Chicken in Green Curry

Chicken curry is one of my favorite dish mom would make. When I came across a recipe from a magazine that required green curry paste, I thought of giving it a shot and try something different. This version didn't require potatoes or carrots. It used bell peppers and fresh basil leaves. I thought of throwing some eggplants along the way. I didn't want it to waste and it would go well with the coconut milk.

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2 tbsps. cooking oil

2 eggplants, halved length-wise and sliced into 1" length

3 cups green beans, ends removed and halved cross-wise

1 medium onion, sliced

1 to 2 tbps. green curry paste, depending on how hot you want the dish to be

4 chicken breasts or 1 small chicken (about 800 grams), cut into pieces

1 1/2 cup coconut milk

1 to 1 1/2 cup chicken broth

1 cup torn basil leaves

2 tbsps. dayap or lime juice

salt

Saute onion  in oil until soft. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring and scraping bottom to prevent from burning. Continue to stir paste for about 4 minutes until it darkens. Toss in the chicken and stir until the outer layer browns. Pour 1 cup of chicken broth and 1 cup coconut milk and let it simmer until the chicken is fork-tender and cooked. Add 1/2 cup of the broth and 1/2 of the remaining coconut milk if needed. Add in vegetables and let it simmer until the eggplant is cooked. Season with salt. Add basil leaves and dayap juice. Serve hot with rice. 

Broiled Pork Belly

Mom loves lechon kawali and we would prepare this on special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas, or days when she wants to just treat herself. Unfortunately, as the years go by, she can't indulge on too much pork pleasures for health reasons. As we would remind her, preventive measures are better than just letting our indulges get in the way :). So this made me want to try the broiling approach over deep frying. So far, with my first attempt the skin came out cripy, the meat tender and moist. Taste wise, everyone liked it except for mom. She really doesn't care for spices like five spice power, which I used for this recipe. They think the marinade would be good on chicken too. Maybe will try this and let you know.

Ingredients:
1 kilo pork belly (with skin on, bones removed and with a thin layer of fat)
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2-3 tbsp. hoisin sauce
1 tsp. light soy sauce
a pinch of black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. five spice powder
2 tbsp. spicy brown mustard

Dry the pork well and pierce the skin mulitple times until the whole skin is full of holes or score the skin to be able to make sure the pork dries faster and it would easily crisp. Puncture parts of the meat to allow the marinade to get through the meat. Rub 1 tsp. salt on the skin of the pork.
Mix the rest of the ingredients well and rub on the flesh side of the pork. Avoid rubbing on the sides of the pork to avoid from burning. Air dry the pork for 8 hours or until overnight.
Preset the broiler to 200C and set the pork with skin side up. Line the broiler with a pan with water to catch the drippings and for easy cleaning afterwards. The skin will start to brown and "bubble". Broil for 10 minutes. Adjust the temperature to 190C and continue to broil for 1 hour. Let the meat rest for 10 - 15 minutes and slice into 1x1 1/2 inch. Serve this with hot rice.

The next time I will try broiling pork belly, I will try to remove the marinade and season the pork with just salt and pepper. My mom would perfer this one in my opinion.

Stuck to the Pot

I have been procrastinating in making dumplings for a few weeks now until I took the opportunity to really try my skills in making this simple dish.

Dumplings are distantly related to wantons because both may contain meat and vegetable fillings. However, the dumpling wrapper is thicker and oblate in shape and sealed by crimping the edges together making a closed crescent or purse. These are usually accompanied by a soy sauce-based sauce with and or chili paste. In cooking dumplings, they can be just steamed, boiled, pan or deep fried. Or a combination of these methods may be applied to get the desired texture and effect.

It is believed that dumplings symbolize prosperity and good fortune (legend says that a Chinese Imperial chef accidentally over cooked a batch of dumpling and slightly burned one side. He served it to the court and fortunate for him that they loved it). During Chinese New Year and grand celebrations, the Jiaozi is part of the menu. But it doesn't mean that one would have to wait for celebrations to be able to have a wonderful time savoring this appetizer. Just go to any Chinese, Japanese (they call their dumplings as Gyoza) or Korean (Mandu) restaurant and order.

The easy part in making this is store-bought dumpling wrapper. I could make some from scratch but currently, I don't have the patience and time to do it. I could have just left is as plain crescents but I wanted to add a little flair plus presentation so I added "pleats" (see the inset photograph above).

The Ingredients:

1 cup napa cabbage(sometimes called Chinese cabbage or Baguio Pechay), chopped
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, minced
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil
Dash of white pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
375 grams lean ground pork
60 grams shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped
24 oblate/round dumpling wrappers
canola oil, divided
2 cups chicken broth, divided (you may use the fat-free, low sodium for a more healthier approach)

Cooking Procedure:

Mix the first 10 ingredients in a bowl.
Get 1 wrapper and spoon a heaping teaspoonful of filling into the center of the wrapper. Moisten the edges with water then fold in half. Pinch the edges or crimp the edges to seal. Holding the sealed edges of the pot sticker between the thumb and first two fingers of each hand, form 3 to 4 pleats along the seal. Set aside with the seam side up on a dry platter. Repeat the steps until you have filled the remaining wrappers.

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. If a non-skillet is used, you have the option to omit the oil or lessen the oil further to a teaspoon at a time. If you have a small skillet, cook the dumplings in 3 batches.
Arrange 12 pot stickers with the seam sides up in pan, and cook for 45 seconds or until browned. Pour 1 cup of the broth and cook for 5 minutes covered. The steam will cook the dumplings through.Uncover and cook about 1 minute or until liquid evaporates . Remove the pot stickers from pan; cover and keep warm. Repeat for the remaining set of dumplings.

Serve with a soy sauce-based dip. The soy sauce-based dip could be a combination of soy sauce, grated ginger, vinegar or lemon juice, a little sugar and a few drops of sesame oil. Chili paste may be added for a more spice.

My Notes: Be careful not burn the bottoms completely because they tend to stick and it would be harder to remove. Keep the initial batches warm and covered because as they cool and is exposed to the air, the wrappers tend to harden.

The verdict: The ready-made wrapper was too thick for Mom's taste. But the filling was good. They were easy to make and cook. I didn't use a non-stick pan and thankfully they didn't stick. Each had a pretty brown crusty bottom. I am planning to serve this for the holidays and bless the family with some prosperity and good fortune.

Callos- Asian Style

I was inspired to surprise my mom with another dish when she arrives from visiting my brother. She requested that I cook Ginataang Hipon with Kalabasa. Rummaging through the freezer, I found ox tripe, choirizo de bilbao, potatoes, carrots, garlic, onions, tomatoes, tomato sauce and a bottle of garbanzos. I remember seeing a recipe called Callos in www.pinoycook.net and decided to try that. I had most of the ingredients in the recipe except for some items. I went to the wet market to get the missing ingredients but I forgot to buy the herbs (basil and rosemary) so I replaced it with coriander. While preparing ingredients, I discovered the bottled garbanzos were the sweetened kind (the one you add to your halo-halo). Poking in the pantry, I saw a can of pork and beans and I decided to use it in place of garbanzos.

The Ingredients:

Set 1
1/2 k. of ox tripe, cleaned, trim off the fat
1 k. of ox leg, clean the skin from any existing hairs, chopped into 1" rounds (I used pork leg since this is what I had at hand at the moment)
1/2 head of a garlic, peeled and chopped
1 medium whole onion, peeled and halved
5 pcs. of peppercorn
1 bay leaf

Set 2
1/2 head of a garlic, minced
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
4 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 piece of chorizo de bilbao, thinly sliced into disks
1 medium bell pepper. julienned
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 can of pork and beans
1/3 c. of frozen sweet peas
500 g. of tomato sauce
1 piece of chili pepper
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cups of beef stock, from the boiled meats in set 1
salt
freshly cracked black pepper
1 bunch of coriander (kinchay), chopped

Cooking procedure :

Place the meats in a large casserole and cover with water. Bring it to a semi-boil. Remove the scum floating on the surface. When you have a clearer stock, add the rest of the ingredients from Set 1. Cover and lower the heat. Simmer until the meats become tender (in my case, I boiled the meats approximately 1.5 – 2 hours until the meats are tender and the leg meat falls off from the bone). Add water if necessary. I didn't use a pressure cooker since I used the pork leg instead of an ox's but you may use it to shorten the cooking time.

Set aside the meats and strain the soup stock. Reserve 2 cups that will be used later. You may freeze the remaining stock for future use. I have cut the tripe into strips, about 1/2” x 1” size.

In medium heat, sauté garlic, chili and onions in olive oil. Add the bell peppers and tomatoes; continue stirring until the tomatoes are cooked through. Add the chorizo slices and cook for 1 minute or until the color brightens. Increase the heat and add the meats and stir for about 2 minutes. Pour in the tomato sauce and continue to stir. Add in the broth, carrots, and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper according to your desired taste. Cover and boil until the potatoes are cooked. Add in the pork and beans, and peas. Simmer for a minute to two. Sprinkle in the coriander, stir once and turn off the heat.

My notes :
It turned out similar to callos that mom use to make for my brother. But the taste of coriander blew me away because it made a distinct Asian taste. So I guess I will call this dish Callos-Asian style. Hope you could give it a try and let me know how you find it.

The verdict:
Mom said that the callos tasted good but why did I add the pork leg. It should only be purely made out of tripe. My sister, J, and L loved it. J even brought some home.