Bombay Chicken and Rice Recipe

Recipe :

* 1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
* 6 ounces diced dried mixed fruit
* 1/2 cup chopped onion
* 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups water
* 1 (3 pound) chicken, cut into pieces
* 2 tablespoons butter, melted
* 4 teaspoons curry powder, divided
* 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. In a 9x13 inch baking pan, mix rice, fruit, onion, sugar and salt. Pour in water. Arrange chicken parts over the rice mixture. In a small bowl, mix butter, curry powder and paprika. Brush butter mixture over chicken pieces. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil.

3. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until chicken juices run clear and rice is tender.

Vietnamese Stuffed Fish Recipe

Recipe:

700 g (1.5 lb) whole grouper or bream
3 red chilies, seeded if a less spicy flavor is preferred
2 stalks lemon grass
1 clove garlic
2 shallots
Salt and pepper to taste
100 g (3.5 oz) minced pork (can also replace with chicken)
1 tablespoon fish sauce (nuoc mam)1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sherry
1/2 teaspoon groundnut oil

Garnish:

2 hardboiled eggs
2 limes
1 carrot
Coriander sprigs

Preparation:

Clean and gut the fish. Cut a slit from head to tail and carefully remove main bone without cutting off head or tail. Remove eyes. Make cuts on both sides of the fish. Blend or pound chilies, lemon grass, garlic and shallots, adding salt and pepper to taste. Mix with minced pork, fish sauce and sugar. Rub a little salt and pepper into cut slits of fish. Cover tail with foil (do not allow foil to touch sides of oven). Stuff fish with pounded mixture and pork. Sprinkle fish with sherry to moisten it.

Microwave Cooking Method:

Grease a baking dish with 1/2 teaspoon groundnut oil. Place fish carefully on the dish and steam, covered with plastic wrap for 8 minutes on High. Turn fish carefully and cook for another 4 minutes on High.

Serving:

Serve garnished with hardboiled eggs, lime slices and a carrot. Peel carrot and slice a piece to cover eye socket. Cut thin strips from the rest. Halve eggs and limes. Use carrot strips as a basket handles for the egg baskets, and fill them with coriander sprigs.

Chiang Mai is a city in the North-east of Thailand. the city is culturally very close to Laos. It is famous for its chicken salad, which was originally called "Laap" or "Larp". Duck, beef or pork can be used instead of chicken.

Recipe: (Serves 4 - 6)

450 g/1 lb minced (ground) chicken
1 lemon grass stalk, root trimmed
3 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped
4 fresh red chilies, seeded and chopped
60 ml/4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
30 ml/2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
15 ml/1 tablespoon roasted ground rice
2 scallions (spring onions), finely chopped
30 ml/2 tablespoons fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves

Thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves, mixed salad leaves and fresh mint sprigs, to garnish

Method:

Heat a large, non-stick frying pan. Add the minced chicken and moisten with a little water. Stir constantly over a medium heat for 7-10 minutes, until it is cooked through. Remove the pan from the heat and drain off any excess fat. Cut off the lower 5 cm/2 in of the lemon grass stalk and chop it finely.

Transfer the chicken to a bowl and add the chopped lemon grass, lime leaves, chilies, lime juice, fish sauce, roasted ground rice, scallions and coriander. Mix thoroughly.

Spoon the chicken mixture into a salad bowl. Sprinkle sliced lime leaves over the top and garnish with salad leaves and sprigs of mint.

Thai Firecrackers Shrimps Recipe

Start your meal with a bang! This Thai recipe is easy and fun to make. Firecracker shrimps is an appetizers and snacks that will provide you with the content that would explode with full of flavor. It's easy to see how these pastry-wrapped shrimps snacks got their name (Krathak in Thai).

Recipe: (Makes 16)

16 large , raw king shrimps, heads and shells removed but tails left on
5 ml/1 teaspoon red curry paste
15 ml/1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
16 small wonton wrappers, about 8 cm/3.25 in square, thawed if frozen
16 fine egg noodles, soaked
Oil, for deep-frying

Method:

1. Place the shrimps on their sides and cut two slits through the underbelly of each, one about 1 cm/0.5 in from the head end and the other about 1 cm/0.5 in from the first cut, cutting across the shrimp. This will prevent the shrimps from curling when they are cooked.

2. Mix the curry paste with the fish sauce in a shallow dish. Add the shrimps and turn them in the mixture until they are well coated. Cover and leave to marinate for 10 minutes.

3. Place a wonton wrapper on the work surface at an angle so that it forms a diamond shape, then fold the top corner over so that the point is in the center. Place a shrimp, slits down, on the wrapper, with the tail projecting from the folded end, then fold the bottom corner over the other end of the shrimp.

4. Fold each side of the wrapper over in turn to make a tightly folded roll. Tie a noodle in a bow around the roll and set it aside. Repeat with the remaining shrimps and wrappers. Before using the noodle, soak them in a bowl of boiling water for 2-3 minutes, until softened, then drain, refresh under cold running water and drain well again.

5. Heat the oil in a deep-fryer or wok to 190°C/375°F or until a cube of bread, added to the oil, browns in 45 seconds. Fry the shrimps, a few at a time, for 5-8 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Drain well on kitchen paper and keep hot while you cook the remaining batches.

Bridegroom Eggs Recipe

Recipe: (Serves 4 to 6)

30 ml/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 shallots, thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
6 fresh red chilies, sliced
Oil, for deep-frying
6 hard boiled eggs, shelled
Salad leaves, to serve
Sprigs of fresh coriander (cilantro), to garnish

For the sauce:

75 g/3 oz/6 tablespoons palm sugar
75 ml/5 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
90 ml/6 tablespoons tamarind juice

Method:

To make the sauce, put the sugar, fish sauce and tamarind juice in a pan. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and add more sugar, fish sauce or tamarind juice, if needed. Transfer the sauce to a bowl.

Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and cook the shallots, garlic and chilies for 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Heat the oil in a deep-fryer or wok to 190°C/375°F or until a cube of bread, added to the oil, browns in about 45 seconds. Deep-fry the eggs in the hot oil for 3-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and drain well on kitchen paper. Cut the eggs in quarters and arrange them on a bed of leaves. Drizzle with the sauce and sprinkle over the shallot mixture. Garnish with coriander springs and serve immediately.

Thai Pandan Chicken Recipe

Also known as pandanus leaf, it is a kind of herb with long green aromatic leaves which are popularly used in the Southeast Asian cooking, lending a unique taste and distinct aroma to curry, rice, cakes and many Thai cuisines. They are known in Indonesia and Malaysia as daun pandan. Fresh leaves are usually torn into strips, tied into a knot before placing into the cooking liquid to perfume it. At the end of the cooking, it will be removed.

Pandan can also be used as a natural replacement for food-coloring, imbuing desserts with bright shade of green. It can also be found as a ready-to-use paste in most Asian specialty stores. In Thailand, pieces of marinated chicken are wrapped in a clever wrapping of the pandan leaf and grilled or deep-fried to the extend that the subtle flavor of the leaf is being imparted to the chicken.

Recipe:

600 g diced chicken meat
5 cups oil for deep-frying
40-50 pcs big pandan leaves, washed

Seasoning:

60 g shallots, chopped
30 g garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon lemongrass (white part only), chopped
1 tablespoon coriander roots, chopped
1 teaspoon peppercorns, pounded
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fish gravy
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon black soy sauce

Method:

Marinate diced chicken meat with seasoning for 2-3 hours. Wrap up chicken meat neatly with pandan leaves (refer below). Heat up the oil for deep-frying, deep-fry the chicken till golden brown. Dish and drain. Serve hot and let the guests unwrap them and enjoy the aroma and flavor.

Note: Pandan chicken can also be wrapped and keep in the fridge. Deep-fry in hot oil before serving. It can also be baked for more healthy way of cooking.