Thai Recipes: Thai Red Curry A Favorite Chicken Curry Recipe

Thai Recipes: Thai Red Curry

 

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This week the weather here in Vegas turned cold again as the weather patterns across much of the country seem to be a bit out of whack. I was going to make a summery cool salad this week but because of the high winds 50mph and rain it got cold so I wanted to eat something hot and comforting. I went looking around my fridge and found a jar of Thai red curry! As many of you know I LOVE Thai food. If you have seen my video called "Tag Your It" on Youtube then you know that my fridge is LOADED with things like chicken and shrimp. So there it was! Thai red curry in the making using chicken and fish as the protein component. I LOVE curries in just about any form I can get them and Thai red curry is no different it is one of my favorite Thai recipes when I go out to eat.  It's truly a fave dish in restaurants all over the place and the paste is made of so many delicious herbs and spices. Most people are familiar with Indian curries being made of things like mustard seed, tumeric, coriander, black pepper, masala powder etc. I love the South East Asian flavors of Thai red curry. Generally speaking Thai red curry is made of ingredients like Thai chilies(of course!), garlic, lemongrass, galangal, shallots, cilantro, kaffir lime leaves(Oh those are so hard to get at the Asian market cuz the restaurants snag em all!),cilantro, and shrimp paste. Now we are cooking! For anyone who has never had Thai red curry................You are in for a big fragrant and delicious treat! This is one dish I love to make because in under an hour it's gonna be BANG! ZOOM! Time to eat a great chicken curry recipe!

Asia is a BIG place and there is curry all over Asia. Funny how many forms curries can come in but for the most part curry is a stew like dish whether it is thick or thin in nature. The herb and spice combinations uses to make Thai recipes and the curries used are endless. Most people and myself included consider curry to be native to India as most of us who have had curry have had curry in the form of Indian dishes. The basic recipe and method of making and cooking curry was brought to South East Asia by the people of India who immigrated to the south. In Thailand they have taken that ancient knowledge and made curry in their own form and image with a myriad of Thai recipes that are delicious and pleasing and isn't that what food is all about? Find a recipe, Thai recipes  or any recipe for that matter and make it your own. The people of Thailand have done an excellent job of that when it comes to the various forms of curry in Thailand and the myriad list of Thai recipes that use curry of different types. If you are a curry lover then you could never get bored eating in Thailand!

Curry in Thailand is made one of two ways and that is with water or coconut milk and the addition of the curry paste itself. Other things are added to the dish along the way of course like meat, seafood, veggies! Just about anything you can think of can be made in Thai curry. The versions of curry from India are generally thicker than the Thai curry dishes which are a bit more liquid in nature. Don't get me wrong though, even though Thai recipes for curries are a bit soupier than Indian curries they are rich because of the pastes used. Just like hamburgers are a staple of American life the curries of Thailand are a staple dish of that country. Thai recipes in any form are a healthy dish that are an excellent combo of protein and vitamins like vitamin C. Curries whether they are Indian or Thai are really easy to digest to because they are made of so many digestive herbs and spices. Thai red curry is a great comfort food and healthy to!

In Thailand curry is referred to as "Gaeng Phet." Gaeng means a liquid base that refers to soups as well as curries. Phet refers to HOT! I mean really HOT! I come to find out that when it comes to curries that the water based curries of Thailand are grouped together with soups and that's because not all varieties of "gaeng" are going to be spicy. The mild gaeng refers to soups that have clear broths and are called "Gaeng Joot." Hence water based curries.

Here in the United States we are more familiar with the coconut based curries that we find in our Thai restaurants like Thai red curry. There are many, many varieties of coconut based Thai curries out there and of course these curries are the thicker of the two kinds found in Thailand. Some examples would be Thai red curry or "gaeng phet" or "gaeng Kiow Wahn" for Thai green curry and for Thai yellow curry that is called "gaeng leuang." There is a really interesting factoid about Thai curry recipes and Thai curry pastes and that little factoid is this: Thai green curry(gaeng kiow wahn) is made with fresh green Thai chilies and is the only one in Thai culinary practice that is, the rest of the curry pastes are made of Thai chilies that have been dried first! I find that interesting and I am sure there is a difference in the flavors of the paste because of it! There are also other varieties of Thai curry called panang and masamam and others. I could write a tome for all the different types of curries there are in Thailand but alas I only have this one blogpost.......for now! So go ahead and check out this video on how to make Thai red curry! It's one of my favorite Thai Recipes and a terrific chicken curry recipe to boot! Enjoy!

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Chicken Adobo: My Chicken Adobo Recipe

Chicken Adobo

 

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Hi everyone! This week I am making Chicken Adobo and let me tell you why! Here we go! I was thinking about what I was going to cook this week for my Youtube channel video as sometimes with writing you get writers block and sometimes with cooking you get cooks or foodie block. Well let me tell you that when you write as well as cook those blocks can be like boulders. I was at work and the week was coming to an end and I was kinda stressing out! I was actually thinking about taking the week off again but decided against that. This last week on March 2nd my Youtube channel turned 1yrs old. On the 10th of March my blog here turned 1yrs old. I just want to thank everyone who has every come to my blog and I want to thank all of my subs and contacts  at Youtube I really appreciate having all of you in my life and making this last year a whole lot of fun for me and making my life so much more creative and productive that I just want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart!  So needless to say I was not going to take the week off and party hard.

The Gods must have been smiling upon me on one side and laughing their asses off on the other side. I say this because I got a visit from an old friend and it was this visit that helped me decide what I was going to cook this week. It was Friday and the door to the cutlery shop opens at about 3:30pm. In walks this guy I have known for the last 14yrs. Pabzz. Well, his real name is Lino but everyone calls him Pabzz. I see Lino about once a year he comes up from Fresno, CA and buys knives from me. Lino is Filipino and he and I are involved in a martial art called Kali Escrima! I have been into this art since 1996 and Lino even longer. Knives are a big part of Kali.

Usually Lino calls a week or so in advance to let me know he is coming to town but this time......no call! He walks in the door I see him and go to greet him. A quick "man hug" and a strong handshake and BAM! Just like old times. Not two seconds after that he says to me, "Hey man! I didn't know you were on Youtube!" I didn't know what to say. I told him that we only see each other once a year so I will tell you now. He said you could have called or emailed me you MF'er (I think you get the idea!) "I'm sorry Mano!" I tell him. "Man! You ain't got no Filipino food in your videos!" Oh Boy! I could see the shitstorm coming from a mile away on this one!

"I just haven't gotten to it yet Mano! Sorry! "Dude, you got Korean food, Japanese food and you even made Vietnamese food but you got no Filipino food man! You just ain't doing us right you know what I'm saying?" I apologized again and said, "Mano! Let's not get down to knuckles over this man!" "I'll tell you what! I make some Filipino food this week OK Mano? I'll make some Chicken Adobo will that do it for you Mano?" Lino was like, "OK Dude, but you better or you and me are getting down to the sticks!" I assured him that I would make it and we talked about how to make it because I only had a cursory knowledge of it. So he told me what I needed to get to make Chicken Adobo and my recipe for the week was decided right then and there!

I have added a couple of little tweaks that are not in standard straightforward Chicken Adobo but all in all it is a lovely and delicious dish! The fact of the matter is that every family in the Philippines has their own way of making Chicken Adobo. Like Lino had told me in Hawaii the Filipinos add sugar to the Chicken Adobo and if you add a star anise you will spice up your Chicken Adobo and give it a Chinese flavor. You can add onions to Chicken Adobo as I did and you can add potatoes to it at the end. Chicken Adobo is a very versatile dish in the fact that chicken stew is made all over the world and because of that each country can take from another to make a wonderful Chicken Adobo or chicken stew.  So check out my video and enjoy!

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Lasagna: Beef And Spinach An Easy Lasagna Recipe

Lasagna

 

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This last week after I made Korean pajeon I was kind of in a funk about what to cook this coming week for my readers and youtube subbies! I was talking to my brother on the phone about it and he finally said to me, "Hey! why don't you make a lasagna?" I gave it some thought and decided to do it! I LOVE lasagna! Who doesn't? So the next thing I thought about was what kind of lasagna did I want to make? I mean I could have just made a run of the mill meat sauce and cheese lasagna recipe but I thought to myself "Nah!"

If I was going my make a lasagna I would at least want to make a lasagna recipe that was a bit more than just your plain meat sauce and cheese lasagna. There was no way I was going to make a lasagna recipe using cottage cheese! To me that just is not a lasagna in the true sense! If I was going to make a lasagna it was going to be with 100% whole milk ricotta the way Mama used to make it! It was going to have whole milk Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and be delicious!

So I decided to make a beef and spinach lasagna recipe with a homemade sauce and lots of good stuff in it. Now I know that everyone out there probably has their favorite lasagna from a home lasagna recipe or a favorite restaurant they go to but I am only offering this beef and spinach lasagna recipe as a simple and EZ lasagna that anyone can make at home. I am not going to say that this is the "worlds best lasagna!" Everyone else has done that one to death! My lasagna is just a rib sticking ooey, gooey, cheesy and flavorful lasagna! The best part of this or any lasagna is that the appeal to making one is that the ingredients used in the lasagna recipe are totally basic ingredients that you can get in any market in Anywhereville U.S.A!

You don't need to go hunting for fresh organic basil leaves or some kind of fancy schmancy mozzarella that some people call "buffalo." You don't need to go to an Italian grocer for handmade sausage from Italy or buy a chunk of Grana Padana! This lasagna recipe can be made in your home anytime and it is one of the easiest comfort foods around! I have made many lasagna's in my life for all kinds of people and all kinds of events and not matter what type of lasagna I make the look on the faces of the people that eat is tells me all that I need to know! They love it! So lets make a beef and spinach lasagna! Enjoy the video!

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Pajeon: Korean Scallion Pancake Recipe

Pajeon

 

Well it has been about two weeks since my last blog post and video. Sorry about that guys! I was down with the flu for about five days and then when I finally got better I went to visit my brother out of town for about a week. I have  not seen him in about two years so I thought it was about time we hang out and catch up on things. I had a great time. I even brought my new best friend Riley with me. Riley is my Havanese puppy! He is a Cuban water dog and he is the the bestest buddy I could ever have! He had a great time to!

So now that I am back and feeling better I feel like cooking something!  I had to decide what I was going to make this week for my video recipe and in true fashion and love of Asian foods I decided to make a great little snack  or "banchan" as they call it in Korea a dish called "Pajeon." (pa jun) Pajeon is a Korean scallion pancake recipe, a "jeon."  There are many names for different kinds of pajeon or Korean scallion pancake recipe or "jeon" out there and are called many different names like buchimgae, jimi, chijimi, kimchijeon, kimchi jeon and jijimgae. These are but a few of the different kinds of pajeon in Korea. Your basic pajeon is made with a batter and scallions and is the basic pajeon recipe. In fact scallions are the predominant ingredient in Korean pajeon. No matter what type of pajeon you make you will find scallions as a main ingredient! The "Pa" in pajeon means onion as in pa kimchi or jook pa kimchi hence the scallions in the pajeon. Many people mistake Korean pajeon pancakes and Chinese green onion pancakes to be the same thing but they are not! They may look alike but the difference is that the Chinese green onion pancake is made with a dough and the Korean pajeon is made with the batter of eggs, flour, rice flour, or cornstarch and in some cases people even use potato flakes added to some kind of flour to make pajeon gluten free!

You can make pajeon, the Korean scallion pancake recipe with just about anything you can think of and the different batter recipes are just about endless. As with any kind of cuisine there are as many recipes for the cuisine as there are people making the recipes. This is the same when it comes to making pajeon. So this week I thought I would make three pajeon recipes.

The first one that I will make is the standard vegetable pajeon, the standard Korean scallion pancake recipe which I make with scallions of course and I add some finely shredded zucchini for texture and a nutty flavor in a batter of flour, eggs, cornstarch, gochugaru(Korean coarse ground chili pepper) salt and pepper and a  touch of sesame oil to boot! This will be the batter I use for the other two pajeon varieties that I will be making in this video as well.

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The second pajeon that I will make is called "Haemul pajeon." Haemul pajeon is the standard Korean pajeon vegetable recipe with the scallions but it also has the addition of minced clams, oysters, surimi or baby shrimp. You can also add some chili pepper to this or any pajeon recipe. Haemul pajeon is a delicious seafood pancake.

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I would have to say that my third choice is my favorite pajeon recipe. My third pajeon recipe in this video is called "buchimgae" or "kimchijeon." This pajeon is made with my standard batter and the scallions and also has the addition of finely chopped bae chu kimchi and pork sausage and sliced red and green chili peppers. It's a delicious pajeon. So let's make some pajeon. Enjoy the video!

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Chicken Wings: My Korean Hot And Spicy Baked Chicken Wings

Chicken Wings

 

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Who doesn't love chicken wings? I would be hard pressed to find someone who didn't love chicken wings of some kind or another. I know that the Superbowl is over and Yippee! The Giants won! Along the way for the last two weeks or so many people have been cooking party foods and one of the favorite party foods is chicken wings!

Well, I did not fall in line with this trend on my blog or my Youtube channel this last week or so. This week however I am making one of my favorite chicken wings recipes. This week I am going to make my Korean Hot And Spicy Baked Chicken Wings.  That's right! I said baked chicken wings.

I mean when you go to a bar or a restaurant or wing shack and order chicken wings like hot wings what you get are chicken wings that have been cooked in a deep fryer and then put into a steel mixing bowl. Then they put butter into the mixing bowl and then pour some kind of Louisana hot sauce in there and mix it up and then viola! You have hot wings.

Actually what you have is chicken wings that taste like salt, vinegar and hot pepper of some sort. Not my image of chicken wings. There is not real depth of flavor with chicken wings like that! I know the old saying "fat is where the flavor is!" But I am not really a big believer in deep frying chicken wings in order to make chicken wings.

My Korean hot and spicy chicken wings has just a bit of sweet to it and it is one of my favorite chicken wing recipes. There are many chicken wing recipes out there but this is one that has many levels of flavor to it because of ingredients like chili pepper, garlic, ginger, onion, sugar, fish sauce and more. In fact these baked chicken wings are made with a variation of a traditional Korean kimchi paste for making kimchi like Bae Chu or Jook Pa kimchi.

First the wings are brined for 24hrs. Yupper! Brined! I could marinate them in some citrus juices and spices and even wine but I choose to brine these wings in a mixture of salt, sugar, crushed red chili flakes, rice vinegar and garlic granules.  The brining like the marinating is what allows the baked chicken wings to get crispy around the edges. The brine pulls excess moisture out of the chicken skin and lets all the flavors of the brine and kimchi paste come out to play with your taste buds!

These chicken wings can be made as hot or as sweet as you would like. As I state in the video the problem with the Korean coarse ground chili powder is that it really isn't that hot when you buy them and that is why I add Sambal sauce to the kimchi paste that I make for the chicken wings. You can use Sambal or crushed red chili flakes or even one of my favorites the Thai bird chili. Anything to add some more heat to the Gochugaru(Korean coarse ground chili flakes) So kick back and watch the video and I hope you make these chicken wings, My Korean hot and spicy baked chicken wings! Enjoy!

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Vietnamese Food: Pho Bo A Traditional Pho Recipe

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Hi everyone this week I am back to cooking because I really missed it. I will be doing some more sharpening videos in the future but this week I wanted to cook. So this week I decided on Vietnamese food! As anyone who knows me knows I love Vietnamese food. I love the flavors of Southeast Asian cooking whether it is Thai food or Vietnamese food or Laosian food.

This week I decided to make Pho Bo which is the favorite soup of Vietnam. The Pho Bo recipe I am making this week is a traditional pho recipe made of beef and noodles. Pho Bo is the national soup of Vietnam a place that used to be called "Tonkin" when the French occupied the country under something called the "French Protectorate." When I was a kid during the time of Nixon Tonkin was called Indochina.

Pho soup whether it is Pho Bo(beef pho) or Pho Ga(chicken pho) is the mainstay staple of street side stalls and eateries throughout Vietnam! Vietnamese food is very popular in the United States these days and Pho soup is on top of the list. Most Americans pronounce pho as "foe" and this is not the correct way to say it.  The Vietnamese people pronounce it someplace between "few" and "fuh". I myself am guilty of mispronunciation of this word for years.

In Vietnamese food culture Pho soup even more Pho Bo is a kind of early fusion cuisine that is influenced most notable by French and Chinese. Pho Bo is a soup that has over a 100yrs history that began in the city of Hanoi. As far as Vietnamese Food is concerned Pho is considered to be the "meal of the people." The traditional Pho recipe of Pho Bo is highly influenced by the French. The French Protectorate had occupied Vietnam from 1858 to 1954.

The French cooked a dish cooked a dish known as "Pot Au Feu". This dish was the humble predecessor today's traditional pho recipe and was made of meat and vegetables that were cooked in a rich broth. Way back in those early days beef was just about unheard of in that part of the world and the national meat was pork. Today in this type of Vietnamese food beef is readily available but pork is still #1.

As I stated the most important part of the Pho Bo is the broth. It can take 3 or more hours to simmer a good broth for Pho Bo and you want that broth to be as pure as possible before serving the soup. In the traditional pho recipe the broth is made from beef bones. Most notably the bones to be used are shank and knuckle marrow bones. You can also add meat to the broth mixture to help enhance the flavor of the Pho Bo. Cuts of meat like sirloin, chuck or even oxtail will help make your broth delicious!


Pho Bo is a very healthy soup and it is not the kind of beef soup that you want to skim all the fat from. A large majority of the fat will come from the marrow in the bones along with other constituents which are very healthful when eaten. In order to rid your Pho Bo of impurities it is necessary to blanch the bones for between 10 and 15 minutes to get the impurities out. Then the broth is made at a simmer. You want the simmer to be as low a flame as possible. The Vietnamese call this simmering process a "smile".

So the traditional pho recipe was influenced by the French and today there are many variations in Vietnamese food especially pho in both Vietnam and America. Today a traditional pho recipe can and is made with more than just beef or chicken. Other parts of the animal are being used today to create haute pho recipes or what I call the new school traditional pho recipe in Vietnam. Parts such as kidneys, lungs, tripe, brisket, brain, udder, and yes even penis! Other ingredients such as mushrooms, tofu, sprouts, varied greens, and scallions are being used and the list goes on and on!

Today I will be making a simple beef pho(Pho Bo) using beef shank and knuckle bones, chuck roast and eye of round raw meat slices with a simple combination of herbs and spices in my bouquet garni. I know if you make this recipe you will love it. Enjoy the video and thanks for stopping by!
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Knife Sharpening - Knife Sharpening Part 2

Knife Sharpening

 

OK guys here it is! The second part of my series on Knife Sharpening Part 2. Whew! I am sorry that it is late but I caught some kind of bug a few days ago and it stopped me from getting this Knife Sharpening video done.  In this second part video I go a bit deeper into the Knife sharpening process and I go over my patented method of how to find the angle of your knifes blade so that you can perform the chore of Knife Sharpening correctly!

In this second part of Knife Sharpening I was going to continue using Japanese water stones but, I didn't. Why? Because one of my subscribers on my Youtube channel sent me an email and asked me a very pointed question. "How do I sharpen my knives?" This person was not interested in me showing my readers and subs  how to use Japanese water stones, he was interested in how I do my sharpening and thought that it would be in my best interest and the interest of my readers and subs to see how I myself do Knife Sharpening.

I gave this request a lot of thought and in the end I decided to forgo the Japanese water stones and show you how I do Knife Sharpening in my home. Yes! I own many Japanese water stones but in truth I try to avoid using them. I do this basically because when it comes to Knife Sharpening I am lazy! Yes! I am lazy! I do like to do Knife Sharpening with Japanese water stones but, I don't like to do the maintenance necessary to keep those water stones in peak performance! The fact of the matter is that Japanese water stones are most often very messy to work with as many of them create a slurry that you have to contend with. Also the issue of "lapping" the Japanese water stones to keep them as flat and level as possible can be quite a time consuming chore at best.


I am a bit more modern in my Knife Sharpening when I use sharpening stones. For about 98% of all my Knife Sharpening chores I use DMT Diamond Whetstones in various mesh/grits. I do this because DMT whetstones don't need to be "lapped" in order to keep them flat or level for use as the diamonds are impregnated into steel plates. This means very low maintenance! I use the DMT Duosharp Benchstones in various mesh/grit ratings. I have in succession a DMT Duosharp coarse/extra coarse 220/325 mesh/grit benchstone. I use this whetstone for quick metal removal for a blade that is really deformed and in need of reshaping. Then I use a DMT Duosharp fine/extra fine 600/1200 mesh/grit benchstone. This whetstone helps me with micro beveling and reducing the scratch patterns from the coarser grits used to sharpe the edge and helps to refine the edge to a finer degree.

After I use the full gamut of diamond plates for my Knife Sharpening I then move on to my polishing steps and I use synthetic ceramic stones to do this for me. I rarely ever go beyond 3000 grit for my polishing needs whether I am sharpening Japanese knives or western knives. Some people want to sharpen their knives upwards of like 8000 grit or more and my answer to that is how sharp is sharp? How sharp do you need your knives to be! There are times that I will take a particular knife like a Japanese Yanagiba that is ground at 100/0 degrees and I will put a final polish on it from a  King Japanese water stone 6000 grit but that is a rare occasion. So usually when I am done Knife Sharpening using my diamond plates I will finish my polishing on a Spyderco 302f ceramic bench stone. This ceramic is a synthetic ceramic rated at 1800 grit. It will not gully or dish like other clay based or resin based ceramic stones so they will last for years and years and this is a true value. I have been using mine for at least 8yrs and they are still level. Then I will finish my polishing on a Spyderco 302uf ultra fine ceramic benchstone rated at 2200 grit. This stone puts the final razors edge on my blade on the primary cutting edge when I am done with the knifes back bevel and then lookout my blades are wicked sharp!


There are other things that you can do when performing the chore of Knife Sharpening in order to refine your edge ever further if that is something that you want to do. One of the things I do is make my famous "poor man's strop." This is done by rubbing some form of metal polish onto a piece of cardboard and making a nice thin layer to cover the surface of the cardboard and then letting the compound dry and then lightly stropping your knife on it to get an even higher mirror polish on your knifes edge. Most metal polishes are at a minimum 6000 grit and up. Don't quote me on this however as I am not an expert on metal polish. I do know however that if you have a good quality leather strop you can get liquid green compound rated at up to 60,000 grit if that is what you want. So please watch this video and enjoy it! If there are any questions please contact me and I will get back to you ASAP!