Tag: south east asian

• 

  Chicken Livers

  I think it is very important that if you eat meat you should be trying to use as much of the animal as you can for human consumption or utility. 

  To that end I have started (very recently because I was possibly like you are now turned off by the thought) sourcing and cooking with offal. A terrible sounding word for, as it turns out, a useful and versatile cooking ingredient.

  Fair call, looking at/working with raw liver, chicken in this case, is not for everyone but please give it a chance:

  

  Chicken livers are full of essential vitamins and minerals. You can bake, boil, and fry them and they pair perfectly with many other ingredients such as onions, garlic, spinach and potatoes. 

  They are famously used to make pâté. 

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Here are some more posts about some common and not so common meat cuts: 

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  January 4, 2021

• 

  Thai Red Curry Beef In Your Pressure Cooker

  I recently bought my first pressure cooker (the Phillips Slow Fast Cooker) and it came with an amazing cookbook. This is their Thai red curry with beef and pumpkin adapted to use potatoes. 

  

  INGREDIENTS

  • 1 to 1.5kg beef chuck steak, cubed
  • Plain flour to coat beef cubes
  • A good slug of peanut oil
  • 1/2 cup red curry paste
  • 400ml coconut milk
  • 500g potatoes, peeled, quartered
  • 2 kaffir lime leaves
  • 1 lemon grass stalk, bruised
  • 1 -2 coriander roots

  STEPS

  1. Browning the beef
  2. Mixing in the remaining ingredients
  3. Pressure cooking (30 mins)
  4. Serving

  EQUIPMENT

  • 1 chefs knife
  • 1 chopping board
  • A pressure cooker

  ---

  Browning the beef

  The modern pressure cookers with a sauté function make true one pot cooking a reality. All you need to do is chuck a slug of oil into the pot and set it to high sauté. 

  Then coat the beef cubes in flour and cook them until browned. Give the cubes a gentle mix every now and again so they don’t burn on one side.

  Mixing in the rest of the ingredients

  Throw in and gently mix the:

  • 1/2 cup red curry paste
  • 400ml coconut milk
  • 500g potatoes, peeled, quartered
  • 2 kaffir lime leaves
  • 1 lemon grass stalk
  • 1 -2 coriander roots

  Pressure cooking

  Set your pressure cooker timer to 30 minutes. If you have time, let the pressure release naturally at then end.

  Serving

  We had some corn cobs and broccoli that need using so we served the curry alongside them. Each person got some rice, peanuts and sriracha hot sauce. 

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Here are a few pressure cooker and curry posts to tide you over. 

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  July 25, 2019

• 

  Banana Blossoms

  A friend of mine recently gave me a banana blossom. 

  I had never seen one before so I had to find out how to prepare and eat it. The process is fascinating and isn’t hard. It just takes a bit of time.

  The blossom grows at the end of each cluster of bananas. 

  

  By Daniela Kloth – Own work, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73500454

  They look and smell amazing. 

  

  There are two parts of the blossom that can be eaten. Part two is the inner heart which we get to as we peel away the tough purple outer leaves.

  Part one though consists of the many long thin florets that would grow to be fruit. You can see them in the next two images. They need to be stripped of their pistil and hard outer layer and immediately put in salty water or a citrus, water and vinegar solution. Otherwise they discolour rapidly.

  

  

  Once prepared and soaked they loose their initial bitterness and are great in stirfries.

  Eventuall you get to the tender leaves and pale heart. They also need soaking for a few hours. 

  

  

  I then sliced the heart and leaves inor rings and used them in a thai fish curry.

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Here are some more Southeast-Asian cuisine and curry posts.

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  July 9, 2019

• 

  Bamboo Shoots

  Edible bamboo shoots are as the name suggests the young tender shoots of bamboo. Raw they contain they contain toxins but these are leached out when the shoots are boiled prior to sale.

  I buy them canned and always have some on hand for my stir fries, rice dishes, soups and even salads.

  

  They are delicately sweet and although tender they give your dish a nice bit of crunch.

  

  They keep well in a sealed container of water for a few weeks in the fridge.

  Here is a shoot prior to harvesting.

  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Haragayato

  Enjoy,

  PK

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  February 21, 2019

• 

  River Cottage’s Thai Fish Curry

  I couldn’t have picked a better recipe for my first ever homemade fish curry than River Cottage’s Thai Fish Curry.

  It is so aromatic and the flavours are perfectly balanced. You can use firm fish fillets solely or a mix of fish and crab/crayfish meat. I reckon a couple of prawns would go amiss either.

  Note: The River Cottage website says you can make and freeze the curry paste in larger batches ahead of time.

  

  Steps

  1. Making the curry paste
  2. Cooking the curry
  3. Serving

  Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp oil (I used peanut oil)
  • 400ml coconut milk
  • 200ml fish stock or water
  • 2 Tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tsp raw sugar
  • 125g French beans (I used snow peas instead), sliced on the diagonal
  • 100g spring onions, sliced on the diagonal
  • 800g firm fish fillets (I used pink snapper), skin off and roughly cubed
  • Curry paste:
    • 2-6 small green chillies
    • 1 brown onion (small), chopped
    • 100g fresh ginger, chopped
    • 4 garlic cloves, peeled
    • 2 Tbsp galangal paste (I used a small chunk fresh out of my garden)
    • 3 lemongrass stalks, tough outer layers removed, finely sliced
    • 2 tsp ground coriander
    • 2 tsp ground cumin
    • 1 lime, juice and zest
    • 4 kaffir lime leaves, chopped (optional)
    • 1 tsp Thai shrimp paste
    • 1 tsp sea salt

  Equipment

  • 1 chef’s knife
  • 1 chopping board
  • 1 wooden spoon
  • 1 deep saucepan
  • 1 wet blender

  Making the curry paste

  1. Add to your wet blender the:
     • 2-6 small green chilies
     • 1 brown onion
     • 100g fresh ginger
     • 4 garlic cloves
     • 2 Tbsp galangal paste
     • 3 lemongrass stalks
     • 2 tsp ground coriander
     • 2 tsp ground cumin
     • 1 lime, juice and zest
     • 4 kaffir lime leaves
     • 1 tsp Thai shrimp paste
     • 1 tsp sea salt
  2. Blend until you get a smooth paste.

  

   Cooking the curry

  1. Heat the 2 Tbsp oil in your saucepan then fry the curry paste, keeping it gently moving, for several minutes on medium heat.
  2. Add the 400ml coconut milk and the 200ml fish stock or water, 2 Tbsp fish sauce and 2 tsp raw sugar.
  3. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes stiring occasionally.
  4. Now add the 125g French beans and the 100g spring onions and cook for another 5 minutes.
  5. Gently mix in the 800g of cubed fish and cook for another 3 minutes.
  6. If you are using any seafood (squid perhaps) that might go rubbery if over cooked, hold off till last minute.

  

  

  Serving

  Serve on bowls of rice and garnish with slices of chili and torn coriander leaves.

  

  Enjoy and please visit the River Cottage website for more amazing meals,

  PK

  Thai Fish Curry

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  December 9, 2018

• 

  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’s Cheaters’ Pork Chow Mein

  You will be totally surprised how quick and yummy this take on chow mein is. My kids loved it and I bet you will too. 🙂

  It fed a growing family of four for dinner and I even got several frozen lunches too.

  Dietry note: A quick search of the internet suggests you can replace the sauces for vegan alternatives and use dried mushroom and tofu to replace the pork.

  Steps

  1. Preparing everything
  2. Stir frying
  3. Serving

  Ingredients

  • 500g pork mince
  • 400g Singapore noodles
  • 1/3 cup oyster sauce
  • 2 Tbsp cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup stock (any will do, I used vegetable)
  • A good slug of peanut oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
  • 1 capsicum, sliced however you like
  • 1 carrot, however you like
  • 1 cup of peas or corn kernels
  • 1 cup spring onions, sliced diagonally
  • 1/2 head Chinese cabbage, rough chopped

  Equipment

  • 1 fry pan
  • 1 large bowl
  • 1 small mixing bowl

  Preparing everything

  1. Bring the pork mince out of the fridge so it is not still chilled when it hits the pan.
  2. Chop and slice the:
     • 1 capsicum
     • 1 carrot
     • 1 cup of peas or corn kernels
     • 1 cup spring onions
     • 1/2 head Chinese cabbage
     • 2 garlic cloves
  3. Throw a slug of peanut oil into the fry pan and bring it to a high heat (the peanut oil can handle it but lower the heat if it smokes).
  4. Add the noodles to a large bowl of boiling water for the time specified on their label (we want to time the noodles’ readiness for the pork’s).

  

  

  

  Stir frying

  1. Add the 2 cloves diced garlic and the 500g pork mince to the hot fry pan.
  2. Keep moving everything around until the pork is cooked.
  3. Add the vegetables and let them soften somewhat.
  4. Add the oyster and soy sauce above and the 1/2 cup of stock.
  5. Mix everything quickly then add the now soft and drained noodles.
  6. Gently fold the noodles through.

  

  

  

  Serving

  Serve hot with lots of condiments on the table such as Sriracha hot sauce and fish sauce.

  How about a side of broccoli cooked in sesame oil too?

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  May 28, 2018

• 

  PK Makes Heng’s Brand Nyonya Chicken Curry

  Malaysian cuisine features some of my favourite comfort food. I was in my local Asian grocer last week and saw a Chicken Nyonya Curry ‘ready to cook’ paste made by the Heng’s brand.

  

  I love making Nyonya rempah from scratch but I thought I would give this product a try. I was thinking forward to times I might need a comfort curry but can’t be bothered cooking one from scratch.

  It was amazing and I am going to stock up this and their other flavours. The colours and fragrances balanced perfectly and there was just the right amount of chili kick.

  Heng’s has posted a youtube video here and I am going to show you what I did too.

  Note: This is not a paid post.

  First I parboiled about 600g of peeled chunky sliced potatoes in boiling water with a pinch of saffron. I misunderstood the label’s directions and thought I needed 1.5kg of chicken pieces and potatoes combined. It is actually 1.5kg of chicken pieces and additional potatoes. No problem, it still worked out fine and the paste didn’t miss a beat.

  While I was doing that I heated the paste until the oil started to separate out.

  

  I very gently mixed in my ~900g chicken pieces, coating every bit of them with the paste.

  

  I added the potatoes and a generous handful of fresh curry tree leaves.

  

  After gently mixing everything, I added 500ml of water (taking care not to wash the paste off the chicken and potatoes).

  I slowly brought everything to a gentle boil and then simmered, covered, for about 15 minutes. Just look at the colours!

  

  I then added 100ml of coconut milk and let the sauce simmer for a few more minutes. You can certainly skip this step if you want a runnier sauce.

  

  

  Serving

  Gently place the chicken and potato into serving bowls and then spoon lots of sauce over everything.

  White rice and plenty of roti wouldn’t go amiss either. 🙂

  

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  May 20, 2018

• 

  Vegan Fish Sauce

  Look I get it, no one likes to be labelled but sometimes labels help educate. I am a certified Omnivore and have no intention of following the vegan code to its fullest.

  I am however very supportive of the Vegan ethos. To this end I like reviewing Vegan alternatives to meat based ingredients.

  Recently, I ordered some Vegan Fish Sauce and here is the saucy truth. 🙂

  I would say that fish sauce is not just nice to have, it is required to build up the flavour of many Southeast Asian dishes. So I am very happy to report that (at least the brand I tried) does a very good job and it would be hard to pick in a blind tasting as the look and smell are on par.

  However the vegan version is unashamedly saltier and is ever so slightly missing a metallic taste that only meat can give. The Anchovies based version also has a several more levels of subtle tastes in its journey over the taste buds.

  Yet in conclusion, Whilst I  think this is a required ingredient in the Vegan’s cupboard, I recommend you use less of it than the fish based version when converting recipes. It is much saltier.

  

  Dietary Info: Great for vegetarians,  vegans and is gluten free.

  Enjoy,

  PK

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  April 10, 2018

• 

  PK’s Vietnamese Beef Noodle Salad

  This simple Vietnamese inspired salad could not be easier.

  Think of it as a start though and experiment every time you make it. I have said it before, Southeast Asian flavours are hard to get “perfect” but so easy to get “tasty”. The trick is in tailoring the sauce ratios to your preferences. 🙂

  Note: I marinade the beef first and then use very little in the way of sauces on the salad and noodles afterwards. Some soy sauce and I am good to go. Your options are endless though.

  

  You will be:

  1. Preparing everything
  2. Cooking the beef strips
  3. Serving

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • PK’s Vietnamese Beef Marinade #1
    • several beef scotch fillet or eye fillet (tenderloin) steaks
    • a couple of slugs of peanut oil
    • a green salad of your choice (see KT’s NoRecipe Green Salad but add things like mint leaves and coriander sprigs)
  •  Equipment:
    • a long sharp knife
    • a chopping board
    • a fry pan
    • a sauce pan or pot for the noodles
    • a bowl to marinade the beef in

  Preparing everything

  1. Earlier in the day or the night before, slice the beef steaks into strips and marinade them using something like PK’s Vietnamese Beef Marinade #1.
  2. Pop the bowl into the fridge.
  3. Closer to serving time, make a yummy green salad and drizzle with a bit of vinegar.
  4. Pull the bowl of beef strips out of the fridge to get them to room temperature just as they are going onto the barbecue or hot plate.

  

  Cooking the beef strips

  1. Chuck the noodles into a bowl of hot water and let them soften as per the instructions on the pack.
  2. Heat a fry pan, throw a couple of slugs of peanut oil in and start cooking the beef strips.

  

  Serving

  Take the meat off the fry pan and allow to cool some. Bring everything together and drizzle with some soy sauce.

  

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Related Links:

  • see all recipes using beef here
  • see all noodle dishes here
  • see more Southeast Asian posts here

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  January 16, 2018