Beef Panang Curry (พะแนง)

This dish is not complicated but it does require a bit of time. The time spent, however, is absolutely worth it.  It is a curry dish that is not too spicy, is a bit on the sweet side, and has a lot of coconut flavor. My son loves it so much and always applauds me on not cooking the beef too soft, but just tender enough. He sure knows how to enjoy. It feels good how to have somebody believe in you. The beef that you will be looking for is the kind of beef that you would use for a stew.  The cut I got is the leg from the Chinese market but Chinese cuts are different from American cuts. The Chinese leg cut has both meat, some tendon and some fat which is suitable for this kind of long stewing.

My son especially loves this dish because this dish does not have anything else (he's never been a fan of vegetables) but the meat.  Try shrimp, pork, fish.  And don't forget about the kaffir lime leaves on top.  I've found that using scissors to cut the leaves into thin strip is most convenient to me.

Please try it, I know you will love it, just like my son.

- Daisy

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My mother isn't kidding when she says my brother loves this dish.  He generally loves any meat dish with sauce but this really is his favorite.  I know that when he visits, this dish will always be on the menu at least twice before he leaves.  Although my mother loves cooking for my sister and I, she always gets extra excited making this dish for my brother and to see her beaming when he tells her how much he loves it is so sweet to see.  I really am convinced that mothers have soft spot for their sons, much like how fathers have a soft spot for their daughters. 

The key thing to really note in this recipe is the kaffir lime leaves.  It may seem like just a garnish but I find that it really elevates the dish and gives it a unique taste to the curry that no other cuisine can come close to.  The leaves are hard to find but check in the frozen or refrigerated sections of Chinese markets or any Southeast Asian markets.  It really is worth it.  Promise.

- Darin

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Beef Panang Curry

พะแนง

Serves 2-3

3-4 lbs. Beef Brisket/Shank/Chuck, cut into big chunks
1/2 can Panang Curry Paste (Mae Sri is recommended)
1 [250ml] Coconut Milk (Aroy-D is recommended)
3-4 Kaffir Lime Leaves, cut in thin strips or chiffonade
2-3 Red Chilies, cut diagonally
1/2 tsp Palm Sugar (you can substitute regular sugar but it won't be the same)
1 Fish Sauce
1tbsp Vegetable Oil

1) On low heat, simmer the beef in coconut milk for about 45mins, or until cooked through and tender.  Keep the pot covered and stir it from time to time.  Make sure it is a simmer, you really don't want a rolling boil for this recipe.  

2) In a small sauté pan, heat up the vegetable oil and add in the curry paste.  Stir until fragrant then throw in the beef mixture and combine.  Add in the fish sauce and palm sugar. 

3) Top with kaffir lime leaves and red chillies and serve with Thai Jasmine rice.  Enjoy.

Stir Fried Duck with Black Pepper and Fried Garlic

Simple, straight forward, delicious.

- Daisy

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Stir Fried Duck with Black Pepper and Fried Garlic

2 Duck Breasts, sliced
1 Tbsp Fried Garlic
1 Medium Sweet Onion, diced
1-2 Jalapeños, cut into match-sticks
1 Tbsp Black Pepper, pounded not finely ground
1 1/2 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Sugar
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

1) Heat up the oil and slide in the duck meat, frying until browned and flip.

2) Stir in fried garlic, onion and salt until are soft and translucent.

3) Add in the black pepper and jalapeño and flavor with soy sauce, sugar, adjusting to your taste.

4) Enjoy with rice or noodles.

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Fried Garlic

7-8 Garlic Cloves, large, sliced evenly
3/4 cup Vegetable Oil

1) Put frying pan on medium heat and stir in the garlic when the vegetable oil is still warming out. When it starts to make noise, keep stirring until the garlic started to turn brown. Take it off the heat.

2) The garlic will still be bubbling. Let it cool down.

3) Right when it has stopped bubbling, use a slotted spoon to remove it to drain on a paper towel.

Khao Mok Gai (ข้าวหมกไก่)/Thai Chicken Biryani

Biryani is an typical dish in Middle East cuisine.  Historians believe that the dish was invented in a Mongol Emperor's kitchen.  Generally, the two main ingredients, the rice and the meat, are first cooked separately and then combined together to finish cooking.  The separation is absolutely necessary because the rice and the meat have significantly different cooking times and the final process of slow steaming the rice and the meat together until done allows the flavors to mingle.  The final product, then, should be pretty dry or at the very least minimally moist.

For years that I have been trying to find the best way to make a good Khao Mok Gai, the Thai version of Chicken Biryani.  I've experimented with so many different ways to no avail that I gave up and just used the instant powder, which unfortunately has mostly artificial flavors but is the closest I ever get to a good Khao Mok Gai.  Besides the basic method of cooking a good Khao Mok Gai, I want to figure out the tiny nuances of cooking a good Khao Mok Gai.  It more than just what spices or how much of each spice that should be used, but more like key to cooking through the rice through until fragrant without burning or leaving the rice mushy.  Or making sure chicken is done but still moist, yet not soggy at the same time.

The really indispensable part to this dish is Nam Jim Gai, or the dipping sauce.  The traditional ingredients are all green foods, green chili or green chili pepper or jalapeño, cilantro, green onion.  None of which my daughter likes as much as the store-bought version more commonly known as sweet chili sauce, which is fine for me.  It is delicious and is more convenient.

- Daisy

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This dish was my favorite childhood dish.  I used to beg my mom to take us to the tiny Khao Mok Gai restaurant behind our house after school so I could gorge myself.  She would always say I should have been born Indian for how much I loved this dish.  

It wasn't until years later that I tried a real Biryani and tasted the differences between the traditional Biryani and the Thai Khao Mok Gai.  I, of course, prefer the Thai style to the real thing but you can decide for yourself.  This recipe leans towards more of a real biryani instead of a Khao Mok Gai with the addition of raisins in the rice but the chicken was wonderfully moist , even several days later when my mom delivered a tupperware of the dish to me in my apartment.  I think was really makes this dish Thai is the dipping sauce.  Nam Jim Gai is essential to this dish for me and is distinctly Thai.  You know we love our dipping sauces!  The one I grew up eating and prefer is 

While you guys are busy cooking up this recipe, my mom and I will continue our quest for the perfect Khao Mok Gai...although this recipe comes pretty damn close.

- Darin

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Khao Mok Gai

ข้าวหมกไก่

Thai Chicken Biryani

For the Chicken and Fried Garlic:
2 Whole boneless Chicken Legs, cut in half (or 2 chicken thighs and 2 chicken drumsticks)
8 tsp Curry Powder
6 tsp Ground Turmeric
4 tsp Ground Coriander
2 tsp Ground Cumin
2 tsp Cinnamon Powder
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Sugar
1/3 cup Half & Half or Coconut Milk or Evaporated Milk
4-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup canola oil

For the Rice:
3 cups Thai Jasmine Rice
1 [14.5oz] can Chicken Broth, preferable Swanson
2 Bay Leaves
2 Cinnamon Sticks
4-6 Shallots, sliced
1/2 cup Raisins
1/3 cup Canola Oil

1) Combine the spices and divide the mixture into 2 parts.

2)  Wash the chicken and pat it dry.  Pierce the chicken all over and place in either into a large ziplock bag along with the marinade (try to get as much air out as possible) and refrigerate for overnight.

3) The next day, heat up the oil over medium heat, pan fried the chicken pieces until almost done and the skin is crispy. Set aside.

4) Using the same pan with the oil left over from the fried chicken, fry the garlic.  When the garlic turns golden brown, drain on a paper towel.  Keep the oil.

5) Heat up a pan on medium low and fry the shallot until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel. The trick is to go low and slow, otherwise the shallot will burn.

6) In the rice cooker, wash the rice 3 times then pour in the rest of the spice mixture (leftover from the chicken marinade) and stir well.   Add cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and 2 cups of chicken broth.  Let it cooked till it's al dente or with a bit of a bite.

7) In a 23-26 cm pan or a shallow pot, heat up the oil in medium low.  Lay down the chicken pieces, skin side up, then the fried garlic, cover with yellow rice, and lastly sprinkle with raisins and the fried shallots.  Slowly pour in the leftover oil from the fried garlic.

8) Pour 1/4 cup of chicken broth, cover, and let it cook for 20 minutes or until the chicken is done and the rice is fragrant.  The rice should still hold its shape but completely cooked through as well as the chicken.

9) Garnish with slices of English Cucumber, Tomato, Cilantro and Green Onion and serve!

Kana Pad Ped Moo Krob (คะน้าผัดเผ็ดหมูกรอบ)/Crispy Pork and Chinese Broccoli Spicy Stir Fry

"Ka Na" (คะน้า) in Thai and "Kai Lan" (芥蘭) in Cantonese are both Chinese Broccoli.  My "Pad Ped Moo Krob" (ผัดเผ็ดหมูกรอบ) is my home style stir fry one meal dish. My family doesn't like eggplant but we do like Chinese broccoli and regular broccoli so we substitute that instead for the traditionally used eggplant.  If you like broccoli rabe, try with this recipe and let us out how it turns out!

Moo Krob (หมูกรอบ) is the pork belly that has been salted then roasted to the point that the skin super crispy. You can find it in any Cantonese noodle restaurants or in certain Chinese supermarkets.  In the past I only knew one way to eat crispy roasted pork and that was in place of the Char Siu (叉燒) with rice, which is a great Cantonese one dish meal.  I really love it!  But with this recipe, now I can introduce one more dish with the crispy roasted pork but Thai-style with even more flavor.  Even my youngest daughter said "umm" at her first bite.  If you do not like pork or have a hard time eating anything fried or crispy, feel free to substitute to boneless chicken thigh or boneless beef ribs.

Please adjust the heat  to your preference.  As always, eating with Thai people always has some "Prik Nam Pra, Ma Nou" or the Thai fish sauce with bird's eye chili and lime juice on the table. I do not know why you need it since the dish is so delicious, but Thai people still have the custom or the culture to have the dipping sauce with.  We can't help it.  Or is it just a something that we have to do when we eat? I do not know, but my condiments are never far from me.  Now I am curious which country has the most dipping sauces in the world, or consume the most in the world?

- Daisy

 

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I nearly fainted when I had this.  It was THAT good.  My mom hadn't made this dish before, or at least not when I can remember.  Its strange how your palate changes as you grow.  There have been so many times where she will make something that I am absolutely in love with, only to find out that she used to make it all the time when my brother and I were young, and only stopped because we complained that we didn't like it.

In this case, since the dish is pretty spicy, I could probably understand why my brother and I couldn't take it.  I still can't eat food that is too spicy, I feel like at a certain point it just kills your tastebuds but try telling my mom that.   

- Darin

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Kana Pad Ped Moo Krob 

คะน้าผัดเผ็ดหมูกรอบ

Crispy Pork and Chinese Broccoli Spicy Stir Fry

Serves 2-3

1/2 lb. Crispy Roasted Pork
1 1/4 lb. Chinese Broccoli, washed and cut diagonally
2 tsp. Red Curry Paste, preferably Maesri
1/2 cup Thai Basil
3 tsp Fish Sauce
2 tsp Sugar
3 cloves Garlic, smashed
3 cloves Garlic, minced
3 Fresh Red Chilies, cut diagonally
6 tbsp Vegetable Oil

1) Put the Chinese broccoli in a microwave proof bowl, cover and heat for 1 minute.  Set aside.

2) Heat up a sauté pan with 2 tbsp oil and refry the pork for 2 minutes on each side.  Set aside. 

3) Heat up another 2 tbsp of vegetable oil and toss in the smashed garlic and fry until fragrant (not burnt!) then pour in the Chinese broccoli.  Let it heat up for a couple of seconds before starting to stir. Use two spatula to stir, almost like you are tossing a salad, until cooked then add 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp fish sauce. Set aside.

4) In the same pan, add in 2 tsp of Thai red curry paste and the minced garlic.  Pour in the pan juice from Chinese broccoli dish and quickly stir to incorporate with the curry paste.  

5) Add in the pork and the Chinese broccoli and mix everything together, making sure they are all coated with the sauce.  Taste it before adding in some more sugar and/or fish sauce. 

6) Stir in basil and serve with hot white or brown rice.