Passionate cooking balanced with changing time pressures.
Penang curry with green beans, Sticky rice w/ Crispy chilli pheasant
South East Asia is the birth place of some of my favourite foods. A regular battle is the quest for authenticity, in a melting pot of hybridised export and modernity, most of which is all good and delicious. With this comes a tendency to focus too pure and I’m not even really sure what my knowledge of this purity actually is. There’s just a privileged adventurers hope that a flavour even more ‘authentic’ is lurking along the next road, in the next hawkers wok, perhaps. What’s interesting, and something il build the courage to explore at a later date, is that if I look back through my meal combinations you’ll see regional staples ripped to pieces, but I save myself because we call this fusion food.
Whatever, the road that this semi-blind quest often leads me down is a painstaking one. Turning up every page of the book, with a determination to do everything single bit from scratch - this is the blind quest for authentic recreation, and it’s something I’ve just had to start battling in order to balance the things I need enjoy out of life. So, tonights supper was this in practice. And, it was a happy one. Flavour - bang. Satisfaction - plum. It’s working.
What has been good about stretching this new approach has been putting time in differently - rather than building up a layer of flavour in a home made curry paste (my authentic nod), actually using a bought paste and taking the time to treat it right, cooking it out properly, has been nothing short of liberating. Don’t get me wrong, the homemade paste will always have the edge - but, you can get around this by choosing what to chuck in on the home straight.
Iv started reading Kin Thai, by John Chantarasak (AngloThai) focusing on decent Thai ingredients before actually trying some of his recipes, so most brands listed are new ones I went looking for after getting the book. The sticky rice thing I worked out myself last year which is a heaven in itself as far as I’m concerned, and I’ve been learning to paste-control for a while now.
The pheasant was pretty much a crude asian influenced addition that I wanted the added comfort of something crunchy and fried, which actually when pretty well together.
I’m saying this would serve about 4 average people, but I could also eat it all.
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Sticky Rice - this isn’t just process. This is product. ( Thai Sweet Rice / Thai Glutinous Rice)
So my glutinous rice (3 cups) has been soaking for a few hours. Drain, Rinse and wrap in muslin and into the bamboo steamer - steam for approx 25 mins, and il flip it about half way through. Sticky rice is pretty forgiving, so don’t be fearful of it. Serve when everything else is ready.
Penang Curry
4-5 cloves garlic chopped and bashed
Large toe of skin on ginger (Use galangal if you can)
A pepper (I used yellow today)
100g trimmed green beans
1 tablespoon Nam Pla (Fish Sauce) Tiparos brand
3 tablespoons Penang curry paste (today I used Mae Ploy)
A decent carton of coconut milk
Blanched peanuts, toasted fresh
Spring onion sliced
Lime leaves 4-5
Lemongrass - I use the whole thing, keeping the outer bits large to remove before serving and bashing and finely chopping the soft inside bit.
Anchovy sambal (optional, but of course desirable)
Crush some garlic and skin-on ginger/Galangal. Gently fry in whatever oil (I used coconut) along with a thinly sliced pepper and trimmed green beens, for about 5 mins.
Add 2-3 tablespoons of paste and turn down heat and stir regularly, don’t let the past stick and keep stirring so it cooks evenly and the aromatic properties get more noticeable- about 5 mins.
A squirt of about a tablespoon of fish sauce, gently increase heat and keep stirring gently.
Add a few tablespoons of water.
Cook through sitting occasionally to reduce liquid, 5 mins medium heat.
Add the carton of coconut milk, along with ht slime leaves and lemongrass.
Cook without boiling, no more than very gentle simmer, of 5-10 mins.
Season if required, but the fish sauce and paste itself should have enough.
Serve, with the peanuts, onion and sambal.
Crispy Chilli Pheasant
You can be pretty expansive with your flavours however you want but this is basic, quick and satisfying.
Thinly sliced pheasant meat
Marinade in Golden Mountain Green cap Thai seasoning sauce, Garlic and ginger paste, lime juice.
Coat in flour so all sides are totally covered. (The only flour I had left lying around was some old gram flour, which is slightly more claggy but gluten free if you need that dispensation, otherwise go for a plain or cornflour.
Season the four with chilly powder
Warm a sauce (I did a very quick one of golden syrup, light soy, pinch of 5 spice and chilli powder) to serve.
In a wok with about 2cm oil, I fried this in a couple of batches till golden brown.. Took about 3 minutes, carefully moving the pan when they first go in (You can try it in an air fryer, oven fry or deep fry if you’ve got- doesn’t really matter as long as its hot enough)
Put on kitchen paper to drain, then in a serving dish. Pour the sauce over and sprinkle with sesame seeds and some sliced pickled hot chillis.
A satisfying Sunday family meal.