Spicy Chicken Stir-Fry (Ayam Paprik)

Spicy Chicken Stir-Fry (Ayam Paprik) Recipe
Serves 2 | Prep Time: 20 Minutes | Cook Time: 5 Minutes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil
2 garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Thai roasted chili paste (nam prik phao)
8 oz chicken breast, sliced into thin pieces
1/4 onion, cut into pieces
2 oz green beans, tips removed and cut into 2-inch strips
1/2 small carrot, peeled and sliced
1/4 green bell pepper (capsicum), deseeded and thinly sliced
1/4 red bell pepper or 1 red chili, deseeded and thinly sliced
3 bird’s eyes chilies, lightly pounded, optional
1 1/2 teaspoons sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce

Method:

Heat up a wok on high heat and add the oil. Add the garlic into the wok and stir-fry until aromatic, follow by the Thai roasted chili paste or nam prik pao. Add the chicken and quickly stir fry, until the chicken is half cooked. Add the onion, green beans, carrot, green and red bell peppers, bird’s eye chilies and stir to combine well with the chicken. Add the sweet soy sauce and fish sauce, stir to blend well. (If you want your chicken to be a little saucy, you can add two tablespoons of water now.) As soon as the chicken and all ingredients are cooked through, dish out and serve immediately with steamed rice.

Cook’s Notes:

1. Thai roasted chili paste or nam prik pao is a key ingredient in Thai cooking. You can purchase bottled nam prik pao from Asian supermarkets, Southeast Asian (Thai & Vietnamese) food stores, or online here. To make it from scratch, you can follow SheSimmer’s recipe here.
2. There are many variations of this recipe…you can use cauliflower or broccoli instead of green beans, you can also add fresh or canned young corns. The essence of the dish is in the sauce, not the vegetables used. This recipe is the version I like best.

Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe

Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the rice

3 cups uncooked washed rice
5 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cloves finely chopped garlic
4 finely chopped shallots
2 + 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp chicken broth
4-6 blades of pandan leave (screwpine leaves)
1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised
1 tbsp of the garlic and shallot oil
70g chicken fats
1+ 1/2 tsp salt, to taste

For the chicken

1 whole chicken, preferably free range organic chicken
1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised
5-6 stalks of scallion, washed
10 bowls chicken stock, adjust accordingly
4 blades of pandan leaves (screwpine leaves)
1 carrot, roughly chopped
2 + 1 tsp of salt

10 bowls of cold water

1 cucumber, peeled, halved and sliced diagonally

For the sauce

2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp chicken broth
3 tsp sesame oil
3 tsp garlic and shallot oil

For chicken rice chilli sauce

90g red chilies (you may add in some bird’s eye chili)
15g garlic
50g ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
50ml chicken broth
60ml lime juice, to taste

To garnish

few sprigs of cilantro

Method:

For the chicken

1. Wash chicken, drain well, stuff ginger and scallion into the chicken’s cavity. Using 2 tsp of salt as scrub, rub the salt all over the chicken for smooth looking skin.
2. In a not too large stockpot which fits the chicken perfectly, boil the chicken stock (enough to cover the whole chicken) together with pandan leaves, carrot and salt.

3. Submerge the whole chicken, breast side down in the boiling water for 35-45 minutes depending on the size of the chicken. Lower the heat to gentle simmer immediately.
4. When chicken is cooked, remove chicken and plunge it into prepared cold water at once for 10 minutes. Keep the chicken broth** for later use.
5. Drain the chicken, discard ginger and scallion from the cavity and set it aside to cool before chopping it neatly into desired serving size.

For the rice

1. Heat oil in wok, fry chopped shallots and garlic till fragrant and golden in colour. Add rice and stir well. Transfer the rice mixture to rice cooker.
2. Once transferred, add chicken broth, pandan leaves, ginger, garlic and shallot oil, chicken fats and salt into rice mixture. Cook according to rice cooker’s manual instruction.

To prepare chicken rice

1. Line a serving plate with cucumber slices.
2. Arrange chicken pieces on top, pour in the prepared sauce before garnishing with cilantro.
3. Serve with chicken rice, side soup and chicken rice chili sauce.

**Any left over chicken broth can be served as side soup, garnish with cilantro or chopped scallions. I like my soup with fish balls. ;)

Cook’s Note:

Never let the Great-Wall-of-China-long list of ingredients and methods intimidate you. It’s really not as tough or scary as it seems + the ingredients can be easily attainable almost everywhere and importantly, your effort will be extremely well paid off after.

Cheese Straws

Serve these clever little appetizers instead of bread at lunchtime or for supper.

MAKES ABOUT 24 14" STRAWS

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup grated parmigiano-reggiano
1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Dust work surface with ¼ cup of the parmigiano-reggiano. Lay unfolded sheet of puff pastry on top of cheese, then sprinkle with ¼ cup more grated cheese. Gently roll dough out with a rolling pin, pressing cheese into dough, to a thickness of about ⅛". Dust with more cheese as needed.

 2. Cut pastry into long ½"-wide strips. Give each strip several twists, then lay ½" apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, then remove from paper and serve.

Nasi Ulam (Malaysian Mixed Herb Rice)

Nasi Ulam Recipe (Malaysian Mixed Herb Rice)
Prep Time: 40 minutes | Total Active Time: 50 Minutes

Ingredients:

1/3 cup dried shrimp
1/2 cup fresh or frozen shredded coconut
2 cups cooked rice, chilled
5-6 medium daun kadok (wild betel leaves), finely sliced
1/4 cup Thai basil leaves, finely sliced
1/4 cup mint leaves, finely sliced
1/4 cup daun kesom (polygonum leaves/Vietnamese mint leaves), finely sliced
3 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
5 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 lemongrass, white part only, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
3 heavy dashes white pepper powder
3 heavy dashes black pepper powder

Method:

Soak the dried shrimp in warm water until softened. Coarsely pound them using a mortar and pestle. Heat up a wok and dry toast the pounded shrimp until they are dry or smell aromatic. Do not burn the dried shrimp.

Make the shredded coconut into kerisik by stir-frying them continuously in a wok, until they turn golden brown in color. Transfer to the mortar and pestle and pound until fine. Set aside.

In a big bowl, combined the cooked rice and all the herbs, shallots, toasted coconut, and dried shrimp together. Add the salt, sugar, and peppers. Toss to combine well. Serve immediately.

Cook’s Note:

For nasi ulam, I prefer to use basmati rice as the rice is drier and less sticky, fluffy, and nutty in flavor compared to Thai jasmine rice. I find the texture of basmati rice the best for nasi ulam. If you use regular rice for this recipe, you might want to chill it in the fridge overnight to lose the moisture content in the rice.