Tag: lemongrass

• 

  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 Cooks Taste.com.au’s Sticky Poached Asian Chicken Thighs

  I saw this recipe online here http://www.taste.com.au/ and just had to try it. I also proved along the way that you don’t have to follow recipes exactly to get a great result. I did some steps out of order accidentally and had to rapidly reduce the sauce before everything went south.

  Everything worked out well though and I hardly had enough left over for lunch the next day :).

  The chicken was so tender and the sticky sauce had an amazing balance of citrus, salt and sugar. I will definitely be making this again but I intend to follow the instructions to the letter.

  

  You will be:

  1. Preparing your ingredients.
  2. Poaching the chicken
  3. Grilling the chicken and reducing the sauce
  4. Serving.

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • 1kg boneless chicken thighs
    • 1 cup chicken stock (see PK’s Slow Cooker Chicken Stock)
    • a few slugs of olive oil
    • 1 Tbsp fish sauce
    • 1/4 cup raw sugar
    • 3 garlic cloves, finely diced
    • 2cm fresh ginger root, grated (or 1 tsp store bought minced ginger)
    • 1 stalk lemongrass, grated
    • the rind from 1 lime, finely grated
    • 2 Tbsp (or more) lime juice
  •  Equipment:
    • a long sharp knife
    • a chopping board
    • a grater
    • a citrus juicer
    • a mixing jug
    • a whisk or fork
    • an oven dish
    • a large strainer
    • a medium saucepan

  Prepare your ingredients

  1. Lay the 1kg  boneless chicken thighs out in an oven proof dish.
  2. Peel and dice the 3 garlic cloves, add to the mixing jug along with the 1 cup chicken stock.
  3. Finely grate the 2cm of ginger and add to the jug.
  4. Finely grate the 1 lemongrass stem (use the tender parts only and not the thick outer leaves) and add to the jug.
  5. Grate the rind from a single lime and squeeze 2 Tbsp of lime juice (I used my frozen lime cubes from last season). Add both to the jug.
  6. Add the 1 Tbsp fish sauce to the jug.
  7. Add the 1/4 cup of raw sugar to the mixing jug and give everything a good mix (make sure the sugar has dissolved fully).

  

  

  

  Poaching the chicken

  1. Pour the liquid mixture over the chicken and cook for an hour in a fan-foced oven pre-heated to 180C.
  2. Turn the chicken half way.

  

  

  Grilling the chicken and reducing the sauce

  1. Strain the sauce into a saucepan and start reducing it.
  2. Return the chicken to the oven tray and turn on the grill to brown the chicken.
  3. When the sauce is very reduced, pour it back onto the chicken a grill for a little bit longer.

  

  

  Serving

  Serve with your favourite rice, some fresh spinach (the heat of the meal will blanch them) or some asian vegetables and a few sprigs of coriander.

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  July 2, 2017

• 

  PK Cooks Sticky Poached Asian Chicken Thighs

  I saw this recipe online here http://www.taste.com.au/ and just had to try it. I also proved along the way that you don’t have to follow recipes exactly to get a great result. I did some steps out of order accidentally and had to rapidly reduce the sauce before everything went south.

  Everything worked out well though and I hardly had enough left over for lunch the next day :).

  The chicken was so tender and the sticky sauce had an amazing balance of citrus, salt and sugar. I will definitely be making this again but I intend to follow the instructions to the letter.

  

  You will be:

  1. Preparing your ingredients.
  2. Poaching the chicken
  3. Grilling the chicken and reducing the sauce
  4. Serving.

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • 1kg boneless chicken thighs
    • 1 cup chicken stock (see PK’s Slow Cooker Chicken Stock)
    • a few slugs of olive oil
    • 1 Tbsp fish sauce
    • 1/4 cup raw sugar
    • 3 garlic cloves, finely diced
    • 2cm fresh ginger root, grated (or 1 tsp store bought minced ginger)
    • 1 stalk lemongrass, grated
    • the rind from 1 lime, finely grated
    • 2 Tbsp (or more) lime juice
  •  Equipment:
    • a long sharp knife
    • a chopping board
    • a grater
    • a citrus juicer
    • a mixing jug
    • a whisk or fork
    • an oven dish
    • a large strainer
    • a medium saucepan

  Prepare your ingredients

  1. Lay the 1kg  boneless chicken thighs out in an oven proof dish.
  2. Peel and dice the 3 garlic cloves, add to the mixing jug along with the 1 cup chicken stock.
  3. Finely grate the 2cm of ginger and add to the jug.
  4. Finely grate the 1 lemongrass stem (use the tender parts only and not the thick outer leaves) and add to the jug.
  5. Grate the rind from a single lime and squeeze 2 Tbsp of lime juice (I used my frozen lime cubes from last season). Add both to the jug.
  6. Add the 1 Tbsp fish sauce to the jug.
  7. Add the 1/4 cup of raw sugar to the mixing jug and give everything a good mix (make sure the sugar has dissolved fully).

  

  

  

  Poaching the chicken

  1. Pour the liquid mixture over the chicken and cook for an hour in a fan-foced oven pre-heated to 180C.
  2. Turn the chicken half way.

  

  

  Grilling the chicken and reducing the sauce

  1. Strain the sauce into a saucepan and start reducing it.
  2. Return the chicken to the oven tray and turn on the grill to brown the chicken.
  3. When the sauce is very reduced, pour it back onto the chicken a grill for a little bit longer.

  

  

  Serving

  Serve with your favourite rice, some fresh spinach (the heat of the meal will blanch them) or some asian vegetables and a few sprigs of coriander.

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  July 2, 2017

• 

  PK Makes Nagi’s ‘Chinese Restaurant’ Chicken Satay

  I love old school Anglicised ‘chinese restaurant’ chicken satay.

  Perth is very lucky now to have cafes and restaurants that serve all manner of global cuisines from the cultural traditional through to really clever fusion. However, growing up in Perth we were not spoilt for choice eating out, there was only Pizza Hut, Red Rooster and the local ‘Chinese Restaurant’.

  This dish is far from traditional chinese cuisine but it hits fond childhood food memories. It is quite frankly the best satay chicken I have ever had.

  There are 3 main preparation steps that look a little daunting at first but the recipe is actually really easy. With all credit to Nagi of www.recipetineats.com for the way she created and laid the recipe out.

  All I am trying to do is spread her amazing work :).

  Note:

  • I have converted the powdered ingredient quantities in the original recipe to use whole grains using my own crazy rule of thumb.
  • I have gone heavy on the onions and garlic as per my childhood memories.

  You will be:

  1. Prepping and tenderising the chicken
  2. Making the satay seasoning
  3. Making the satay cooking sauce
  4. Cooking the chicken
  5. Serving

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • Chicken:
      • 2 chicken breasts (a little over 500g)
      • 2 tsp baking soda
    • Satay Seasoning:
      • 1.5 tsp coriander seeds
      • 1.5 tsp cumin seeds
      • 3/4 tsp white peppercorns
      • 0.5 tsp tumeric powder
      • 0.5 tsp chili powder (I used store bought Kashmiri chili powder but you can make your own with this FoodHack.)
      • 3 tsp curry powder (any will do and extra points for home-made)
      • 1 tsp table salt
    • Satay Sauce:
      • 3 – 4 Tbsp Peanut Butter (I used http://kraftnuts.com.au/range/2/peanut-butter-smooth just to increase the trip down memory lane)
      • 3 tsp raw sugar
      • 2 tsp soy sauce (light or normal but not thick like ketjip manis)
      • 3 tsp rice vinegar
      • 2 tsp hot sauce (I used Eaglobe piment sriracha)
      • 1 tsp fresh lemon grass (very finely diced)
      • 2/3 cups coconut milk
      • 1/2 cup water
    • For the wok:
      • A good slug of peanut oil
      • 1 – 2 large brown onions
      • 4 garlic cloves
  •  Equipment:
    • a chopping board
    • a long sharp knife
    • a bowl for the chicken to tenderise in
    • a mortar and pestle
    • a small bowl for the spices
    • a small whisk or fork
    • a small mixing bowl for the sauce
    • a wok or deep fry pan

   Steps:

  Prepping and tenderising the chicken

  1. Slice the breasts in a long-wise fashion and then cut the flat slices in half.
  2. Pop the slices into a bowl and sprinkle them with the 2 tsp baking soda (Nagi says this tenderises them and I can confirm that it really works).
  3. Pop them back into the fridge while you make the seasoning and sauce.

  Making the satay seasoning

  1. In a mortar and pestle grind the:
     • 1.5 tsp coriander seeds
     • 1.5 tsp cumin seeds
     • 3/4 tsp white peppercorns
  2. When you have the your desired amount of grind add the ground spices to a bowl with the:
     • 0.5 tsp tumeric powder
     • 0.5 tsp chili powder
     • 3 tsp curry powder
     • 1 tsp table salt
  3. Give everything a quick mix.

  

  Making the satay cooking sauce

  1. In a different mixing bowl mix until smooth the:
     • 3 – 4 Tbsp Peanut Butter
     • 3 tsp raw sugar
     • 2 tsp soy sauce
     • 3 tsp rice vinegar
     • 2 tsp hot sauce
     • 1 tsp fresh lemon grass (very finely diced)
     • 2/3 cups coconut milk
     • 1/2 cup water
  2. Add the satay seasoning and mix again.
  3. Refrigerate if you are not cooking the chicken until later in the day.

  Cooking the chicken

  1. Bring the chicken and sauce out of the fridge.
  2. Chop up the 2 brown onions and mince the 4 garlic cloves.
  3. Add a slug of peanut oil to your pan and bring it to medium heat.
  4. Prepare any garnish (I went with some fresh sliced jalapenos and spring onions from my PK’s Working Garden).
  5. Add the onions and garlic to the hot oil and keep everything moving until they soften.
  6. Add the chicken slices and keep it moving until the chicken is beginning to brown.
  7. Add the satay sauce and stir fry until the sauce has reduced to your desired thickness (say a few minutes).

  Serving

  A bit of rice, some chilis, a side of asian greens in oyster sauce (e.g. Choy Sum) and I am in heaven.

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Related Links:

  • Recipes using chicken
  • More Chinese cuisine

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  April 25, 2017

• 

  Lemongrass

  I first learnt about this flavoursome member of the grass family when I started cooking the Thai classic soup, Tom Yum Goong. I have been growing it ever since for use in sauces, soups, salads and fish cakes.

  The plant itself looks and smells amazing and is a natural mosquito repellent to boot :).

  Taste/Aroma:

  Lemongrass has a mild citrus taste and freshly cut stalks smell (to me anyway) like citrus, roses and herbs.

  The stalks are particularly fibrous and are in this respect unpleasant to eat unless you remove the outer few layers and then the top two thirds of the stalk.

  You then finely dice, grate or crush the bottom whiter part.

  

  You can of course bend or bruise the whole stalk and use it to flavour soups and sauces, removing the stalk before serving.

  Stalks:

  

  Plant:

  

  Harvesting Months:

  • All months

  Planting/Care:

  It is really easy to grow and although you can buy plants from the nursery it is just a easy to get a few stalks with roots attached and plant them. Do this around November if possible. Mine is in the ground but it will do you proud in a pot too.

  One way to harvest lemon grass is to pull sharply from the base. You are likely to get some roots and this will help it last longer. I have it on good authority that the Malay way is to cut the base of a stalk with a knife. New stalks will then grow from the cut.

  Either way you will get new stalks growing for a continual harvest.

  Regrowth if you use a knife instead:

  

  Related Links:

  • see more lemongrass posts here
  • go to all meal ingredients
  • go the Grow It Perth calendar

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  October 7, 2016

• 

  PK’s Cheaters Red Curry Paste

  Here is my, unashamedly, unauthentic red curry paste :).

  

  I use it to make Thai Red Chicken Curries and also Tom Kha Gai (one of my favourite south-east Asian soups).

  Please read PK’s Curry Paste Kit before you get going and also ramp the chili factor skywards if you are allowed to. You will notice that I use a blender because I am a lazy cook. However I prefer the chunkier look of the paste if you use a mortar and pestle.

  One last thing, I would love to use Kaffir lime zest instead of common limes but my tree never seems to fruit. I think it has something to do with what it is grafted to.

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • 1 Tbsp whole coriander seeds
    • 0.5 Tbsp whole cumin seeds
    • 1 Tbsp rock salt (add more if you want a more authentic taste)
    • 0.5 tsp whole black peppercorns
    • 1 Tbsp powdered kashmiri chili  (add more and use whole chilis if you want a more authentic taste and look)
    • 3 coriander roots
    • 7cm of pickled galangal root
    • 5 garlic cloves
    • 3 lemongrass stalks, freshly harvested, leaves removed
    • 1 large red shallot
    • 1 Tbsp dried belacan (shrimp paste)
    • 1 Tbsp lime zest (I used about 2 small limes to get this much)
    • a dash of lime juice
    • a dash of water (add less or more depending on your desired consistency)
    • a dash of olive oil or garlic infused olive oil (I think you can skip this if you are using a mortar and pestle)
    • 2 Kaffir lime leaves (sorry everyone, I know this is really not the done thing traditionally)
  • Equipment
    • a chopping board
    • a sharp knife
    • a serving bowl
    • a wet blender with a very small bowl
    • a dry spice mixer
    • a medium frypan (for dry roasting the spices)

  Make the paste

  I love bringing everything together before I start cooking. The ingredients in this dish are so visually appealing and the aromas are simply amazing.

  

  Steps:

  1. Dry roast the 1 Tbsp whole coriander seeds, 0.5 Tbsp whole cumin seeds and the 0.5 tsp whole black peppercorns.
  2. When cooled, pop them in you dry spice mixer and pulse to a rough consistency.
  3. Chuck the rest of the ingredients (at least roughly chopped) in your wet blender:
     • 1 Tbsp powdered kashmiri chili
     • 1 Tbsp rock salt
     • 3 coriander roots
     • 7cm of galangal root
     • 5 garlic cloves
     • 3 lemongrass stalks
     • 1 large red shallot
     • 1 Tbsp dried belacan
     • 1 Tbsp lime zest
     • a dash of lime juice
     • a dash of water
     • a dash of olive oil or garlic infused olive oil
     • 2 Kaffir lime leaves

   

   

  

  Storing

  This paste freezes well in a small container or snap-lock bag. I prefer to make it in just enough of a quantity so I can use it fresh in a dish.

  Enjoy and please send me your tips,

  PK

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  October 1, 2016