Thai Style Stir Fry Chicken With Basil & Tomatoes

This is one of the most stir fry chicken dish opted to cook in my kitchen. It has slightly sharp flavor. It hot, sweet and sour with a hint of taste of basil. .

Ingredients:
300g ground chicken
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 or 2 birds eye red chili, chopped
1½ tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
4 tbsp tamarind puree
½ squeeze of lime juice
4 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp red curry paste
20pcs red cherry tomatoes, halves
1 handful of Asean basil leaves
1 spring onion, chopped
grape seed oil or vegetable oil

Preparations:

1. Combine the sugar, tamarind puree, lime juice in mix bowl, still well until the sugar begin to dissolve in the liquid.

2. Heat the with 3 tbsp of cooking oil. When the oil is hot. Add the garlic then followed by curry paste. Stir fry over medium heat until fragrant. Add the chicken and stir fry until lightly cook.

3. Add the mix tamarind puree and stir, then followed by chili and stir once again.

4. Add the fish sauce and stir fry for a few seconds. Then cover with a lid and cooked until the chicken is totally cook for about 5 minutes.

5.Add the spring onion, tomatoes. Stir or stir the pan using your hands. Then stir with the basil leaves. Taste, then adjust the seasoning or add more fish sauce if desired.

6. Spoon into a serving dish and serve with plenty of rice.

Thai Chicken Red Curry

This coconut milk based red curry paste make an irresistible sauce. Flavored with both fresh and dried kaffir lime leaves it is a harmonious chicken dish with carrot, potato and mushroom. Finish the cooking with the addition of fish sauce to taste and serve with steamed fragrant rice. We just love to eat this curry dish along with fresh, spicy and sweet lime juice is made of lime juice, garlic, chili, sugar, fish sauce and chopped coriander. And to cut the creaminess of coconut sauce.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken cut into pieces
200g button white mushrooms
200g potato cut into cubes
1 medium carrot cut into cubes
5 or 7 tbsp red curry paste
3 cups coconut milk
5 tbsp fish sauce
1 lime juice

12 fresh or dry lime kaffir leaves
3 red chilies
cooking oil
2 tbsp sugar or palm sugar if any
Preparation:

1. Put the coconut milk in casserole pan or wok and simmer over medium heat.

2. Meanwhile heat the pan with 2 tbsp cooking oil and fry the chicken and working with batches into pan until skin turns brown on both sides just enough to crisp the outer skin of the chicken.

3. Then fry the potato, mushrooms and carrot into pan and until start to brown, set aside.

4. When the coconut milk start its boiling. Add the red curry paste, sugar, lime juice, fish sauce.

5. Stir well to combine the flavor or until red oil comes to the surface. 

6. Add the chicken and sauteed carrot, mushrooms, potato.

7. Follow by lime leaves, chilies into the pan.

8. Cover with the lid bring to a boil until the chicken is fully cooked. By the way adjust the heat into medium low heat.

9. Turn off the gas, taste then adjust the seasoning if necessary. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with fresh chopped coriander.
Thai Red Curry Paste
4 dried long red chilies
10 fresh small red chilies
2 lemon grass stalks,
1 inches galangal,
1 teaspoon finely chopped lime kaffir leaves
5 garlic cloves, chopped
5 shallots, chopped
6 coriander roots, chopped
2 teaspoon Thai shrimp paste
Blend all together in food processor or mortal and pestle until the ingredients forms a smooth paste. Refrigerate or freeze and use as required. To avoid thawing the whole quantity, freezing could be done in small packs required for one use each. Note: Just double the quantity of the ingredients to make extra curry paste.

Stir-Fry Vegetables With Chicken

This colorful nutritious blend of crisp-tender vegetables requires a fair amount of chopping, but the cooking takes only minutes. It was simplest recipe to cook; all that is needed is to choose a lot of fresh vegetables, add some basic protein and it is great for healthy balanced meal.
Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, chopped coarsely
1 medium size red onion, cut into cubes
half portion of skinless chicken breast, cut into cubes
80g red bell peppers, roughly chopped or cut into cubes
80g asparagus, cut into one-inch lengths
400g yellow cauliflower, separated into small florets
120g mokum carrot, sliced ¼  diagonally
100g white button mushrooms, halved
75ml chicken broth
1 tbsp plain flour mix in water
1-2 tbsp grapeseed oil
salt and black ground pepper to taste
fish sauce
Preparation:

1. Heat 1-2 tbsp of the oil in wok on medium-high heat. Saute garlic until just fragrant then add the chicken and stir fry until slightly cooked, add the onion and stir for a minutes. 

2. Add the chopped vegetables; stir fry for a minute.

3. Add the broth into the vegetables.

4. Season with salt and ground black pepper.

5. Add the fish sauce and stir again for a seconds.

6. Cover with lid and bring to boil on medium heat and simmer until vegetables are tender-crisp and not over cooked.

7. Pour the flour mixture to the vegetables.

8. Stirring constantly to avoid over-toasting. Taste and adjust salt or msg as needed. Transfer to a warmed serving dish and serve over rice, if desired. 

Paella De Pollo Con Romero

Ultimate delicious and easy Spanish chicken paella dish (Chicken paella with rosemary) Serve 4 as a main course.
Ingredients:
4-5 boneless chicken thigh, cut into halves
350g De Cecco riso arborio (rice) wash and drain
1.2 litre boiling chicken stock
3 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped
1 medium size red Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
1 medium  size pimiento or red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
320g or 3 medium size tomatoes, coarsely chooped
2 laurel or dry bay leaves
1 tsp azafrán de la mancha (saffron)
1 tbsp hot paprika, I prefer (Ambroisa)
½ tsp Ambroisa paella mix, added some colour and flavor (if available and preferable)
1 tbsp olive oil
2-3 fresh spring rosemary
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
freshly ground black pepper
salt
Preparation:

1. Marinate the chicken with chopped parsley, salt and ground pepper, leave at least 30 minutes, preferably longer on the fridge. 

2. Heat the paella copper pan or any heavy gauge paella pan over medium heat. Add only 1 tbsp olive oil, fry the chicken and skin side down its juices became the oily pool and cooked in its own fat.

3. Fry the chicken thighs 8 minutes per side or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and crisp. Remove the chicken from the pan and place on a large plate with wire rack or paper towels and drain the excess oil. Set aside.

4. On the same pan sauté garlic until fragrant, add onion and stir until the onion is translucent. Stir with pimientos and sauté for a 1 minute, then add the tomatoes and bay leaves. 

5. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly until tomatoes are softened and caramelizes a bit and the flavors meld.

6. Add the rice into the pan.

7. Stir well to coat the rice.

8. Add 6 ladle spoon of boiling chicken stock.

9. And stir for a few seconds.

10. Add the paprika, saffron, paella mix, pinch of ground black pepper and season with salt. Taste and adjust seasoning (you might have to add more salt.

11. Add fresh rosemary and more chicken stock.

12. Stir well again until totally mix all the ingredients blended with the rice, you almost can smell it the aromatic flavor of rosemary and spice. Cover with lid and bring to a boil for 10-15 minutes. Stirring occasionally so that it does not burn on bottom of pan.

13. After 10-15 minutes when the rice evenly and absorbs the liquid. Add the remaining stock and stir.

14. Place the chicken thighs on top of the paella rice mixture.

15. Reduce the heat to low, cover again and cook for a further 10 minutes until rice is tender but al dente and all the stock is absorbed.

16.  When the paella is cooked, turn off the heat and rest for a few minutes.

17. Place paella at the table.

18. And serve with lemon wedges if desired.

Chicken Tinola

Anyone knows what is Tinola, this dish is so popular because of the abundance of sayote in the Philippines. Here in Taiwan you can find sayote in most food stall vegetable markets. This is basically chicken pot soup recipe comes from my childhood and every family home has its own version. It contains meat and vegetable and the aromatic fragrant, concentrated flavor of ginger, all cooked together in one savory dish and perfect for a cooler day or cold evening.
Ingredients:
½ kilo free range chicken, any chicken available
100g ginger, peel and sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 pcs sayote-chayote or green papaya
2 tbsp grapeseed oil or veg. oil
1 chicken cube
1.2 liter of water
fish sauce
salt and pepper
a dash of msg
Preparation:

1. To start, in a 26cm cast iron stock pot, heat oil and saute garlic, ginger and stir until lightly brown. Then add the pepper and stir for a few second then pour in 2 tbsp (fish sauce) patis. 

2. When all saute ingredients aroma comes out, add the chicken and stir until  the chicken turn slightly cook.

3. Then add more fish sauce for about 3 tbsp, stir occasionally, letting the chicken absorb the fish sauce.

4. Drop the chicken cube and stir for a few minutes.

5. Pour the water into the pot, cover and simmer for 20 minutes on medium heat. Because I'm using cast iron cookware it doesn't take longer to boil and simmer the chicken soup.

6. While the broth is simmering with the chicken. Peel off skin, cut in half and remove seed then cut in large diagonally pieces or chop the sayote you’d like in your soup. For optional; You can chop your sayote before you start cooking.

7. Skim off excess oil floating on top. (optional) Since it was free range chicken I keep that chicken oil on my soup for extra flavor. Add sayote and continue to simmer for an additional 5 minutes or until sayote softens but not overcooked. Season with salt and I add more coarsely ground pepper and a dash of msg. You can add some vegetable leaves if you like.

8. When its cooked, turn off the heat and serve hot over rice. I loved to serve this delicious chicken soup with  calamansi and  fish sauce mixture to dip in the meat and sayote.