Amazing Thai Coffee

Ah yes, Thai coffee. If you've ever had it before you know how awesome it is. If you haven't, seek out your nearest Thai restaurant pronto and order yourself one. They are incredible. I've been on a Thai coffee kick for the past couple weeks, working on a good recipe, and I think I've gotten it down. This is some of the best, if not the best, Thai coffee I've ever had. Rich and thick and almost chocolate-y (even though there's no chocolate in it). It's hard to stop drinking it.

The only ingredient that's not readily available in grocery stores everywhere is the actual Thai Coffee grounds, but if you don't happen to live in a town with a decent ethnic mart you can always find it on Amazon.

 

Here's what you'll need-

Heaping 1/2 c of Thai coffee (Not instant! And I've been using, and recommend, Pantai)
3 c water
1/4 c sugar
1 1/2 t ground cardamom**
2 egg whites (I know what you're thinking, but trust me!)
Pinch of kosher or sea salt

***

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
Whipping cream*

Mix everything but the two milks and the cream together in a large saucepan over high heat, stirring occasionally until it just comes to a boil. Let boil for several seconds, or until the coffee foams up to the top of the pot (I use a 3qt. pot), then remove from the heat and let sit for 15 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve or cheesecloth, then stir in the condensed milk and evaporated milk. Let it cool down completely in the fridge (it should be cool enough after adding the milk that you can just put it in right away without affecting the fridge temperature). When it's nice and cold you just pour 1/4 c cream into a glass, followed by 3/4-1 c of the coffee mix (or vice-versa, whatever). Stir thoroughly and add lots of ice. Take a long sip and prepare to be blown away.






***

Ok, egg whites? Yeah I know, seems kind of odd, but do not skip out on them. I made this several times before remembering that adding an egg white can really smooth out your coffee, especially if you're going to be boiling it. (Some folks also add egg shells, I've recently learned.) So I tried it with the egg white and the difference was quite noticeable! The coffee I'd made before was definitely very good, but the batch I made after adding the egg whites to the mix was downright exceptional!

* The type of cream you use does make a difference. You want plain old 'whipping cream,' not 'heavy whipping cream,' not half and half, and definitely not anything 'lite' or lowfat. If you're unsure if you have the right kind or not, check the nutrition label- what you're looking for is 4.5 grams/fat per Tbs. I've tried creams with 3 (half and half), 4.5 (regular whipping cream), and 5 grams (heavy whipping cream), and the 4.5 seems to have the best balance of everything. The half and half is too light and the heavy whipping cream is too... well, heavy. It leaves your tongue kind of feeling coated with fat. If all you can get your hands on is heavy cream, just dilute it slightly with milk or half and half.

** UPDATE- I just made another batch of the stuff and upped the cardamom to 2 teaspoons, as well as added a couple grinds of fresh black pepper. Totally the best batch I've made yet, by far. All of the other stuff had a chocolate-y taste to it, as I've mentioned, but this latest batch had more of a caramel-y flavor going on (which I definitely prefer). I've also tried Honey Bee brand Thai coffee, which has sesame seeds in it (and maybe one or two other things that the Pantai brand doesn't have, I can't remember and I don't have the label to check), and I'm thinking I like that even better. I don't know that it was the defining factor in this batch (I think probably not, since I used about half of each kind) but overall I think it's at least as good as Pantai, and maybe even better.

Thai Sticky Rice With Basil And Chicken

Let me just come out and say it at the beginning here- this dish Kicks. Ass. It's definitely one of the Best Things Ever and you owe it to yourself to make it. I've been wanting to post it for a long, long time. This is one of my top favorite dishes of all time, something I could eat daily and not get tired of for a very, very long time. I figure now that I'm finally down here in Nash Vegas and mostly moved in and such, what better way to kick off the first post here in my new town/new life than with such a worthy, tasty dish as this.

The name 'Sticky rice' is slightly misleading; it's not really sticky in the sense that most of us think of when we think 'sticky rice.' While it does stick a little to the cloth when it's done cooking, it's not at all like somebody overcooked their rice and it's just a big pile of sticky, starchy goop. I think 'Chewy rice' would probably be a more accurate title for it.
It's a fairly easy dish to make and most everything is easily obtained. If you live in a smaller town somewhere, you might not be able to find Thai basil (if not, it's definitely worth growing your own) but regular basil is awesome too. Not quite as awesome on this dish as the Thai kind, but pretty damn good in it's own right. Anyway, here's a rundown of what you'll need:

Main Dish:

Boneless chicken parts, small-to-medium dice (breast, thigh, doesn't really matter; whatever you prefer)

Thai Sticky Rice (also known as Sweet Rice or Glutinous Rice. It comes in a purple variety, and probably others, but go with the the white kind for this recipe. The other kind cooks different, in my experience, and I haven't been able to get the same texture for it). You'll also need either a bamboo steamer or a colander, along with a cheesecloth or cloth napkin, for steaming the rice. Cooking it on the stovetop, or using a rice cooker, will not work. I tried it once just to see how it would come out, and it didn't. At all. It has to be soaked and steamed.

Some type of adult beverage (not for the dish, but for the cook. Cooking's always better/more fun when you're consuming some type of beer/wine/booze)


Marinade:

Fish sauce
Soy sauce (a good kind, not LaChoy, which is not even a real soy sauce)
Teriyaki sauce
Rice vinegar
Fresh lime juice
Dried basil
Fresh minced garlic
Fresh minced ginger
Sugar
Kosher/sea salt
Pepper
Crushed red pepper
Szechuan peppercorns, toasted (those are the things in my header photo. If you don't have a good international market where you live, they can be obtained from Penzey's and other online spice merchants.
MSG (optional, I guess. I always use it, though. I think the whole anti-MSG thing is a bit overblown and I highly recommend the stuff)


The list above is just what I currently typically use. I have no set recipe or list of ingredients or anything like that. If you have other Asian ingredients like Maggi, Soba, or Oyster sauces, they'd probably go pretty well too.

Garnishes:

Fresh basil, preferably the Thai variety

Sriracha, aka Rooster sauce or Cock sauce

Chopped dry-roasted peanuts

Fresh lime juice

Bean sprouts


Making it happen-

Rice-

The rice has to soak for a good 8 hours or so, so you'll want to get that out of the way first. I never bother to measure it out, but when I cook for just myself, I typically use about 1 cup/8 oz. dry rice. I try not to let it soak for more than 10 hours, so if I start it the night before, when I get up in the morning I'll usually just drain the water off and leave it like that until I'm ready. It also doesn't have to soak in the fridge, though I usually put it in there if it's going to be sitting for awhile after I drain the water.

Marinade-

While the rice is soaking, get to work on whipping up some Asian-flavored goodness to marinate that chicken in. Get yourself a good sized metal mixing bowl, toss in a big pinch of salt and a bigger pinch of sugar, add in some hot water to help it dissolve quicker, and mix until it's completely dissolved. Then, little by little, add in splashes of the ingredients listed above until it tastes the way you want. Remember to add more water as necessary (you'll need at least some, so it's not too overpowering) and possibly more salt and sugar. I also typically add the most of the ingredients that are near the top of the list, and go down in volume from there- so more fish sauce than soy, more soy than teriyaki, etc. Go light on the szechuan peppercorns, though. If you're not familiar with them, they're not actually peppercorns, so they're not 'hot' like regular peppercorns. It's hard to describe them, but they have a citrus-y smell and flavor, and if you pop one in your mouth it'll make your tongue kind of tingle and feel a bit numb. That's a good thing. Just be careful not to overdo it; they can be quite strong and I've damn near ruined a dish by using too much. A pinch is all you need to start with. Also, if you don't happen to have any fresh minced garlic (which I don't for this particular batch), the granulated kind is better than nothing.
The main thing to remember is that there is no right or wrong way to do it, and that what you're shooting for is something that's savory and has a good blend of Hot, Sour, Salty, and Sweet (light on the Sweet, but that's just me. Mostly I just use the sugar for a bit of balance. Plus, the lime juice, rice vinegar, and basil add their own bit of sweetness too). That's my main objective whenever I mix this up. If you're not sure because you've never done it before and you don't have much experience with Asian flavors or whatever, don't sweat it, it's easy. E-Z. Taste it often as you go and add whatever you think it might need more of. It won't be the exact same every time, but that's part of the fun of making and eating it. If you're feeling cautious about it, you may want to actually measure stuff out instead of just adding it in random splashes. Also, you may want to start with fairly uniform and equal measurements of things; say, for example, 1 T each of (almost) everything, and then adjust from there. The main reason I don't have an actual recipe for this is because every time I try and come up with one, it never works out. I'm always adjusting and fine-tuning the marinade as I go, and it's really, really hard to keep track of every little dash of whatever sauce I'm adding, and it always seems to come out vastly better when I don't even try, so I finally gave up on that and now I just focus on tasting as I go, adding more of whatever I think it needs here and there. And it never fails to come out awesome.
Once your super-amazingly-awesome marinade is up to your standards, toss in the chicken and let it soak a bit. Depending on how much lime juice you put in, you could probably get away with 20 minutes or so, but I think an hour is good. Two is too, but if you let it go more than four hours, call a physician. No wait, that's something else. Anyway, you get the point.

Also, I was planning on doing a little video clip of me mixing up the marinade, just so you'd have some sort of reference point, but my Flip cam has suddenly disappeared, even though I just had it a few days ago when I originally started writing this post and was planning on doing it then. If it turns up at some point, I'll do the video and then update this post with it, but for now I got nothing.

Cooking the rice/chicken-

When you're ready to start cooking the rice, you'll need to drain and rinse it thoroughly. Like, put it in a fine-mesh colander and rinse it underneath the faucet until the water starts to run clear. When it's ready, put it into your cheesecloth-lined colander or bamboo steamer and set it on top of a pot of boiling water to steam. Make sure it's evenly spread out and that there's not too much- depending on what you're using and how big it is, you're probably going to have to keep it to 2 cups (dry) or under. Cover it with another cloth and then set a lid on tightly to keep as much of the steam in as possible.
In the past, I used to use one of the more traditional style conical bamboo steamers-





But I don't really like the way those cook. This is a fairly decent sized basket, big enough to cook for 4-5 people, but unless you're cooking only a small amount, like enough for 1-2 people, the cone shape tends to cause the stuff at the bottom to be overdone while the stuff at the top isn't even close, and probably won't ever be. I found this out the hard way while trying to cook for several friends. So now I've switched over to the round kind, which typically has 2 steamer baskets and it's own lid. You see them at Bed Bath and Beyond for 20 bucks or so. I got mine at Williams-Sonoma for about $15. It's a large one with only one layer. (Maybe a bit too large, since I currently don't have any pots that big around, but I make it work.) I like this style a lot better, since it allows for much more even cooking, so you can fit more rice in for more people. Depending on how much rice you're cooking, it usually takes about 20-25 minutes to steam. When you're getting close to that time, just lift the lid and scoop out a small amount with a fork (or a long pair of tongs, if you have them) to test for doneness.
While the rice is cooking, get out your wok and turn that thing on high high high. Let it get super scorching hot. Like, to the point that it starts to smoke. Make sure your chicken has been thoroughly drained, since the liquid will cool the pan down considerably, and the chicken will still throw off some more liquid anyway. Do not do what you might be tempted to do, and what most people probably do, and add oil to the pan. You do that and then when you drop the chicken in it's just going to splash up and burn you in the face. You don't want to be blinded or horribly disfigured, do you? If you're already blind and horribly disfigured, then do whatever you want, but for your own safety, either hold off on the oil until after you add the chicken, or toss the chicken in a little bit- just enough to coat it- before you add it to the pan. Either way, it's not gonna stick (if you're using any kind of decent cookware, that is. Cheapo pans that don't conduct heat well might give you some problems, but use a good wok or cast iron skillet and you'll be golden). If you use no oil at all, then it may stick a little at first, but the super high heat will sear the outside nicely and then the chicken will start throwing off juice, and then that will loosen things up. If you saved any of the marinade (always a good idea, just in case) you could add some of that after a bit to help it along too. The chicken won't take long at all to cook, under 10 minutes easily, so try and time it so that it's done around the same time as the rice, because Thai sticky rice doesn't keep for very long at all. It dries out quite quickly. If you're not sure when to start, just remember the chicken will probably hold for much longer than the rice so if the chicken's done first, not a big deal, you can just hold it warm in a 150 degree oven or whatever.
Make sure you have a large plate or bowl ready for when the rice is done. When it's ready, cut the heat and lift the lid (and top cloth, if you're using one); as soon as the steam clears enough for you to grab the cloth napkin or whatever you're using, grab it by its corners and quickly turn it over onto the plate or into the bowl. The cloth will still be wet enough that you can easily remove it from the rice and then lay it back down as a cover, without much, if any, of the rice sticking to it.

From there, just break off as much or as little as you want and spread a layer of it on a plate. I typically sprinkle some fish sauce on top of that layer, then cover it with a layer of my freshly-wokified chicken, then cover that in a fairly thick layer of Sriracha, fresh Thai basil leaves, fresh lime juice, crushed peanuts, and sometimes bean sprouts (when I'm brave enough to buy them. I've just heard too many horror stories about them. Going to have to start growing my own just to be safe).

It usually ends up looking something like this:


This is what Awesome looks like


Prepare to be blown away when you take a bite. Especially if I happened to make it for you.

Tom Kha Kai (aka Thai Chicken Soup)

I could've swore I posted this here a long time ago, but I guess not. Well, better late than never, I suppose...

Anyone who knows me, or has ever been cooked for by me, knows that, man, I really love Thai food (anything with an Asian feel to it, really.) And I tell you what, I love me a giant bowl of Tom Kha Kai.

Being that this is a soup, there's any number of ways to do it. Here's my way:



(Those chunks of chicken-nugget-looking things are the galanga)

What we have here is the following:

Galanga
Lemongrass
Garlic
Thai bird chilis
Kaffir lime leaves
Scallions (white parts)
Ginger
Sea salt
Black pepper
Brown sugar
Fish sauce

Specific amounts, you say? Recipe? Why, I have no idea what you're talking about; I just eyeball the amounts. If it looks right, it is right. And if it's not right, I'll know it when I taste it, and adjust accordingly (I'm generally, though not always, of the opinion that recipes are for cookbook authors and culinary scaredy-cats).
So, cook this down in a little bit of oil, just until soft, you don't want to brown it. Next, add some coconut milk and chicken stock (I used the low sodium kind for this) and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes. (For the total volume of soup, I used approx. 32 oz. each of coconut milk and chicken stock, and added a little less than half each for this part.)




Afterwards, strain out all of the liquid into another container, dump the veggies, and return the liquid to the pot. Add the rest of the coconut milk and chicken stock, taste and add more salt, pepper, brown sugar, fish sauce accordingly, then add the diced (raw) chicken.

(Helpful tip: chicken, beef, etc., is so much easier to slice and dice when it's partially frozen!)

I think I used about 1 1/2 lbs. or so for this batch. Chop up some mushrooms of your choice- I used fresh oyster mushrooms, but most anything will do- and add those to the pot. Add in some bamboo shoots- I was lucky enough to have some fresh, thinly sliced and slivered ones on hand, and used about a pound. I'm sure water chestnuts would be delicious, but I didn't have any this time (except for that one small can down in the basement, but I didn't feel like bothering with it). Also, at this point I added a couple tablespoons of crack (aka MSG) because I really like the stuff. Apparently, though, some people have issues with it. I'm glad I'm not one of those people. Let simmer until the chicken is cooked all the way through, and then dish it up, adding copious amounts of cilantro and Thai basil as a garnish-



Although, I think copious means something different for me than it does for other people- I practically have a salad on top of mine:



This was the first time I've used Thai basil with this soup; before, I'd always just gone with cilantro (mainly because when I used to make this for myself before, I didn't have easy access to the Thai basil). I highly recommend it. This particular batch was Out. Standing. Fairly easy to make, and make consistently good. Pad Thai, for me, is always hit or miss- sometimes great, usually just ok. But every time I make this, it always ranges from Very Good, to I Want To Marry Whoever Made This. Substitutions generally work well, too. Where I used Thai bird chilis, if you can't get those, you could definitely go with crushed red pepper. I don't know of any fresh substitutes for Galanga, Lime leaves, and Lemongrass, but the dried versions are relatively easy to come by via mail-order, or even at a lot of co-ops and grocery stores nowadays, and are usually reasonably priced. Not as good as fresh, obviously, but better than nothing. When I can afford it, which is almost never, I prefer sesame or peanut oil for cooking the veggies at the beginning (coconut oil would also be excellent) but in this case I just went with canola.

Finally, it's not a recipe, but here are the approximate amounts I used for the ingredients listed:

Galanga- 1 medium finger/knob
Lemongrass- 1 stalk
Garlic- 2-4 Tablespoons
Thai bird chilis- 5-6
Kaffir lime leaves- 8 leaves, or so. (would've used more, but the rest had gone bad)
Scallions (white parts) - 1 bunch
Ginger- 1 medium finger
Sea salt- 1 T
Black pepper- 1 teaspoon
Brown sugar- 2 T
Fish sauce- 2-4 T
Coconut milk- 32 oz
Low-sodium chicken stock- 32 oz
Diced chicken- 1 1/2 lbs.
Oyster mushrooms- 8 oz.
Bamboo shoots- 1 lb.
MSG- 2 T
Cilantro, chopped- 1/2 C
Thai Basil, chopped- 1/2 C

Fresh Thai Rolls (Spring Rolls) Made Easy(er)

I love fresh Thai rolls. Love them. I could eat them as an entire meal for any meal of the day and be happy. But making them kinda sucks. They're not terribly difficult, and in fact it's probably the thought of making them rather than the actual process that sucks, since once I get going it never seems as bad as I thought it would be. Problem is, getting going is the hard part. (Kind of like writing new posts for this blog; I've got plenty of stuff in mind, but actually sitting down to do it never seems to happen.) Anyway, for me the hardest part about making them was always the spring roll wrappers- you dip them in hot water to soften them, but then they always end up folding over themselves or sticking to the work surface with lots of ripples in them, or whatever; basically the wrapper part was always just a pain in the ass. But then I found out one day that it was because I was soaking them for too long (too long being about 5-6 seconds, total). Seems pretty obvious, but for some reason I never caught on, and anytime I talked to someone else who made them, they always had the same problem. It doesn't help that a lot of the recipes you see out there tell you to soak them for too long anyway- I just saw one over on About.com that said to soak them for 30 seconds! Better to go with the one over on Allrecipes.com that says to just dip it in the water for 1 second. That really is all it takes- you basically just want to get it wet, because when you take it out and set it on the table, it's going to keep absorbing the residual water and soften up to just the right amount to make it easy to roll. And, since it'll still be somewhat stiff when you take it out of the water, it'll be completely flat when you lay it on the table, no wrinkles or ripples, no moving the edges around in an effort to get it 'right.' And that's pretty much all I'm going to say about that, because this post isn't exactly about how to make Thai spring rolls- it's more like how to make a Thai spring roll salad. That's right, sort of a cheater's Thai spring roll. I was making myself some one day, marveling at how much easier they were to make now that I wasn't over-soaking the wrappers, when it occurred to me to just mix it all up in a bowl like a salad- everything's exactly the same, just a whole lot quicker and easier to make! I haven't looked back since. I make this a lot now, far more than I ever made actual spring rolls. The following is the recipe that I came up with and tend to always use (I really like it a lot) but there's tons of Thai spring roll recipes all over the internet, so tweak away- there's no 'one' right recipe to make a spring roll. A lot of recipes I've seen call for bean thread noodles, but I like plain old rice noodles in mine; some call for shrimp, I use chicken (more work, but it's cheaper); I typically don't use cucumbers, but they go well in this. Whatever you like. If you've never made fresh Thai rolls before, this recipe should be a good start, though. I think you'll like it.

This is also kind of a large recipe, since we ended up putting the salad on our banquet menu at work. So I had to come up with something to be able to feed a lot of people, and this is it. (I admit it, I'm too lazy to bother sizing it down for just a few people. Usually when I make it for just myself, I don't even follow the recipe anyway, as far as amounts go- I just mix it all up until it tastes how I want. But for the purposes of this blog, and to make it easier for folks who've never tried making these before, here you go) :

Thai Spring Roll Salad

8 oz rice noodle (dry)
1lb boneless chicken breast
1lb chopped romaine (Napa cabbage is also good)
crushed peanuts
fresh mint
fresh basil
(cilantro is good too, but isn't part of the recipe)

Marinade/dressing

2t salt
3/4c sugar
1c rice vinegar
1c fish sauce
1c + 2T water
1-2 t crushed red pepper
1T fresh lime juice
2T chopped garlic
1 lg or 1 1/2 medium carrots, shredded
1/2 onion, sliced very thin

The way I typically do this is to use warm-to-hot water to dissolve the sugar and salt quicker. Then just add everything else to the bowl and mix it up good. Also, you may want to set some marinade aside for extra dressing for the salad.

Cook the chicken breast on a sheet pan in a 350 degree F oven in a sugar/salt water brine (just dissolve equal parts sugar and kosher salt in some water. I don't have an exact amount as I tend to go by how it tastes- just slightly salty/sweet- but I think 1/4 to 1/2 cup each per gallon of water is somewhere in the ballpark). When it's done let it cool a bit, but while it's still warm pull/shred it and toss into the marinade and let set for 1-2 hrs.

Soak the rice noodles in hot water (+/- 190-200 F) until soft (white) about 5-7 minutes, then chop them up as big or small as you like. (They tend to be pretty sticky, so I sometimes add a little oil to lube things up, but only a tiny bit- just the bare minimum.) Add to bowl with the romaine, drain the chicken, mix into salad, toss in mint, basil, crushed peanuts (in whatever amount you like. I didn't really see the point in trying to come up with an amount for this recipe. I like fresh herbs, so I tend to use a lot. Whatever works for you).


(pic taken with my cell phone camera...)

And that's pretty much it. Use the extra marinade as a dressing, if you like, but keep in mind that it tends to wilt the lettuce pretty quickly, so if you're making this awhile ahead of time you'll want to hold off on that (as well as be sure and really drain the chicken thoroughly).

Bon Appetit!

Thai Peanut Sauce

Boy howdy, have I got the goods for you today! This is it right here, folks. This is The One. I'm fairly certain that no matter what I happen to come up with after this, even if I live to be a hundred, it will not be as good as this stuff. And it's not so much the peanut sauce itself, although it is excellent, as what you're going to do with it when it's ready. More on that later. For now, though...

It all started one day many years ago when I was living in Chicago...
Ah, y'know what? Never mind all that. Let me just sum it up-

Years ago, I discovered Thai Peanut Sauce (and sticky rice!).

And for a long time I used store-bought peanut sauce. This stuff, to be exact-



And it's actually very good. The only downside is that it's quite expensive- $4+ for about 11 oz. So after awhile I tried looking online for a recipe to make it at home, but I really couldn't find one. I mean, I found a bunch, but none of them sounded any good. Try it- do an online search for "Thai Peanut Sauce" and see what comes up. I think you'll be as disappointed as I was. Not to worry, though, you've come to the right place this time! And I even have an actual recipe for it, although as always, I encourage you to use it as a guideline only. The only reason I even worked one up is because at Sweeney's, where I work, they have a Thai Chicken Pasta dish- basically just chicken and linguine tossed in a peanut sauce- yeah, I know, "Thai" in name only. Anyway, shortly after I started working there, the boss tried my peanut sauce and liked it much better than the one they were using (no surprise there) so he told me to come up with a recipe that we could use at work, or else he'd fire me and I'd have to go back to working in those culinary coal mines known as franchise restaurants (yes, I'm thinking of you specifically, Ruby Tuesday, with your pre-cooked chicken!*). Ok, he wasn't quite that blunt about it, but I didn't want to take any chances, y'know? Sweeney's = good, franchise chains = coal mines in the 1800s.
So anyway, here's the recipe we use at work:

10 T garlic
10 T ginger
12 c coconut milk
12 c peanut butter
1 3/4 c packed brown sugar
1 1/2 c fish sauce
chili garlic sauce
juice from 3 limes + 1/2 c tamarind juice

Ok, let's break it down a little. First off, I know this is a lot. But I didn't resize it for several reasons- 1. I'm really bad at math. (And it took me a really long time to come up with those measurements specifically for work so I figure since I put so much effort into it, it should stay as is, y'know?) 2. You'll want a lot of this stuff on hand, believe me. 3. It keeps for quite awhile in the fridge, but even better, it freezes well, so you can just make a whole lot at once and not have to worry about it again for awhile. There's a few more reasons too, but that should suffice for now.
Ok, remember, this recipe should only be used as a guideline. At work we need a recipe for the sake of consistency. And because I can't really get the guys there to grasp the idea of "this is how it should taste, so just keep adjusting it until it tastes like this". It never seems to work out very well. So we use a recipe. (Or, they do. I do it my way, which is better.)
To start things off, I usually use more garlic and ginger than what's called for; usually around 12 Tbs. Also, at work we use water instead of coconut milk (that's what I used originally, but coconut milk is sooo much better. Don't skip it if at all possible.) Mince up the garlic and ginger nice and fine (make sure to use fresh garlic, not the stuff in the jar!) and heat it in some oil over medium- sesame oil is best for this. But you don't want to saute it- i.e. don't cook it till it's brown, just till it's nice and fragrant. Then add the coconut milk, fish sauce, peanut butter, chili sauce, and brown sugar. Heat over low. And I mean low. Peanut butter will overcook very easily, and when it does the oil separates and it looks all nasty and can't be made to look un-nasty, so take your time with this. If you're using an electric stove, be sure and set it on the lowest setting. Also, if you use a wire whip to stir it, it will blend up nice and smooth in no time. Just keep cooking over low until it's as thick as you'd like it to be. It doesn't take long at all. I usually make mine to about the consistency of a thick ketchup. (Keep in mind that you'll be adding lime and tamarind juice at the end.)
About that chili garlic sauce... I use, and highly recommend, this stuff-



made by Huy Fong Foods. It's fairly readily available, even in small-town stores. How much you use is totally up to you. I didn't include a specific amount in the recipe because at work we use crushed red pepper, but I really, really recommend that you don't skip using this. It's too good. (I buy it by the gallon.) Luckily for me, I live in a town with one of the largest Hmong populations in the U.S. so Asian food stores are more common than Starbucks around here.
As for the brown sugar- when the recipe says "packed", it means packed- as tight as you can get it in there. And here's a tip- just pack it once and then weigh it out, then next time you make it you don't have to bother with all that cramming into the measuring cup! (I believe 1 3/4 c weighs about 14-16 oz.) I also prefer dark brown sugar to light.
As for the fish sauce, the main thing to look for is a minimum of ingredients- water, fish, salt. A lot of brands have sugar added, but in my experience, it's not very noticeable in most. The online Asian store ImportFood.com mentions 4 they like a lot. I found Three Crabs brand to be very sweet. I'd avoid using it, at least for this recipe. I personally don't like it at all (supposedly it's quite popular, though) and it's pretty expensive which is another reason I don't use it. I've used both Squid brand and Golden Boy a lot and can definitely recommend both.
Once you get the peanut sauce to the thickness you'd like, turn off the heat and add the juice of 3 limes plus 1/2 c. tamarind juice. How do you get tamarind juice? Chez Pim has a tip near the bottom of her post on pad thai. In a nutshell, you take a block of Tamarind Paste-





and soak it in 4 cups of hot water until soft, then strain. If you have to, in a pinch you can use cranberry juice- it's taste is pretty darn close. Just don't tell Pim I said that- she's kind of a purist and all and might rip me a new one. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe you should tell her. After all, she's kind of a big name in the food blog world and if she rants about me on her blog... (even bad publicity is still publicity, is all I'm sayin'.)
Also, I find that adding just a little o.j. to the mix at the end really adds a nice touch.


I think that about sums things up. If you can't find any of the ingredients in your area, ImportFood.com has everything you need, and there are other online Asian stores as well.

Now, on to the real star of the show- sticky rice! If you've not had this before, you really need to add this to your list of Things To Do Before I Die. And then get to it ASAP. Not just any ol' sticky rice from any ol' asian restaurant, though. Try it my way first. Seriously, if you could scoop up all of Heaven and plop it in a bowl to eat, it would taste like this. I am not lying or exaggerating. Not even a little. The name "sticky rice" is kind of a misnomer, though; it's not really "sticky" in the sense that you think of when you picture regular rice that's been overcooked. "Chewy rice" would be a more accurate way to describe it. But I guess that doesn't sound as cool, does it? Yeah, let's stick with Sticky.

I'm going to try and sum this up quick. (Or you can look Here. I swear I'm not trying to plug ImportFood.com- it's just a convenience for me, since they're the main one I'm aware of, but there are other Asian food sites online to order from as well. I encourage you to check them out.)
Sticky rice is also known as "glutinous rice" and "sweet rice". When it's dry, it looks kind of like a smaller version of puffed rice cereal-





When cooked, it becomes more translucent-



(it won't have that pinkish hue- that's just from the light in the room,
and I never got around to correcting it in Photoshop)

You don't have to cook it in a bamboo steamer, or if you want to get really food-nerd about it, one of those sticky rice steamer baskets (which I have, of course). You can use a regular colander and pot. You will need some sort of cheesecloth-type fabric to line the basket with, though. I've found regular cheesecloth to be too porous and flimsy, so I use a couple cloth napkins that I got at Target or something for not a lot of money.
My instructions are basically the same as those on the other site, but slightly rearranged- I soak mine first- for a solid 8 hours. You might get away with 6, but in my experience 8-10 is better. Then I rinse the rice, usually more than the 2-3 times they call for. You want the water to run fairly clear (it probably won't get totally clear, though). Also, I don't think it takes 45 minutes like they say- mine's usually ready in 25-30. Once you've made it a couple times you can usually tell by looking whether it's done or not, but you can always taste it while it's steaming to find out. You'll know when it's done. It won't separate too easily with a fork and will be nice and chewy (and translucent). When it's done, if you take it off the stove and immediately flip the whole thing over into a large mixing bowl, most, if not all of it, will just plop right out of that cloth and into the bowl, leaving a nice easy-to-rinse-clean cloth. You'll want to cover it though, so it won't dry out. Now comes the fun part- take as much as you want and put it into a very large bowl- (I tend to just leave it all in that same stainless mixing bowl and eat out of that) then add the following-

peanut sauce
fine grain sea or kosher salt
granulated garlic
chili garlic sauce

the order isn't super important, but I usually go wet before dry- makes it much easier to mix. Even the amounts aren't all that critical. I once made this for a friend and added by sight only- didn't taste even once to test it before handing her the bowl. The result? Success!



Heaven. In a bowl.

That's what you've got right there, my friend. Heaven in a bowl, I kid you not.




*To my knowledge, Ruby Tuesday no longer uses pre-cooked chicken. It was a short-lived, failed experiment. But that's their M.O., anyway. Along with all the other franchises.
Cheap bastards, I hate 'em.