Taiwanese Peanut, Pineapple Ice Cream and Cilantro Dessert Spring Rolls

This dessert is fast, refreshing, and surprising.

Ingredients

• Peanut brittle
• Pineapple ice cream
• Rice wrappers
• Cilantro

Procedure

1. Crush peanut brittle.

2. Dip rice wrapper in warm water for about 5 seconds. Take out and place on a plate to assemble.

3. Assemble by sprinkling the crushed peanut brittle onto the rice paper, add dollops of the ice cream and top with more peanut brittle and cilantro. 

4. Wrap it together like a spring roll. Have a munch.

Thai Chicken Soup

This soup is like chicken noodle soup on steroids. It is packed with flavor and can be made as spicy or mild as desired.

Estimated preparation time: 45 min

Ingredients

• 2 cans coconut milk
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 onion
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 ginger
• 4 cups chicken
• 3 cups mushrooms
• 2 teaspoons red curry paste
• 1 jalapeno
• Rice noodles
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
• 3 tablespoon fish sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cilantro, lime, garlic chili sauce to garnish

Procedure

1. Chop chicken, onion, ginger and garlic and sear with salt, pepper, and red chili flakes til chicken is just seared. Take chicken out and set aside. 

2. Add chicken broth, coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce and juice of one lime to the aromatics and let simmer 20-30 minutes. 

3. Add jalapeño if more spice is desired. Put the chicken and mushrooms into the broth and let simmer until just underdone. 

4. Add rice noodles, being sure to stir. 

5. Serve with lime, cilantro, jalapeño, and the garlic chili sauce. 

Korean Beef and Rice (modified)

An alternative way to use beef:

Korean Beef and Rice

1 lb ground beef
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c soy sauce
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic (or dash of garlic powder)
1-2 cups stir-fry vegetables (sliced carrots, peapods, mushrooms, etc.)
cilantro to taste

Brown the beef, draining the grease.  Add the brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, red pepper, and garlic.  Add the vegetables (Cub sells frozen packages of stir fry vegetables), with more sugar and soy sauce as needed.  Serve on rice, top with plenty of cilantro.

Serves 2, with a little left over.  Reminds me of banh mi.

"Pad Thai" - Peanut-Lime Chicken Salad

Again, brazenly stolen/adapted from Smitten Kitchen.  I made "adjustments" right and left for ingredients that I simply did not have, such as sesame oil, insufficient lime juice (added a few splashes of lemon to get what seemed a good consistency), no soy sauce, no carrots or cucumbers, no peanuts.  Instead I used the vegetables I had available, a half bag of frozen pea pods and lots of cilantro and green onions.  Also left out the garlic and chiles, substituting instead a couple teaspoons of the red chile sauce I'd picked up in the Asian section of the store, and used perhaps twice as much ginger as was called for.  It seems no matter what you do, it tastes flavorful.

Peanut-Lime Chicken Salad
 (2-4 servings)

Dipping sauce
 3 T Asian fish sauce
 3 T brown sugar
 6 T lime juice
 1 garlic clove, minced
Small Thai or Serrano chiles, thinly sliced, to taste

Peanut dressing
 1 1/2 T Asian fish sauce
 1 1/2 T rice vinegar
 4 1/2 T lime juice
 1 1/2 T soy sauce
1 one-and-a-half inch chunk fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
 3 T peanut butter
1/2 T sesame oil
Pinch of cayenne

Chicken and noodle salad
1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 6)
8 ounces dried rice vermicelli or other rice noodles
2 small cucumbers, cut in 1/4-inch half moons
2 medium carrots, cut in thin julienne
Additional vegetables
Small handful basil or mint or cilantro sprigs, or your favorite of the three (torn or roughly chopped)
4 or more green onions, chopped
1/4 cup crushed or chopped roasted peanuts
Lime wedges (to serve)

Make the dipping sauce: Whisk ingredients in a small serving bowl, making sure to dissolve the sugar. Leave to ripen for 15 minutes. Refrigerate any extra and use within a few days.

Make the peanut dressing: In a blender or small food processor, puree all ingredients to a smooth sauce, about the thickness of heavy cream.

Marinate the chicken: Stir together 1/2 the dipping sauce and 1/3 the peanut dressing (you can eyeball this) in the bottom of a low-sided bowl or dish. Add the chicken to the mixture and toss to coat. Let marinate at least 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

Cook the noodles: Package should have directions for cooking the noodles.  Mine were to soak the rice noodles for 10 minutes in hot (I used boiled) water.  I strained them out when they were fluffy.

Cook the chicken: Grill the chicken on an outdoor grill, a stove-top grill pan, or run under the broiler until nicely browned, about 3 to 4 minutes a side. Let cool slightly, then chop roughly into 3/4-inch pieces.

To serve: You can serve each item separately, allowing the diners to choose proportions.  Or mix everything together (the noodles, chicken, vegetables, and both sauces) in one big bowl.  Excellent either way.  Can be served hot or cold.