boil, stirring frequently until it separates. (This separation thing -- I'm not entirely sure mine ever did, but it started looking vaguely like tapioca at some point, and I decided that was good.)
2. Add the curry paste & ground turmeric, stir to mix completely and cook for a few minutes until blended.
3. Add chicken pieces & stir-fry for about 2 minutes. Ensure all chunks of meat are covered in paste. (It is not as paste-y if you don't use the curry paste.)
4. Add the remaining coconut milk, stock, fish sauce, soy sauce, & seasoning. Simmer for 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat & add lime juice to taste.

5. The direction here call for you to add the egg noodles. I just poured it over the rice & mixed it up. If you have leftovers, it will save for a long time. The rice just soaks up the soup, which is great, because you don't get that tough leftover rice thing the next day. I ate for several days in a row.

As always, particularly with Asian food, use your prep bowls! Have everything ready to go when you start. If you try it, let me know what you think!