Tag: fish sauce
Chicken Red Curry with Green Beans
I think I will do Asian dishes this week. Chinese New Year just passed. We love going into Chinatown to eat all the yummy food, especially during New year. Even our favorite local Chinese restaurant had some amazing dishes this year.
This particular dish is a fusion of Chinese and Thai cuisines. I used the prepared red curry paste and added coconut milk. I used the delicious, long green beans I got from a local Asian market. Overall, the dish was a tad bit spicy for my daughter, but she ate it, while sipping lots of milk.
I served the dish with a lime coconut jasmine rice- it was absolutely delicious.
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Tofu Noodles with Peanut Sauce
I have been buying a lot of tofu noodles from the Asian store. I love the idea of having noodles that have no carbs and are full of protein. The great thing is that my daughter loves them as well.. so I try to make them as often as I can.
This particular dish is a one pot meal- which is my favorite to make! I decided to add all sorts of veggies including mushrooms and bok choy. For protein I used chicken- but any meat or fish can be used. One can keep it vegetarian and eliminate the meat altogether.
I made a delicious sauce with peanut butter, tamari, lime juice, palm sugar, fish sauce.. etc. I basically took out what I had in my pantry and added it to the sauce.. it was delicious. My daughter who is not a peanut butter fan loved the noodles… somehow she didn’t notice the peanut flavor…
This is a great noodle dish to make through the week…
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Spicy Calamari Salad
This is my version of a spicy calamari I had at a new Thai restaurant in Chatham- Thai Passion. I reviewed it a couple weeks ago.
This salad got my attention- it was fabulous- although I realized it was a bit over the top with the flavoring. I really enjoyed it but while I was trying to decide how to replicate this salad, I decided to tone it down a bit. At the same time, I didn’t want to lose the essence of the dish- which was a lot of spicy, savory, tangy and a bit of sweet. Writing about it makes me want to eat some- my mouth is salivating. If you live in the area- you should go try it in Chatham. If you don’t live in the Jersey area, try the recipe I have created.
As I mentioned before, this version is a bit toned down. I used tamarind concentrate, lime juice,Worcestershire sauce, palm sugar, sriracha sauce, etc. Once the dressing was made, all I had to do was to cook the calamari. I will attach the video that goes with this recipe.
Try this salad- it is a great dish to make in the summer time…
- ¼ pound calamari, defrosted and cut into ½ inch rings
- 1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
Heat a non-stick frying pan and add the olive oil on high heat. Add the calamari and sprinkle salt. Saute on high heat for two minutes just until the rings turn opaque. Turn the heat off and drain on a paper towel.
- 2 cups mixed greens
- ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped
- ½ cup green beans, blanched
- 1 medium tomato, cut into 1-inch squares
Toss the mixed greens with the basil, mint, green beans and tomato. Add the calamari and mix well.
Vinaigrette
- ½ teaspoon tamarind concentrate
- Juice of half a lime
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon tamari
- 2 teaspoons sriracha sauce
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon palm sugar
- 1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
Add the tamarind, limejuice, Worcestershire sauce, tamari, fish sauce, sriracha and palm sugar into a small bowl. Drizzle the olive oil while whisking the dressing. Pour the dressing on top of the salad and toss lightly before serving.
Pad Thai with Seasoned Tofu
I made this dish after reviewing a restaurant Nine Thai in Chatham, NJ. It was a really good restaurant with a friendly staff and great food. I gave it a great review and decided to replicate their pad thai at home.
I have been eating pad thai for years now and love ordering it at restaurants. I have always thought this dish as extremely complicated and hard to make.
Since I had to replicate a dish, I decided to take this one on. After a bit of research, I realized the noodle dish is really not hard to make- it just has a lot of ingredients. Once you have them on hand- it doesn’t take that long. You can control the amount of fat and salt when you make popular take out dishes at home.
In this case, I made it super healthy with tofu, bean sprouts and garlic chives. I had most of the ingredients at home- like tamarind, fish sauce, tamari, etc. I decided not to add any meat but it will be delicious with chicken or shrimp.
If you love eating pad thai in a restaurant, definitely make this homemade version- it is delicious.
- 10 oz extra firm tofu, cut into thin strips about an inch long
- 2 teaspoons tamari
Place the tofu strips in a zip lock bag with the tamari and marinate for 2 to 3 hours.
- ½ pound rice noodles- soaked in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons palm sugar
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- 1 teaspoon chili paste with garlic
Mix the tamarind, fish sauce, palm sugar and chili paste in a small bowl and keep aside,
- 3 tablespoons extra light olive oil
- 2 medium shallots, sliced thin
- 3 green onions, chopped (white parts only- save the green parts for the garnish)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup garlic chives, cut into 1 inch long segments (optional)
- 2 cups bean sprouts
- 2 eggs, beaten with 1 teaspoon salt
Garnish
- 1 cup chopped salted roasted peanuts
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped
- 3 green onions, chopped (the green parts only)
- One lime cut into wedges
In a large frying pan or a wok like sauce pan heat the olive oil and add the marinated tofu. Saute on high heat for 2 to 3 minutes or till the tofu is golden brown. Add the shallots, white parts of the green onions and garlic. Saute on medium high heat for a minute. Add the garlic chives and sprouts and mix well. Move all the mixture to the side of the pan and make a well in the middle. Drop the eggs and scramble for 30 seconds and then mix with the rest of the mixture. Add the drained noodles and mix well. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tamarind mixture and mix well. Add the peanuts, cilantro and green onions. Mix well and check for seasonings. Squeeze the lime and serve.
Tamarind Chicken with Green Beans
One of my favorite ingredients to have in my pantry is tamarind. I have the regular dried tamarind that I get from the Indian store but I also have the tamarind concentrate which is available at most grocery stores like Whole Foods. The concentrate is always in my fridge and I use for a lot of things including dressings, sauces, etc. It is easy to use and a little goes a long way. I love the earthy, tangy flavor it imparts to all the dishes- especially when it is paired with honey or sugar.
In this dish, I wanted to make a quick stir fry and wanted to use the tamarind concentrate to replicate a few Thai dishes I enjoy at Khun Thai– one of our favorite restaurants. I love the mixture of flavors in my mouth- sweet, sour, spicy and savory- my mouth waters as I write….
I marinated the chicken pieces and mixed up a quick sauce for the stir fry. I had green beans in my fridge and I thought it would be a great combination with the chicken and the tangy sauce. I made brown rice on the side and it was a perfectly balanced and delicious meal.
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Top Ten Asian Ingredients…
I am a big believer in a well stocked pantry. Since I cook all the time and thing about food 24/7, I make sure my fridge and pantry are full with the right ingredients. I love to be able to conjure something up in my mind and make it happen in the kitchen without going to the store.
Many people ask me constantly what I have in my pantry and fridge, and what they should have in theirs. I feel you need to think about your cooking repertoire and what kind of cuisines you make. Once you have a handle on the kinds of dishes you normally make- you can make a list of all the ingredients you need.
When I go grocery shopping- which I am ashamed (not really) to admit is almost every day- I go through the isles to remind me if I need anything to replenish my pantry.
Since I am doing top ten lists- yes I feel like David Letterman once again, I decided to start with listing the top ten Asian ingredients.
- Rice Vinegar– I love having this in my pantry. Great for stir fries, salads and curries.
- Tamari– I use this instead of soy sauce. This is a more concentrated version of it so a little goes a long way and it doesn’t make the dishes too watery.
- Toasted Sesame Oil– This has a delicious nutty flavor. I start my stir fries with a teaspoon of this oil. It is also great for salad dressings. Store it in the fridge.
- Fish Sauce– It has a wonderful underlying nutty, salty flavor. Don’t smell it while using it and you will love it.
- Sweet Chili Garlic Sauce– It can be found in any grocery store in the Asian isle. Great as a dipping sauce or part of a stir fry sauce.
- Honey- I love, love honey. I have all sorts in my pantry. It is great to sweeten anything from sauces, to salad dressings.
- Fresh Ginger- What a versatile ingredient. Stays forever in your fridge. Great for curries, stir fries and desserts.
- Garlic- I would be lost without garlic. I need to have lots of it in my vegetable basket. I put it in everything.
- Green Onions- They have a great, light onion flavor AND they look pretty. Excellent as a garnish on top.
- Light Coconut Meal- Great for Thai dishes and desserts. I use the light version since there is no difference in flavor. I always have a few cans in my pantry.
I would love to hear your top ten Asian ingredients….
Jungle Shrimp- A Malaysian/Thai Style Shrimp
I have recently started writing for the Patch– which is a online blog owned by AOL. Most towns around Maplewood have their own local patch.
I recently did a restaurant review for the Chatham patch and talked about a restaurant called Taste of Asia. We had a really nice meal and I decided to replicate a dish called jungle shrimp. It was delicious at the restaurant and I came home and did a lot of research to figure out the ingredients. It turned out it had a lot of Thai flavors. I went shopping to Whole Foods and bought some kaffir leaves, lemongrass and palm sugar. I made a sauce out of orange juice, tamarind and fish sauce etc.
I sauteed the shrimp with some sweet peppers and onions and added the sauce. The dish was delicious- not the same as what we had at the restaurant but very enjoyable.
I loved the complex flavors of the sauce with the tamarind and the palm sugar. I served the dish with some fried rice to make it a complete meal.
If you are able to get all the exotic ingredients- no problem. You can substitute the palm sugar with honey, tamarind with lime juice, kaffir limes with lime zest, etc. The idea is to get a similar flavor- it doesn’t have to be exact. I would highly recommend it!
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