Ca Ri Ga - Vietnamese Style Chicken Curry

                            

Since November I have cooked curry about 20 times, before that I have never cooked curry or even care to eat it.  I know plenty of people who enjoy eating Thai curry made with coconut milk, hot Indian curry, or Japanese saucy curry.  I, however, never really develop a taste for curries; I guess we all have a kryptonite.

So what happened last November that changed my mind about curry?  I tasted the best curry at Thanksgiving dinner, made by my boyfriend's aunt.  She used to be a cook for a living, and he raves about a cooking all the time.  I was very skeptic at first, but he said ca ri ga was one of her best dish!  To my surprise her curry was delicious!  It had a lot of curry flavor and the right kick of spiciness. I didn't taste any coconut milk but I can tell a little bit of milk was use.  If only I tasted her curry first, my feeling for curries may not be same as before.

I spent the last 6 months trying to re-create that curry, bless my family and boyfriend for eating so much curry and being my guinea pig.  I made curry so many times I can probably make it in my sleep.  But I don't regret any of it, actually learned a lot through trial and error.  For optimal flavor, I suggest marinading your chicken over night.  To achieve curry flavor in your broth, you'll need to cook curry powder into your broth similar to the way you would make Bun Bo Hue.  If you choose to use milk, you should add your milk a little at a time on very low heat.  I find it best to add milk at the very end.

This curry does not have that rich flavor from the coconut milk.  It's not as saucy because I prefer it to be like a broth so you can eat it with noodles or bread.  If you like it more saucy, I would use less water.  This curry is more savory, with a kick of chili in every bite.  You'll definitely be sweating when eating curry at my house.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

One whole chicken cut into smaller pieces
1 can of coconut juice
1 can of chicken broth
2-3 stalk of lemon grass
1 stub of ginger
1 tablespoon of minced shallots
1 tablespoon of minced lemongrass
1/2 tablespoon of garlic
1 bay leaf
1 bag of curry powder
1 teaspoon of chili power
3 lbs bag of Yukon potato
fish sauce
sugar
salt
mushroom seasoning
water cooking oil

1.  Marinade chicken with 3 tablespoon of cooking oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, 4 tablespoon of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning, 1/2 a bag of curry powder (about 3 tablespoon), minced garlic, minced shallots, and minced lemongrass.  Marinade overnight if possible.
2.  Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes, soak in water until ready to use.
3.  In a pot, brown the marinaded chicken.  Does not need to be cooked all the way.
4.  Add the coconut juice and chicken broth.  Let chicken simmer in this mixture for about 10 minutes. If you want the curry to be saucy then you can go ahead and the lemongrass stalk,ginger, and bay leaf.  Season the broth with salt and sugar.
5.  In a pan add 2 tablespoon of cooking oil on very low heat.  Add the other half of the curry powder and cook into the oil.  Add this mixture to the broth.
5.  If you want more of soup broth, then you'll want to add more water as if you are making a noodle soup.  Season the broth with salt and sugar to your liking.  Let everything marry in the pot for another 20 minutes.
6.  Add the potatoes at the very end because they will cook very fast.  Just before the curry is done add about 1 cup of milk a little bit at a time on very low heat, mixing it into the broth.  Turn off the heat.
7.  Curry can be eating noodle, bread, or rice.  Garnish with some green onions and cilantro.  Enjoy!

Bo Kho - Vietnamese Beef Stew

I had a holiday party around Christmas time and I made a pot of Bo Kho and Ca Ri Ga.   I have to admit I don't make stews very often but I figure it would be a hearty meal and will definitely warm up my guests. That night I had many compliments on my pot of Bo Kho.  My friends requested that I post the recipe to my blog with the exact measurements.  So for this recipe I actually measured what I can out, but sometimes during the cooking process I forget.  But I really want to emphasize the importance of tasting your food.  It will help you improve your cooking skills tremendously.

Bo Kho would probably not make my top 20 of favorite Viet food to eat because it's simply too heavy for me.  I prefer eating pho or bun bo hue over bo kho, but stews are great during the cold Indiana winter.  The day after the party, I brought home some bo kho to my family.  My sister-in-law showed me a great way to lighten a hearty bowl of bo kho and it made it so incredibly delicious.  She squeezed two lime wedges to a bowl of bo kho and top it with lots of cilantro.   The lime and cilantro added depth and tanginess to the broth.  I didn't even care about the star  of the dish, the shank, it was all about that broth.  If you haven't tried lime and cilantro with your bo kho, you have to give it a try!


Ingredients:

4 lbs of beef shank
10 stalk of lemongrass (cut 1/2 and then crushed)
3 tablespoon of tomato paste
10 carrots (cut into 1 inch pieces)
salt
rock sugar
mushroom seasoning
chili powder (if you like spicy)
fish sauce
minced shallots
minced lemongrass
paprika
star anise
cinnamon
roasted ginger
all purpose flour
roasted sweet onions or 5-6 whole shallots
cooking oil
bay leaf


Marinade for 4 lbs of beef shank:

1/2 cup of fish sauce
2 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of chili powder (this depends on the spice level of your chili powder and how spicy you want it to be)
1/2 cup of minced lemongrass
1/2 cup  of minced shallots
3 tablespoon paprika


1.  Cut up the beef shank into cubes.  Keep in mind beef shank shrink during the cooking process.
2. Marinate the beef shank with the marinade over night if possible or at least 2-3 hours before cooking.
3.  In a large pot, heat up a little bit of vegetable oil and pour the marinated beef shank in the pot.  You want to brown the outside of the meat.
4.  Once the meat has brown evenly, add 3 tablespoon of tomato paste and 2 tablespoon of flour.  Stir well and make sure the you cook the flour. 
5.  Add enough water to submerge the meats about
6.  Add two bay leaves, lemongrass stalks, roasted ginger, and roasted onions  to the pot, season the pot with 2.5 tablespoon of salt, 3 rock sugar, 2 tablespoon mushroom seasoning.
8.  In a separate pan, heat a tablespoon of cooking oil.  Add 1 tablespoon of the paprika to the oil.   Let paprika cook on low heat, be careful not to let it burn.  This will add color to the broth.

9.  Let pot simmer on medium heat with lid on until meat is tender.  At this point the broth should be at the right consistency, not too water but not too thick.  In about 1.5 to 2 hours meat will be tender.
10.  Add the carrots last.   If you put the lid on the carrots will cooked pretty fast.  You don't want to overcook the carrots and become mushy.
11.  Prepare yourself a bowl of bo kho with French baguettes or rice noodles (hu tieu).
12.  Garnish with chopped cilantro and green onions, squeeze a little bit of lime to your bo kho .
13.  Enjoy!

Ga Ragu - Chicken Ragu

I really love the concept of ca ri (curry) or beef stew (bo kho). Slowed cook meat with tender vegetables and rich savory broth to dip crusty warm baguette in, what's not to love of about that?  Growing up I went through a lot of difficult eating phases.  I didn't like eating curry that much and bo kho took too much time for my mom to make, so she would make a chicken stew that was much quicker.  It's called ragu or lagu ga, made with chicken legs, potato, and carrot.  Chicken legs is the perfect part of the chicken for this dish because I love gnawing on the cartilage ends.  Whenever you taste this dish it feels like you spent hours making it but it's actually such a quick stew to make.  Give this a try, it goes great with baguettes or rice!

Ingredients:
8-10 drumsticks (cut in half)

salt
black pepper
1/4 cup fish sauce
black pepper
1/2 tablespoon mushroom seasoning

1 cans of coco rico 

1.5 tbl of tomato paste

3 Idaho potatoes (cut into cubes)
6 medium carrots (cut into 1 in. section)
2 shallots (thinly sliced)
1 sweet onion (chopped)
1 bay leaf (optional)
water
cooking oil
garnish with green onions, cilantro, and lime

1. Marinade the chicken with 1/4 cup of fish sauce, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, and  sliced shallots,  I usually do this the night before.
2. Marinade the potatoes and carrots with a dash of  salt and black pepper.
3. Heat up cooking oil to a pan and sear the potatoes and carrots, don't completely cook the vegetables. 4. Set the potatoes and carrots aside for later.
5. Repeat step #3 with the chicken, again you don't have to completely cook the chicken.
6. Transfer chicken to a large pot and add 2 tbl of tomato paste and evenly coat the chicken. Add 1  can of coco rico , 5 cups of water, 2 tsp of salt,  1 tablespoon mushroom seasoning, and 1 bay leaf.
7. Let the chicken simmer in the liquid for 20 minutes, skim scum if needed. Add the  carrots first then potatoes after.  Add more fish sauce if needed.  Let everything simmer for about 15 minutes and then add the onions at the very end. Serve over rice or with baguettes, enjoy!