Crab Panang Curry

I like all Thai curries, but Panang curry is the one that I favor the most. I just love everything about it. It spicy, of course, but also has sweet flavor from the coconut milk and palm sugar. Fragrant? Yes! Thanks to aromatic kaffir lime leafs and the lemongrass, they really add beguiling sweet-citrusy to this curry. Food that is delicious, and has good aroma, will help me to sleep better and have a beautiful dream. 

About the ingredients, I know cilantro root is nowhere to be found here in my neighborhood. This is why I always plant cilantro in a pot. It is such an easy thing to do, spread the seed, water if needed, let it grow, then if you need a few roots, just pluck them. Same thing with lemongrass and kaffir lime, I just grow them in a pot. For other ingredients, Asian store will be the best destination. 

Crab Panang Curry

serve 4 to 6 

2 fresh crabs (about 4 pounds) 

2 red pepper jalapeno, seeded, thinly sliced 

2 cups coconut milk

3 tbs fish sauce (this brand  has less acrid smell compare to other)

3 tbs palm sugar 

10 kaffir lime leafs, thinly sliced

1/2 cup Panang chili paste, recipe follows

3 tbs canola oil, or any vegetable oil

Discard the main shell of the crabs including the grey gills and the soft insides. Cut the body into quarter, then crack the claws and the legs lightly with the back of a knife. Set aside. You can also check this article on how to prepare your crab before cooking.

Heat the oil in a large pan set over medium heat. Add Panang Chili paste, stir constantly until fragrant and the raw smell disappear. Add the crabs, thinly sliced red jalapeno pepper, fish sauce, palm sugar, and kaffir lime. Stir continuously  to ensure that the  crab coated nicely with spices. Add coconut milk, stir. Turn the heat to low, gently simmer, stirring often to prevent the coconut milk from separating, and to ensure even cooking. Cook until the crab is done, about 5 to 10 minutes. Serve with simple steam Jasmine rice. 

Panang Chili Paste

makes 1/2 cup

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbs minced cilantro roots (see my note above)

10 red pepper jalapeno-seeded

1/2  tsp white peppercorn 

1 tsp minced fresh galangal

1/4 cup minced fresh lemongrass from white part only

5 fresh kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped

zest from 1 kaffir lime 

2 shallot, minced

1 tsp shrimp paste

3 tbs dry roasted unsalted peanut, finely ground
1 tbs fish sauce

Using a large mortar and pestle, pound all ingredients to make a smooth paste. Or, use food processor to do the job, add a little water to keep the blade running. If not ready to use that day, transfer into a jar,  and refrigerate. It should stay fresh up to a week. 

Spicy Tri-tip Salad With Lime and Lemongrass Dressing

A truly wonderful salad, that doesn't need to wait until summer to enjoy it. Tri-tip is especially perfect for this kind of salad, you could however, choose more expensive cut if you prefer. But, Tri-tip, beside being such an economical choice to feed a large number of crowds, it is also quite flavorful, especially after long marination process. Ingredients such as lime juice, not only acidify and adding fragrant flavor, but somewhat tenderizing the meat, and making it more succulent. The end result is refreshing salad with crunchy, fragrant, sweet, and tangy, in one plate. Each ingredient perform sort of balancing act, rather then competing against each other.

Spicy Tri-tip Salad With Lime and Lemongrass Dressing
serve 6

1½ lbs Tri-tip (most likely the one that you buy from supermarket has already trimmed, otherwise ask the guy behind the counter to trim the fat for you)
1 tbs minced garlic
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tbs kecap manis
Juice and zest from 1 lime (or use 2 kaffir limes if you have in hand would be ideal)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the salad:
2 cups bean sprouts, washed - drained - gently pat dry with paper towel
1 English cucumber, thinly sliced
2 - 3 cups sliced (lengthwise) snap peas
10 small radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup roughy chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped scallion, green part only

For the dressing:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 to 1 tbs fish sauce, depending on your taste
1 tbs minced lemongrass (taken from white stalk only)
1 tbs (or less, if you don't like spicy) sambal oelek
1/4 cup canola oil
salt as needed according to your taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a small bowl, combine minced garlic, grated fresh ginger, fish sauce, reduced sodium soy sauce, kecap manis, lime juice, and freshly ground black pepper.  Marinate Tri-tip with this mixture over night. Don't forget to turn it over half way. When ready to be serve, grill Tri-tip  to your perfect standard of doneness. As a guidance, internal temperature should read 135 degrees F for medium rare, and 145 degrees F for medium. Transfer to a serving plate, cover loosely with aluminum foil, let rest for 10 minutes before carving (which, at this stage, the meat temperature will rise 5 to 10 degrees).

Place all ingredients for salad in a large bowl. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for salad dressing, mix well, taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Pour into salad bowl, mix well.  Divide among prepared plate, and serve with sliced Tri-trip on top.

Quick and Easy Fried Rice With Sweet Chinese Style Sausage

When you have leftover rice, and plan to make fried rice, here is a trick that save your time of trying to break up the lumps. Before putting the rice in the fridge, make sure that the rice is completely cool, once cooled, place the rice in a ziplock back, then refrigerate. When you are ready to make fried rice, take the bag from the fridge, using both hand simply crumble it by squeezing the ziplock bag lightly. You'll notice that the rice will crumble and separate easily. 

Quick and Easy Fried Rice With Sweet Chinese Style Sausage

Serve 2 - 4

450 g cooked (cooled) Jasmine rice

2 sweet Chinese style sausages (Lap Cheong), sliced

1 tbs minced garlic

1 tbs sambal oelek (available in most supermarket, look for it at the Asian isle) 

1 tbs fish sauce (I always use "Three Crabs" brand, it  is the best one, and less fishy)

1 tbs kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)

2 tsp less-sodium soy sauce

a pinch of ground white pepper

3 tbs thinly sliced spring onion

3 tbs canola, or any vegetable oil

Heat oil in a wok st over medium high heat. Add Chinese sausage, fry for a few seconds. Add garlic, and fry another 5 seconds. Now add the rice, sambal oelek, fish sauce, kecap manis, less-sodium soy sauce, and ground white pepper. Stir continuously, about 5 minutes. Add spring onion, mix. Remove from the heat, serve at once.

Fried Tofu And Cucumber With Spicy Preserved Black Bean

All my life, I've only known one type of Chinese blackbean paste. It was one of those glass jar salty black bean paste with garlic and some other flavoring,  the one that has almost an acrid smell when you open the jar. Until one day, a good friend of mine introduced preserved black beans. As soon as I open the package, I can smell delicious, smoky and somewhat gingery flavor. This is a good stuff! It is far more superior, and only rely on salt and vinegar as a preservative. There are some ginger slices in it, but that's mainly for flavoring. I don't think I will buy glass jar black bean paste again. 

I asked her how do I use this blackbeans, she explained that she would normally make black bean sauce with garlic, ginger, Shao Xing cooking wine, soy sauce, and sugar. So based on what she told me, I created this tofu dish that turned out to be really delicious. I hope you like it.

Fried Tofu And Cucumber With Spicy Preserved Black Bean
Recipe verbally given to me by Beatrice Hom
Serve 4

12 oz fried tofu*
1 (10 oz) cucumber, peeled, sliced
1/4 cup preserved black beans, washed - drained
1 tbs minced garlic
1½ tsp minced fresh ginger
3 tbs less-sodium soy sauce
3 tbs Shao Xing cooking wine
1/2 tbs sugar
2 tbs water
3 dried chilies, chopped (optional)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tbs vegetable oil

* Any Asian grocery store will carry this lightly fried tofu, it is sold in a 12 oz packages. If you can't find them, buy firm tofu instead, drain it on a colander for about an hour. Cut into desire sizes, then fry in small batches on a medium to medium high heat until brown on all side. Make sure that your skillet is really hot before adding oil, so your tofu won't stick. Transfer to a plate, and set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a wok set over medium heat. Add minced garlic and minced ginger, fry for a few seconds until fragrant. Add cucumber, turn the heat to medium high, stir fry for about 30 seconds. Add fried tofu, soy sauce, Shao Xing cooking wine, sugar, water, dried chilies, and freshly ground black pepper. Stir continuously for  about a minute or so, until the sauce reduce in half. Transfer to a serving plate. Serve with simple steam Jasmine rice.

Thai Spicy Red Curry (Keang Pet Daeng) With Chicken, And Fresh Pea Pods

This red curry is suppose to be quite spicy, but I've been hearing a lot of complaint from my family lately that, my food is getting spicier then ever, so I try to go mild on this one. It is a good karma to keep your family happy :).  Of course, if you want your curry spicier,  use the exact amount of chili given for this recipe. Otherwise, you can do what I did by scraping the seeds from the red jalapeno, and omitted the red bird chilies, or serrano chili completely.

Thai Red Curry With Chicken, Shitake Musroom Fresh Sugar Peas, and Snap Peas

Serve 6

6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size

1 small onion, sliced

1/4 cup (or more depending on your taste) red curry paste, recipe follows

5 kaffir lime leafs

1 stalk lemongrass, white part only, cut - bruised lightly with the back of kitchen knife

4 cups water or chicken stock

1 tbs sugar (don't skip the sugar, it really impart the end result)

19 fl oz coconut milk

2 cups fresh sugar peas, trim ends off 

2 cups fresh snap peas, trim ends off

1 red jalapeno, thinly sliced (optional) 

2 spring onions, chopped

2 tbs  roughly chopped cilantro

2 tbs fish sauce

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbs vegetable oil

Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a large pan, add onion, fry until translucent. Add curry paste, kaffir lime leafs, and lemongrass, stir for a few seconds until fragrant. Add chicken, and water or chicken broth, bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low. Simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and tender. Pour the coconut milk, and sugar, stir, cook just until bubble start to appear at the edge of the pot. Add sugar peas, snap peas, thinly sliced jalapeno, fish sauce, salt and pepper. Taste to see if need more seasoning. Cook for another  minute or two until vegetable are tender but still crunchy, turn off the heat. Serve with plain steam jasmine rice.

Thai Red Curry Paste (Keang Pet Daeng) 

adapted from Su-Mei Yu's Crackling The Coconut

makes 1/2 cup

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp caraway seeds

1/2 tsp white peppercorn

1 tbs coriander seeds

1 tsp salt

7 cloves garlic, minced

15 dried de arbol  or jalapeno chilies, soften in hot wate, seeded, minced (I used 5 seeded red jalapeno)

7 - 8 fresh red bird chiles, or 4 - 5 serrano chilies, minced (I omitted this)

1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

1 tsp minced fresh galangal

1 stalk fresh lemongrass, white part only

3 - 4 kaffir lime, zested

2 shallots, minced

1 tsp shrimp paste

Toast lightly cumin seeds, caraway seeds, and white peppercorn. Cool, then grind using coffee grinder to make a fine powder.

Using a mortar and pestle, or a food processor place all ingredients including the ground spices. Process to make a smooth paste. Add water if necessary to keep the blade running smoothly. If not planning to use that day, transfer to a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Refrigerate until ready to use. According to this book, it will keep for a month in the refrigerator. I never keep mind that long though.

Tyler Florence's Chicken Pot Pie

You can't go wrong with classic, humble, and very homey dish like this delicious chicken pot pie. The pastry is deliciously flaky and crumbly, the filling is so fragrant, smooth and silky, like it should be. This recipe comes from Tyler florence's Family Style Chicken Pot pie, which I think is the best one to suit my taste. The other thing I like about his recipe is, he doesn't need to add any buillion to it, instead he relies on fresh herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves. In addition to this, I added marjoram, orageno, leftover Italian parsley (you know, the end part that you would normally throw in the garbage). You might think that the flavor will be over powering right? Actually not really, it gives  more fragrant broth, just the way I like it. Dare to say, I am pretty satisfied with this recipe, like I always do with all Tyler's recipes I've tried.

Chicken Pot Pie

recipe adapted from Tyler Florence's Family Style Chicken Pot Pie

serve 8 - 10

For the pastry:

41/2 cups flour

2 cups (4 sticks/16 oz) cold  unsalted butter, cut into large pieces

salt

3/4 ice cold water, as needed

Place flour, butter, and salt in a food processor. Pulse a few seconds until the mixture resemble coarse crumbs. Add ice cold water, pulse again until the mixture almost comes together. To test if the pastry is ready, squeeze small amount of dough, if its stick together, the pastry is ready. If its still crumbly, add more water a tablespoon at a time. Gather the dough, flatten into a disk, wrap with plastic, refrigerate.

The Chicken Broth:

1 (4 - 5 pounds) chicken. I used 3 cornish hens weight about 1.25 pounds each

3 carrots, cut into 2-inch long

3 celery ribs, cut into 2-inch long

1 onion, peeled - halved

1 head of garlic, halved - horizontally

1 turnips, halved

4 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 sprigs of rosemary

2 sprigs of marjoram

1 sprigs of oregano

1 bay leave

handfull of Italian parsley

For the pot pie:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup all-purposed flour

3 carrots, chopped

3 celery, chopped (Tyler's recipe use pearl onions)

1 cup green peas

1 clove garlic, minced

8 sprigs of thymes

1 sprig rosemary, scrape

1 bay leave

zest of 1 lemon

For egg wash :

1 egg yolk + 2 tbs water = mix well

To make chicken broth: Place all ingredients for chicken broth in a soup or stock pot, add 3 quarts of water to cover the chicken, bring to a boil. As soon as its boil, turn the heat down to low, and simmer for 1 hour. Skim the yucky stuff that float on the surface as often as possible. Take out the chicken and place it on a plate, strain the broth and discard the solid.  You should end up with 2 quarts of broth. Cool at room temperature. When the chicken is  cool enough to handle, separate the meat from the bone, and discard skin as well. Cut the meat into pieces. Set aside. 

To make the roux: melt the butter over medium low heat, add flour, stirring constantly using a hand whisk  until it changes color to a light brown. Gradually add  the chicken broth, keep whisking while you do this to prevent any lumps. Simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes until the raw smell of the flour disappear. Add chopped carrots, celery, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, lemon zest. Stir to combine. Continue to simmer for 10 minutes. Then add chicken pieces, season with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Remove from the heat, discard rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf if desire. Cool at room temperature. This sauce will be quite thick as it cools down.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Butter an individual oven proof bowl. Depending on the size of bowl you have, you might end up with 8 to 10 individual bowls. Set aside. 

Sprinkle a little bit of flour on kitchen counter top. Roll out the pastry to about 1/8 - inch thick. Cut a few circles as needed, a little bit large then the size of  your individual bowl.  Fill each bowl about 3/4 of the way with the chicken filling. Top with pastry circle, press the edge around the rim to seal. Repeat.

Brush the pastry with egg wash. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden. 

Duck B'stilla

B'stila is a Moroccan sweet and savory pie filled with either meat, poultry, or sometimes fish. It is one of my favorite savory pastry to enjoy for lunch during the weekend, or for a relaxing supper while watching new movies that we rented that night. This pastry originally made using warka, a very thin pastry similar to phyllo pastry. Since I couldn't find it in my neighborhood grocery, I used Phyllo pastry as a substitute. I would love to attempt making my own warka one day, especially after I saw an encouraging recipe including step by step photos from Paula Wolfert's blog. 

I made B'stilla pretty often, but this time, duck legs were baked in the oven instead of braising them like I would generally do. The onion were Caramelized to bring its subtle sweetness, then I added mint and cinnamon, to add delicious aroma to this pastry. I hope you like it. 

Duck B'stilla
makes one 9 - inch pastry

4 duck legs
1 large onion, sliced
1 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped spearmints
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup pistachios
handful slivered almonds
1 tbs duck fat (or olive oil)
salt and pepper to taste
5 to 7 sheets phyllo pastry
more olive oil, as needed for brushing

To serve:
confectioner's sugar for sprinkling
ground cinnamon for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

Prepare a baking sheet, and place a piece of parchment paper on top. 

Using a sharp knife, score duck legs lightly, lay them on a baking sheets. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of cumin, a teaspoon of cinnamon, pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake for an hour. Remove - cool slightly at room temperature. When the duck legs are cooled enough to handle, remove the skin if desire, then chop the meat. Transfer the chopped duck into a large bowl. Set aside.

Take about one tablespoon of duck fat from the roasting pan and pour into a large skillet set over medium heat. Add onion, cook until the onion is caramelized, stirring often to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the skillet. add cumin and keep stirring for a few second just enough to get rid of the raw smell. Remove from the heat.

Mix caramelized onion,  chopped duck, add remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon, chopped parsley, and mints. Taste to see if need more salt and pepper, then mix in eggs and pistachios.

Place a sheet of phyllo pastry directly on a prepared baking sheet, brush the pastry with olive oil, lay another sheet of phyllo pastry, brush with another oil, continue the process of layering and brushing until you have about 5 or 7 layers of phyllo. Pile the filling in the center, then flattening it out to make a  9 - inch round shape. Scatter slivered almonds on top, enclose the filling by bringing up the overlap pastry in the middle. Brush the top with more oil. Bake B'stilla until golden, about  45 to 55  minutes. Just before serving dust with confectioner's sugar and cinnamon. Serve while still hot.