Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Khao Phat Muu (Thai-style Fried Rice with Pork)

(from Andy Ricker's Pok Pok)

I love fried rice. I guess I love a lot of rice-based dishes - paella, risotto, etc.; I find them comforting and hearty and delicious. If you're not going to make pasta, you might as well go for rice! Yep, this gal loves her carbs.

This is another great, pretty simple recipe from Andy Ricker's Pok Pok; Joef is, once again, the person to thank for cooking this up. Like all of the recipes in this cookbook, the results are far better than anything you could order at (most) restaurants, and definitely better than delivery. Once you get over the slightly odd ingredient list (most of the ingredients repeat from other recipes in the book, so once you've stocked up once, you have a lot of options open up for you), it cooks quickly and easily.

So, for ONE (just double it and cook all at once for two people, or make it twice for extra-freshness):

1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
1 tsp Thai thin soy sauce
1 tsp granulated sugar
Pinch ground white pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large egg, room temp
1/4 cup peeled small shallots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced with the grain
1 tbsp peeled garlic cloves, halved lengthwise and lightly crushed in a mortar
4 oz boneless pork shoulder, sliced against the grain into 1/8-inch-thick, bite-size pieces
2 cups cooked Jasmine rice (day-old is best, fresh is fine)
2 tbsp thinly sliced green onions, lightly packed
1 tbsp coarsely chopped cilantro, lightly packed
Lime wedges and cucumber slices, optional, for serving

Combine the fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and pepper in a small bowl and stir well.

Heat a wok over very high heat, add the oil, and swirl it around in the wok, coating the sides of the wok. Crack in the egg when the oil starts to smoke, and cook without touching it until all but the center of the egg has set, about 15 seconds. Flip the egg and push it aside. .

Add the shallots and garlic and cook and stir them (but not the egg), until lightly browned, about 1 minute.

Add the pork, stir everything together well, and stir-fry - constantly stir, scoop, flip - until the pork is no longer pink on the outside.

Add the rice and stir-fry that with everything else, breaking up the egg a bit, for about 30 seconds. Add the fish sauce mixture, and stir-fry until the pork is just cooked through..

Turn off the heat and stir in 2 tbsp of green onions. Plate and sprinkle with remaining green onions, cilantro, and cucumber and lime if using.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao (Stir-Fried Chicken with Hot Basil)

(from Andy Ricker's Pok Pok)

Joef is our resident chef these days, and his favorite cookbook is Pok Pok, which has the most amazing Thai recipes. He's made this one a few times - it's relatively simple, and super-satisfying and delicious.

We haven't yet been able to find actual "hot basil", or "holy basil", which apparently has a different flavor and aroma that Ricker describes as "essential". No, not even Berkeley Bowl has it! Instead, we've used Thai basil and Persian basil, both of which arguably are not the right ingredient, but have worked just fine.

As with the other Thai recipes in this cookbook, the ingredients can seem tricky. But what we've found is that they repeat, so if you can find them and create a little larder for yourself, you can dive into a lot of other recipes very easily, making it a pretty accessible undertaking.

The recipe below is for one - we always double it and cook it all in one batch to serve two. Best to have all the ingredients prepped and ready to go, because it moves very quickly once you start cooking.

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
2 tsp Thai black soy sauce
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp garlic, crushed in a mortar
5 oz ground chicken
1/4 cup long beans, cut crosswise into 1/8-inch slices
1/4 cup peeled yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 fresh Thai red chiles, thinly sliced
3-4 dried Thai chiles, fried (pretty sure we don't fry them), and coarsely crumbled
1 cup hot basil leaves
Jasmine rice

Start by cooking the egg: heat a wok over very high heat, add the oil, and swirl the oil around in the wok, coating the sides. When it starts to smoke lightly, crack in the egg and cook it for about 5 seconds - the whites will bubble and puff, and the whole thing will sizzle. Lower the heat to medium and cook the egg, tipping the pan and covering the egg with the oil, until it's golden at the edges and cooked to your liking. Turn off the heat, and remove the egg to a paper towel, keeping the oil in the wok.

Next, combine the sugar, fish sauce, and soy sauce in a small bowl and stir to combine. Heat up the wok again on high. When it smokes lightly, add the garlic and take the wok off the heat. Let the garlic sizzle and stir it often until it's light golden brown, about 30 seconds.

Return the wok to the hat. Add the chicken, long beans, onions, and fresh chiles. Stir fry the ingredients (flip, stir, etc. constantly), and break up the chicken until it has just cooked through - about 1 minute.

Add the dried chiles and the fish sauce mixture and stir fry until the meat absorbs the liquid, about another minute. Turn off the heat.

When you're just about ready to serve, turn the heat back to high, and add the basil till it has wilted.

Serve with rice and fried egg!