FFWD: Vietnamese Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup

What a wonderful soup. This was a great combination between the Thai coconut soup Tom Kha Gai and pho. I really enjoyed this soup and it will definitely become a staple.  The broth is made with chicken broth, cilantro stems, anise, coriander, white peppercorns, chili and coconut milk. I was surprised how delicate the coconut flavor was and how everything blended together seamlessly.

Three Cups Chicken

I have ordered Three Cups Tofu at a local Taiwanese restaraunt for many years, now I can make my own! This is a very refreshing dish, not too salty or sweet and the basil makes it so flavorful. This is worth a try, especially if you're looking for a quick weeknight meal.



 Three Cups Chicken

Rasa Malaysia


Ingredients:

• 1 lb. chicken 
• 6 slices peeled ginger
• 6 cloves garlic (skin peeled)
• 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
• 1 1/2 teablespoon dark sweet soy sauce (Kecap Manis)
• A big bunch of basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon baking soda (to tenderize the chicken, optional)

How To:

Cut the chicken into pieces and marinate them with baking soda. Set aside for 10 minutes before rinsing the chicken off with water. Make sure the baking soda is completely rinsed off. Pat dry the chicken pieces and set aside.

Heat up a claypot on high heat and add the dark sesame oil. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry until aromatic. Add in chicken and do a few quick stirs. Add soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and continue to stir-fry the chicken. Cover the chicken and lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add basil leaves and stir well with the chicken, dish out and serve immediately.

Original Recipe Notes:

1. This recipe calls for dark sesame oil, which is different from regular sesame oil. Dark sesame oil is a lot more expensive but the flavor is more intense and with a stronger toasted sesame fragrance.
2. You can skip the first step of tenderizing the chicken with baking soda. I personally like it because it makes the chicken so tender.
3. If you don’t have a claypot, you can use a regular wok to make this dish.

My Notes:

1. Use a lot of basil! I Used a very generous handful, and was thinking it needed a bit more. So, don't be too cautious, just pile it on.
2. I recommend using the baking soda, it worked great.
3. A wok worked very well.
4. Tofu, especially fried, would be a great substitute for chicken.
   

Indoor Sweet and Sour Tofu Kabobs

Anyone anxiously awaiting outdoor barbecue season? Here is an idea - indoor kabobs that fit on a stove top grill pan. These would be great to serve at a party.

I made kabobs with pineapple, tofu, scallions, and orange bell pepper by skewering on toothpicks. Just like kabobs on the grill, be sure to soak the toothpicks in water for a minute. I grilled these on the indoor stove top grill lightly oiled with canola oil.

My main goal with the sweet and sour sauce was to not use ketchup as so many recipes do (even my vegetarian Chinese cookbook in Chinese).

Sweet and Sour Sauce Ingredients:

• 6 ounces pineapple juice
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water

How to:

1. Combine all of the ingredients except the cornstarch and water in a sauce pot. Heat and let boil for about 30 seconds. Reduce heat.
   
2. Make a slurry by mixing cornstarch and water.
   
3. Slowly add into the sauce pot and stir until thickened.

Note: The sauce would be perfect to add to a stir fry.

Spinach Gomae

I always order these at sushi restaurants, and then think to myself why am I ordering this when it has to be so easy to make! Well, it is. Almost too easy - especially if you take a couple of shortcuts like frozen spinach and tahini.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 bunches of fresh spinach or 1 large bag of frozen whole leaf spinach
  
• 3 tablespoons tahini
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1.5 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• water
• sesame seeds
  

How to:

1. Either blanch the fresh spinach and immediately cool in an ice bath or defrost the frozen spinach. In both cases, the spinach should be cold.
   
2. Press all of the water out of the spinach. Using a ring mold (or biscuit cutter) form the spinach.
   
3. Mix the tahini, soy sauce, sugar, and rice vinegar in a bowl. If the mixture is still too thick and not sauce like, slowly add water until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.
4. Pour the sauce over the spinach and garnish with sesame seeds.

Notes: I think the sushi restaurant I order these at the most uses brown rice syrup instead of sugar because the sauce has a more syrupy consistency. The taste was definitely right on, but I might swap out the sugar next time and use brown rice syrup to see if that makes a difference in terms of texture.

Shitake and Cabbage Dumplings

In celebration of Chinese New Year, I made some dumplings. It's been a long time since I have made dumplings from scratch, and they definitely reminded me of how delicious homemade dumplings are. I didn't follow a recipe for this and tried to pay attention to the quantities I used, but just play around. The recipe below made enough for about 25-30 dumplings. These turned out really good!

Ingredients

Dumplings:

• Half a head of cabbage
• 10 - 15 shitake mushrooms
• 3 chopped scallions
  
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 cup of water
  
• Wonton or dumpling wrappers
  

Dipping Sauce:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
  
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
• 1 chopped scallion

How to:

1. Shred the cabbage using the shredding attachment of a food processor.
   
2. Grate the ginger and garlic (see note) and finely dice the scallions and mushrooms.
   
3. Heat one tablespoon of sesame oil in a skillet and add the cabbage, ginger, garlic, mushrooms, and scallions. Saute for about 10 minutes, until the cabbage and mushrooms are soft. Set aside.
4. While the filling is cooling, mix all of the dipping sauce ingredients together.
   
5. Place 1-2 teaspoons of filling into a wonton wrapper - the amount will depend on the size of wrappers you use. Using your finger, wet half of the wonton edges with water - then fold over to seal.
   
6. Heat the two tablespoons of canola and remaining sesame oil in a skillet. Make sure to use a skillet that has a lid. Add the dumplings (do not cover). Pan fry until golden brown. When the dumplings are brown, add the water and cover the skillet with the lid very quickly. Let steam for about 2 minutes.
   

Note: The key to making good dumplings at home is make sure the filling isn't too wet. You don't want it to cause the wrappers to break. Also, be conservative when you wet the edges of the dumplings. One other tip, using a microplane to finely grate the ginger and garlic is a good way to pack in the flavor.