Chicken Cooked in Coconut Milk (Manok sa Gata)

The combination of chicken and coconut milk is very popular in the pacific islands.  There are several versions depending on where you look (Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, etc.)  This is one of our favorites at home.  This is even better the next day, if it lasts that long.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs of chicken (thighs, legs and breasts)
3/4 cup vinegar
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 inch ginger (minced or paste)
6 cloves garlic (minced)
1 13oz can coconut milk
3 tblsp sugar
Salt and Pepper
1 tblsp canola or olive oil

In a deep pot or sauce pan, heat the oil.  Add the ginger and garlic and saute for approximately 1 minute. Add the chicken pieces and cook for another 3 minutes.  Add the vinegar and chicken broth.  Season with salt and lots of pepper, then add the sugar.  Reach to a boil, then reduce to a low boil.  Cook for 30 minutes. Watch carefully to ensure the liquid does not dry out.  Add the coconut milk and continue to cook in a low boil for another 20-25 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper if necessary.  Spoon over rice with a generous amount of the soup.  Enjoy!

Catfish with Spicy Coconut Sauce

We love Indonesian foods.  What's great about preparing this at home is you get to adjust the heat by either reducing or adding more chillies.  The sauce is so pretty when you are cooking it in the pan.  If you are not a catfish fan, any firm white fish  (snapper, striped bass, etc.) will work.  The red coloring of the sauce comes from the red chillies, the less you use, the lighter color the sauce will appear.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup coconut milk

4 tblsp flour

2 tsp ground coriander

8 catfish fillets

3-4 tblsp olive oil

For the spice paste:

2 shallots (chopped)

4 garlic cloves

2-3 red chillies (seeded and chopped)

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 tblsp ginger (chopped)

2 tblsp olive oil

1 tsp shrimp paste

1/2 tblsp lime juice

1 tblsp sugar

Make the spice paste first by putting the first 5 ingredients of the spice paste ingredients into a food processor.  Blend ingredients until a paste is created.  In a pan, heat the oil then add the paste.  Fry paste, stirring constantly until fragrant and color starts to darken, approximately 3-4 minutes.  Add the shrimp paste, lime juice and sugar.  Continue stirring.  Paste will continue to darken.  Fry for another 2 minutes, then add the coconut milk.  Gently boil for 10 minutes, continually stirring.  Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a shallow bowl, mix flour and coriander. Season with salt and pepper.  Lightly coat fish fillets in the flour mixture.  Heat the remaining 3-4 tblsp of oil.  Fry fish fillets until brown on each side, approximately 2 minutes per side.  Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel. 

Place a scoop of rice into a bowl or plate, arrange fish fillets and spoon sauce over the fillets.  Serve with a slice of lime.

Black Sticky Rice Pudding

The first time my husband and I had this dessert was at our favorite Thai restaurant.  We just looked at each other across the table and I knew, I had to find this recipe.  This is a dessert and not served over rice, but I would be remiss by not adding it to my blog.  Black sticky rice is just white rice with the bran left on. Be sure to cook the rice first before adding sugar.  Or else the rice will toughen (learned the hard way).  There is no amount of liquid you can add to soften. If you are not able to find taro, you can omit; it does not change the taste. You can find black sticky rice at your local Asian grocery store and in some high end grocery stores (Whole foods, Central Market).

Ingredients:

6oz black sticky rice (black glutinous)

8oz taro root (cut into 1/2 inch squares) soak in cold water

2 1/2 cups water

10 tblsp sugar ( a little less than 2/3 cup)

1 tsp salt

1 cup coconut milk

Put black rice in a bowl and cover with cold water. Soak for at least 4 hours or overnight.  Drain the rice and rinse 4-5 times to ensure most of the starch is removed.  The water will not run clear.  In a sauce pan, add the rice and the 2 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil; stirring frequently until it reaches boiling point. Reduce the heat to medium, let it simmer for 30-35 minutes stirring regularly until all liquid has been absorbed and the rice is moist and tender. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, drain the taro root. spread on a plate or heatproof container and steam in a bamboo steamer or metal steamer covered for 8-10 minutes until taro is tender.

When the rice is done, gently stir in the sugar until it is incorporated. Gently mix in the taro root.  Add the salt to the coconut milk and mix well.  Spoon the rice mixture into a bowl and pour coconut milk on top. Serve warm.

Cauliflower and Carrot Curry

Ingredients:

4 carrots (cut into 1/2 rounds)

1 medium onion (minced)
3 garlic cloves (minced)
1 tblsp madras curry
1 tsp cumin
1 head cauliflower (cut into florets)
1 cup thawed green peas
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup vegetable stock
1 tblsp vegetable or olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

In a dutch oven or deep pan, heat the oil on medium. Add carrots and onion, stirring constantly until onions are a light golden color (approximately 5-6 minutes).  Add the garlic and continue stirring for approximately 1 minute.  Add curry and cumin, stirring continuously for another 30 seconds to bring out the flavors of the spices.  Do not allow the spices to burn (add a little more oil if needed.)  Add the cauliflower and vegetable stock.  Simmer until broth starts to bubble; add coconut milk.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low.  Cover and simmer for approximately 12-15 minutes.  Add the green peas and cook for another 2 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Spoon rice into a bowl and top it with the curry vegetables.

Brazillian Fish Stew

This is incredibly easy and delicious. If you love foods cooked in coconut milk, cilantro and lime juice, then this is it! It combines different national influences into one incredible dish. My husband and I love this dish. Though the original recipe called for the basic - cod and haddock, I actually tried it with Mahi-mahi and it was great!!! I have also tried it with tilapia and it works as well. Since tilapia is not as firm as the other fishes, you will need to handle gently when preparing. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2lbs cod, haddock, mahi-mahi or tilapia

5 tbsp fresh squeeze lime juice

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion (minced)

1 green bell pepper (seeded and chopped)

4 garlic cloves (minced)

1 lb ripe tomates (chopped) or 1 (16oz) can of chopped tomatoes (drained)

1 cup fish stock (homemade or boullion) or bottled clam juice

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1/3 cup cilantro (chopped)

salt and pepper to taste

In a bowl toss fish and lime juice together; set aside to marinate. In a skillet, on medium heat, add the oil until heated. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic. Stir often until onion has softened (approx. 5 minutes). Add the tomatoes, continue stirring until heated, then add stock and coconut milk. Simmer, then reduce the heat to med-low. Cover and allow to cook for another 10 minutes. Add the fish and the marinating lime juice and cilantro. Cook for another 5 minutes or until fish is opaque and firm. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over rice in a bowl to ensure you get the wonderful broth.

Note: you can change it up a bit and add shrimp to give it some variety. If you want to do a reduced fat version - reduce the coconut milk to 2/3 cup. You can add red pepper flakes to give it some "heat" as well.