Thai Chicken Lemongrass Soup

It's a shame that it took me so long to make my own Thai food. I have this new found fascination with all things Thai, but I had this idea that it was going to hard, (It wasn't), and that the ingredients were going to be impossible to find, (They weren't).

For me, what decides if I will make a recipe is if I have the ingredients or not. Duh. And if they don't seem too far out of reach. The problem was that Thai food has some ingredients that I was not about to stock in my pantry. (Read: fish sauce and oyster sauce).

Bleh. Am I right? The sound of it....

But had I ever actually tried the stuff? Well, no.

And do I not eat Thai food on a regular basis and quite enjoy its flavor? Um. Yes.

So my challenge to you, is to buy the bottles of stuff which seem scary, and I guarantee once you have them you will find the motivation to cook Thai food. And you will like it. When ingredients like these are in your pantry, you open the doors to so many dishes. And the rest of the ingredient list, albeit long, will be fresh and easy to find. (Please don't hunt me down and quote me if your recipe calls for turtle shell or something ridiculous). Every culture has its quirks.

(Have you seen what is in Western food?)

We have beef fat in Hostess products, crushed red bugs as food colouring, and beetle juice in sprinkles.

But I digress.

This soup is wonderful because it highlights what asian cooks have mastered: balance. Hot, sweet, spicy, sour--all at once. Try it once and I guarantee you will be so inspired you'll be throwin' oyster sauce into stuff left, right, and centre. I am. (See here.)

And not only is it delicious, it is also very chic. (Once you've cleaned up).

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

12-16 oz. fresh egg noodles (or enough dry for 2-3 portions) or rice noodles

6 c good quality chicken stock

1-2 stocks fresh lemongrass, minced (Use this link if you don't know how to prepare it)

1/4 - 1/2 lb cooked chicken breast or thigh chopped into small pieces (or use leftover roasted chicken)

1/2 c good quality cocoanut milk

3-4 kaffir lime leaves (available fresh or frozen at asian grocery stores)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 thumb size piece of ginger, shredded

1 red chili, sliced (take the seeds out if you don't like it spicy--it will be spicy!)

1 lg carrot sliced

1 Tbsp oyster sauce (I used Golden Dragon brand)

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp fish sauce

2-3 c bok choy, chopped

generous handful of fresh cilantro (if you like it)

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice, optional

Directions:

1. Prepare the noodles according to the instructions on the package. Drain and rinse with cold water to keep from sticking. Set aside

2. Bring stock to a boil in a large soup pot. Add the prepared lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and the chicken. Boil over medium-high heat 3-4 minutes.

3. Reduce to medium heat and add the garlic, ginger, chili, and carrot. Simmer 2-3 more minutes.

4. While soup is simmering, add the oyster sauce and fish sauce, as well as the brown sugar.

5. If your bok choy is the large variety, add only the thick white stalk pieces now (the green leaves take only seconds to cook so reserve those for later). Continue simmering 2-3 minutes.

6. Lastly, add the leafy greens of the bok choy. Stir and simmer 30 seconds.

7. Reduce heat to low. Add the cocoanut milk, stirring well to incorporate.

8. Taste-test for salt, adding more fish sauce if it is not salty enough. If too salty or sweet for your taste, 1 Tbsp lime juice. If too spicy, add more cocoanut milk.

9. To put the soup together, mound a generous amount of the cooked noodles in each bowl. Ladle over the hot soup and top with fresh cilantro.

Enjoy!

Lunch for about $1.50

Because I often struggle to think of easy, easy lunches which are cost effective (WHICH ARE NOT SANDWICHES), I thought I would note one lunch option which I quite enjoyed recently. Cost effective, delicious, on the go, and yummy! I'll break it down for you:

Step 1: Bake a potato--sweet or regular, the night before you need it for lunch. (Or cook one extra at dinner, or the morning of if you're daring).

Step 2: Put a slit through the potato now so that you don't need a knife at lunch time. Pack baked potato in cute, handy-dandy dish.

Step 3: At lunch time, stop at local Wendy's and buy a small chili. Ask for sour cream on the side if you wish.

Step 4: Smother baked potato with chili and sour cream.

Step 5: Eat and smile. Eat and smile.

You can always make the chili at home if you want, but sometimes you just can't. You know?

Image Courtesy of http://www.jennyslunchline.com/rcadmin/cartpics/377-1.jpg

The Verdict on Irish Cuisine

I am happy to announce that the verdict is in on Irish cusine, and...it's lookin' good for the Guinness lovin' folk!

It is a different world over there in Ireland. Full of rolling green hills, sheep grazing, cows walking on the roads, castles, right side driving (so weird!), photo opps, cliffs with beautiful ocean views, and as I was delighted to discover...delicious food!

My family and friends and I (6 people all together), didn't have one bad meal the entire time we were there!

We had anything from meat and potatoes to salmon with a white wine and butter sauce because the cuisine was so varied all over the island. And it was all seriously good.

But don't just take my word for it. For the past 8 days I have been that loser (connaseur?) at the restaurant who takes pictures of all of her food. Just because I know that a picture speaks a thousand words, and I really wanted to give some great recommendations just in case you ever find yourself in Ireland.

Something important to note, is that most of the places we ate in, received either high recommendations in travel books or through word of mouth. This is the best way to guarantee good bang for your buck. And when you are traveling on a budget (especially when the exchange rate is really brutal), you need to think ahead. At least most of the time! There is always room for impulse when it comes to eating out :)

One of my favourite eats was not all that expensive. In the heart of Belfast was a little cafe called DeanesDeli.

I had a local roast chicken sandwich with sun blushed tomato, baby leaves, and sweet paprika mayo. Just the name makes my mouth water.

I may or may not bring out a recipe that imitates this delightful sammich :)

And I had tomato soup with wheaten bread. (Wheaten is pretty much whole wheat, but it kinda tastes like savory banana bread.)

Along with the really yummy entrees, Deanes had some really appealing deserts. I had an apple cinnamon scone which tasted like a cross between a scone and a danish-- so delightful.


I thought this was really cute:

It's a clock that tells you which meal you can indulge in, according to that time of day.

The restaurant Nirvana was our first official stop.


I had something called pan fried 'John Dory.' I had no idea what it was when I saw it on the menu, but the waiter explained that it was dish featuring white fish. After dinner we saw a store called 'John Dory,' and then saw the name appear on quite a few more menus throughout Ireland. Turns out John Dory was a pretty important guy!

But either way, it was really yummy. The fish, we guessed, was cod, and it was served with braised fennel, crushed potato, and butter sauce. The potatoes in Ireland were out of this world. They had a subtle sweetness that we don't have over here in Canada. I was tempted to bring a bag home in my suit case, but I didn't have room :(

Continuing on in true Canadian fashion, I ordered more seafood the next night (at the Malin Hotel)! Salmon this time, with a white wine sauce. (I'm sorry that this photo does not do the dish justice! I left my good camera at home in the hopes that a little point and shoot would be good enough. Oh bother.)

Here I am at the same restaurant enjoying water out of a huge wine glass. Why not, I said!

Desert was banoffee. We had guesses as to what in the world it might turn out looking like, but in the end:

It was banana and toffee. Not to worry, this is 1/2 of a serving (the other half I shared with my dad), the Irish are not that stingy. Not at all in fact. The meal was only 20 euros and that included appetizers, a main, and desert. Not half bad at all!

My final restaurant of note for this post, which could be so much longer if I went into enormous depth, is Nick's Warehouse in Dublin. They use only fresh, seasonal ingredients, so you can guarantee a great meal here.

We started out with a bread basket which had fresh baked bread (made on site), and muffins. Along with the bread came 3 oils for dipping.

I had free-range chicken with pomegranate cous cous. De-lish!


AND for desert, white chocolate mouse with raspberry puree. Sigh. I would go back to Ireland just to have it again!

Ireland is famous for their whiskey from Bushmills Distillery:

I tried it, and it wasn't half bad! Felt like I had fire in my mouth but...yeah not bad.

And the tea is not half bad either.

But what post on Irish cuisine would be complete without mentioning Guinness? So here you go:

Your welcome:)

P.S. Don't tell, but I actually didn't like it very much. However I am no judge because I don't like beer.

So there you have it! The highlights of my week in Ireland, featuring the most delectable part of the my trip. I would definitely encourage you to see this beautiful island if you ever get the chance. It is full of culture and despite my first assumption, yummy food!

Ireland

Sooooo, I'm off on a little adventure starting Monday. It's not all that grand, it's just a little trip across the ocean to Ireland!!

Ok yeah, I'm excited. Wouldn't you be? Well maybe not if you are from Ireland or surrounding countries, but I most certainly am excited!

The closest I have come to that part of Europe was England back in grade 12. Since then I have had a hunger to go back.

I plan on meeting an Irish boy with an accent, so if you are indeed from surrounding areas leave a comment. ;) That is actually a joke, I don't think I could make a long distance relationship work from North America. It would be just to dang difficult.

Shame though.

Anyway, my family and I will be discovering the Northern parts of Ireland (starting in Galway and then moving towards Donegal.) I heard that you can do horseback riding along the coast line and I am soooo all over that.

I will of course sample the cuisine, and post about it later. I hope that the food experience will be better than that I had in England. (Completely carbs and protein). I'm thinking that since the countries national colour is green, the food miiiight follow suit. But probably not.

See you when I return! Bon Voyage :)

Photo courtesy of http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/images/photos/photo_lg_ireland.jpg