Breakfast...Green Curry Fried Rice w/shrimp

Yah, yah. I know. I may be half-white but I sure don't eat like your typical white dude. I decided to make spicy fried rice for breakfast because I woke up pretty lethargic and, with a long day of studying ahead of me, decided that I needed some sort of endorphin rush to get me going. And you gotta love the fluorescent green plastic plate. Classy, right?

Fried rice is INSANELY easy. The key to success is to NEVER, EVER use rice straight out of the rice cooker. Well, you can, but that's for advanced users only. Freshly cooked rice is too sticky, too clumpy and too gummy and your fried rice will turn out the same way. Instead, use refrigerated, day-old rice. If you pick up a handful and squeeze, you'll notice that the individual grains will separate. This is the key to producing a light, non-pasty fried rice. Still don't believe me? Just try it and thank me later. And remember, DON'T OVERLOAD YOUR WOK/PAN! If you do, your rice won't fry properly and will instead steam. This is bad. If you need to make a large quantity of fried rice, either invest in a more powerful stove or cook in batches.

Here's how I made mine:

De-vein shrimp. Shelling the shrimp is optional...I left the shells on because I love to suck on stir-fried shrimp shells...so shrimpy! I think I used about 6 shrimp. Feel free to brine the shrimp.

Mince three cloves of garlic and two shallots. Slice up 2 Thai-bird chiles.

Measure out 2 teaspoons of green curry paste and 2 teaspoons of La Jiao Jiang. Set aside. You can use more if you want. Keep this in mind for future iterations.

Grab about 2-3 cups of leftover rice and squeeze it to separate the grains. Do this over a bowl or something...duh. You want to do this until the rice is in marble sized clumps or smaller.

Mince a handful of cilantro leaves.

Add some oil to a heated pan. Toss in the garlic, shallots and chiles. Stir-fry until aromatic. Toss in the shrimp and give it all a good stir. Toss in a few pinches of salt. Stir and let the shimp cook. Say, 2 minutes. Stir it again, flip the shrimp and give them a minute on the other side. See how the shrimp magically turn color?


Your shrimp should be done by now but if you're not sure, grab one and cut it open. Undercooked? I think you know what to do.

When shrimp are cooked, remove to a plate. Clean out and reheat the pan. Add 2-3 tablespoons of oil and toss in the green curry paste and La Jiao Jiang. Stir fry for 30 seconds until the oil is well seasoned and aromatic. It may seem like an excessive amount of oil but trust me on this one.

Add the rice and toss to combine. You want to coat all of the rice with the flavored oil. This is an important step unless you like fried rice with inconsistent seasoning. Allow the rice to heat through. This might take anywhere from 3-5 minutes. Toss in your cooked shrimp. Taste the rice. I've purposely omitted salt from this recipe because some brands of green curry paste can be extremely salty but taste your fried rice and, if necessary, add salt/fish sauce. Turn off the heat, toss in the minced cilantro and stir. Put on a plate. Serve with a lime wedge. Eat. Be sure to wash your face because it'll probably be hella greasy from the stir-frying.

Time-15 minutes
Food Cost-
Shrimp- $2.00
Incidentals- $0.50
Total: $2.50
Makes one generous serving. I'm stuffed and I've got a big appetite. You might be able to feed two small Asian people with this recipe.

Gaeng Ped Gai...

AKA Thai Red Curry with Chicken. This was the second course in last nights coconut extravaganza. There's not much to say about this as I'm sure nearly every one of you have had red curry at one point or another.

Something tells me that if any of you ever attempt a recipe, this is the one!

Slice 1.5 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs into bite size pieces. You can use chicken breast if you want but, in my opinion, chicken breast tastes like $h!t compared to thigh. Set aside.

Open two 19 oz cans of coconut milk. Scoop some of the thicker coconut milk from the top of the cans and plop into a heated pan. I used my trusty wok. Allow to bubble for a minute and then drop in 4-6 tablespoons of red curry paste. The first time you make this, maybe split the difference. Allow to fry for a few minutes. You really want to be able to smell the aroma of the curry paste. Here's a picture of my coconut milk/curry paste mixture cooking down:

Add your sliced chicken and give everything a good mix. You want to coat the chicken. Let the chicken cook until it's changed color from raw to white.

Add the rest of the coconut milk. Give it a good stir and bring to a boil. Drop the heat to a mild simmer and let cook for 10 minutes.

While the curry is cooking, grab your Thai basil. Here's a picture:

De-stem the leaves. I usually go berserk with the stuff because I love it. However, you might want to settle for about a cup of leaves. This is optional but I also mince a few tablespoons of Thai-bird chiles.

Once the chicken is cooked through, usually around ten minutes, add a handful of lime leaves. Add fish sauce to taste. Start with 3 tablespoons and work your way up. Simmer for a few more minutes and turn off the heat. Toss in the minced chiles and basil leaves, stir and serve with PLENTY of rice and lime wedges.

Time- About 25 minutes.

Food cost:
Chicken- $3.36
Coconut Milk- $2.00
Incidentals- $1.00
Total- $6.36
Serves 6.

Tom Yum Goong

It's fun to say....Tom Yum Goong, Tom Yum Goong. As I was making it, I was constantly saying it to myself in any number of sing-song ways.

Tom Yum is a hot and sour Thai soup. It's crazy delicious and I think that most of you have had it because it's one of those Thai dishes that people really take to, right up there next to red curry. When you make it, it's very, very aromatic and makes the whole apartment smell good. It's also incredibly easy to make. So easy, in fact, that this next recipe will be in paragraph form.

One note...Tom Yum Goong refers to the shrimp version of this soup. If you don't want to use shrimp, feel free to use some thinly sliced chicken breast. Just add it around the same time that you would add the shrimp and increase cooking time by a minute or so.

Peel and, if necessary, devein shrimp. I used about a half pound of shrimp. If you don't know how to devein shrimp, click here. After deveining, I always brine the shrimp. Just take your prepared shrimp and cover with cold water. Add a few pinches of salt and stir. This is a Chinese technique that my mother taught me...It yields shrimp with a somewhat snappy texture. I do this because I HATE mushy shrimp.

Take one stalk of lemongrass and trim the root end. Trim the top so you're left with about a 1-foot length of lemongrass. Peel off one or two of the outer layers and discard them. Take the remaining stalk and pound it with the flat of a knife. You just wanna smoosh it. Smell the lemongrass. Nice, eh?

Mince an onion. Mince a clove or two of garlic. Add a tablespoon of oil to a preheated pot and toss in the garlic and onions. Saute for a minute or so. Add a half tablespoon of red curry paste, the lemongrass, a handful of lime leaves and a few slices of galangal. Saute for a few minutes. The mixture should end up being slightly dry.


Add 2 cups of chicken stock and two cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. You're just looking to extract some flavor from the lime leaves, galangal etc.

While the soup is simmering, open up a can of straw mushrooms. Drain, rinse and drain again.

After the 15 minutes is up, pour in 2 cups of coconut milk and the mushrooms. Bring back up to a simmer and let it go for 5 minutes. At this point, toss in the shrimp (or chicken.) These shouldn't take more than 3 minutes to cook. Turn off the heat.

Time to finish seasoning the soup...the fun part! Squeeze in the juice of a lime...taste. If you want it more sour, add more lime. I like it hella sour so I usually roll with 3 limes. Grab your bottle of fish sauce and add a tablespoon. Want more? Add more...I usually end up between 2-3 tablespoons. Some people might be scared of fish sauce. I know my dad is. He told me stories about being in 'Nam and the putrid smell of the fish sauce factory. Some people I know describe the aroma of fish sauce as that of a dirty penis. Their words, not mine. Fish sauce is great tho. Here's a picture of the brand I use:

Garnish with cilantro and you're done!

Time- 30 minutes, much of it unsupervised.
Food cost:
Shrimp- $3.50
'Shrooms- $1.00
Coconut Milk- $1.00
Chicken Stock- $0.75
Incidentals- $0.50
Total- $6.75
Should make about 4 bowls of soup.

A Preview of Coming Attractions...

Friday's are great. After a week's worth of ingesting leftovers and crap, sometimes on the same plate (tomato sauce on toast, anyone?), I finally have a chance to cook something decent. Tonight's quasi-Thai meal featured some of the spicy, sour, and salty flavors that I love to play with. I also made dessert! I hardly ever eat dessert because I don't want to turn into a total fattie but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. Boy, there's a terrible rationale, eh?

I don't feel like writing the whole thing up right now because I would rather play Team Fortress 2. However, I'm going to leave you with a few pictures and a promise that I'll do a full post tomorrow...