Asian Culinary Adventures

Living and traveling around Asia has opened me up to a new world of cuisine, and not all Chinese.  Some of Cody’s and my favorite foods are Indian and Thai.  Of course, most Asian ethnicities can be found in Hong Kong, therefore so can their specialty food shops.  If I take nothing of tangible worth back to the States with me when we are done with this adventure, I hope I can at least take a lot of newfound knowledge.  I have been trying to find authentic Asian recipes I can cook at home, as well as learn tips and tricks from my Asian friends themselves.  Just last night my Filipina friend, Lenny, was standing by my side, giving me tips as I cooked some red curry for dinner (“this is how the Malaysians do it,” she told me).

I love food so much, I have the motto that all recipes should be shared so everyone can enjoy the goodness (you won’t find me keeping any secret family recipes)!!  First, here are a couple authentic Asian recipe websites I have come across:

Rasa Malaysia: Easy Asian Recipes
Real Thai Recipes

I have found some excellent recipes on both of them.  From one foodie to the next:  let me know if you try any of them and if they are worth making!! 

Now let me share a few of the noteworthy recipes I made last month:

Thai-Style Ground Beef

When you go to a Chinese restaurant in the States, you can usually order lettuce wraps.  I feel that I can tell you with a fairly high degree of confidence (I am inherently an accountant, I will never say I am 100% certain about anything) that lettuce wraps are not Chinese food.  I have never eaten—or seen—a lettuce wrap in a Chinese restaurant here.  Ever.  BUT I have eaten them at a Thai restaurant in Thailand.  So this recipe made sense to me.  And it looked delicious, so I went for it. 

Though I liked the original recipe, I didn’t love it, nor was it what I expected.  The next night I made it again and tweaked the recipe a bit to my tastes.  Both Cody and I liked it better, so here is my lightly adapted version (less tomato, more flavor!):

• 1 cup thinly sliced leek
• 2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 pound lean ground sirloin
• 2 tablespoons red curry paste
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
• 3 cups hot cooked short-grain rice
• Iceberg lettuce wedges
• Chopped cilantro
• Chopped green onions (optional)

Preparation

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add leek; sauté 5 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add beef; cook 7 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in curry paste and tomato sauce; cook until half of liquid evaporates (about 2 minutes). Add milk and next 4 ingredients (through fish sauce); cook 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Serve with the rice and lettuce wedges. Garnish with cilantro and green onions (I mixed in a lot—and squeezed on more lime juice—because it is delicious that way).

Also, don’t be scared of the fish sauce—there isn’t enough of it to be overpowering; it just gives it a bit of tang. 

Butter Chicken and Naan

I thought myself pretty cool when I received a special delivery from an Indian shop that consisted of dried red chilies, tandoori masala, fenugreek leaves, tamarind, and cardamom pods, among other things.

For those interested that live in Hong Kong, here is the shop information:  Indian Provision Stores. 2891-8104 , 2891-8324; 18-20 Bowington Road G/Floor, Wanchai.  If you order over HK$200, they deliver; I also bought a case of UHT milk (around HK$150 for 12 cartons) to get me over the limit. 

I really liked this naan recipe—especially the way you cook it.  I was getting giddy excited about flipping it upside down over the open flame.  I guess that goes to show what a foodie I am, but hey, it was fun!

 

 

As for the Butter Chicken, you are going to have to make it to know just how divine it was!!  I have been on a search for a Butter Chicken recipe that is up to par for some time now.  Most were good, but never the “I crave you” kind of good.  We have tried Butter Chicken at so many different Indian restaurants, in at least four different countries, so I feel like we kind of know what we are looking for.  In fact, I made this recipe right after Valentine’s, when we had left over Butter Chicken to compare it to.  After tasting this recipe, the restaurant stuff was nasty—and we had even liked it the day before!!   Then to top it off, Cody went to our favorite Indian restaurant we have ever tried when he was in Taiwan last week.  He told me this recipe was as good if not better than the Butter Chicken at The Spice Shop!  YAY!  I think I’ve finally found our go-to recipe!!!!   And I am getting some serious cravings right now typing this up.

To round out our Indian meal, I made the samosas I’ve been making for a couple years now.  Why change a good thing?  But I do need a good Mint-cilantro dip recipe if you know of one!!!

 

 

 

Chicken Satay with Satay Peanut Sauce

These were from a Malaysian website, so they weren’t as reminiscent of Thai style satay as I was hoping.  Still a really good recipe though, so go try them. 

Admittedly, I made the pineapple fried rice using a seasoning packet.  I noticed the ingredients on it were nothing unusual, so I think that will be my next endeavor:  find a good, authentic pineapple fried rice recipe. 

Pork Dumplings

It seems to me Asians are such proficient cooks, they don’t need recipes.  A lot of times when I ask how to make something, they just tell me because they don’t follow anything written!  I find it fascinating.  Even my Taiwanese friend told me once she learned to cook by watching her mother, not by following recipes.  Another Taiwanese friend taught a bunch of us how to make dumplings a few years ago, but again there was nothing written.  After the Chinese New Year party with the Mandarin branch, I asked my Chinese friend for her recipe.  This is what she sent me:  “Mix leek, egg, ground pork, soy sauce, salt, pepper, oyster oil together.”  Well, I already had a self-concocted recipe I’d been using and it was pretty close to that, so I guess I’ll just stick with it.  Sadly, I’m a recipe-following type cook for the most part; I need to know my ratios! 

 

Filling ingredients:

¾ C finely chopped cabbage
1/3 C chopped green onions (or leek)
1 ½ T soy sauce
½ T oyster sauce
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp. sesame oil
¼ tsp. pepper
Dash of hot sauce
1 egg
½ lb. ground pork

dumpling wrappers

Mix all filling ingredients thoroughly and fill dumpling wrappers.  Use water to seal edges.

You can steam, boil, or fry the dumplings.  I like mine fried, which makes them pot stickers.  Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pot stickers. Cook about 2 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown. Carefully add 1/2 cup water to pan, cover immediately and cook 4 minutes. Uncover and cook 3 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Repeat procedure with remaining pot stickers.

Dipping Sauce:
¼ C Soy Sauce
2 T Seasoned Rice Vinegar
2 T water
1 T Fresh minced ginger
2 T chopped green onions
1 garlic clove, minced

Combine all ingredients.

Now what are you going to do with the rest of that head of cabbage you just bought for the dumplings?  This is what I came up with for my lunch the next day:

Sesame Cabbage Salad

1/2 head cabbage, finely chopped
3 Tbs. green onion, chopped

1 package sesame flavored Ramen
1/3 c. almonds, chopped

Dressing:
Flavor packets from Ramen
1/4 c. olive oil
1 Tbs. sugar
1 1/2 Tbs. soy sauce
1/2 Tbs. white vinegar
1/2 Tbs. seasoned rice vinegar
pepper to taste

Broil Ramen noodles (uncooked) and almonds for about 3 minutes, stir, then 3 minutes more or until lightly browned. Heat dressing ingredients in saucepan until sugar dissolves. Toss all together. Serve immediately. Makes appx. 6 cups.

I hope you have seen a new recipe you will try!!