Thai Feast for No Reason

After publishing the Mardi Gras post, I realized that I nothing else in my queue for publication. Before then, I always had at least one file that was just one edit away from being finished. But at that point, I was out of ideas for what to work on next. None of the NetGalley cookbooks in my library were particularly inspiring. A few of the more exotic liqueurs in my crazy cabinet started speaking to me; however, I’ve been criticized for working too much with alcohol, so I scratched those ideas. I was at a complete and total loss for ideas.

When I went to help my really good girl friend pack her house for her upcoming move, I asked her what she thought I should do for my next post. Since she was the genius behind the comparison of macaroni and cheese casserole variations, I had faith that she would come up with a good idea. Without skipping a beat, she suggested that I do a Thai post.

The Research

I love Thai food. When another really good girl friend arrived from DC to visit for the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend, we went out for Thai food at a restaurant downtown. So that scratched my Thai itch for the time being. But the suggestion of a Thai post renewed the craving.

My girl friend had suggested that I pull out my Thai cookbook and pick some unusual recipes from that. Now that I had discovered the Asian supermarket a few towns over and could get the more exotic ingredients, the more authentic recipes should be more possible. Then I thought about my favorite Thai foods: tom kha gai soup, fresh spring rolls, chicken with basil and wide rice noodles, panang curry with chicken. Except for the fresh spring rolls, I had tried and true recipes for all my favorite Thai foods in the family cookbook. So my research was simply to open the most recent cookbook file and employ the Find function!

Tamarind Whiskey Sour

My girl friend out West from 1995 and I were engaged in a text conversation when I finally motivated to leave the house to brave the 25 degree weather (with 21 mile per hour winds!) to go the supermarket to shop for my little Thai feast. When I finally got home and started unpacking the groceries, our conversation shifted to what I should have to drink. The options were the last of the Al Fresco Spritz from my Elderflower Liqueur Experiment, a new cocktail for an upcoming experiment with Licor 43, or something completely different. She wanted to see me do something entirely different and suggested a Long Island Thai Iced Tea. I wasn’t sure what was in that, but I know that a regular Long Island Iced Tea has Coke, and I didn’t have any Coke. Then she sent me a link to an article with 28 Thai inspired cocktails across the United States and suggested that I could try one of them. Just as I was about to lose my mind over the specialty syrups, infused liquors, and imported liqueurs that went into these things, my girl friend sent me a text drawing my attention to a tamarind whiskey sour. Sure enough, the next drink on the list was a basic tamarind whiskey sour. And wouldn’t you know, one of the odd things that I found in the purge of my horde cabinet was a jar of tamarind concentrate?

I had never worked with tamarind before, and I didn’t recall ever having tasted tamarind before, so I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to mix it into a whiskey sour. Therefore, my first step was to break the seal on the jar of tamarind concentrate and taste it. Despite my girl friend’s assurances that it was sweet, and the jar’s assertions that it was “intensely sweet- sour,” the tamarind concentrate was overwhelmingly tart. But I could work with that!

From my past experiments with sours, I knew that the standard sour recipe was two parts spirit, one part sour, and one part sweet. Usually I use lemon juice as the sour in my whiskey sour, but I didn’t think I needed both that and the tamarind. And the tamarind was so tart, that I was going to dial that back to one half a part, especially since I could always add more tamarind if it wasn’t tart enough.

So I broke out my shaker and the last chunk of ice from my freezer. I measured four ounces of Buffalo Trace Bourbon, two ounces of simple syrup, and two tablespoons (one ounce) of tamarind concentrate into the shaker. I shook it over the sink until the metal top frosted over and then took a sip straight from the shaker to see if I needed to make any adjustments. It was surprisingly good just the way it was! A little thick because of the tamarind concentrate, but that would self-correct as the ice melted. So I poured a glass from the shaker, reported success to my girl friend, and moved on to the next task.

Tom Kha Gai/Chicken in Coconut Broth

The Tom Kha Gai recipe was the most complex of the three recipes that I was going to attempt for my Thai feast, so I decided to start that one first. I am not sure where my recipe comes from or how much I adapted it from the source, but it is very good despite being very odd.

The most challenging part of the recipe is making the cilantro paste that is simmered with the coconut milk. There are a lot of raw ingredients that go into the paste! Raw cilantro, raw ginger, raw garlic cloves, raw chile peppers. Fortunately, the paste gets strained out of the coconut milk as the coconut milk is added to the broth, so I was able to throw in the whole bunch of cilantro, leaves and stems and all. I was tempted to use “dirty” ginger – ginger with its skin on – but I only had that thought after I was almost done peeling the ginger so I finished the work. And I didn’t have lemongrass oil to lubricate the mixture with, so I used regular vegetable oil and a few generous squeezes from the tube of lemongrass paste.

Tom Kha Gai required two pots going at the same time. I had two cans of light coconut milk simmering with one-half cup of the cilantro paste in a pot on the back burner while I was sautéing bell peppers and sweet onions in a separate pot on the front burner. I added four cups of chicken broth (that’s all I had) to the vegetables, brought that to a boil, and then added the chicken. After the broth, vegetables, and chicken had simmered for a bit, I poured the coconut milk mixture through a strainer into that pot. It really didn’t seem like a lot of coconut milk! But I kept stirring the solids in the strainer to ensure that all the coconut milk made it through. Once the coconut milk was in the pot, it was just a matter of adding two or three more ingredients and simmering for a few more minutes to blend the flavors.

Of course, my Tom Kha Gai was bright green, very much unlike the milky white soup found in Thai restuarants. But the soup was so flavorful! Unfortunately, it was so hot that I kept burning my mouth because I didn’t want to wait to eat it.

Chicken With Basil

When I lived on the West Coast, my then-boyfriend and I used to go out to a small Thai restaurant and order the same thing on a regular basis. In fact, we were so consistent during my West Coast residence that, when I returned for a visit after a one-year absence, the waitress simply looked at us, recited our usual order, and asked us how we had been. Thai Café Noodles, which was basically chicken with basil and wide rice noodles, was part of our regular order and probably my favorite part of the meal.

When I moved back to the East Coast and got my own kitchen, one of the first things I learned was how to make Chicken with Basil. I haven’t made it in years, so I was surprised by how simple the recipe is. Most of the work is in organizing the ingredients and cutting up the chicken and vegetables for cooking. Otherwise, it is a very quick and basic stir-fry. The only sauce it uses is Thai fish sauce; the bottles that I have in my kitchen are clearly labeled gluten free.

I was a little disappointed by Chicken with Basil. It was very good, but just not what I like to order at the restaurant. I like my dish spicier and with more basil flavor. I followed the recipe exactly, so I only put in 15 or 16 basil leaves. I should have put in a lot more to saturate the dish with more basil flavor. Also, since there were only two little chile peppers in the dish, there was almost no spice to it. I should have broken out the red pepper flakes and dowsed the pan with it. But now that I know, I can always add more basil and red pepper flakes to my bowl when I’m reheating leftovers.

Panang Curry With Chicken

It was 9pm by the time I finished cooking the Chicken with Basil, and I was feeling more like reading a cookbook than working from one, so I decided to postpone my adventure with the Panang Curry with Chicken until lunch time the next afternoon.

Panang Curry with Chicken is another relatively simple dish, even though it requires a wok and a second skillet. In the wok, crushed garlic and red curry paste are sautéed together. Then the chicken is added and cooked until almost all white, and then the coconut milk is added. I used light coconut milk; however, I did notice the difference and I kind of wished that I had used the full fat coconut milk.

While the chicken was simmering in the wok with the curry paste and the coconut milk, I broke out my bright blue cast iron skillet to sauté the vegetables. I started with the garlic and onions, then added red and green bell pepper cubes, and then added sliced white button mushrooms. Once the mushrooms started cooking down, I emptied the jar of the red curry paste – a wee bit more than the required one tablespoon – into the pan and stirred to coat the vegetables. After the mushrooms had softened and cooked completely, I scraped the pan of vegetables into the pan with the chicken and stirred to coat the vegetables with the coconut milk. I also added a well-drained can of Chinese baby corn, which is just plain fun stuff. I let that simmer for a few more minutes for the flavors to blend before serving two ladles over some steamed jasmine rice.

The Panang Curry with Chicken was good, although not as good as I remembered it to be. Because I used the light coconut milk, the sauce was on the thin side and lacked a strong coconut undertone. Also, the curry was very mild, despite my being generous with my tablespoon measurements. That is probably because the red curry paste was of an indeterminate age. But at least my girl friend out West and I determined that this was also a gluten free meal: the red curry paste container was labeled gluten free, the Thai fish sauce bottle was labeled gluten free, and all the other ingredients were either meat or vegetables.

The Verdict

I did enjoy my impromptu Thai feast, and will likely be enjoying the dishes as leftovers for several more days to come. I am super grateful to my girl friend for the suggestion!

It was interesting to note, though, that my two favorite chicken dishes were no where near as spicy as I would like them to be served at a restaurant. But when it comes to preparing recipes, it is better than they end up underseasoned so that they can be adapted on the fly. It is very difficult to recover from having overseasoned a dish, despite the cooks’ secret tricks.

The Recipes

Tom Kha Gai/Chicken in Coconut Broth
This soup is an odd pale green, but almost as good as the stuff in the local restaurants

1 bunch fresh cilantro, well washed, ends trimmed, dead leaves removed
¼ cup + 2 tbsp lemongrass oil
4-6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2-3” fresh ginger, peeled and diced
1 tsp ground white pepper
3+2 serrano chiles, seeded, sliced, divided
2 14oz cans coconut milk (lite is okay)
1 sweet onion, sliced thinly
2 green peppers, seeded and sliced thinly
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
½ - 1 lb chicken breast, thinly sliced
¼ cup fish sauce
1 15oz can straw mushrooms, well drained

1. Puree cilantro and ¼ cup lemongrass oil to a smooth paste in a food processor.
2. Add garlic and ginger. Puree until fully incorporated into the paste.
3. Add 3 sliced serrano chiles and white pepper. Puree until fully incorporated into the paste.
4. Set cilantro paste aside. It will keep in the refrigerator for a reasonable time, and keep in the freezer relatively well afterward.
5. Pour coconut milk (including solids) into a small pot. Stir in ½ cup cilantro paste. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook 15-20 minutes (long enough to reach step 8), stir occasionally.
6. In a large soup pot over medium heat, heat remaining 2 tbsp lemongrass oil. Stir fry onion, green pepper, and remaining 2 sliced serrano chiles until onion is translucent.
7. Add broth and bring to a boil.
8. Add sliced chicken and cook for approximately 5 minutes.
9. Slowly pour the hot coconut mixture through a sieve into the broth. Stir and press solids into the sieve periodically to extract as much liquids as possible. Discard the cilantro paste.
10. Add straw mushrooms, fish sauce, and remaining 1 tbsp cilantro paste. Simmer approximately an additional 5 minutes to ensure chicken will completely cooked.

♥ Don’t use dried cilantro, jarred garlic or jarred ginger. The real raw stuff is what gives the paste its special zing.
♥ Semi-frozen chicken breast is best. These will slice thinly enough to cook quickly in the hot soup. Too frozen hard will be difficult to cut through.
♥ Once the paste is made, the ratio is based on 1 can of coconut milk. For every one can of coconut milk, use ¼ cup cilantro paste, 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth, and an additional ½ tablespoon cilantro paste.
♥ Extra cilantro paste makes an excellent marinade for beef. Coat the beef with the paste, let it set for 10-15 minutes and sear it on a high heat grill.

Chicken with Basil
I learned this recipe so I wouldn’t be dependent on restaurants for one of my favorites. It’s okay to toss in peppers, baby corn, water chestnuts, and what ever other Asian style vegetables.

4 tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb boneless chicken breast
1 small red onion, sliced
8 oz pkg sliced mushrooms
2 fresh chile peppers, sliced
15 fresh sweet basil leaves
3 tbsp Thai fish sauce
1 tsp sugar

1. Remove excess skin and fat from chicken. Cut into 1" cubes.
2. Heat oil in wok over high heat. Stir-fry garlic and chicken for 2 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients and stir-fry for 2 minutes, or until chicken is well cooked.

Panang Curry Chicken with Vegetables
Another Thai restaurant favorite with a reasonable list of easy to find ingredients

2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp red curry paste
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp crushed garlic (optional)
4 cloves garlic, smashed
½ bell pepper, cut in cubes
2 carrots, sliced round
4-5 white mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
3 chicken breasts (~1½ lb)
14 oz can coconut milk

1. Clean chicken and cut into strips lengthwise. Set aside.
2. In wok, heat 1 tbsp oil on medium heat. Saute 1 tbsp curry paste and 1 tsp crushed garlic.
3. Add chicken and fish sauce. Stir fry until chicken is kind of white, about 1 minute.
4. Add coconut milk. Stir well to melt milk solids. Simmer uncovered on low heat while preparing vegetables. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking, scalding, burning, and other catastrophes.
5. In separate skillet, heat remaining 1 tbsp oil on medium heat. Sauté remaining 1 tsp crushed garlic until fragrant.
6. Add smashed garlic and onions. Sauté until translucent. Do not brown. Add carrots. Sauté to soften. Add peppers, mushrooms and remaining 1 tbsp curry paste. Stir-fry until all vegetables are coated with curry paste and mushrooms are soft.
7. Add contents of skillet to wok with chicken. Mix well. Simmer uncovered until reasonably thick, stirring occasionally for the usual reasons.

♥ Best served with white rice and either white wine or Thai iced coffee. If you save the leftovers of your "morning" coffee in the refrigerator, and then serve over ice with sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk), it tastes just like Thai iced coffee.
♥ To have less sauce, increase quantity of chicken and/or vegetables. To make less spicy, don't add curry paste to vegetable mixture.
♥ A very successful variation was made by starting at Step 5 with thin cubes of peeled fresh pumpkin. When the pumpkin is translucent around the edges, complete Step 6 by adding smashed garlic, sliced onion, cubed red pepper, some thin strips of fresh chile and curry. Go back to Step #4, and simmer uncovered until reasonably thick. Toss in a handful of cashews before serving.