Tag: coconut milk

• 

  PK’s Simple Tom Kha Gai

  My way of making Tom Kha, a Thai coconut, chicken and galangal soup, one bowl at a time is great if you have a family with widely different stands on what they will or won’t eat. For example, I love tomatoes, mushrooms and spring onions so I use lots of them in my bowl. My lads don’t so they get more mushrooms, carrot and corn.

  It is also great when you have your friends over for lunch or dinner. Simply put a big pot of soup on the table with the vegetables and rice separate and everyone can build their own bowl. Don’t forget slices of lime, chopped Thai chilies and extra fish sauce. 🙂

  Note: I think this makes enough soup for 2 hungry adults.

  

  Steps

  1. Preparing the ingredients
  2. Bringing the soup to the boil
  3. Serving

  Ingredients

  • 1 poached chicken breast
  • 1 small coriander plant (roots and leaves), whole
  • 1 chunk of fresh galangal, bruised
  • 3 kaffir lime leaves, bruised
  • 1 lemongrass stalk, bruised
  • 1 Tbsp fish sauce for the pot and 1 Tbsp for each serving bowl
  • 1 Tbsp lime juice for the pot and 1 Tbsp for each serving bowl
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 3 Thai chiles, sliced (optional but encouraged)
  • Your personal choice of vegetables
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

  Equipment

  • 1 chef’s knife
  • 1 chopping board
  • 1 wooden spoon
  • 1 saucepan/soup pot

  Preparing the ingredients

  1. Cut your poached chicken breast into cubes or slices.
  2. Bruise the galangal chunk and the lemongrass stalk and add to the pot.
  3. Bruise the kaffir lime leaves, or like I have put little tears in the edges to release the flavour better, and add to the pot.
  4. Add one small coriander plant.
  5. Add:
     • 1 Tbsp fish sauce
     • 1 Tbsp lime juice
     • 1/2 cup water
     • 2 cups chicken stock
     • 1 cup coconut milk
     • 3 Thai chiles (optional)

  

  Bringing the soup to the boil

  1. Let everything come to a boil really slowly to infuse all the flavours. I don’t move it very often and then only a gentle swirl.
  2. Once you have a gentle boil, turn the heat down a bit and add the poached chicken.
  3. Cook until the chicken is safely warmed through but not for too long or it will go stringy.

  

  Serving

  1. Build up a bowl of your favourite vegetables and add 1 Tbsp fish sauce and 1 Tbsp lime juice.
  2. Add some chicken and then add as much soup as you want (liquid only, the rest stays behind).
  3. Provide your guests with some cooked rice, slices of lime, extra chiles and fish sauce.

  

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  September 19, 2018

• 

  PK Makes Poh’s Nyonya Chicken Curry

  What I like most about this dish is that you get to make your own curry paste (or in Nyonyan cuisine ‘a rempah’). Please see Malay for spice if you want more information.

  When I cook this meal I reduce the sauce until it sticks to the chicken, the roof of your mouth and, of course, your fingers :).

  I have tried it with boneless chicken breast but I have to say I prefer using chicken drumsticks. The bones make for a tastier sauce and the thighs for tenderer meat. If you don’t like the look of the bones at serving time use two forks to jerk the chicken.

  My notes say that I originally got the recipe from Taste.com.au and that it was by Poh Ling Yeow. I can’t find that original post now but she wrote that it took her lots of trial and error to get that ‘authentic taste.’ She wrote “The first time I made this and it worked, I jumped around like a lunatic, I was so happy. I felt like I had conjured magic, to make a dish like this and have it hitting all those familiar notes of home”.

  The ingredients list might look a bit daunting at first but trust me it is worth it. I have of course tweaked it a bit for my lazy cooking style and reduced the chili content for my family. Add your favourite whole chilis after the paste has been sautéed if you like it hot.

  Oh, by the way, you can double the recipe as this meal freezes well. I recommend keeping any leftover rice in a separate container for a stress free microwave reheat.

  STEPS:

  1. Make the rempah
  2. Cook the spices and then mix everything in one pot
  3. One pot simmer

  You will need:

  • Rempah Ingredients:
    • 1 tsp table salt
    • 1 tsp brown sugar
    • 3.5 Tbsp whole coriander seeds
    • 1.5 tsp whole cumin seeds
    • 1.5 tsp whole fennel seeds
    • 1 tsp powdered kashmiri chili (at the minimum)
    • 1 Tbsp dried belacan (shrimp paste)*
    • 1 Tbsb powdered turmeric
    • 3 cloves garlic
    • 270g red shallots (sliced)
      
    • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
    • Note *: I sometimes use a treacle consistency type of belacan but find it too sticky and harder to blend than the dried version.
  • Curry Ingredients
    • 3 Tbsb coconut cream
    • 10 sprigs of curry leaves
    • 1 star anise
    • 2 whole cloves
    • 1 cinnamon stick
    • 1.5kg chicken thigh fillets
    • 500g potatoes
    • 500ml coconut milk
  • Rempah Equipment
    • a chopping board
    • a long sharp knife
    • a medium sized bowl
    • a small plate
    • a wet blender with a very small bowl
    • a dry spice mixer (or a mortar and pestle)
  • Curry Equipment
    • a chopping board
    • a long sharp knife
    • a measuring cup for the coconut milk
    • 2 large plates
    • a large deep frypan or stockpot

  Make the rempah

  I listed all the ingredients for the curry itself and the rempah for your shopping lists but I’ve actually posted the rempah recipe separately here – A Nyonya Rempah.

  Cook the spices and then mix everything in one pot

  In summary:

   

  Steps:

  1. Peel, halve and parboil the 500g of potatoes in the saucepan. Rinse and then drain them.
  2. Bring the 3 Tbsp coconut cream, 1 star anise, 2 whole cloves and the 1 cinnamon stick together. Then chuck them in the pot.
  3. Bring your Nyonya curry paste out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature somewhat. If you are using a frozen batch you should have defrosted it fully by now. Chuck the paste in the pot too.
  4. Sauté everything that is in the pot for about 10 minutes. Watch the colour of the Nyonya paste change and the oil start to separate out. See the image below showing the raw paste on the left and the cooked paste on the right. By now your kitchen is smelling amazing :).
  5. To the pot, add the 1.5kg chicken thigh fillets, pausing to mix them with the spice blend as you go.
  6. Add the now parboiled potatoes, 10 sprigs of curry leaves and 500ml of coconut milk to the pot and simmer until the potatoes and chicken legs are cooked through.

  Serve with lots of your favourite rice. Mine is Basmarti and please don’t tell anyone I use the store bought packets you microwave for 90 seconds.

  

  Thanks Poh,

  PK

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  May 16, 2016

• 

  Poh’s Nyonya Chicken Curry

  What I like most about this dish is that you get to make your own curry paste (or in Nyonyan cuisine ‘a rempah’). Please see Malay for spice if you want more information.

  When I cook this meal I reduce the sauce until it sticks to the chicken, the roof of your mouth and, of course, your fingers :).

  I have tried it with boneless chicken breast but I have to say I prefer using chicken drumsticks. The bones make for a tastier sauce and the thighs for tenderer meat. If you don’t like the look of the bones at serving time use two forks to jerk the chicken.

  My notes say that I originally got the recipe from Taste.com.au and that it was by Poh Ling Yeow. I can’t find that original post now but she wrote that it took her lots of trial and error to get that ‘authentic taste.’ She wrote “The first time I made this and it worked, I jumped around like a lunatic, I was so happy. I felt like I had conjured magic, to make a dish like this and have it hitting all those familiar notes of home”.

  The ingredients list might look a bit daunting at first but trust me it is worth it. I have of course tweaked it a bit for my lazy cooking style and reduced the chili content for my family. Add your favourite whole chilis after the paste has been sautéed if you like it hot.

  Oh, by the way, you can double the recipe as this meal freezes well. I recommend keeping any leftover rice in a separate container for a stress free microwave reheat though.

  STEPS:

  1. Make the rempah
  2. Cook the spices and then mix everything in one pot
  3. One pot simmer

  You will need:

  • Rempah Ingredients:
    • 1 tsp table salt
    • 1 tsp brown sugar
    • 3.5 Tbsp whole coriander seeds
    • 1.5 tsp whole cumin seeds
    • 1.5 tsp whole fennel seeds
    • 1 tsp powdered kashmiri chili (at the minimum)
    • 1 Tbsp dried belacan (shrimp paste)*
    • 1 Tbsb powdered turmeric
    • 3 cloves garlic
    • 270g red shallots (sliced)
      
    • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
    • Note *: I sometimes use a treacle consistency type of belacan but find it too sticky and harder to blend than the dried version.
  • Curry Ingredients
    • 3 Tbsb coconut cream
    • 10 sprigs of curry leaves
    • 1 star anise
    • 2 whole cloves
    • 1 cinnamon stick
    • 1.5kg chicken thigh fillets
    • 500g potatoes
    • 500ml coconut milk
  • Rempah Equipment
    • a chopping board
    • a long sharp knife
    • a medium sized bowl
    • a small plate
    • a wet blender with a very small bowl
    • a dry spice mixer (or a mortar and pestle)
  • Curry Equipment
    • a chopping board
    • a long sharp knife
    • a measuring cup for the coconut milk
    • 2 large plates
    • a large deep frypan or stockpot

  Make the rempah

  I listed all the ingredients for the curry itself and the rempah for your shopping lists but I’ve actually posted the rempah recipe separately here – A Nyonya Rempah.

  Cook the spices and then mix everything in one pot

  In summary:

   

  Steps:

  1. Peel, halve and parboil the 500g of potatoes in the saucepan. Rinse and then drain them.
  2. Bring the 3 Tbsp coconut cream, 1 star anise, 2 whole cloves and the 1 cinnamon stick together. Then chuck them in the pot.
  3. Bring your Nyonya curry paste out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature somewhat. If you are using a frozen batch you should have defrosted it fully by now. Chuck the paste in the pot too.
  4. Sauté everything that is in the pot for about 10 minutes. Watch the colour of the Nyonya paste change and the oil start to separate out. See the image below showing the raw paste on the left and the cooked paste on the right. By now your kitchen is smelling amazing :).
  5. To the pot, add the 1.5kg chicken thigh fillets, pausing to mix them with the spice blend as you go.
  6. Add the now parboiled potatoes, 10 sprigs of curry leaves and 500ml of coconut milk to the pot and simmer until the potatoes and chicken legs are cooked through.

  Serve with lots of your favourite rice. Mine is Basmarti and please don’t tell anyone I use the store bought packets you microwave for 90 seconds.

  

  Poh is amazing,

  PK

  Related Links:

  • see all recipes using chicken here
  • see more Southeast Asian posts here
  • see all curry recipes here

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  May 16, 2016