Thai Basil Chicken and Red-Cooked Chinese Eggplant

I love Chinese supermarkets. The meat, seafood and produce are soooo cheap (not to mention all the Asian ingredients that would be otherwise super hard to find or super expensive). I got the ingredients to make this dinner for four people for about 20 bucks, and I still have leftover Thai basil and Thai bird’s eye chiles (which were like two dollars for fifty of them).

In this recipe, the basic but assertively aromatic and spicy Thai flavors of fish sauce, basil and chiles come together to make a ground chicken dish to complement jasmine rice. For a vegetable side with a bit more sauce to go with the rice, I picked out a Shanghainese recipe from rockstar chef Danny Bowien (of the Mission Chinese Food restaurants). He uses traditional (spicy bean paste, dark soy sauce, ginger) and nontraditional ingredients (anchovies, chiles de arbol) in this preparation that yields soft but not mushy eggplant in a fragrant, dark red-brown sauce packed with salty, savory flavor.

Thai Basil Chicken

Total Time: 45 min

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, tightly packed (use Thai basil with the purple stems, if you can find it)
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 6 Thai chiles, or 2 serranos, stemmed
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or peanut oil

Method

• Pulse 1 cup basil leaves, garlic and chiles in food processor until finely chopped. Transfer 1 tablespoon of this mixture to a small bowl and add 1 tablespoon of the fish sauce, the oyster sauce, sugar and vinegar, stirring to combine. Set aside. Transfer remaining basil mixture to a heavy skillet or wok
• Pulse chicken and remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce in food processor until meat is chopped finely. Transfer chicken to medium bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes
• Stir shallots and oil into basil mixture in skillet. Heat mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until shallots are golden brown, 5-8 minutes
• Add chicken, stirring to break up pieces, until little to no pinkness remains, 2-4 minutes. Add reserved basil-fish sauce mixture and cook for another 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in remaining 1 cup basil leaves and cook until wilted, another 1 minute. Serve immediately, passing extra fish sauce, sugar and vinegar at the table

Red-Cooked Chinese Eggplant

Total Time: 45 min.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 5 Chinese eggplant, quartered lengthwise, cut into 3″ pieces
• 3 cups canola oil
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Chinese chili bean paste
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 oil-packed anchovy filet, finely chopped
• 1 sachet of spices (5 whole cloves, 4 whole star anise, 2 pods black cardamom, one 4″ strip peeled orange zest, and 1 stick cinnamon, halved, wrapped in cheesecloth and tied with kitchen twine)
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1½ teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns, crushed
• 1½ teaspoon dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 2 chiles de arbol, stemmed
• 2 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine
• 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, mashed
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped scallions, green parts only

Method

• Submerge eggplant in a bowl filled with ice water for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in a 14″ flat-bottomed wok over medium-high heat. Drain eggplant, dry thoroughly with paper towels, and add all to the oil. Cook until just soft and golden, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer eggplant to a bowl, cover with boiling water, and let sit for 3 minutes. Drain; dry with paper towels
• Discard all but ¼ cup oil in wok; return to medium heat. Add sugar; stir until sugar dissolves and mixture looks like separated peanut butter. Add 1 tbsp. chili paste, tomato paste, bay leaf, and anchovy; cook for 1 minute. Add sachet of spices, stock, 1 tsp. peppercorns, dark soy sauce, fennel seeds, and chiles; boil. Cook until reduced by half, about 15 minutes; discard bouquet garni. Add remaining chili paste, wine, fish sauce, and garlic; cook for 1 minute. Add eggplant; fold into sauce. Transfer to a plate; garnish with remaining peppercorns and scallions

Shrimp (and Kale, and Bread) on the Barbie

When I’m cooking multiple dishes to be served as part of one meal, I like being able to oversee all them at once. It saves a lot of frantic energy to not have to run from stovetop to oven to grill, etc. So tonight, I felt like doing all three elements of dinner (protein, vegetable and starch) on the grill. Not only was it easy to supervise everything at once, but the common cooking method meant that each element had that similar smoky, grilled flavor, so everything complemented everything else.

On the menu: shrimp marinated in fish sauce and turmeric, grilled and served with a raw dipping sauce of lime, cilantro, garlic, ginger, chiles (typical Southeast Asian flavors, basically). It was bright, just spicy enough and complemented the lightly charred shrimp perfectly. To go with, kale that had been blanched, tossed with a garlic-chile oil, then grilled and tossed with lemon vinaigrette and, to ensure the dish’s success, crispy bacon lardons! Lastly, I made some thin cuts of sourdough batard, brushed them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and threw them on the grill with everything else, till they were nicely crispy and grill-marked, but still a little chewy in the middle. Healthy, tasty and ready in about an hour. What’s not to like?

Grilled Shrimp with Southeast Asian Dipping Sauce

Adapted from a recipe by Bon Appetit

Total Time: 50 min. (20 min. active)

Yields: 3 servings

Ingredients

• 18 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 6 tablespoons fish sauce (such as nuoc nam or nam pla), divided
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 30 cilantro sprigs, chopped
• 4 Fresno chiles (or other fresh red chile), stemmed
• 8 garlic cloves
• 2 1″ pieces ginger, peeled
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar

Method

• Combine shrimp, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 tablespoons oil, and turmeric in a large bowl; toss to coat. Let stand for 30 minutes, then thread shrimp onto skewers

• Purée 4 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 tablespoons oil, cilantro, and remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor until a coarse mixture forms; transfer dipping sauce to a small bowl and set aside

• Build a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill, or heat a gas grill to high. Shake excess liquid from shrimp and place shrimp on grill. Cook, turning once, until shrimp are charred and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Serve immediately with sauce

Grilled Kale with Garlic, Chiles and Bacon

Recipe from Food & Wine

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yields: 3 servings

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale, thick stems cut out
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 1 Fresno chile (or other fresh red chile), thinly sliced
• Salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 thick slices of bacon, cut into lardons
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Method

• In a large pot of boiling salted water, blanch the kale until it is just tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and lightly squeeze out the excess water. Blot the kale dry and transfer to a bowl. Add the vegetable oil, garlic and chile, season with salt and pepper and toss well to coat

• In a small skillet, cook the bacon over moderate heat, stirring, until crisp, 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels

• Light a grill on high heat. Grill the kale on a perforated grill pan, tossing occasionally, for about 6 minutes

• Transfer the kale to a bowl and immediately toss with the bacon, olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice; season with salt and serve immediately

 

Caramelized Ginger Chicken with Sticky Rice and Scallion Oil

I get annoyed when you’re reading a food magazine or a cookbook and the picture of the food looks amazing, but when you make the dish (even if you follow the recipe exactly) it looks nothing like the picture. I like my food to look good. I love the golden brown of a perfect chicken thigh; the perfectly defined black grill marks contrasting against the bright flesh of a yellow peach; the unctuous woven basket of a mound of Chinese noodles. Usually, when food looks good, it tastes good, too, as many of the features that we find aesthetically pleasing about food also serve as symbols that the food was properly cooked (if a piece of chicken has pale yellow, rubbery looking skin, that doesn’t exactly bode well for its taste). So I was both a bit annoyed and a bit worried when the chicken I made looked a bit pale and lifeless, nothing like the glossy, burnished chicken leg in the magazine I got the recipe from.

Sometimes, though, a recipe will surprise me and I get reminded that looks will always be second to flavor where food is concerned (especially where comfort foods are concerned). The chicken was tender and flavorful, getting a nice saline flavor from fish sauce and soy sauce, sweetened by brown sugar and honey, and cut with vinegar and chiles and tons of ginger, along with garlic, shallot and scallion oil. The thighs, which were roasted then finished in a pot with the sauce, was ladled over a soft, fluffy bed of sticky rice, mixed with more scallion oil. Sweet, spicy, and delicious.

Caramelized Ginger Chicken with Sticky Rice and Scallion Oil

Adapted from a recipe by Food & Wine

Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes (30 min active)

Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
• 4 whole chicken legs
•  1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 6 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 4 medium shallots, very finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
• 1/2 cup minced peeled fresh ginger
• 3 serrano chiles, very finely chopped
• 2  cups sushi rice
• Salt

Method

• In a large, shallow baking dish, stir 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar with 2 tablespoons of the fish sauce until the sugar is dissolved. Add the chicken legs and coat them thoroughly with the marinade. Let the chicken stand at room temperature for 2 hours or refrigerate overnight. Preheat the oven to 450°. Roast the chicken legs in the upper third of the oven for about 15 minutes, until they are browned

• In a small saucepan, heat the vegetable oil. Add the scallions and cook over high heat until they sizzle, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat

• Meanwhile, in a medium enameled cast-iron casserole, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of brown sugar with 1 tablespoon of water and cook over moderately high heat, stirring a few times, until bubbling, about 3 minutes. Gradually stir in 1 1/2 cups of water, then stir in the remaining 1/3 cup of fish sauce along with the soy sauce, vinegar, honey and half of the scallion oil. Bring to a boil and simmer over moderately high heat until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Add the shallots, garlic, ginger and chiles and simmer over moderately low heat for 5 minutes

• Discard the chicken skin and nestle the legs in the sauce in the casserole. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes, basting the chicken a few times, until cooked through; add a few tablespoons of water if the sauce gets too thick and dark

• Meanwhile, cook the sushi rice according to the package directions. Season with salt and  spoon the remaining scallion oil over, stirring gently. Serve the chicken with the sticky rice