Thai Recipe: Chicken Panang Curry

(Click on the image above to view the complete photoset of 3 pictures) I am a big fan of curries--be it Malaysian, Indian, or Thai. Born and raised in Malaysia, I love food with strong flavors and curries deliver just that. For many home cooks, curries appear intimidating and too complicated to make at home, but it's actually quite a simple feat. As much as I love to cook authentic foods and try not to take short cuts in preparing home-cooked meals, I hardly ever make my curries from scratch; in fact, there is no reason to make it from scratch considering the quality of products available in the market... In Malaysia, go to any wet markets and you can easily buy fresh spice paste from spice vendors. Just tell the vendor what you are making, and voila, you've got yourself a packet of custom-blended spice paste, tailored to your liking. If not, pick up the many varieties of pre-packaged curry powders that taste just as good as the freshly ground spices. In the US, there are plenty of options, too, especially Thai and Indian curry pastes. Go to any Asian food stores and you can find various canned and bottled curry pastes, all imported directly from India and Thailand. (The Malaysian varieties are still pretty scarce unfortunately, but can be found at Southeast Asian stores.) For my Chicken Panang Curry, I used just that--a can of off-the-shelf Maesri Panang Curry Paste. It was really simple; a painless yet delicious curry dish in less than 30 minutes, but tasted like it's straight from Bangkok (well, almost!). While most people prefer Mae Ploy brand for Thai curries, I always go for Maesri due to the small can packaging that lasts me about 2-3 preparations instead of months. I tend to stay away from Mae Ploy brand due to its bigger plastic packaging (the curry paste turned moldy on me, despite being refrigerated). However, you can't go wrong with either brand when it comes to making Thai curries at home. They are as good as what you get in Thai restaurants, I promise. If you like my Chicken Panang Curry, you might also like the following Thai recipes: Son-in-Law Eggs Tom Yum Goong Pandan (Screwpine Leaves) Chicken Yellow Curry with Seafood Recipe: Chicken Panang Curry Adapted from Thai Cooking Made Easy Ingredients: 1 skinless & boneless chicken breast (cut into small cubes) 1 tablespoon oil 2-3 tablespoons Panang curry paste (depends how strong or spicy you like your curry) 1/2 cup coconut milk 1/4 cup water 1 teaspoon sugar 1 tablespoon fish sauce 1/2 cup frozen green peas 4-6 kaffir lime leaves (slightly bruised) Method: Heat up a pot with oil. Add in the Panang curry paste and do a quick stir until aromatic. Add in the chicken meat and blend well with the curry paste, then add in the green peas, coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, water and the seasonings. Lower the heat to medium and let it simmer for 8-10 minutes. Serve hot with steamed white rice. Cook's Note: You can use beef instead of chicken. Continue Reading "Thai Recipe: Chicken Panang Curry"

Thai Recipe: Son-In-Law Eggs

(Click on the image above to view the complete photoset of 3 pictures) This past weekend, our neighborhood Ralph was giving away free eggs--a carton of 18 large eggs. Being the cheapo shopper that I am, I didn't pass up the opportunity, of course. I have always loved eggs and I do shop at Ralph, plus more eggs mean I can experiment with some baking and make my favorite egg dishes such as this and this. I did bake, but failed two times and wasted 8 eggs! I am not going to get into the excruciatingly painful and embarrassing details about my baking debacle (I am still in agony), but there was one thing that I did successfully with my eggs--this Thai recipe of son-in-law eggs... (Don't ask me about the name. I am puzzled. Why aren't they daughter-in-law eggs? Hmmm, I smell gender discrimination.) Anyway, these son-in-laws eggs are very good eggs. It's a simple dish with lots of flavor--tangy, savory, syrupy, and a little spicy. The taste is similar to my Malaysian sweet and sour eggs, but the eggs are first hard-boiled, deep-fried, and then topped with tamarind sauce. The sauce was so good that I practically had to dabble the very last bit of it--leaving not a single drop--with my fingers! Yeah, I kid you not. I suspect the same tamarind sauce would go every well with deep-fried fresh water prawns, but that is another post. ;) If you like what you see, please also checkout my related egg recipes and Thai food recipes below: Malaysian Sweet and Sour Eggs Stir-fried Eggs with Red Onions and Shrimp Tom Yum Goong Pandan (Screwpine Leaf) Chicken Thai Yellow Curry As the main ingredient of this post is eggs, I am entering this to CLICK: Oct 2007 Food Photography event hosted by Jai and Bee. Thai Recipe: Son-In-Law Eggs Adapted from Thai Cooking Made Easy Ingredients: 4 boiled eggs (shelled) 2 big shallots (finely shredded) Oil for deep frying Scallion or cilantro for garnishing Tamarind Sauce 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce (or to taste) 2 tablespoons palm sugar (or to taste) 4 tablespoons tamarind juice (use about a small ping pong ball size of tamarind pulp and mix with water to extract the juice) 1 glove garlic (minced) 1 teaspoon dried chili flakes 1 tablespoon ground peanut 1 tablespoon oil Method: Deep-fried the eggs until the skin turns brown. Dish out and slice into halves. Arrange them on a plate. Deep fried the shredded shallots until golden brown, remove and place on paper towel to absorb oil. Heat up a sauce pan, pour in the oil and saute the minced garlic until light brown. Add the dried chili flakes, ground peanut, do a quick stir, and follow by the tamarind juice, palm sugar, and fish sauce. Bring it to boil and pour the sauce on top of the eggs. Top with fried shallots and scallion/cilantro. Serve hot with steamed white rice. Cook's note: Thai Cooking Made Easy (written in both English and Chinese) is a practical cookbook for Thai food. I have tried many of the recipes on the book and love the authenticity and flavors. A must-have for people who love Thai food. Buy now! Continue Reading "Thai Recipe: Son-In-Law Eggs"

Tom Yum Goong, Chez Pim's Style

What happens when Rasa Malaysia tries too hard to be out-of-the-box creative in food presentation? You get--without sounding cruel and insensitive--a sea of drowning, struggling, and limping fresh water prawns crying out loud for "HELP!" such as this. Sad, very sad. (Mind you, I am not proud of this shot, but to amuse you, I thought I would share my sin with you.) The fiasco started with a vase. Yes, v-a-s-e, VASE or also known as "a vessel, as of glass, porcelain, earthenware, or metal, used chiefly to hold cut flowers or decoration" according to Dictionary.com. It sure didn't say a thing about serving food. What was I thinking?! Anyway, back to the topic of Tom Yum Goong. I love Tom Yum Goong (who doesn't love it?), so when it comes to making it at home, I only have one source to turn to--Chez Pim. Pim's recipe is every bit authentic and original. Hot, sour, salty, sweet--the principal tastes of Thai's cooking--are evident in this dish. It was spicy, addictive, and utterly satisfying; I simply couldn't stop sipping the soup. Click here to check out Pim's post and her secret recipe which she learned from her aunt. Now Pim, please forgive me for serving my Tom Yum Goong in a vase like the above. Hopefully this shot would do some justice to the famed Thai dish and your recipe. *wink* Cook's notes: I used frozen fresh water prawns for this recipe; they are commonly used for Tom Yum Goong in Thailand. Fresh water prawns have really creamy heads. They infuse the soup with prawny goodness. EDITED: September 19, 2007 I am not sure how some of you found out, but yes, today is my birthday. 9-19. Easy to remember! Other than your kind birthday wishes, I welcome all sorts of bribe--good old cash (British Pounds and EUROS preferred) or any gifts such as the following: A vacation to any or ALL of these locales: Maldives, Bora Bora/Tahiti, Fiji, or Seychelles. By the way, I only stay in overwater bungalows or private villas with full butler service and a private plunge pool. A round-the-world trip in a private jet will do, too. Chloe and/or Mulberry leather goods A Patek Philippe watch A new BMW hard-top convertible, Turbo PLEASE! See, I am really not that greedy. You know I am joking right? LOL! Anyway, thanks for the birthday wishes I've already received. You guys are the best! Continue Reading "Tom Yum Goong, Chez Pim's Style"

Pandan (Screwpine Leaves) Chicken

Apologies for being so irresponsive to your comments and the lack of posting. I am on the road for two weeks and will be heading back soon. However, I wanted to share with you a new summer recipe--pandan chicken or fried chicken wrapped with screwpine leaves. Here is just one picture for now; I will do the fancy Lightbox picture set and share the recipe when I return... Recipe: Pandan (Screwpine Leaves) Chicken Ingredients: Pandan leaves 2 pieces skinless and boneless chicken breast (cut into 2 in. x 1 in. cubes) 1/8 teaspoon sesame seeds 1 teaspoon soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon oyster sauce 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil 3 dashes white pepper powder 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1/8 teaspoon fish sauce 3 inches fresh ginger (grated and squeezed for juice) Method: Mix the chicken pieces with all the seasonings above. Add the ginger juice and marinate for 1 hour. Put a piece of the chicken towards the end of the pandan leave and roll it up tightly. Hold tight with a tooth pick. Deep fry until the golden brown. Dish out and serve hot. Continue Reading "Pandan (Screwpine Leaves) Chicken"

Recipe: Thai Yellow Curry with Seafood

(I promise this is the last post of the Shellfish Overload series.) What do you do when you have different kinds of shellfish but do not want to cook up a storm by getting into a complicated and time-consuming recipe such as bouillabaisse? Well, you make Thai yellow curry. This dish is so simple to create and takes no more than 30 minutes, but it's bursting with vivid and intense flavors. The zucchini is simply healthy and adds the much needed vitamins; plus this recipe just goes so well with steamed white rice. This is my absolute favorite Thai dish. Have a great weekend and happy eating! Thai Yellow Curry with Seafood Recipe Ingredients: 4 scallops 6 tiger prawns (peeled, deveined, but leave the tails on) 12-15 mussels and clams 1 small zucchini (cut into slices) 2 tablespoons of Thai yellow curry paste 1 small can of coconut milk (5.6 oz size) Fish sauce to taste Palm sugar to taste Curry leaves/basil leaves/kaffir lime leaves (optional but would be nice) Heat up some oil in the wok and add in the curry paste. Stir it until you smell the aroma. Add in all the shellfish and zucchini to give them a quick stir. Add in the coconut milk. Cover the wok and bring it to boil or until all shells are open. Add fish sauce and palm sugar to taste (this dish should taste creamy, salty, and sweet). Add some curry leaves/basil leaves/kaffir lime leaves if you have them handy. If the curry is too thick, add some water. Serve hot with plain white steamed rice. Cook's note: For the yellow curry paste, Rasa Malaysia recommends Maesri brand. Continue Reading "Recipe: Thai Yellow Curry with Seafood"