I was at the farmers market this past weekend and came across lemon basil.  I have used Italian sweet basil and Thai holy basil but never this divine smelling citrus basil.  The produce vendor told me to use it quickly for the leaves wilt within a couple days.  I guess for a first trial it is safer to experiment around familiar Thai/Laos recipes such as larb, “minced meat mint salad” or padkrapow, “basil minced meat stir fry”.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of organic minced chicken (season with 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp cooking wine, 2 tsp cornstarch)
• 1 “brinjal” asian eggplant, thickly sliced and quartered
• 3-4 gloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 lemongrass stalk, thinly sliced
• 1 chili, thinly sliced
• A handful of lemon basil leaves
• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar

Steps:

1. Lightly salt the eggplant and leave at room temperature for 1 hour.  Eggplant will produce brownish bitter liquid.  Discard the liquid.
2. Season minced chicken with 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 2 tsp cornstarch, 1 tsp cooking wine
3. Heat wok with 2 Tbsp of oil
4. Add chicken and spread it out to form a pancake.
5. When the underside of the minced chicken “pancake” caramelizes and turns brown, break into pieces and continue to stir-fry
6. Remove from wok and set aside.
7. Heat another 2 Tbsp of oil in wok.
8. Stir fry ginger, garlic, and lemongrass until fragrant
9. Add eggplant
10. Add 2 Tbsp of fish sauce and 1/2 tsp sugar
11. Eggplant will soften and produce liquid
12. Add chicken back into wok and stir together to combine flavors
13. Turn off heat and add lemon basil
14. The residual heat will cook the lemon basil
15. Serve immediately

Cook’s Notes:

To keep the minced chicken moist use a blend of chicken breast and thigh meat.

I love the texture of minced meat.  I like to buy whole organic chickens, debone them, grind up the skinless thigh and breast meat and freeze them in individual ziploc bags.  Including the thigh meat keeps the blend moist and tender.  Save the bones for making chicken soup.  The often discarded stalks/root of the Cilantro plant are actually very flavorful and used extensively in southeast asian cooking.  This recipe came about when I had no Thai holy basil but wanted to make gai pad krapow, minced chicken basil stir-fry.  There is no better dish to use cilantro root as a substitute!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of minced chicken
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped cliantro root/stalk
• 2 Tbsp diced red onions
• 1 lemongrass stalk (white part ony), thinly sliced
• 1 chili padi, thinly sliced
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp kecap manis (use soy sauce and sugar if unavailable)
• 1 Tbsp calamansi lime juice (use regular lime juice if unavailable)
• 1 Tbsp of butter

Steps:

1. Heat butter in wok until foaming.
2. Stir fry garlic, ginger, cilantro root, lemongrass and chili padi until fragrant.
3. Move the herbs towards the edge of the wok.
4. Add minced chicken to wok, spreading it out to form a pancake. Do not touch and allow the meat to brown underneath.                                                 
5. Break up meat pancake into small pieces.  Add fish sauce, kecap manis, calamansi lime juice and stir-fry along with herbs until chicken is completely cooked. Toss in diced red onions at the end.                                                                       
6. Serve over rice and add a fried egg for extra yummy goodness.

When I first served this at a party I had to lie and call it tuna. I kept my ears peeled for the first crunch followed by gasps of delight. Only then did I quickly confess to my little white lie. Sardines, unjustly known as bait fish, are much misunderstood. These small oily fishes belonging to the herring family are not only delicious but are also high in omega-3 acids and iron. Canned sardines are eaten throughout Southeast Asia. This recipe is my open faced take on the sardine puff, a favorite among Singaporeans.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of sardines in tomate sauce (Ayam Brand is recommended)
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 whole onion thinly sliced
• 1 clove of minced garlic
• 2 tps curry power
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste (if unavailable substitute with ketchup)
• 1 Tbsp Lingham’s sweet chili sauce
• 2 Tbsp calamansi lime juice (if unavailable use regular lime juice)
• 1 Tbsp of finely chopped cilantro
• 2 sheets of puff pastry
• 1 egg

Steps:

1. Empty sardines from can and reserve tomato sauce.
2. Saute onions in butter for 5 mins. Add 1 tsp salt to sweat onions.
3. Add curry powder and garlic. Saute garlic till fragrant.
4. Add reserved tomato sauce, tomato paste, Lingham sweet chili sauce and calamansi lime juice.
5. Reduce mixture to a jam like texture.
6. Fold sardines and chopped cilantro into the mixture. Expect sardines to fall apart which is fine.
7. Cut puff pastry into squares.
8. Beat 1 egg and apply egg wash to puff pastry squares. Bake according to manufacturer’s instructions.
9. Spoon sardine mixture onto each square and garnish with cilantro leaves.

Indonesia has the biggest muslim population in the world. The Koran forbids the consumption of pork. Yet ironically some of the most delicious pork dishes come from Indonesian Chinese restaurants and pork satays, “sate babi”, are definitely one of them. The key to this dish is using freshly ground toasted coriander seeds. Beware! This recipe is for the patient.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb of pork butt, cut into thumb size cubes
• 1 1/2 Tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1/2 cup kecap manis
• 1 thumb of ginger
• 1 thumb of galangal root
• 2 stalks of lemongrass
• 1/4 cup canola oil

Steps:

1. Toast coriander seeds in pan over medium flame. Swirl the seeds while toasting to prevent burning. Grind to powder in a coffee grinder or use a pestle and mortar.
2. Repeat step 1 for cumin seeds.
3. Place ginger, lemongrass, galangal root, a bit of water in food processor and blend until completely smooth and fibers cannot be seen.
4. Combine all ingredients with pork in glass bowl and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge to marinate overnight.
5. Soak bamboo skewers in water overnight to prevent them from burning on the grill.
6. Piece together 4-5 cubes of pork using bamboo skewers. Do not cram but space pieces evenly apart to ensure pork gets cooked thoroughly.
7. Grill over BBQ
8. If BBQ grill is unavailable, use the oven broil function and cook for about 7 mins each side.

Sauce:

Ingredients:

• 4-5 gloves of minced garlic
• 2-3 chopped fresh chili padi
• 2 Tbsp of chopped cilantro root
• 1 Tbsp of butter
• 4-5 Tbsp of kecap manis
• 3 Tbsp of water

Steps:

1. Heat butter in sauce pan.
2. Stir fry minced garlic, chili padi and chopped cilantro root till fragrant.
3. Lower heat, add kecap manis and water.
4. Cook till sauce bubbles, careful not to burn the sugars in the sauce. Turn off heat and drizzle over satays.

Cook’s Note:

I have tried unsuccessfully to use pork butt from Whole Foods that is hormone and antibiotic free but the resulting pork was so gamey tasting that I had to switch back. This is an instance where the less we know the better. Do not use fresh garlic or onions as it may burn over the grill and turn bitter. Use garlic and onion powder instead.