Posted by RF at 7:53pm Oct 15 '09I made this tuesday night for dinner, and my wife liked it so much she had me make it again last night (wed). its got a great fresh and light flavor, with a hint of spiciness, in which everything melds together perfectly, no one thing being overly overpowering. itll come out 100 times better if you make it in a wok, but you can still make it even if you dont.
youll need:
1 med carrot, sliced in 1/8" thick angled half-moons. (cut in half, slice on a diagonal.)
1 large onion, cut in one inch squares or so
1 half/half pepper (has both red and green) cut into small strips about 1/4 inch by 3/4 inch. yellow pepper is good, too. (i used that last night.)
1 15 oz can of baby corn. set the liquid aside and keep it.
2 dark meat chicken cutlets, cut into chunks. you could use white meat, beef or tofu, too, though it wont have quite the same flavor.
about 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp of grated fresh ginger
3/4 tbsp minced fresh garlic
small handful of roughly chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 to 1/2 can of coconut milk
2-3 tbsp soy sauce
sriracha (asian hot sauce)
1/2 tbsp chicken soup base mix
1 tsp ground coriander
sesame oil
cornstarch
rice of choice to eat it on. (i used regular white.)
before you start cooking anything, make sure you have everything sliced and diced, and ready to go. timing and mixing often are very important in asian cuisine, so wont be able to prepare much once you start. what i do is put up the rice to cook, then start preparing the rest, that way by the time the rice is done the main dish is just about done, too. before starting, put the juice from the baby corn in a measuring cup and add enough water to make it so that you have just over one cup of liquid. add the soup base to this. also, in another cup, mix 1 1/2 tbsp corn starch with about twice as much water. set those aside for later.
heres some pics of the ready ingredients:
once youre ready to start, add about 3 tbsp or so of oil to the wok and let it heat up. once its good and hot, add the chicken and stir almost constantly until you dont see anything that looks raw anymore. let it go another 30 seconds to let the inside cook a bit and then turn off the wok and remove the chicken, leaving the juices and oil behind. usually at this point the wok would be cleaned out, so that the little bits of chicken, etc, left behind wouldnt burn, but for this dish it enhances the flavor.
once the chicken is out, set it aside and turn the wok back on high. add a little more oil and let it get hot, then add the onion. again, as in all steps, stir quite often.
when the onion is hot and starting to look like its cooked a bit, though not so much that its getting soft, add the carrot. (~2 min)
when the carrot has reached the same point, add the baby corn.
same thing, this time adding the pepper.
when the pepper has started to cook a bit, move everything to the sides, clearing a space in the bottom of the wok and give that a 20 seconds or so to heat up. then add the minced garlic and grated ginger there and mix it around just in the cleared area for 20 seconds or so. then mix everything together, and add then the chicken back in. mix again. also add the coriander at this point.
give the chicken a little bit to heat back up, then add the soy sauce.
let that cook for 30 seconds or so, then add the soup base mixture. let that heat up, then add the coconut milk and a few drops (to taste) of the sriracha.
bring that to a boil. stir occasionally, but you dont have to stir as often now that there is all the liquid. once it boils, give the cornstarch mixture a good mix then add it in. cook that a bit, mixing it around, until it thickens and then add the chopped cilantro. mix well then turn the heat off so that the cilantro doesnt cook too much.
serve over the rice, garnished with a sprig of cilantro, and enjoy!
(this was my seconds tuesday night. i forgot to take a pic of the first serving. it smelled so good i just dug right in...)
((wow, it cost $13 to upload all these pics...))
youll need:
1 med carrot, sliced in 1/8" thick angled half-moons. (cut in half, slice on a diagonal.)
1 large onion, cut in one inch squares or so
1 half/half pepper (has both red and green) cut into small strips about 1/4 inch by 3/4 inch. yellow pepper is good, too. (i used that last night.)
1 15 oz can of baby corn. set the liquid aside and keep it.
2 dark meat chicken cutlets, cut into chunks. you could use white meat, beef or tofu, too, though it wont have quite the same flavor.
about 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp of grated fresh ginger
3/4 tbsp minced fresh garlic
small handful of roughly chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 to 1/2 can of coconut milk
2-3 tbsp soy sauce
sriracha (asian hot sauce)
1/2 tbsp chicken soup base mix
1 tsp ground coriander
sesame oil
cornstarch
rice of choice to eat it on. (i used regular white.)
before you start cooking anything, make sure you have everything sliced and diced, and ready to go. timing and mixing often are very important in asian cuisine, so wont be able to prepare much once you start. what i do is put up the rice to cook, then start preparing the rest, that way by the time the rice is done the main dish is just about done, too. before starting, put the juice from the baby corn in a measuring cup and add enough water to make it so that you have just over one cup of liquid. add the soup base to this. also, in another cup, mix 1 1/2 tbsp corn starch with about twice as much water. set those aside for later.
heres some pics of the ready ingredients:
once youre ready to start, add about 3 tbsp or so of oil to the wok and let it heat up. once its good and hot, add the chicken and stir almost constantly until you dont see anything that looks raw anymore. let it go another 30 seconds to let the inside cook a bit and then turn off the wok and remove the chicken, leaving the juices and oil behind. usually at this point the wok would be cleaned out, so that the little bits of chicken, etc, left behind wouldnt burn, but for this dish it enhances the flavor.
once the chicken is out, set it aside and turn the wok back on high. add a little more oil and let it get hot, then add the onion. again, as in all steps, stir quite often.
when the onion is hot and starting to look like its cooked a bit, though not so much that its getting soft, add the carrot. (~2 min)
when the carrot has reached the same point, add the baby corn.
same thing, this time adding the pepper.
when the pepper has started to cook a bit, move everything to the sides, clearing a space in the bottom of the wok and give that a 20 seconds or so to heat up. then add the minced garlic and grated ginger there and mix it around just in the cleared area for 20 seconds or so. then mix everything together, and add then the chicken back in. mix again. also add the coriander at this point.
give the chicken a little bit to heat back up, then add the soy sauce.
let that cook for 30 seconds or so, then add the soup base mixture. let that heat up, then add the coconut milk and a few drops (to taste) of the sriracha.
bring that to a boil. stir occasionally, but you dont have to stir as often now that there is all the liquid. once it boils, give the cornstarch mixture a good mix then add it in. cook that a bit, mixing it around, until it thickens and then add the chopped cilantro. mix well then turn the heat off so that the cilantro doesnt cook too much.
serve over the rice, garnished with a sprig of cilantro, and enjoy!
(this was my seconds tuesday night. i forgot to take a pic of the first serving. it smelled so good i just dug right in...)
((wow, it cost $13 to upload all these pics...))
RF's Thai stir-fry - RF