Perhaps you're looking for a new style of cooking or just to experiment in the New Year. Here are some of my favorite flavors you can try.
Asian Lettuce Cups Makes 14-16 lettuce wraps
2 tsps
canola oil 4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tbsp fresh ginger (minced)
1 lb ground chicken (or chopped very small)
1/2 tsp kosher salt 4 cups slaw mix (bagged, or thinly shredded cabbage with carrot)
1/2 cup sliced green onions (thinly)
4 T soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 lemon (zested and juiced, about 3-4 Tbs juice)
3/4 tsp hot sauce (sriracha or other, 1 tsp of Sriracha is fairly spicy in my opinion, so if you want less or no kick, just give it a little, or you can leave it out completely)
1/3 cup chopped cilantro (roughly)
1 heads iceberg lettuce
4 T soy sauce
4 T rice vinegar
3 T water
2 tsps honey
1 1/2 tsps fresh ginger (finely minced)
Dipping/Drizzling Sauce
4 Tbs soy sauce
4 Tbs rice vinegar
3 Tbs water
2 tsp honey
1-2 tsp finely minced fresh ginger
Heat a very large skillet to medium-high heat on the stove top. When hot, add vegetable oil and then garlic and ginger. Saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, and then add ground chicken, chopped mushrooms, and kosher salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until chicken is cooked through. Add cabbage/coleslaw, water chestnuts, and green onions. Cook for about 2 minutes, until cabbage starts to wilt. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, the zest from the lemon and the lemon juice, and hot sauce to taste. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
To prepare dipping sauce, combine all ingredients and whisk to combine.
To serve, carefully remove the individual leaves from the head of lettuce. (The closer you get to the center, the easier it becomes!) Place chicken mixture in the leaves and serve with sauce.
Rice paper wrappers
1 carrots (large, thin julienne cuts) 3 scallions (thinly sliced) fresh mint fresh cilantro 2 avocado
1/2 cup prepared Jasmin or white rice
Butter lettuce
Sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce 2 tbsps peanut butter 1 tsp rice vinegar 2 tsps soy sauce 1 tsp garlic chili sauce 1/2 tsp sesame oil
Soak one spring roll paper at a time, for about 30-45 seconds in a shallow bowl of water. Once fully soaked, place the spring roll paper onto a clean cutting board. They should be pliable when you take them out of the water and then become soft once they are on the cutting board. If they don't quite get flexible enough to roll, dip them in some more water.
Place the fillings in the bottom third of the wrapper. I used about 2 tablespoons of the rice, a few cuts of carrots, 1 teaspoon sliced scallions, a pinch of fresh mint and basil, 2 avocado slices, and a piece of butter lettuce per roll.
Fold the wrapped over the filling and start rolling everything into a roll. About halfway through the roll, stop and fold in the sides. Then continue to finish rolling until you have a tight roll. Transfer the finished roll to a clean plate and drape with a damp towel while you assemble and roll the remaining spring rolls.
Once all of the spring rolls are assembled, serve immediately.
Sauce
Combine all of the ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk together. Taste and add more soy sauce if you want it a bit saltier. Set the sauce aside until ready to serve.
Coconut Chicken Soup 3 Chicken Breasts, baked (preferably in a bit of coconut oil) and shredded
Coconut Oil
1 bunch scallions, green part diced and whites finely chopped
4 minced garlic cloves
4-5 inch piece of fresh ginger finely chopped
1 jalapeno, diced (with or without seeds- how hot do you like it?)
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 tsp-Tbsp of red curry paste (depending on your spice preference)
1 quart chicken broth
1 14 oz can of coconut milk
1 Tbsp fish oil *optional
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 cup sugar snap peas, diced ½ inch piece
1 small red pepper, thinly sliced
1 handful of fresh basil (if you can find thai basil, use that)
Salt to taste
Lime wedges
Heat oil in large pot to medium heat
Add scallions, garlic and ginger. Saute approx. 4 minutes
Add jalapeno and carrots, saute till carrots soften
Add curry paste and cover veggie mixture with it.
Add chicken broth, fish sauce, lime juice, coconut milk and shredded chicken, simmer approx. 15 minutes.
Before serving, add sugar snap peas, red peppers and basil and simmer for approx. 5 minutes.
Serve with a lime wedge to squeeze fresh over your soup.
Coconut Ice Cream
*makes about 1 quart
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 cup coconut milk (canned, unsweetened)
3/4 cup sugar (or to taste)
1/4 tsp salt
*2-3 cups sweetened flaked coconut, optional
In a bowl, whisk together cream, milk and coconut milk. Add sugar and salt and whisk until the sugar is dissolved, 3-4 minutes. Keep cold until ready to pour into the ice-cream maker. Follow ice-cream maker instructions.
Optional step: Once the churning is almost through (about 20 minutes) add the flaked coconut and churn a bit more until blended.
Pour soft cream into a container. Freeze 2-5 hours and then serve.
1 cup coconut milk 2 pinches salt 1 cup Sticky Rice 2 tablespoons sugar
This is the best method I've found for making the sticky rice.
Soak the rice for 10 minutes in warm water in a bowl. Soaking the rice is very important. The water level should be just above the rice, which comes to about 1 cup rice and a little over a cup of water. Use a nonstick microwave container. Cover bowl with a dish or lid and microwave for a full 3 minutes. Stir rice around to move the rice from the top to the bottom. You will notice that some of the rice is translucent or cooked and some still has white center or the uncooked portion. Heat it up again for another 3 minutes, but keep an eye on it until it's cooked.
Putting it all together: Heat coconut milk in a pot over medium heat. Stir constantly and let the coconut mild simmer. Hard boiled coconut milk will curdle. Add sugar and salt. Remove from heat. Pour 3/4 of the hot coconut milk over the hot sticky rice. Let it sit for 5 minutes. The sticky rice will absorb the coconut milk. The rice should now be somewhat mushy. Spoon the rest of the coconut milk on top of rice and then prepare the mango.
Peel and slice mango into slices and layer around the rice plate. Serve with a spoonful of your coconut ice cream.
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