Thank You Everyone!!

We had our first cooking club meeting today and it was so much fun!! We had such wonderfully delicious food! Thanks to everyone who came and everyone who brought dishes to share!!

Connie demonstrated how to make sticky rice in a steamer. Who would have thought you could cook rice in a "hat"!! She also had mango, coconut sauce and sweet chili sauce for dipping. Yum!!

Allyson shared her gyosas (pot stickers) and sweet sticky rice with mango that made a delicious dessert.

Lisa's lettuce wraps were so yummy, and looked so beautiful on the plate.

Karen's Indian dish was an adventure in both flavor and fire. (It really wasn't as spicy as I thought it would be but Allyson --who made a dash for water--might not agree).

Jen Carlini's fried rice was wonderful and a perfect accompaniment.

And then of course we all enjoyed the several dishes made by Pawranee. Pawranee is half Thai and lived there for several of her teenaged years. We appreciate her taking time today to share her talents with us.

Hopefully we will have all of her recipes soon. Here are pictures of the two main dishes.

This is ginger chicken. I loved it! (recipes are below)

And this dish is Chicken with Red Curry. This was also delicious.

In addition, Pawranee made a cabbage dish and a green papaya salad that I will be craving for a long time.

Pictured below is the curry paste she recommends. The yellow one is the most mild. The red curry in the green can on the bottom is the one used today.

And here is the recommended fish sauce
Along with the best oyster sauce. All of these can be purchased at Lee Lee's market on 75th Avenue and Cactus.
And . . . below are some of the recipes. More to come soon!!

Hopefully everyone learned something new and overcame some fear of Asian cooking. Personally, I never thought I would crave something with fish sauce in it. (Papaya salad). And I am glad to finally know how to cook with and use curry since I always enjoy eating it.

And here are the recipes:

Ginger Chicken

Gai Pad Keing

4 Servings

This is one of the most popular dishes in Thai restaurants.

2 T oil 1/8 c. slivered ginger root

½ lb (225g) broken chicken 1/8 c. sliced green pepper

breast, sliced 1/8 c. sliced red pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced 1/8 c. sliced mushrooms

Cilantro for garnish 1/8 c. sliced onions

Sauce:

2 T fish sauce

1 T oyster sauce

1 T white sugar

pinch white pepper

1. Heat pan, add oil, chicken and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes.

2. Add remaining ingredients and stir-fry for 3 minutes.

3. Enjoy!

* For the amount we made the other day, I used an entire bag of chicken tenderloins.

Thai Papaya Salad

Som Tum (4 servings)

1 medium Thai green papaya ½ c. lime juice

1 carrot, shredded 1/3 c. fish sauce

1 tomato, cut into wedges 3T sugar

¼ c ground roasted peanuts 1 large clove garlic, minced

¼ c dried shrimp, soaked for 5 min in warm water

Garnishes: lime slices, chili pepper

1. Peel and seed papaya (Lee Lee’s Market has bags of already shredded papaya!)

2. Add all remaining ingredients and thoroughly mix before serving.

3. Yummy!

* When papaya is not available, ¼ head cabbage shredded thinly can be used as a substitute, but hardly compares in flavor.

* I didn’t use the shrimp for our class the other day

Lime-Fish Sauce Dressing

3 T fish sauce

3 T lime juice

1 T sugar

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 Thai chili peppers (any other peppers like jalapeños can be substituted. Chunky ground Thai chilies are also an option. Not fine like cayenne, but chunky clusters. This can also be found at Lee Lee’s).

Prik Khing Chicken Curry

Serves 5-6

1. Stir-fry one can (4oz) of Prik Khing curry paste with ½ cup of oil with low heat for about 4 minutes.

2. Add 300 grams of chicken or other meat (I used an entire bag of chicken tenderloins). Slowly add 1 cup of water and stir fry until cooked.

3. Add 300 grams of long green beans (I used 2 cans of cut green beans). Stir until cooked. Sprinkle with minced kaffir lime leaves, fresh chilies, and roasted peanuts. (I didn’t use any of the garnishments).

Stir Fry Tips

1. Make sure you have all the ingredients you need ahead of time.

2. Make sure all the food is cut according to directions before you start. Never try to prepare food while stir-frying.

3. For even cooking, cut all the ingredients the same size.

4. If not following a recipe, cut all the ingredients into bite-sized pieces.

5. Pre-heat the wok on medium-high to high heat for at least a minute before adding oil. (You may want to skip this step if you have a nonstick pan - it can damage the coating.)

6. Add the oil (up to 2 to 3 tablespoons depending on the dish; peanut, canola or other vegetable oils are good) drizzling it so that it coats both the sides and the bottom of the wok. The oil heats faster this way.

7. Before adding other ingredients, season the oil by cooking a few pieces of garlic and ginger. (Note: you may want to reduce the heat at this point to keep them from burning).

8. If the recipe calls for meat and vegetables, cook the meat first and then set it aside. Add the meat back when the vegetables are almost cooked. This ensures that the meat is not overcooked, and that the meat and vegetables retain their individual flavors.

9. Meat is normally stir-fried on high heat to seal in the juices (individual recipes can differ).

10. Never add more than a cup of meat at a time to the wok. Lay the meat out flat to cook.

11. Remove the meat from the wok when it changes color - for example the redness in the beef is gone. At this point the meat is approximately 80 percent cooked.

12. Stir-fry vegetables according to density, with the densest vegetables being stir-fried first and for the longest time. Denser vegetables such as broccoli, carrots and eggplant require more cooking time than green leafy vegetables such as bok choy.

13. If you're uncertain about the order in which to stir-fry vegetables, the simplest solution is to stir-fry them separately, one at a time.

14. If possible, wash the vegetables ahead of time to ensure that they have drained and are not too wet.

15. Alternately, if the vegetables are too dry, try adding a few drops of water while stir-frying.

16. When stir-frying meat, wait a few seconds before tossing so that it has a chance to brown; when stir-frying vegetables, begin moving them immediately.

17. When adding sauce to vegetables and/or meat, form a "well" in the middle by pushing the ingredients up the sides of the wok. Add the sauce in the middle and stir to thicken before combining with the other ingredients.

18. Once the dish is completed, taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

19. Serve the stir-fried dish immediately.

20. Finally, a few words about cooking temperatures. Some recipes give instructions on whether to cook a dish at high, medium-high, or medium heat, but others don't. In Chinese Home Cooking, Helen Chen suggests starting to cook at medium-high heat and then adjusting the temperature up or down as needed on your model of stove. Another option is to have a second burner set on medium heat that you can quickly move the wok to if you feel the food is cooking too fast.

Written by Rhonda Parkinson, copyright 2001, All Rights Reserved

Shrimp Tikka Masala

Contributed by Karen Brimley

Ingredients:

Part A:
2 lbs. shrimp
1/4 cup yogurt
3 tsp minced ginger
3 tsp crushed garlic
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp mace
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp green cardamom powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
3 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp vegetable oil
Melted margarine (for basting)

Part B:
5 oz. tomato paste
10 oz. tomato puree
2 lbs. tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp ginger paste
2 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp green chilies
1 tbsp red chili powder
2 tsp cloves
8 green cardamoms
Salt To Taste
3 tbsp butter
2/3 cup cream
1 tsp fenugreek
2 tsp ginger, julienned
honey to taste

Preparation:

• Whisk all of the ingredients in Part A together in a large bowl. Add the shrimp.
• Marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350º F. Bake the shrimp for 8 minutes, basting with margarine twice. Drain excess marinade and bake for another 2 minutes.
• While doing this, make the sauce in Part B. Deseed and chop green chilies. Put tomatoes, tomato paste and tomato puree in a pot and add approximately 4-1/4 cups of water.
• Add ginger and garlic paste, green chilies, red chili powder, cloves, cardamoms, and salt. Cook over low heat until reduced to a thick sauce. Strain through a strainer and bring to a boil. Add butter and cream. Stir.
• If the sauce tastes sour, add honey to taste. Add fenugreek and ginger juliennes, stir, and serve with the shrimp tikka masala

Links to Asian Recipes

All of these are links to Asian recipes from the ladies at Our Best Bites. If you click on the name, it will take you to their website where they have the recipes with pictures.

Orange Beef Skewers

Cashew Sweet and Sour Pork

Asian Barbecue Chicken

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Thai Peanut Noodle Salad

Thai Peanut Noodles

Asian Rice Recipes

Thai Coconut Rice

2 cups jasmine rice (can use regular long-grain)

1 (14 oz.) can coconut milk (not cream)

2 cups water

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

Combine rice, coconut milk, water, salt and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Allow to stand an additional five minutes. Fluff with fork before serving.

Variation: In addition to the above, add ¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes and 1 ½ teaspoon minced ginger.

Tumeric Rice

2 cups long grain rice

4 cups water

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 ½ tsp ground turmeric

1 ½ tsp minced garlic

1 ½ tsp sugar

1 tsp salt.

Combine all ingredients. Bring to boil. Cover and continue cooking on low heat for about 20 minutes.

Teriyaki Sauce From the Polynesian Cultural Center

Teriyaki Sauce – PCC similar recipe

Contributed by Jenny Farley

· 1 cup Aloha brand soy sauce

· 1 cup water

· 1 cup sugar

· 3-5 garlic cloves, crushed

· 2-3 slices of ginger, cut thin and lengthwise

This is the basic ratio for the sauce, so increase as is needed. Combine the water and soy sauce and then dissolve the sugar in the liquid. Add the garlic and ginger. Add the chicken and soak the meat for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days. Broil or grill the chicken. Use boneless, skinless chicken thighs for the PCC style of teriyaki chicken. Enjoy!

Gyoza

GYOZA (Pot Stickers or Won Tons) By Allyson Andersen

¼ c. soy sauce

2 c. grated green cabbage

½ tsp. garlic powder

7-8 mushrooms (optional)

½ tsp. sesame oil

1 pkg. won ton wrappers/skins

1 Ib. ground beef (round or square)

1 bunch green onions

Mix in bowl, soy sauce, garlic powder, and sesame oil. Add ground beef and mix. Slice green onions (including tops) lengthwise first and then chop finely. Chop mushrooms finely. Add mushrooms and green onions to meat mixture. Grate 2 cups cabbage and squeeze out moisture with your hands (measure cabbage before you squeeze extra moisture out). Add to meat mixture. Fitt won ton wrappers/skins. Round or square wrappers can be used, but I like the square ones the best. (Won ton wrappers are found in the refrigerated section of the produce aisle.) Fry in a pan with oil (not olive oil) until lightly browned on both sides (approximately 325°-350°).

Serve with dipping sauce and white rice.

Dipping sauce for gyoza:

½ c. soy sauce ¾ c. rice wine vinegar This is a dipping sauce. Do not pour over gyoza.

Note: To fill won ton wrappers: Fill center of wrapper with approximately 1 rounded tablespoon of meat mixture. Dip finger in water and wet 2 adjacent sides of the wrapper. Fold over dny sides so they are touching wet sides and press together with fingers. It will form a triangle when done.