Turkey Larb

Larb is a spicy and sour ground meat salad from Lao and parts of northern Thailand. I had been craving larb for a while, and decided to make it myself. I scoured the internet and cookbooks for recipes, but eventually settled on a larb recipe from one of the blog's I follow, Wandering Chopsticks. This recipe is legit-and very very tasty.






I think what makes the dish is the addition of Bot Thinh/Kao Kua (Vietnamese/Thai Ground Roasted Rice Powder). When I was making this dish, I was debating if I wanted to take the effort to make the ground roasted rice powder. I had mochiko powder and thought it would be fairly similar. I am glad I took the extra effort to make the grounded rice powder. It did not take all that much longer, and it really lends a delicious texture to the meat, while imparting a subtle flavor.

Doctoring up the Vietnamese Fish Dipping sauce is also relatively easy and really adds a nice flavor to this dish!

Using a lean meat like turkey was good in this recipe because it created less fat that I had to drain out!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons of Bot Thinh/Kao Kua (Vietnamese/Thai Ground Roasted Rice Powder)
Vietnamese Fish Dipping Sauce
1/2 lbs of ground meat of your choice (I used turkey, because it is lean and less fatty)
a few springs of mint leaves
a few chives (chopped) or scallions (thinly sliced)
a few kaffier lime leaves, thinly sliced (optional)
Thick Homemade noodles, or store bought rice noodles (be sure to get the thick kind)

Directions
Saute the ground meat in a wok with a little oil until fully cooked. Move the meat to the sides and press down to remove most of the oil. Remove the meat and place in a separate bowl.

Add a 1/4 cup of the Vietnamese fish dipping sauce and mix it with the meat. Taste and add more if necessary.

Add 1 tablespoon of the roasted rice powder, mint and chives/scallions.

Continue to add a little bit of the dipping sauce until you get it to the flavor you want.

Serve over thick homemade noodles or store bought rice noodles. Its so delicious!

Thai Green Curry with Chicken and Eggplant

When summer comes and it gets hot outside, nothing feels better than a nice spicy Thai curry. Maybe because the spices make you sweat, and that cools you off. I think it is the irresistible combination of soft chicken, sweetness of coconut milk and the pungent aroma of kaffir lime leaves. Despite growing up eating Indian food at home, I prefer Thai curry in all its different glorious flavors (red, green, yellow) to any other type of curry, even Indian curry or Japanese curry!

There are a hundred variations on this dish. You can make it with fish, chicken, beef, vegetables. It doesn't matter-it all tastes good.

The key to this dish is taking a small amount of coconut milk and adding all your spices and flavoring agents for the curry to the coconut milk. Its best to start with the eggplants and then your chicken (as opposed to chicken and then your eggplants). This way, the eggplants will achieve the right amount of softness (you want them soft, but still with some structure). Then slowly cook your meat in the flavored coconut milk. As with all coconut curries, you do not want the milk to boil vigorously--just a simmer will do! Once all the vegetables and chicken have cooked, add the remainder of the coconut milk for a quick finish.

Of course, having homemade fresh green curry paste really makes this dish, but that is really time consuming. You can find curry paste in most Thai or Asian grocery stores, and they work good. I use a brand of curry paste called Mae Ploy, which is available at most Asian grocery stores. Now, ordinarily, I am not a fan of prepackaged foods. This Mae Ploy is different. It is really good and super simple.  I even found it in Japan when I was living over there! It comes in a plastic tub and the curry paste is in a plastic bag inside. Similar to a pastry piping bag, I cut off one small corner and then gently squeeze out the paste. Mae Ploy carries a variety of flavors-I have green, red and yellow in my refrigerator and use them for different curries.





Ingredients
1.5 cups unsweetened coconut milk (1 can)
1 tablespoon green curry paste, or to taste (I prefer Mae Ploy brand)
1 stalk lemon grass, bruised and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 kaffir lime leaves, cut into thin slivers (use a pair of scissors)
2 Japanese eggplant, cut into cubes
1 cup rick dark chicken stock (8 cubes)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced into strips or cut into cubes
2 cups bamboo shoots
2 red tomatoes, cut into wedges
15 fresh basil leaves, cut in half
Fresh cilantro for garnish

Directions
Turn your gas onto medium heat. Place your wok or pot on the range to heat up.

Pour a bit of coconut milk into the wok and swirl it around so it covers the wok thinly (around 1/3 of a cup)

Let it heat for a few seconds until a little bubbly.















Add the curry paste and lemon grass and stir until the aroma is released, about 1 minute.

Add the chicken stock, fish sauce, sugar, turmeric and lime leaves. Bring to a light boil and reduce heat to a simmer.













Add the eggplant cook for a few minutes until the eggplant becomes soft. You do not want the eggplant super soft, to the point where it is mushy. Nor do you want the eggplant hard. Japanese eggplants work best for this, as they retain less water. Chinese eggplants are the next best thing. Italian eggplants really are not suited for this dish-they have too much water in them.












Add the chicken and cook until it turns white, around 3 to 5 minutes.
















Add the remaining coconut milk,  bamboo shoots and tomatoes. Continue to simmer for 3 minutes, until the vegetables are hot. Adjust the temperature as necessary to insure that the coconut milk does not come to a vigorous boil.

Remove from heat and stir in the basil.

Serve with steamed jasmine rice. Garnish with cilantro

Spicy Peanut Sauce

This sauce is great with grilled chicken or on Thai bbq pizza! It also works great on any grilled meat.

I prefer to use peanut butter, partially because my fiancee is a huge fan of peanut butter so we always have a lot in the house. You can grind your own peanuts to make peanut butter, but we usually will get our peanut butter at Whole Foods or Berkeley Bowl, where they will grind it for you fresh (don't forget to bring your own container!). Most health food stores will also have fresh peanuts which they can ground for you.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon red curry paste
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Sugar to taste

Heat the oil in a wok. Add curry paste and turmeric, and stir often for 1 minute, till the turmeric incorporates into the curry paste. Add the peanut butter, coconut milk, water, fish sauce, lemon juice and sugar. Reduce the heat to low and stir constantly with a whisk or heat proof spatula for 3 minutes. As the mixture starts to come to a boil, remove from heat and continue to stir. Adjust the seasoning to get the blend of sweet, salty and spicy that you are looking for.

Thai Monk Fish

Ok...I have been negligent! A combination of ending up the year, going to Hawaii and planning wedding stuff has led me to ignore Shokubi!

Yet, I continue to cook (hey, you gotta eat).

This is another Jamie Oliver recipe. I quite like his styles, boss! This was for a Thai dish-Monkfish, steamed in banana leaf with coconut milk and all sorts of lovely spices! You can find the recipe here

I followed the recipe to a T on this one, and it was delicious!

I found a really neat trick was to take the banana leaves and heat them up an open flame to release their natural oils. Really gives it such a better flavor!