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Posts tagged kaffir lime

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Spring roll recipe 2.0 Peking duck & kaffir lime spring rolls

Mar16
2012 5 Comments Written by chefshane

This spring roll is a personal favourite, and I have taken it around the world with me.
It's been on menus in Sydney, Narromine, North Queensland, Dubai, Thailand, Kazakhstan and now here in Vietnam.

It's simple and sexy.
Clean, neat Asian flavours with richness of Peking Duck and the depth of fresh Kaffir Lime Leaf.
The secret is in cooking the filling quickly in a hot wok, and not letting it get too moist, wet or sloppy.

Everything must be ready, by your side, including a cold, clean, dry tray to cool the mix on as soon as it is finished cooking.

Ingredients
Peking duck meat – with skin on (remove all bones and slice.
Kaffir lime leaf – very thin julienne or finely diced
Coriander stalk with leaves, freshly chopped, rough, with a sharp knife
Glass noodles or vermicelli, soaked, cut
Spring onion, chopped (white and lower green part)
Fish sauce
Black pepper, freshly and roughly crushed. (From Phu Quoc or Kampot if you want to be really fussy about it)
Plain Oil, for stir frying. Vegetable, peanut, palm, corn, sunflower, cottonseed, canola are all fine

Organise your ingredients around you, and have a clean, cold tray ready for emptying the hot duck noodle mix onto after finishing.

Fire up the wok, add a little oil, then fry the duck and noodles. (make sure noodles are dry / well drained after soaking and preparing)
Quickly add the kaffir lime, pepper, coriander and spring onion.
Season to taste with fish sauce, and be sure to  do all of this at high heat, with minimum liquids.
Turn out immediately onto the cooling tray, spread evenly and flat, then cool in the chiller.
After the mix is cool, roll the spring rolls in Chinese / Thai / Singapore style spring roll pastry
Just like the seafood spring roll recipe these have to be fried in hot oil, at 180 degrees C until golden.
Unlike the fish spring rolls, these can be made in bulk and frozen ahead of time.
They are great to eat, and always a pleasant, flavourful surprise. The quality of the Peking Duck has a big impact, and always be sure to use the skin which has a great flavour.

I normally serve these with chilled sour cream, and a nice date chutney or mango chutney stewed with cinnamon sticks, cloves, onions and kaffir lime. A dab of both with each bite is a taste, texture and temperature sensation.
 

Posted in Quick & easy - Tagged , , , , , ,

Strawberry Hazelnut & Kaffir lime: Red Propaganda cocktail recipe

Mar20
2011 1 Comment Written by chefshane

I'm back at the bar again making one of my favourites, a cocktail called "Red Propaganda"

I'm not sure who started this one off, but my HR manager Jeanne back in Sydney recommended something similar to this years ago, and it's remained a firm favourite ever since. I make it for a change of pace from my addictive Lychee caipiroska.

I love stick drinks – crushing the life out of tasty, juicy ingredients and aromats with a massive blunt wooden instrument.
I caught the stick drink bug at Longrain, a great Sydney restaurant and bar that kicked off the Caipirinha craze in earnest back in 2003. They used huge wooden rolling pins to briskly squash ingredients to a pulp before making the most flavoursome and intriguing cocktails one could find.

The stick in the picture is a modest sized muddler, but moments after this the bar staff, knowing my penchant for large muddlers, ran over brandishing a fat wooden pestle saying "Use Mr Simon' Big Stick" then huddled around giggling.

I know Mr Simon won't mind, but I hope it wasn't the first time his stick got used. He should at least get divs on first use.
He told me yesterday that he had to go to a place with a lathe and explain what he wanted, and the dimensions.
I hope he didn't have to model for it.

This cocktail is simple, tasty and very different.
The main flavours are strawberry, lime and hazelnut. Refreshing and fruity with a delicious burst of Frangelico 

Red Propaganda cocktail ingredients

3ea.     wedges of lime
40g      ripe, deep red, tasty strawberries (fresh if ripe & in season, or whole frozen ones) (3-4 each)
2ea.     kaffir lime leaves
2tsp     Demerara sugar crystals (or raw sugar)
1 shot  Frangelico
1 shot  Vodka½ shot strawberry liqueur
100ml  Schweppes bitter lemon to float on top

 
  1. Muddle (crush) the lime wedges with torn kaffir lime leaf and sugar, then add the strawberries and crush too
  2. Add the vodka, Frangelico and strawberry liqueur. Stir
  3. Top the glass fully with shaved ice, then pour Schweppes bitter lemon over the top to almost fill the glass

Very tasty. Enjoy this one. It's on high rotation whenever our very regular guests join us in the lobby bar.
It never fails to impress, and the Frangelico really makes it special.

Posted in Drinks & cocktails, Fusion & Contemporary, Vietnam - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Making a larb pizza. Step-by-step recipes and photos

Feb28
2011 9 Comments Written by chefshane

Why Larb Pizza?

Chefs like to be told what to do.
There's no Dominant/submissive relationship more pronounced than that of chef and guest.
Well, actually – taxi drivers come close. 

When the guest says "I want …………<insert whatever>" we're expected to leap to it and start tossing pans around maniacally.
So that's what we do.

A friend and guest called David jetted in to Danang, and inquired as to the timeframe on his larb pizza.
We don't actually HAVE a larb pizza.

We'd discussed this previously however, and neither of us are shy when it comes to trying out new (culinary) things.
We also both love the vibrant flavours of larb – an unforgettable Thai salad from the North Eastern Isaan region.

David said he was looking for something that defined larb with all of the classic flavours, in a gourmet pizza style.
Needing a little inspiration, we started to mentally construct such a monstrosity whilst 'enjoying'' a bottle of Mango Absolut. 

For those of you who are grimacing in horror, we also made an authentic Thai larb the following day as part of a non-fusion Thai feast.
That's my next post, so you'll be put out of your misery with photos and recipes of real Thai food there.

We decided to go with a coriander pesto base, some larb-style pork mince, shredded kaffir lime leaf, plus loads of fresh mint, ground roasted rice and toasted chilli.

For the record, the first try was OK, but version 2.0 a day later was an absolute cracker. Really delicious.
With a day's prior notice, I'm happy to make one for you if you visit me at Pullman Danang Beach Resort for lunch or dinner.

Coriander pesto recipe

30g    garlic
3ea    kaffir lime leaves
100g  coriander stalks and leaves
7ml    Thai fish sauce
15g    ground roasted jasmine rice
2g      Freshly (coarse) ground black pepper corns
80ml   Oil, peanut or plain. Sunflower, safflower, canola, palm etc.

  1. Chop garlic and coriander roughly. Finely shred kaffir lime leaf then chop finely across.
  2. Pound garlic, kaffir lime, black pepper and coriander in mortar and pestle with the ground roasted rice.
  3. Stir in fish sauce to taste, then enough oil to make a spreadable pesto

Larb pizza ingredients

70g     shredded mozzarella
150g   pork mince (lightly cooked in a steel pan with Thai fish sauce + knorr pork granules)
7 ea    Toasted dry red chilli – 1 teaspoon ground or chopped for the pizza and 5-6 whole ones for garnish
8 ea    Red shallots
5 ea    kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
1 cup   fresh mint leaves, washed, dried and chilled (about 20g picked or get 80g bunch & clean it)
20g     ground roasted rice – about 1 tablespoon 
200g   pizza dough (we use sourdough wheat and rye pizza dough. It's really good!)

Larb pizza method

  1. Roll the pizza dough out thinly (3-4mm) and spread with coriander pesto.
  2. Sprinkle with the toasted red chilli. It's totally up to you as to how much you use.
  3. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella evenly over the pizza and then top with the lightly cooked lean minced pork.
  4. Cook the pizza in a pizza oven, OR at 240 degrees C on a pizza stone or preheated bricks in the oven. 5-7 minutes should do it.
    Check that the bottom is crispy, with a nice brown colour.If flaccid or pale, leave it in some more, or use a hotter oven.
    A bit of bottom heat is essential. (Talking about pizza cookery here. We've moved away from the D/s aspect now)

After the pizza comes out:
Slice the shallots freshly and thinly. Pre sliced shallots or onions taste awful. Sprinkle over the cooked pizza.

Sprinkle finely shredded kaffir lime leaf over. This gives an incredible flavour.

Sprinkle with half of the ground roasted rice, then garnish liberally with lots of fresh mint leaves.
Sprinkle remaining ground roasted rice on the mint leaves.
Garnish with remaining whole toasted dry red chillies.
Voila! A great tasting  fusion gourmet pizza.

Apologies to the Italians, the Thais, probably MPW and the rest of the traditionalist/conformist set in advance.
But it was bloody delicious.

Posted in Fusion & Contemporary, Quick & easy, Thailand, Western Food - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pork and lemongrass curry recipe with taro leaf & cilantro

Jul15
2010 Leave a Comment Written by chefshane

Bookmark this lemongrass curry recipe!

I documented this Thai family recipe up in the rice paddies and corn farms of Chiang Khong in rural North Thailand

I'm an old and jaded culinarian these days, so when I saw this recipe develop before my eyes into the best curry that I've ever tried,
it stopped me dead in my tracks. My mouth hung open. My pulse quickened.
I felt internal eruptions of pure joy and my chakras began to radiate smugness and well-being…there weren't even any hallucinogens involved.
This dish is destined for super-stardom.

Why is it so good?
You know Indian spinach curry with lamb? It's similar to that. But ten times better.
The taro leaves grow like wildfire – they're picked straight from the garden or roadside, then chopped and boiled down
to make the thick green curry sauce with a hand-smashed curry paste. Here's general details on cooking taro leaf
It's easier to measure and easier to make the paste than most Thai curry recipes. You'll be able to master this recipe the very first time.
It's so simple that anyone can do it.
Taro leaves are richer, greener and thicker than spinach. The flavour is light and aromatic and the spice level is totally up to you.

The main flavours are lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, coriander and fresh lime or lemon juice.
Two types of meat are added in last – almost as an afterthought.
The pork belly and bbq pigs ear give two different textures, and it just 'works'.
This can be easily adapted to chicken, beef, lamb – and it could easily translate into a modern restaurant dish with some premium seafood due to the three layers of lemon/lime flavour.

It's not a really spicy curry – it's more aromatic. If you like your Scoville rating 'off the charts', increase to an oxy-acetylene burn simply by adjusting the variety or quantity of chilli.
If you eliminate chilli entirely, this recipe will still rock your world

Fresh curry paste:

1 dsp   Garlic, peeled  
1 dsp   Kaffir lime leaves, chopped  
3 ea     Dry red chilli, medium/regular size
1 dsp   Lemongrass, chopped  
1 tsp   Salt   5g
1 tsp   Shrimp paste (gapi) 
1 dsp  Shallots, red, peeled, chopped 

For the lemongrass curry recipe

6 each  fresh taro leaves (Bai buain Thai)  
2ltr       Water (1.5 – 2 litres)
2 pcs   Jakaan, 6 inches (edible aromatic wood) optional – but use if you can get it
1 cup   Lemongrass, finely chopped  
1 cup   Whole Kaffir lime leaves, measure, then chop finely  
1 each Grilled / bbq pigs ears  
2 cups Grilled or roasted pork belly (300 grams)
4 each Limes  
½ cup Coriander, flat leaf (or regular) freshly chopped  
Method
  1. Chop the Ja-kaan wood in half. Split into quarters
  2. Boil the taro leaves in the water with the jakaan wood (20 minutes)
  3. Make the curry paste by pounding the ingredients together in a mortar and pestle until it forms a paste
  4. Add the curry paste to the taro leaves in the water
  5. Simmer for 5 minutes and then add the cooked pork
  6. Add the finely chopped lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf
  7. Simmer 10-15 minutes more, then squeeze in the lime juice (freshly, from the cut limes)
  8. Add in the coriander
  9. Taste, and season to taste with salt.
  10. Serve.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I'd LOVE your feedback on this lemongrass curry recipe.

For me it was a showstopper.
The taste is clean, fresh, balanced and full of character.
Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.
If you've used taro leaf before I'm also keen to know about it. Back in New Zealand we use taros – but not the leaves that I'm aware of.
Here's a Fijian taro leaf recipe and some taro basics.
OK, I've shown you mine, now you show me yours.

Posted in Northern Thai - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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