Chili Oil

I  don't have a real recipe for chili oil. I just use what sounds good at that time. Garlic, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, other varieties of peppercorns.  Sometimes I add star anise. It really just depends. I do like to use Avocado oil because it is neutral taste and high smoking point. 
I also heat my spices with the oil. I don't pour hot oil over my spices. This just works better for me. 

Thank you for being here. Have a blessed day.

Peasreads- A Year Without Home V.T. Bidnia

A Year Without Home

Ages 10 and up

 A poignant middle-grade novel in verse about a Hmong girl losing and finding home in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. For fans of Jasmine Warga and Veera Hiranandani. For eleven-year-old Gao Sheng, home is the lush, humid jungles and highlands of Laos. Home is where she can roll down the grassy hill with her younger siblings after her chores, walk to school, and pick ripe peaches from her family’s trees. But home becomes impossible to hold onto when the communist government takes over after U.S. troops pull out of the Vietnam War. The communists will be searching for any American allies, like Gao Sheng’s father, a Hmong captain in the Lao Army who fought alongside the Americans against the Vietnamese. If he’s caught, he’ll be killed. As the adults frantically make plans – contacting family, preparing a route, and bundling up their silver and gold, Gao Sheng wonders if she will ever return to her beloved Laos and what’s to become of her family now. Gao Sheng only knows that a good daughter doesn’t ask questions or complain. A good daughter doesn’t let her family down. Even though sometimes, she wishes she could be just a kid rolling down a grassy hill again. On foot, by taxi, and finally in a canoe, Gao Sheng and her family make haste from the mountains to the capitol Vientiane, and across the rushing Mekong River, to finally arrive at an overcrowded refugee camp in Thailand. As a year passes at the camp, Gao Sheng discovers how to rebuild home no matter where she is and finally find her voice.

Inspired by author V.T. Bidania’s family history, A Year Without Home illuminates the long, difficult journey that many Hmong refugees faced after the Vietnam War. V.T. Bidania was born in Laos and grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has an MFA in creative writing from The New School and is a McKnight Artist Fellow. She is the author of the ASTRID AND APOLLO series, the first children's book series to star Hmong American characters, and A YEAR WITHOUT A HOME, a fictionalized memoir in verse about her family's escape from Laos at the end of the Vietnam War.

Sour Tamarind Concentrate

There's no recipe. I just needed some Tamarind Concentrate so here we are. I don't know if this is the correct way to make this, but it is the way I do it and my mom helped me so. I'm right, you're wrong. Just kidding, you do you.

 

Most important thing is that you have Sour Tamarind's not sweet ones.

Peel them, and add them to a pot with a disk or two of palm sugar if you want. Next time I am leaving the sugar out only because I can control the amount of sugar when I am cooking easier.

Cover with water, about 1 inch above the fruit, and then bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down and simmer. Stirring. The seeds and the stringy bean stuff will separate from the fruit. Keep simmering until the fruit has dissolved into the liquid.

Strain through a fine mesh sieve and discard the stringy bean stuff, and the seeds. Let cool and keep covered in the refrigerator. I use it for soups and papaya salad.

Give Peas A Chance Lao style Papaya Salad (Thum Mak Houng)

 

Updating my Thum Mak Houng post here on Give Peas A Chance since my last one is from I don't know before 2010 I think? Doesn't matter. This is how I personally make my Lao Green Papaya salad, also known as Thum Mak Houng. Thai call this Som Thum and they make theirs sweeter, without the pa deak, and they add peanuts. I prefer the Lao version. 

Jeaow For Sour Fruits

This is one of my favorite snacks. It's sweet, spicy, and salty, the mangoes and fruits are tart. My mouth waters everytime I think about it. It makes me crave baby mangoes and sour fruits. My cousins when I used to visit them loved this. Julie used to make this sauce for us and we would go pick fruits like crab apples and other fruits around the neighborhood to snack on. So much fun.

Glazed Pork Belly

What can I say about this pork? It has a similar profile to Khai Palow and it is so flavorful and good. It is great in Coconut Pandan Rolls, Hawaiian Sweet Rolls, or dinner rolls, also great for Spring Rolls. You can slice it and put it in Ramen bowls. It is so good.  You don't have to use pork belly, this glaze can be used on tofu also. It's one of the best things I've made during sheltering in place. So very good.

Khao Piek Sen (Bánh Canh Noodles)

I am so happy with this recipe. I saw it shared on a Facebook page for noodle making. I changed the weights and ratios a bit to our liking. The original recipe calls for a total of 5 kneading cycles. and two longer rest preiods, and often I just don't have time for that. It doesn't matter I'm thankful she posted the recipe. Traditionally these noodles don't have potato starch or Xanthan Gum. I find that both give this noodle great texture.  The noodles are chewy and hold their shape well. I used weights for everything in this recipe, even the water is by weight/grams. I find it is more accurate.

Crunchy Pork Belly

I find this method the easiest way to get crunchy pork belly. You can season the pork however you like. I've done Five spice,  char sui style. I only season the underside before putting the pork under the broiler. The skin doesn't need seasoning and it'll burn off under the broiler in the oven anyway.

Chili Oil (Jeaw Mak Phet) and Shallot Oil

I love using Chili Oil and Shallot Oil as condiments. They are often seen in many Asian restaurants. They are used for Dim Sum, Congee, in Noodle bowls such as Ramen, Khao Piek Sen, Pho, etc. Just about anything you want to add spice or garlic/shallot flavor to. They are also used in cooking, for stir fry and soup bases. In Laos this would be called Jeaw Mak Phet.

As with a lot of cooking there are no set measurements for these oils.  Play with the flavor combinations to come up with your favorite. In Chinese Chili Oil there is often bay leaf, star anise, sesame seeds sometimes cinnamon. I know the local Ramen place near me adds Sichuan peppercorn which I love and add to mine.  

Khanom Dok Bua- Lotus Flower Cookies

 

This lotus flower cookie is called Khanom Dok Bua or Khanom Dok Jok. It's a crispy cookie that is deep fried, not baked. They are like Italian Rosettes. They are light and crispy. Not overly sweet, sesame seeds give them a great flavor, so does Pandan extract. The sesame seeds are what is more commonly used. I made these ones green and pink, Pandan and almond for our Christmas Cookie boxes in 2017. Which isn't really traditional, the almond flavoring that is.

Nam Vahn Sakoo- Tapioca Pudding with Taro Root

Nam Vahn Sakoo- Tapioca pudding with Taro root.

Nam Vahn Sakoo is a tapioca pudding in coconut milk with tender pieces of taro in it. I've seen it in Lao, Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine. Nam Vahn Sakoo or Nam Van Sakoo is the Lao pronunciation. Generally this dessert is served warm with toppings like sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, or coconut flakes. I prefer it with no toppings, and will even eat it out of the fridge cold. This isn't an overly sweet dessert but you can add more sugar if you prefer it sweeter.

Coconut Sticky Rice With Mango (Pandan and Butterfly Pea Flower)

Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango, Khao Niew Mak Houng is something I've blogged before. Twice actually.
Here in 2008.
Here in 2013 with Forbidden Rice.

Birds Nest Crispy Noodles

Isn't this a cute dish for Spring or even Easter for something non traditional? The little quail eggs in a nest made from Chinese egg noodles. I made these egg nest noodles like my Mee Korb, or Chinese Double Pan Fried Noodles dish. This is still a family favorite here. For the Egg Noodles I used this recipe posted HERE, but you can also purchase fresh Chinese egg noddles for this.

Vegetarian Red Curry

I love red curry, it's probably my favorite Thai curry. This is a Whole30 compliant dish, it could be used as a side with fat built in from the coconut milk. If not on a Whole30 round I like to add medium firm tofu to this. I usually pan fry the tofu first to get it crispy, then make the curry and stir it in after. This is an easy dish to make. If you're going to be pressed for time you can even prepare all the vegetables the day before. This can be made Vegan if you use a vegan curry paste and leave out the fish sauce, subbing for salt.

I have two store bought red curry paste brands that I have used. Both are Whole30 compliant, only one is vegan. That brand is Thai Kitchen brand. The other brand of paste I use is Mae Ploy brand. Which is very yummy but it has shrimp in it. I like both brands, the Mae Ploy does have more umami flavor to it.

Red Curry Meatballs

Red Curry Meatballs wrapped in lettuce with a bunch of vegetables. So yum and Whole 30 compliant.

These Red Curry Meatballs are easy to make and Whole 30 compliant,but so full of flavor. Tender, spicy, and so good. They also freeze well for quick meals and to pack in lunches. I love meals that can do double duty and freeze well! It saves time and saves me when I don't feel like cooking but we all need to eat.

Gluten Free/Dairy Free Coconut Pandan Waffles

You guys. These waffles are so good. I love Coconut Pandan Waffles anyway. I used to make batter and keep it in the fridge for snacks or a quick breakfast. While I don't have any gluten intolerance, or dairy intolerance I just finished a Whole30 and feel really good. I'm less bloated, sleeping better. So I try not to goo crazy with the things that do make me a little bloated, like wheat. I am finding that I sleep better if I don't have it for dinner or later in the day. I'm still narrowing it down and keeping mental notes, I should keep a food journal. But that is a whole other post. Back to these great waffles.  I'm literally not missing the wheat flour in my Coconut Pandan Waffles because of this recipe. I'm not missing the butter either. I wasn't sure how to change this recipe, originally I thought I would just try half rice flour and half tapioca, I figured it would work. Then I walked in my pantry and thought I'd try the oats because we do like oats in our pancakes and oats make cookies chewy. So I tried it, what could go wrong right? Nothing went wrong. It went right. The first time. So there was no need to try the just rice and tapioca flour.

Unicorn Noodles For Spring Rolls

Look at this gorgeous color on these noodles. Blue and purple. I used an old standby that is used in Southeast Asian cuisine to color rice, desserts, and drinks. The Butterfly Pea flower is a beautifully vibrant flower that dyes two distinct colors. The blue you see on the far left is the regular flower.

Bubble Tea, Boba, Tapioca Pearls

Tapioca Pearls.

I've already posted these tapioca pearls in the Instant Pot with my Mango Lassi post, but now that its close to spring time I thought I would repost them alone. That way we can get ready for warm weather drinks. Do you like Bubble tea? What is your favorite? Smoothies? Tea? Iced coffee?

Geang Phet Thalei (Red Curry Seafood Soup)

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I wasn't sure what to call this so I names it Geang Phet Thalei, which is spicy seafood soup in Lao, or literally geang "soup", phet "spicy", thalei "sea". Sounds legit right? Let's roll with it. This is one of the quickest, yummiest Whole30 lunches I threw together so far. The beauty is that it has 3/4 can of coconut milk so I didn't even have to add a plated fat. If I had more/different vegetables I would have thrown them in. I don't really consider mushrooms a vegetable but, let's just go with that also. They are really good though. A creamy pumpkin would be so yummy in this though. I ate this whole recipe like a soup. By myself. I suppose it's two servings if you serve it with rice, cauliflower rice. with a sweet potato. But nope. I. Ate. It. All.

Fusion Seen Dat (Lao BBQ)

This isn't a true Lao Seen Dat, the marinades and sauces I developed from flavors we enjoy. It's more a fusion I guess. But Seen in Lao is "meat", Dat means to sear. This method is used to cook meats to wrap in lettuce or rice paper wraps. It's so yummy.