Lo Mai Gai or Nuo Mi Ji (Chicken and Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf)

I’m happy to announce that my cake phase is over…for now. I'm taking a break from baking cakes at least until I start my cake decorating classes in a few weeks. I've move on to the food in parcels phase.  To start off this phase, I made Lo Mai Gai or Nuo Mi Ji.  I think food wrapped in leaves deserve their own little category. 

I don’t usually get to eat Lo Mai Gai except for when we go out for dim sum. If I had to choose only one item to eat at dim sum, this is it. I can sit there and eat an entire parcel all by myself. I usually do not because I always feel bad about eating the entire thing.  That's why we always order two or three.

A few years ago, I went to dim sum with a bunch of girls. We then went to the Asian grocery store near the dim sum restaurant. My friend asked me if I could help her find all of the ingredients to make Lo Mai Gai at home. Asian food is complicated in the sense that most Westerners do not possess the necessary equipment or ingredients at home. This dish requires at least one if not two different types of steamers. I’ve been able to get away with just one steamer but it took some experimenting to successfully cook sticky rice without a sticky rice steamer.

I prefer a higher proportion of rice to meat so if you like more meat than rice, decrease the amount of rice to two cups and the broth to one cup. I prefer my rice to not be mushy so I use less broth than other recipes I've seen. You can also change the proportion of types of protein. I like using boneless chicken thighs without any char sui because I never really have Chinese barbecued pork around the house. I think the best part of the filling is the Chinese sausage so I use a little more than what is usually found inside your typical dim sum parcel. You can also add diced shrimp if you’re feeling it. I don’t like the smell of shiitake mushrooms so I rinse them really well and use a measly four mushrooms for the 8 packets. Use more if shitakes are your thing.  Asian food is very forgiving.  Adjust the proportions to your tastes. 

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Glutinious Rice Balls in Caramelized Syrup and Coconut Water (Tang Yuan or Bua Loy or Khao Mauk Ma)

My mom was never much of a cook but she knew her way around Asian desserts. One of my favorite desserts was something she called Khao Mauk Ma (the Lue name). I’m making the version that I grew up eating. The Thai Bua Loy dessert is very similar but the balls are usually smaller in size and served with gingered coconut milk syrup. The Chinese version, called Tang Yuan can be plain or stuffed with ground black sesame seeds or chopped peanuts and served with a sugar syrup

My mom always made larger sized balls of unstuffed dough It wasn’t until I was older that I discovered that Bua Loy is usually made in smaller pea-size balls. My mom is a fan of shortcuts and likes to make super-sized versions to cut down on prep time. My mom never had the patience to spend hours doing intricate work. To her, time meant money and she liked to work quickly and efficiently.

I think my mom’s version is a cross between the Chinese and the Thai versions. She like the fragrant caramelized sugar syrup featured in many Thai desserts and she also liked the coconut aroma but didn’t like the heaviness that the coconut milk added to the dessert. She wanted something lighter so she started using the water from fresh young coconuts to give the dessert the coconut-y flavor. She also scooped out the soft flesh of the young coconuts and floated them with the rice balls.

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Puerto Rican Style Pink Beans and Rice (Habichuelas con Arroz Blanco)

We often place lunch orders at a small catering company called House of Plantain. The owner of the company makes this delicious side dish she calls Arroz Blanco + Habichuelas. This version of rice and beans is different from any version I have ever had. The beans are slightly sweet and creamy in a tangy tomato-based sauce. I can never decide on the side dishes so I usually skip the entree and order a few of the side dishes instead.

I had a craving for this pink beans and rice dish but unfortunately, House of Plantain requires at least 24 hours notice. I talked to a coworker and she described her method for making Puerto Rican rice and beans. She has stashes of homemade sofrito in he refrigerator. I went out and bought a jar of Goya brand sofrito. I couldn't find the Goya brand sazon with coriander and annatto so I had to subsitute with coriander, cumin, annatto and garlic.

I ended up serving this on the side of some grilled chicken breast seasoned with Goya adobo seasoning.

Pink Beans:
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 green chile pepper such as cubanelle or green chile, finely diced
¼ cup sofrito
¼ cup recaito
2 15.5 ounce cans pink beans, rinsed and drained (or use 4 cups of cooked pink beans)
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
½ cup water
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
salt
pepper
1 envelope Goya sazon con achiote (or use  ¼ teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon Mexican oregano, ¼ teaspoon ground coriander seeds, ¼ teaspoon ground annatto seed)
cilantro, chopped

1. Heat a medium dutch oven over medium heat and add oil. Add onion, garlic, chile, sofrito and recaito. Saute until fragrant.
2. Add beans, tomato sauce, water and potato. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer.
3. Add salt, pepper, and sazon (or cumin, oregano, coriander, and annatto. Continue to simmer until sauce thickens and potato is fork-tender.  Garnish with cilantro.


Rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups long grain white rice
4 cups water

1. Heat a medium dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil and rice. Saute rice until rice is opaque white in color and very slight golden on the edges.
2. Add water and bring to a boil. Allow to boil about 5 minutes and then lower heat to a low simmer. Stir rice, cover with a lid and cook for another 15 minutes or until rice is soft. Let rice sit 15 minutes and fluff using bamboo rice spatula.

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Chicken Rice Porridge...

This is all I’ve been able to stomach the last few days:

The reason for my ailment was too much of this:

The weekend started off with some eating, shopping, drinking and then checking-in at our hotels. The other girls stayed at Bellagio and TI while we stayed at THEhotel.


A few of us entering XS at Encore.


The club is really beautiful.


We immediately started drinking. (Drinks were expensive!)


Then it started raining money on the dance floor.


Guess what we were planning on doing with our new-found wealth?
(...and yes, I am holding my heels. I ditched them for flats.)


Buy more drinks of course.

At the end of the night, I discovered that I left my debit card at the bar. The Vegas lost and found system works pretty well. We picked up a shirt left by someone who attended the bachelor party two weeks ago and we picked up my debit card from Wynn the next day. On the taxi ride to the airport, I spotted a sign in the cab about noting the cab number just in case you leave something. The Las Vegas Taxicab Authority has a pretty good lost and found department.

Isn't he a cutie? He's the bride's twin brother. (Notice how sober everyone looks during the ride to the club.)


Just left JET and on our way to eat pho at the 24 hour pho restaurant. Apparently my friend and my future sis-in-law wheeled and dealed a drop-off and pick-up at the pho restaurant. I also have a very silly video of us talking about our cute driver, Unga. (I'm not sure if he was really cute.)


I won't post any pictures from the restaurant. It was my last real meal. Here's a picture of me waiting outside the restaurant. I'm holding two bags full of heels.

***Pictures are courtesy of my friends. I'm a terrible photographer. I borrowed the bf's point-n-shoot camera and I didn't know how to operate the darn thing.

To make the rice porridge:
1. Rinse and boil some rice until soft. Add coarsely minced chicken breast. Bring to a boil and simmer until chicken is cooked.

2. Add salt and pepper. If you're really ill, you may want to stop here. Add MSG, maggi sauce, chili in soy bean oil, fried shallots or garlic, sliced green onions and chopped cilantro when you're feeling better. Enjoy!

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Pizza Lue

The reason why I am posting about this is because my dear brother commented on my blog. He said I post about too many western recipes. I should focus on more Lue recipes. I told him that it would be impossible for me to only blog about Lue recipes because I know approximately six Lue recipes and I'm not certain all six are authentic.

I made a conscious effort to make a "Lue" dish over the weekend. I had leftover sticky rice in the fridge. I took the leftover rice and made one of my favorite breakfast recipes. We call it "Pizza Lue." The name is made up but we've been calling it "Pizza Lue" for so long, I'm not sure I know the real name. I'm not even sure if it is a real dish eaten by the Lue folks in Sipsongpanna.

I don't expect anyone to read this blog entry and then feel inspired to make "Pizza Lue." I know the ingredients do not make this dish sound very appetizing and I'm not sure anyone outside of the Lue community would be able to get their hands on the fermented soybean paste. It is not sold on the shelf of your local Asian grocery store. I got my little jar from my aunt. (Note to self: I must learn how to make fermented soybeans.)

Start off by reheating your leftover sticky rice and form the rice into one large circle (about the size of your frying pan) or into smaller circles.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a nonstick pan. Fry both sides of rice until crunchy and slightly golden.

Spread fermented bean paste sauce on one side of the rice.

Dip rice in eggs mixture (eggs, water, fish sauce, black pepper and MSG) and fry until eggs are cooked.

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Nam Khao Tod (Laotian Fried Rice Ball Salad)

A lot of the food I grew up eating is a mix of different Asian dishes from different regions in Asia. This particular dish is from Laos. When I was home during Christmas, we stopped by the Laotian food plaza and my sister ordered some Nam Khao Tod. I haven’t had this in years.

I remember making this dish with my aunt when I was very young. It was something that my family made every once in a while but since it was easier to order from a Laotian restaurant, we seldom made it ourselves. Sometimes I will go to a party and the host will serve trays of nam khao ordered from a restaurant. (I also love the trays of banh cuon that are also usually ordered for these events.)

A lot of Laotian food is a little too pungent for me but I do enjoy most of the dishes. The problem is I can never make it as tasty as my Laotian friends. The sour pork sausages in this dish can be a bit overwhelming for many Western palates. I didn’t tell the bf that the chewy noodle-like strands were boiled and sliced pork skin. (He is still alive and well.)

I’ve never made som moo sausages (soured pork) before because we always bought it from the store. If you’re lucky enough and live in a large city, you might be able to find it at your local Asian grocery store. If you can’t find the sausage and want to make your own, I think there is a mix sold by Lobo called Nam powder mix.

The Lao Cook website has video on their site with pretty detailed instructions. It doesn’t look like they used the powdered mix so I suppose it is possible to make it using natural fermentation. I’ve never tried this and am quite leery since it requires fermenting raw meat. The sour sausages I am using are from my aunt. I visited her last week and she gave me several varieties of homemade sausages. (She just bought a new meat grinder and sausage stuffer contraption.)

I have the sausage so it must not be very difficult to make the other components of this dish. Well not exactly. Unlike other Asian recipes, Laotian recipes are very difficult to find. I searched for recipes but mainly found blogs about people ordering this dish from a Laotian restaurant and are now searching for a recipe. One of the blogs I found featured Lao Champa restaurant in Oakland, California. I have eaten at this restaurant. My sister took the family there when we went to her graduation. Our server was one of her classmates. I remember it being very good but still the site did not have a recipe. I looked to Joy's Thai food site (because she usually makes both Thai and Thai Isaan recipes) for guidance and although she does have a recipe, it was very vague.

How difficult can this be? I know most Asian recipes are not measured using exact quantities so it should be very forgiving. In preparation for this recipe, I wrote down the ingredients I thought I needed and then I filled in the measurements as I cooked. I was working from the memory of my one and only experience making this and my memory of the tastes and textures of this dish. I tried my best to cook this, jot everything down and to photograph the steps. I wish I had a few extra sets of hands in the kitchen. It turned out very well. I am quite satisfied. Feel free to enlighten me if I failed to execute a crucial step or if I leave out a vital ingredient.

Rice balls:
3 ½ cups Jasmine rice
½ cups grated coconut
1 pound ground pork, chicken or turkey
2 eggs
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
MSG, to taste
Fish sauce, to taste
1 tablespoon sugar
Oil for frying

For the salad (Quantities are for one serving of three rice balls.)
¼ cup peanuts (use the raw, skin-on peanuts and toast them yourself)
1 stalk green onion, thinly sliced
5 sprigs coriander leaves, finely chopped
½ length (about 3 tablespoons) Som Moo (sour pork sausages), torn into small pieces
1 tablespoon fried shallots (I used the fried shallots sold in a little canister.)
juice from a wedge of lime

To serve:
Green leaf lettuce
Dried chili peppers, fried
lime wedges
coriander leaves

Mise en place:

1. Cook rice in rice cooker and allow to slightly cool.

2. Grate the coconut (if using fresh coconut). I used frozen grated coconut because it is much easier and for this recipe, the frozen stuff is fine. I just grated a fresh coconut yesterday but I’m saving it for a different recipe. Someone told me that they even made this with Baker’s sweetened coconut and it tasted fine. I think the recipe will also work with the unsweetened shredded coconut I use for coconut cupcakes.

3. Toast, peel and chop the peanuts. You will need about one to two cups for the entire batch. Raw peanuts can be found at Asian grocery stores. It will be labeled either “raw peanuts” or “red peanuts.” My mom used to toast the peanuts in a small frying pan but I find it easier in the oven. Once the peanuts are toasted, allow them to cool and then skin them by rubbing the peanuts between your fingers. I used to do this is the backyard. After rubbing the skins of the peanuts, I would blow the skins off the tray to get rid of them and leave only the heavier skinless peanuts. At this point, I would use a mortar and pestle to crush the peanuts but I don’t have one so I chopped them up with a knife.

Directions:

1. Mix together the cooked jasmine rice, grated coconut, ground meat, eggs, salt, pepper, MSG, fish sauce and sugar

2. Firmly pack the rice mixture into balls about 2 inches in diameter. (I actually make my “balls” into flat saucers in order to increase the surface area for frying. This way, I get more crunchy crust pieces.)

3. Working in batches, fry balls until dark golden brown in color.

4. When all rice balls are fried, toss in a few dried red chilies into the oil and fry for a few seconds, until fragrant. (I never eat the chilies so I omitted them.)

To assemble salad (You can mix up the entire batch or assemble serving size portions. The quantities above are for assembling a serving size portion of three rice balls.)

1. When balls are cool enough to handle, break the balls into smaller pieces.

2. Add chopped peanuts, green onions, coriander leaves, sour pork sausages, fried shallots and lime juice. Mix well.

3. Serve with lettuce, additional lime wedges and fried chili peppers.

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Hainanese Chicken and Rice

Hainanese chicken is a really simple dish. I don’t ever think about making it at home because back in San Diego, it was so easy to walk into almost any Chinese barbecue restaurant and order a half or whole chicken to go.

Most of the time when I walk into Sam Woo barbecue, I order the roast duck. When I’m not in the mood to mess with the boney duck, I will go for the soy sauce braised whole chicken instead. On very rare occasions, I will get the Hainanese chicken. (Sam Woo calls it steamed chicken.)

Initially I was planning on making soy sauce chicken but Hainanese chicken sounded a lot better to me. Maybe it is because I haven’t had much of an appetite so lighter (and blander) food is more appealing at the moment.

I know there are several versions of this dish in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and a few other Asian countries. I am making the Sam Woo restaurant style. This style is served with a different type of dipping sauce made with ginger and scallions. The ginger and scallion combination is very nice combination.

This is a picture of the Sam Woo version:

Ingredients for Chicken:

1 whole chicken (This dish is about the chicken so use a good quality chicken. I used a "Smart Chicken."
2 cloves garlic
6 inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled, cut into thick slices
handful cilantro stems
5-6 stalks green onions
2 teaspoon maggi sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ tsp peppercorns
salt
MSG

Ingredients for Rice:

3 cups Jasmine rice, washed and drained
2 cloves garlic, cut in half
½ inch knob or garlic, cut into four pieces
2½ tbsp chicken fat or vegetable oil
6 cups, poaching broth
salt
black pepper


To serve:
Cucumber slices
Ginger Scallion sauce (recipe below)



Directions for Chicken :
1. Thoroughly clean and drain chicken. Trim off any excess fat and reserve. Pat dry. Stuff garlic, ginger, cilantro steams and green onions into the cavity of the chicken.

2. Fill a large stockpot with water (just enough to submerge chicken. Add maggi sauce, sesame oil, peppercorns, salt and MSG and bring to a boil.
3. Carefully place chicken, breast side down, in boiling water and immediately reduce the heat to a slight simmer/poach. Poach chicken for about one hour. Make sure the water does not boil.

4. Fill a large bowl or pot with cold water and ice cubes. When chicken is cooked, submerged chicken in ice water for about 5 to 10minutes.
5. Now go prepare the rice.
6. Remove chicken from ice water, discard “stuffing” and drain the chicken well and set it aside.
7. When chicken is cool enough to handle, cut the chicken up using a sharp Chinese cleaver. (I don ‘t have one so I didn’t attempt this step. I’m not sure if the chicken bone or my knife would win the battle and I didn’t want to take the chance with my knife.)


Directions for Rice:

1. Wash the rice until water runs clear. Drain well. (Should probably do this at the beginning.)
2. Heat a heavy bottom pot, render chicken fat. You should get about ¼ cup, if not, add some canola oil to make ¼ cup.
3. Add rice, garlic halves and ginger. Cook until rice is translucent and slightly golden around some of the edges. Add liquid from poached chicken.
4. Bring rice to a boil and boil uncovered until the quid is absorbed. Cover, reduce heat to love and cook until grains are soft. Let rice rest, covered, at least 15 minutes and then fluff with a fork.


Ingredients for Ginger Scallion Sauce:

¼ cup canola oil
6 scallion (green onions), finely chopped
2 tablespoons ginger, grated
2 teaspoons salt

Directions for Ginger Scallion Sauce:
1. Heat oil in a small saucepan. When oil is hot, add the rest of the ingredients and remove from heat.

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Giovanni's Garlic Shrimp (Oahu's North Shore Shrimp Truck Garlic Shrimp)

When visiting Oahu, you might want to spend a day away from Waikiki. The first time I visited, I spent the entire duration of the trip in the Waikiki area (mainly Waikiki beach and Kalakaua Avenue).

On a recent trip to Oahu, one of my dear friends from high school gave me a grand tour of the entire island. He moved to Honolulu to attend U of H and he is now officially an island boy. He wanted to take us to the Haiku Stairway but I was too chicken to sneak in and too chicken to climb the almost vertical stairway.

He took us to Turtle Bay and the North Shore one day. The North Shore of Oahu is famous for its roach coach shrimp trucks. The most famous is Giovanni’s but there are actually several different vendors. We stopped at Fumi’s. They had their own shrimp bog right next to the truck.

I wanted to recreate the dish so I searched for a recipe. I found this: http://www.tasteandshare.com/video/garlic-shrimp-recipe

I had to make a few minor adjustments to get it just right. First, I decided to use 20-30 shrimp instead of the U-15. I think the 20-30 extra large shrimp were about the same size that were used at Giovanni’s. I doubled the amount of shrimp to 20 but didn’t double the garlic. One head was plenty. I also decreased the amount of flour. One cup was way too much waste.

Ingredients:
20 shell-on extra large shrimp, deveined (The recipe specified 10 U-15 shrimp but I used extra large 26-30 shrimp. I think U-15 is actually considered jumbo.)
1 head (10 cloves) garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
½ cup flour
2 tablespoons paprika
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ stick unsalted butter (I didn’t bother to clarify the butter)
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 cup white wine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

To begin, rinse and thaw your large shrimp in cool running water. Lightly pat dry and season with salt. In a wide dish, place the flour, paprika and cayenne pepper. Mix lightly with your hands and coat each piece of shrimp on both sides.
Heat saute pan over high heat.

Add butter and garlic. Stir for 1 minute, then add all of the shrimp, which has been coated in the flour mixture. Saute 3 minutes on each side.

After 3 minutes on the second side, add the 1/8 cup of white wine and 2 tablespoons butter. Saute, turning shrimp occasionally, until it reaches a caramel brown color.

Remove shrimp immediately and serve with two mounds of sticky steamed calrose rice and a lemon wedge, spooning extra garlic butter sauce over the rice and shrimp. Add extra salt and cayenne pepper to taste if desired.

Chef's Note: You leave the shell on only during the cooking process. This keeps the shrimp tender and moist. Afterward, you peel and eat them, topped with the buttery garlic sauce and

Fumi’s served their shrimp with a side “salad.” Many of my plated lunches were served with an iceberg side “salad” and a scoop of ono mac salad.

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Mexican Rice like Casa Guadalajara

A few years ago I set out to make Mexican rice like my favorite Mexican restaurant in San Diego. Casa Guadalajara makes my favorite mole and my favorite rice. Their rice includes celery and frozen mixed vegetables. It doesn’t look traditional but is very delicious. The bf even approves of the recipe.

Mexican Rice
2 tablespoons bacon drippings or oil
2 cups long grain rice
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1 can diced tomatoes
2 stalks celery, chopped
salt
pepper
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

1. Heat bacon drippings or oil in a large dutch oven. Add the rice and cook until slightly toasted and golden. Add the onion and garlic and cook about a minute longer. Add the tomatoes (including liquid) and cook until liquid has evaporated.
2. Add the jalapeno, celery, salt, pepper and chicken stock. (I usually use the juices from cooking chicken guisada meat and add chicken broth to make 4 cups. This time I used the meat juices from the carnitas.) Bring to a rapid boil and then cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook about 15 minutes and then add the frozen mixed vegetables but do not mix in. Cook another 5 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed and rice is tender. Turn off heat and let the rice rest at least 15 minutes before fluffing with a fork.

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Chinese Sausage Fried Rice

I usually make a pot of jasmine rice every few days. As the rice starts to get a little old, I usually make fried rice or porridge. Fried rice is best made with old rice but I have on occasion made fried rice with freshly steamed rice. If that is the case I will cook the rice with slightly less water and after it has cooked and had time to rest, I will spread the rice in a thin layer and fan it until it cools.

For the longest time good restaurant style fried rice has eluded me then one day I dared to stray from my usual soy sauce and oyster sauce seasoning. I simply seasoned it with a little Maggi sauce and fish sauce. Voila! My fried rice tasted like the kind I order at the restaurant.

I make this with different meats and vegetables depending on what I find in the fridge and what I am in the mood for. I was planning on making it with shrimp this time around but I forgot. I was scooping up a spoonful of fried rice when I remembered the shrimp.

Ingredient Note: Maggi seasoning sauce is a popular sauce made by Nestle. There are several versions found in various countries. The kind you want to use in this recipe is the product of China version. Here is a blog about the various Maggi sauces. The one you want is version C on the blog. Here is another blogger blogging about Maggi sauce. The sauce I use is the second from the left. It reads, "Maggi Seasoning Improves the Taste." Golden Mountain seasoning sauce is the Thai equivalent but I think it tastes different. I also have Golden Mountain in my pantry and for some reason I only use it on my fried eggs with rice (the bf thinks it is a strange breakfast).

Choose one or two or as many as you like from meat group:
- 3 links Chinese sausage (lop chong), sliced
- 3 hot dogs
- 1 boneless chicken breast
- handful of shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 3 slices bacon, diced
- 1 cup char sui, diced
Choose one or two or as many as you like from the veggie group:
- 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
- handful broccoli florets
- 2 cups carrots, dices
- handful sugar snap peas
- 1 tomato, concasse
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 cup shelled endamame

Rest of ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 to 4 cups leftover jasmine rice
- msg
- fish sauce
- maggi seasoning sauce
- black pepper
- 3 large eggs

Optional:
- Cilantro, chopped
- Thai basil, chopped

1. Choose your ingredients and prep them.
2. Using a wooden spoon, break up the rice grains and season with msg, fish sauce, maggi sauce and black pepper. Set aside.
3. Add about 2 tablespoons oil to a heated wok. Heat oil on high heat and then add meat and cook until done. If using shrimp, set them aside. Add veggies to wok. It is important to cook out all the liquid if using frozen veggies.
4. When liquid has evaporated, add the seasoned rice. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. I actually like to let it sit a bit to form a crust on the bottom. Move the rice to one side, add a little more oil if it has been absorbed by the rice. Add the eggs and scramble them until cook. Incorporate everything together. Turn off heat and add cilantro and/or thai basil, if using.
5. Let rice sit in wok for about 5 to 10 minutes. The burnt bottom rice grains will release from the wok. The burnt rice at the bottom is my favorite part of fried rice (and paella).

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Mango and Sticky Rice

The last time I had mango and sticky rice was when we all flew in the Bay Area for my little sister’s graduation. I flew from Denver to Oakland. My aunt and uncle flew from Denver to San Diego. Then they flew up to Oakland with my parents. During our trip we took a jaunt down to the Chinatown in Oakland. SF’s Chinatown is great for out-of-towners who want to sight see but we wanted food. My mom purchased a case of 18-20 ataulfo mangoes. (If we didn’t fly to Oakland, my mom would have purchased 15 cases like the time 99 Ranch had cases of ataulfo mangoes for $6 a case. We brought along a case whenever we visited family and friends.)

I had a craving since someone at worked mentioned it. I still had half a can of coconut milk in the fridge leftover from when I made pandan chiffon cake. I also had a few mangoes. Mango and sticky rice tastes better when made with ataulfo or champagne mangoes but regular mangoes still taste good. I don’t discriminate. I love all mangoes.

My mom likes to make her mango and sticky rice on the saltier side. I like to make mine with less salt and use a lower coconut milk to rice ratio. I mix a little of the coconut milk mixture with the rice and let it absorb.

I'm not doing another primer on cooking sticky rice. Here is a link to a previous post on preparing sticky rice. I like to make at least three cups of sticky rice and leave some for other meals. I have some chicken larb from the Cambodian restaurant.

2 cups cooked sticky rice
200 ml (half can) coconut milk
¼ cup sugar
pinch salt
mango, peeled and sliced

1. Start making the coconut milk mixture during the last ten minutes of the sticky rice steaming. In a small sauce pan, bring coconut milk, sugar and salt to a simmer. Cook about 5 minutes until the coconut milk is slightly reduced and sugar is melted.
2. When rice is done steaming, scoop out about two cups of rice and spoon about ¾ the coconut milk mixture on the hot rice and stir. Let the rice absorb the coconut milk.
3. To serve: Spoon the rice mixture onto serving plates, top with mango slices, the rest of the coconut milk mixture and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. You can also thicken the reserved coconut milk with a little arrowroot or tapioca starch before drizzling on top. I don’t think it is necessary.

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Rice Porridge: Meal of Leftovers

Many Asian families make a pot of rice for their evening meal. In the morning, the leftover rice is turned into breakfast. I read that this is very typical. However, in my family we were not very typical. We never had rice porridge for breakfast. Maybe it is because my dad never really cared for it. Even though we never had this for breakfast, it appeared from time to time. Sometimes my grandmother would make it because I wanted some or because someone was ill.

My grandmother made a few different versions and from her I learned how to make the different variations. For a heartier meal, I like to make it with chicken and top it with a lot of different toppings. When I am sick I make it with three ingredients: water, rice, and salt. It is very bland and I boil the hell out of the rice.

As I was driving home today, I had a craving for rice porridge. (I've been turning to quick meals lately. It is baseball season, the Nuggets are in the playoffs, the weather is nice and I have been a little busy at work. What other reason do I need to be lazy?)

8 cups water
1 piece dried galanga
1 kaffir lime leaf
salt
MSG
fish sauce
1/2 pound ground pork or minced chicken breast
2 cups leftover cooked rice
8 shrimp, peeled a deveined; optional

Toppings:
youtiao (Chinese cruller)
pork floss
black pepper
salted duck egg
fried garlic or fried onion
fried chili in oil
soy sauce or Golden Mountain brand seasoning sauce
cilantro
green onions

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to a boil with galanga, kaffir lime leaves, salt and MSG to a boil. Add minced pork or chicken. Return to a boil and then add the cooked rice. Boil until desired consistency is achieved. This can be as little as 10 minutes to as long as hours. I prefer the grains of rice intact so I cook for about 10 to 15 minutes.

To serve: Ladle into bowls and top with desired toppings.

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Poor Man’s Paella

Paella can be made with different ingredients depending on what you have on hand or can find fresh in the market. It can be as complicated or as simple as you want it to be. It can be made with very expensive seafood or with inexpensive chicken thighs, pork and chorizo. The Campesina version is made without seafood. The Valenciana version features both seafood and chicken (or rabbit).

Today I am making a dumb down inexpensive version. The only seafood I am using is shrimp. I usually make it with mussels and clams because I love the opened shells nesting on the yellow rice but the bf asked me to leave it out today. I've seen other inexpensive versions of this dish made using tumeric instead of saffron. I feel that flavor of saffron cannot be replicated. The tumeric will make the rice yellow but it will not impart the delicate fragrance.

1 large chicken breast, cubed
Olive oil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
4 cups chicken stock
1 pinch saffron
Salt
Pepper
4 links chorizo sausage, sliced
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cups Calasparra, Bomba, or Arborio rice
½ onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup red bell pepper, diced
1 tomato, peeled, seeded and diced (concasse)
½ cup white wine
10 ounces frozen peas


Directions

1. Marinate chicken breast in paprika, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.
3. In a saucepan, combine the stock with the saffron and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, lower heat and keep stock hot while prepping other ingredients.
4. In a 14-inch paella pan or large cast-iron skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the chicken and cook over medium-high heat, turning, until browned all over; transfer to a platter.
5. Add the chorizo to the pan and cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer the chorizo to the platter with the chicken. Add the shrimp and cook until slightly pink, about 2 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to the platter with the chicken.
6. Add two teaspoons olive oil to the pan. Add rice and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent. Add the tomato and red bell pepper and cook 2 more minutes until tomatoes and bell peppers are soft.
7. Carefully pour the hot stock into the pan. Add wine and bring to a boil. Add the chorizo and stir. Cover and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat.
8. Top with peas, chicken breast pieces and shrimp. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the paella stand for 5 minutes.

I made it it in a cast iron dutch oven. The love the layer of burnt rice on the bottom of the pan.

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