Viet World Kitchen

Asian Herb Rice Salad Recipe (Nasi Ulam)

There are many wonderful fresh herbs used in Southeast Asian cuisines, and now is the time to start thinking about how to eat them all up! Dave Weinstein, one my recipe testers, tweeted about all the rau ram (Vietnamese coriander) that he had growing in his Washington State garden. “Any ideas for using it up?” he asked me. Ironically, I am having the same problem, and my thoughts went to this refreshing rice salad.

The Malaysian salad actually allowed me to harvest not only the rau ram, but also kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, and mint. I was quite proud of myself for having cultivated those ingredients myself! Adding to that was the remaining sprigs of lemon basil purchased from the farmer’s market last Saturday.  Here's what I got from the garden for this salad:

Japanese Sweet Rice Dumplings with Brown Sugar Syrup Recipe (Shiratama Dango)

Today I sent out the last recipe chapter to get tested for Asian Tofu. Whew! Relaxation time. I wanted to make a little Asian dumpling for fun, not for tweaking multiple times for print. I wanted the pleasure of fooling around with dough to create a satisfying afternoon snack. No pressure.

I picked these little guys. For months, I'd been thinking about trying these chewy-soft rice dumplings in Elizabeth Andoh's Japanese vegan cookbook, Kansha. The dough is fast and easy to prepare.

Elizabeth formed her sweet rice flour dough into little balls for a classic Japanese sweet dumpling called shiratama dango.  I decided to make the dumplings larger and dimpled so that they'd have tiny wells for holding thick brown sugar syrup – called kuro mitsu in Japanese. Plus, I could also pile on some adzuki beans in those indented dumplings. Sweet adzuki bean paste is commonly eaten with shiratama dango but canned beans and the brown sugar syrup do the trick.



The above combination of poached dumplings, buttery beans and sweet syrup was good. However, it was splendid with the addition of nutty toasted soy flour (kinako), which I had to make on the fly. Here is my afternoon dumpling snack for you to try.

Thai Chicken Biryani Recipe (Khao Mok Gai)

Trade, travel, and empire have fused together the cuisines of Asia in many delectable ways. This spiced chicken-and-rice dish reflects the Muslim-Indian-Thai culinary marriage.

You may not know of khao mok gai (also spelled kao mok gai) but it is deliciously complex in perfume and flavor. In fact, in the span of a week, I ate it three (3) times while I was in Sydney, one of the greatest places for Thai food outside of Thailand! Go to one of the Chat Thai restaurants for a very good rendition.

Hell bent on replicating it, I found a recipe in David Thompson’s new book, Thai Street Food.  I’ve made it several times, the first following the recipe and it was superb. Then I tweaked it slightly for the resulting khao mok gai recipe below. (Disclosure: I provided an official book jacket endorsement for Thai Street Food. Thompson’s recipe for this dish was one of the reasons why.)

Get ready. Khao mok gai takes time to make. It is not straightforward and quick like last week's Thai grilled chicken (gai yang), though you can mix a little of that lovely sweet chile sauce into the rice, if you want to.

But if you make this Thai version of biryani, you’ll have enough for 8 people, or several rounds of eating. Add a salad and you’ve got a celebratory meal that will be sure to WOW your family and friends.

A few notes:

• Basmati is my substitute for the aged long-grain rice (e.g. jasmine) that would likely be used in Thailand.
• The use of dairy (here it's yogurt) and combining cilantro and mint is unusual for Thai cooking but it works for this hybrid dish.
• The chicken and rice are great on their own but add some tart-spicy-sweet sauce and it enlivens the entire dish, making it bright and spritely. The spicy mint sauce below is akin to an Indian green chutney but the galangal zing skews it toward Thailand. Or, you can use some sweet Thai chile sauce.
• Make the paste and fry the shallots a day in advance to get a head start.
• Use a heavy-bottomed, large, wide pot that you would braise a big stew to ensure that things cook evenly. I used an All Clad 6-quart pan.
• Thai cardamom is available at well-stocked Thai markets but regular green cardamom works great.

Thai cardamom (left), Indian green cardamon (right)

Dive into the khao mok gai recipe below and parse the cultural influences as you cook and eat. For more background information on khao mok gai, read "Biryani, Bangkok Style" by Austin Bush, a photographer and writer in Bangkok.

Curry Fried Rice Recipe -- Mark Bittman site

As you may know, I've been somewhat disabled by an Achilles heel injury. I'm a temporary gimp. Fortunately, that doesn't see to stop my ability to cook. The other day I scrounged up some leftovers in the fridge -- including some dry rice -- and crafted a curry fried rice on the fly.

Mind you, this is not my own creation. If you're a fan of Ramenya in West Los Angeles, this fried rice will remind you of theirs.

I posted the recipe and a few tips on how to make fried rice at Mark Bittman's site. Oh, for the curry powder, I used Sun Brand, which you can find online and at gourmet shops and some Asian markets. Look for the tall metal tins.

If you're interested in other rice dishes, check these out on Viet World Kitchen:

• Perfect Rice
• Coconut Rice
• Vietnamese Red Rice
• Hainan Chicken and Rice

Crisp Daikon Rice Cakes with Egg and Scallion Recipe (Banh Cu Cai Bot Chien)

If you visited my other site this week, Asian Dumpling Tips, you’ll notice that I went on a daikon rice cake jag. I test drove a recipe for the dim sum favorite from The Dumpling cookbook and then developed a vegetarian version based on ones at Slanted Door restaurant in San Francisco. I have to admit that watching Charles Phan battle Cat Cora on Iron Chef America inspired the vegetarian daikon rice cakes. Plus I’m attending the CIA’s World of Flavors conference this weekend in Napa and the theme is street food and comfort food. All that converged and as I pondered how to repurpose all the daikon rice cake in my fridge.

Bingo -- one way to use up some of the cake was to spiff up a Vietnamese street food favorite called bánh bột chiên (fried cakes, literally), which is made of crisp fried pieces of plain rice dough, with scrambled eggs, scallion and a tangy-sweet-spicy soy dipping sauce. Bot chien is a Chiu Chow (Triều Châu, Chinese people tied to Chaozhou, an area bordering Guangdong and Fujian provinces) invention and quite popular among school children as an after-school snack. Earlier this year, I had the dish at a Dynasty restaurant in San Jose, California, during their dim sum service. I noticed on Yelp that a small number of Vietnamese restaurants offer the dish too.