Viet World Kitchen

Spicy Basil Chicken and Tofu Recipe

The Hmong farmers have returned to our weekly farmer’s market with a wealth of Asian produce. Last Saturday, they had gorgeous Thai basil and I swooped down upon a couple of bunches. Basil discolors quickly, its shelf life under refrigeration is just a few days. I wasn’t about to let it go to waste and thought of Thai chicken and basil, a simple stir-fry.

The thing is, I didn’t want to make the dish with all chicken so I worked in some tofu. I substituted 10 ounces (300 grams) of extra-firm tofu for 8 ounces (240 grams) of the chicken in the original recipe, which called for a pound. That’s one of several strategy for using tofu for low-meat dishes.

The keys to this dish include (1) washing and drying the basil leaves (keep them whole) and (2) seasoning and panfrying the tofu.

To seal in the moisture in the chicken, I lightly coat it with cornstarch and soy sauce; it’s typically added to the wok as is, only to be embellished by flavors during the cooking process. Dark soy sauce adds color but the black soy sauce is semi sweet. With so little used, I suppose you could use kecap manis, if you want. 

 You can make this dish with mint or Italian basil but for the real deal, Thai basil’s warm spice note is magnificent. If flowers are present on the sprigs, use them!

Korean Shrimp Dumpling Recipe

My friend Ann Taylor Pittman, the executive food editor of Cooking Light magazine, recently visited Korea for the first time. Reading her name alone, you wouldn’t guess that she’s half Korean, but she is. Ann took the epic journey with her brother, meeting up with relatives she barely knew, connecting with food bloggers and Korean culinary liaisons, and venturing to markets, restaurants, and bars. She recounted her emotional journey in the magazine’s 25th anniversary issue that came out in November.

I was interested in Ann’s experience ever since she told me about her plans in 2011. Her poignant story made me tear up. The recipes she presented made me famished. This unusual mandu (the generic Korean term for dumpling) was at the top of my list of recipes to try. The concept is brilliant and the look is adorable.

As with most Korean dumplings, tofu is involved, so are garlic and green onion. A little pork goes a long way to enriching the filling; use chicken thigh if you’re not porky. The shiitake mushroom contributes extra umami. 

How to Make Asian Dumplings without Eggs or Pork

I haven’t had the chance to make a new dumpling to share with you, but I have been fielding email queries from cooks interested in making Asian dumplings. Over the weekend, I received a question that you may either ponder about or have solutions to. This came from Meghan in Indiana:

I was wondering if it is possible to make dumplings, or pot stickers, without egg yolks? I am allergic to egg yolks...and pork actually. That's not a big deal though because I could always add beef or chicken, etc.. but I do need to know about the egg. I'm not allergic to egg whites and it does actually work in most recipes that I've tried. I would really appreciate it if you could let me know. Thanks!

Eggs and pork play marvelous roles in Asian cooking but can you do without them in dumplings? Yes, indeed!

After I wrote back to Meghan, I figured that I’d organize and expand my tips to her in a post. If you have the same allergy or want to avoid eggs for some reasons, these suggestions may help your adventures in dumpling making: (page number references are for the Asian Dumplings cookbook)

The general lowdown & DIY dumpling wrappers
Most Asian dumpling wrappers don’t contain egg. I’ve seen recipes online and elsewhere that incorporate egg into the dough and that’s not necessary for all dumplings, especially popular pot stickers. Just check packaged wrappers sold at a market and read the ingredient label.

Tofu, Kimchi and Bacon Taco Recipe

Most of the tofu and kimchi tacos on the food scene are vegetarian but I wanted to turn a classic Korean dish --dubu kimchi (warm tofu with a stir-fry of kimchi and pork belly) -- into a taco filling. The triad of ingredients is wonderful so why not see what it’s like in a corn tortilla? 

I started thinking about the taco filling idea as I was developing the dubu kimchi recipe for the tofu cookbook. I could have squeezed the tofu taco concept into the book as a recipe “Variation,” but there was an inherent brilliance in the original dish (see page 145 in Asian Tofu). I didn’t want to distract from it by cluttering the page with recipe TMI (too much information).

So I saved the idea for the right online moment. In tribute to the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Los Angeles riots and Cinco de Mayo, I tackled my Mexi-Korean taco idea this week. Combining Mexican and Asian flavors has been going on for a long time. Mexi-Asian didn’t start with Roy Choi’s Kogi tacos and David Chang’s Momofuku’s ssam wraps in flour tortillas.