Chicken Stir-Fried with Lemongrass and Chile

This dish I first tried in my favourite Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Hung in Mississauga, and it quickly became my favourite Vietnamese dish. This recipe comes from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors by Andrea Nguyen; I was excited to see how it compared to Pho Hung's dish. The key to this recipe is the curry; use the Madras curry if you can get it, I used something from Japan called Oriental curry, and, while it had similar ingredients, it wasn't spicy enough - at least, that is what I like about this dish. We also added too much coconut milk; you need to "dry it out" in order to get the right consistency. But, still, it tasted similar in a lot of ways, and I'm glad to have another dish I can prepare myself. The second time I tried making it, I used some Madras Curry, as I finally found some, at this Chinese supermarket, I also used a more reasonable amount of coconut milk, and it tasted very much better, more spicy but not hot. We also found out, in talking to one Vietnamese restaurant manager, that this recipe is Chinese-Vietnamese, you would not find it on a strictly Vietnamese menu.

Chicken Stir-Fried with Lemongrass and Chile
1-1/3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, well trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons Madras curry powder
2-1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)
1 or 2 Thai chiles, finely chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, trimmed and finely chopped (about 3 tablespoons)
1/2 cup coconut milk, canned or freshly made
3 or 4 sprigs cilantro, coarsely chopped, as garnish
Thai Jasmine rice

In a bowl, combine the chicken, salt, sugar, curry power, and fish sauce and turn several times to coat the chicken evenly. Set aside to marinate at room temperature for at least 15 minutes or for up to 1 hour.

In a wok or large heavy-bottomed skillet, heat the oil over high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the shallots, chiles, and lemongrass and stir-fry for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add the chicken and the bell pepper; stir quickly to mix. Stir-fry the chicken for about 2 minutes, until they are nicely browned on all sides.

Add the coconut milk, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even cooking. Cook till the coconut milk is reduced and barely visible. Garnish with the cilantro and serve with Thai Jasmine rice.

Fresh Vietnamese-Style Spring Rolls

This is what I would call a Vietnamese sandwich, you take what you have on hand, cut it up into small pieces, and assemble your Spring Roll. We understand this is not a traditional recipe, but it has Vietnamese flavours. Vietnamese ham is mostly flour and pork, but still tasty. Sawtooth coriander has long broad leaves. The rice paper wrappers we use are from Vietnam, are square (you can get round ones), and are called Banh Trang.

Fresh Vietnamese-Style Spring Rolls
rice paper wrappers
lettuce leaves, washed
coriander leaves, washed
sawtooth coriander, washed
mint leaves, washed
avocado, peeled and sliced
field cucumbers, washed and sliced
fried puffy tofu, sliced
Vietnamese ham, sliced
roast chicken, sliced

To soften the rice paper wrapper, fill a large bowl with warm water; dunk in the rice paper wrapper and let it soften for about a minute; you'll have to first dunk one edge, then another - as the rice paper softens, you can eventually put it all into the water.

Lay the wrapper carefully on your plate. Place a lettuce leaf on the wrapper. Put some Vietnamese ham, some chicken, some tofu, cucumber, a few coriander, sawtooth coriander and mint leaves and an avocado slice (or any combination of these) on the lettuce leaf and fold up, enclosing the filling in a neat little roll (to do this, fold the edge closest to you, then the two sides, then roll away from you).

Everday Daikon and Carrot Pickle

Part of nearly every Vietnamese dish, at least the ones that aren't soup, are long strips of white and orange, with a tang, and you might have wondered what it was (I know my best friend enjoys those whenever we eat Vietnamese food), and perhaps how to make it. It turns out that it is quite simple to make and enjoy. I would say you could even make it more colourful, by using yellow or purple carrots. We've used it now for several dishes, it shouldn't last that long in your refrigerator.

Everday Daikon and Carrot Pickle
From Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors
Makes about 3 cups
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thick matchsticks
1 pound daikons, each no larger than 2 inches in diameter, peeled and cut into thick matchsticks
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons plus 1/2 cup sugar
1-1/4 cups distilled white vinegar
1 cup lukewarm water

Place the carrot and daikons in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt and 2 teaspoons of the sugar. Use your hands to knead the vegetables for about 3 minutes, expelling the water from them. They will soften and liquid will pool at the bottom of the bowl. Stop kneading when you can bend a piece of daikon so that the ends touch but the daikon does not break. The vegetables should have lost about one-fourth of their volume. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water, then press gently to expel extra water. Return the vegetables to the bowl if you plan to eat them soon, or transfer them to a 1-quart jar for longer storage.

To make the brine, in a bowl, combine the 1/2 cup sugar, the vinegar, and the water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Pour over the vegetables. The brine should cover the vegetables. Let the vegetables marinate in the brine for at least 1 hour before eating. They will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks. Beyond that point, they get tired.

Khanom Phing, or Soften Cookies

I had to work quick to write about these, as you can see, half of them have been eaten. By my beautiful Bride. Called khanom phing in Thailand, they translate as Soften Cookie from the Vietnamese (where these particular ones are made) - ok, I wouldn't translate them as that, more like sweet meltaways. They come in coconut flavour, which are white, and durian flavour, which are yellow. So, these are durian flavour.

Popping them in your mouth, they melt immediately. You can smell the durian flavour as you open the, admittedly cheap but cute, bear container, but they don't really taste like durian, and certainly these are mostly sugar with a little tapioca starch.

Vietnamese Dessert

We bought this at a Chinese supermarket, a Vietnamese dessert, with longan, red date, pearl barley, seaweed strips, chestnut and lotus seed, in sweet longan syrup. We don't know what its name is, but it tastes good!

Bibica Creamy Durian Cream Biscuits

These cookies from Vietnam taste very much like durian, and are not overly sweet, nor is the durian overwhelming. We found them in a local Chinese supermarket.

I suspect that they are just as "good" as North American cookies, and the durian within is artificial, though I doubt that this kind of cookie, a creme sandwich, would do well with real fruit.

Tonight's Dinner

My beautiful Bride made another wonderful meal tonight. Delicious! Sorry, no recipe today, but I'll see if I can make one.

She wanted to make a Thai vegetarian Spring Roll for a while, these were filled with chopped vegetables and black fungus.

This is a variation on a Vietnamese Bun Thang, with vegetarian shrimp on sugar cane and Vietnamese Ham, bean sprouts, pickled carrots and daikon, mint and coriander, and vermicelli noodles.