This is a classic chicken curry, Chinese Malaysian-style.  It goes really well with tumeric sticky rice.

Chef’s tip: Curry powder is commonly used in Malaysia, the concoction is similar to Sri Lankan curry powder.  Here’s a recipe to make your own curry powder.

Ingredients
6 pieces chicken legs with thighs, bones and skin on
2 tablespoons curry powder

3 small Russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 2-inch wedges
2 cups canola oil

Spice paste:
5 red jalapeno chilies, seeded
8 shallots
3 stalks lemon grass
1 inch galangal
1 inch fresh turmeric / 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon roasted belacan
5 candlenuts

Sauce:
¼ cup canola oil
5 sprigs curry leaves
1 cup water
3 cups coconut milk, reserve 1 cup of the cream
2 tablespoons kosher salt, to taste

Marinating the chicken:
1.    Rub the curry powder over the chicken
Preparing the potatoes
2.    Peel the potatoes and cut each into 4 pieces. Pat dry.
3.    Heat a skillet with about 2-inch of oil.  Fry the potatoes till it is golden on the outside.  Remove and set aside.  The potatoes need not be cooked through.
Preparing the spice paste
4.    Roughly chop up all the spice paste ingredients (except lemongrass and galangal that needs to be finely chopped).
5.    Place all spice paste ingredients in a food processor and grind into a fine paste.
Cooking the curry
6.    Heat about ¼ cup of oil in a pot on medium high.  Add the spice paste and curry leaves fry till fragrant and red, about 5 minutes.
7.    Add the marinated chicken and fry for about 3 minutes.
8.    Add 1 cup water and 2 cups of coconut milk and salt.  Simmer for about 10 minutes
9.    Add the fried potatoes and reserved 1 cup coconut milk, and simmer uncovered until chicken is tender and gravy has thicken, about 30 minutes-45 minutes.  Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Serves: 6

Tags: curry, Malaysian.

The chili padi or Thai Chili is a tiny pepper, but full of scovilles.  It adds an explosive punch to your food.  As such, pickling the peppers reduces the effect of the capsaicin, and you can enjoy the peppers all year round, too.  I love to slice up a couple of the peppers and mix it with soy sauce for a deliciously simple dipping sauce.

Chef’s tip: The capsaicin, the agent that provides the pungency, in a pepper, resides in the membranes of the placenta/core of the pepper.  When cutting a pepper, try not to touch the core.

Ingredients:

1 cup Chili Padi/ Thai Chilis
1 cup white vinegar

1. Remove the stem and sepal off the peppers.  Clean and dry them thoroughly.
2. Transfer the peppers into a clean, sterile jar.
3. Pour in enough white vinegar to cover the peppers.
4. Keep in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.  The pickled peppers will be ready to eat in 2 weeks and keeps for at least 6 months.

Serving: 1 jar

Tags: Chili Peppers, Malaysian, Thai Chilis, vegan, Vegetarian.

Tossing in as many Vietnamese herbs I can find from the only organic Asian vegetables vendor at the farmers markets in San Francisco Bay Area – Phan Organics Farm of Elk Grove (Civic Center Farmers, SF – Wed and Sun, Berkeley- Tue, Alemany – Sat), this super light noodle salad gives lots of exploding flavors.  It’s a great introduction to the world of Vietnamese herbs.

Chef’s tips: To chiffonade herbs, stack several leaves and roll them tightly.  With a sharp knife, slice the roll finely.  Fluff the sliced herbs to separate them.

Ingredients

Meat:
1 lb ground lean chicken or pork or turkey
2 stalk lemon grass, white part only, very finely sliced
2 Tablespoons fish sauce
Juice from 1 lime
1 Tablespoon rice flour, roasted

6 oz dried  rice vermicelli

Herb:
5 Thai chilies, deseeded and chopped finely
1 cup cilantro, chiffonade
½ cup green onions, sliced thinly
½ cup rau ram, chiffonade
½ cup shiso perilla leaves, chiffonade
½ cup mint leaves, chiffonade
5 kaffir lime leaves, chiffonade
Lime zest from 2 limes

Dressing:
Juice from 1 limes
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup fish sauce
½ teaspoon brown sugar
Cilantro or mint sprigs for garnish

Preparing the meat:
1.    Heat a non stick pan under high heat, add the ground meat, chopped lemongrass, 2 Tablespoons each of fish sauce and lime juice.  Cook 10 minutes until the meat is cooked through, while stirring constantly.  Transfer the meat to a large bowl.  Drain off excess liquids.  Cool.
2.    Dry-fry the rice flour (without any oil) under medium heat till golden brown. Add to the meat mixture.
Preparing the rice noodles:
3.    Bring a pot of salted water to boil.  Add rice noodles.  Bring back to a boil, cover, remove from heat and let noodles sit for 15 minutes in hot water.  Drain.
Preparing the herb and dressing:
4.    Slice and chiffonade the herbs.  Toss all herb ingredients together. Set aside.
5.    Mix dressing ingredients together.
Assembly:
6.    Toss the meat, noodles, herb and dressing together to combine.  Let sit for 10 minutes for the flavors to come together.
7.  Garnish with mint sprigs and cilantro.

Serves: 6

Tags: kaffir, Rau Ram, salad, Vietnamese.