Asian Food - Home Edition

[F250 28777]

I've been trying to learn myself on cooking various asian dishes lately. I've managed to make a decent Pad Thai and Yakimeshi rice but that's about it. Some unsuccessful dishes so far have been sushi, Pho, pad see ewe.

For me the hardest part has been mastering the rice.

Anyways, please share your recipes and techniques if you have any.

[Anastasis 23471]

I wont have much to add, but I support this thread topic. 

[kevwun 15789]

If I could figure out how to make pad see ew at home, we would have it once a week.  Damn, it's good.

Edited March 26, 2018 by kevwun

[ShouldaMarriedAStripper 28]

13 minutes ago, F250 said:

For me the hardest part has been mastering the rice.

Anyways, please share your recipes and techniques if you have any.

Every Asian family I know (and since I'm Eurasian, that's a lot of families) just uses a rice cooker. Most of the modern ones have settings for all kinds of rice and even quinoa. Why try to reinvent the wheel?

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

Subscribed. I love cooking asian food at home and focus heavily on Thai, Vietnamese, and Japanese. I don't know that I can offer tips but I'm definitely going to follow along. 

I will say that Pho with a pressure cooker is suuuuuper easy. To the point that if I have all the stuff, I have no problem making it at home on a weekday after work. 

Edited March 26, 2018 by SmokeyTheBear

[AnonymousInternetPoster 163]

Anyone have recipes for Spicy Tom Yum or Tom Kha Gai soups?

 

Love both of these, never tried to make either of them.

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

I don't create and write down recipes typically as I like to wing things to my tastes. A great Asian recipe site I reference from time to time is: Rasa Malaysia

[Beau Vine 54230]

This is the tits, and is on my regular rotation now:

https://therecipecritic.com/2013/03/slow-cooker-general-tsos-chicken/

I add chopped red bell peppers, broccoli, and zucchini in the last hour.

This is pretty good and ridiculously easy: https://therecipecritic.com/2015/03/slow-cooker-honey-teriyaki-chicken/

Also, add vegetables in the last hour.

 

I bought this for my wife for Christmas about 15 years ago, and it's one of the best presents I've ever given:

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/simply-thai-cooking_byron-ayanoglu_wandee-young/326388

 

[scottsins 1966]

53 minutes ago, AnonymousInternetPoster said:

Anyone have recipes for Spicy Tom Yum or Tom Kha Gai soups?

 

Love both of these, never tried to make either of them.

http://rasamalaysia.com is where you need to be.

Edited March 26, 2018 by scottsins

[Washpark 176]

rice cooker ftw.

get an instant pot to make broth for noodle / pho dishes. Bought bones from central market and cooked for 2 hours. Just add onion, fish sauce, and salt.

 

 

[F250 28777]

What are some of the ingredients y'all keep in the pantry? I have experimented with some sauces and pastes. Fish sauce isn't as bad as it sounds but it can get funky if too much is used.

 

 

[F250 28777]

53 minutes ago, Washpark said:

rice cooker ftw.

get an instant pot to make broth for noodle / pho dishes. Bought bones from central market and cooked for 2 hours. Just add onion, fish sauce, and salt.

 

 

Just needs some jalapenos.

[CooterBrown 18013]

Hot Thai Kitchen

Check out this YouTube channel for accessible Thai cooking. The chick is a smoke show along with being a great cook. 

[Neonmoon 38129]

Subscribed to this thread. 

Made some Coconut Curry for first time last month. Forgot to take a pic. The curry was so good, you could put anything in it, and I would have eaten that shit 

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

1 hour ago, F250 said:

What are some of the ingredients y'all keep in the pantry? I have experimented with some sauces and pastes. Fish sauce isn't as bad as it sounds but it can get funky if too much is used.

 

 

Fish sauce, various Thai curries, chili oil, sesame oil, roasted sesame oil, various Asian vinegars, furikake, palm sugar, couple types of rice, rice flour, lots of coconut cream and milk, soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, sriracha. .

In the freezer I keep ginger, galanagal, lime leaf, and Thai chilies. 

I also enjoy going to the Asian markets up at 183 and Lamar and just grab random stuff (roasted garlic/shallots/onions, noodles, sauces, etc). 

 

[mycox 582]

Pad Thai

I have never been able to find bean sprouts other than the canned shit.

Ingredients for Pad Thai sauce
4 TBS palm sugar or brown sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 TBS tamarind paste
1/4 cup sambal oelek

Ingredients for Pad Thai
Grapeseed or canola oil for sauteing
chicken breasts
1 tb sliced shallot
1/4 cup green onions, cut into one inch long pieces 
1 tablespoon chopped salted radish
Rice stick noodles (about a small handful, 2-4 oz. per person)
1/4 cup plus 2 TBS water
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1 tb sugar
2 eggs
2 cloves garlic
2 tbs chopped roasted peanut

Pad Thai Sauce
- Make tamarind juice from the tamarind concentrate by adding 1 tb concentrate to 1/4 cup water, then stir.
- Measure and set aside fish sauce and siracha.
- In a small pan, melt the palm sugar on low. Once they the palm sugar has started to soften, add the fish sauce, tamarind juice, and sambal oelek. Continue to break up the palm sugar and stir.
- Bring the liquids and melted palm sugar to a boil, then remove from heat.

Cooking Instructions:
- Rinse the radish under cold water, then squeeze out the water. Chop the radish, add a little bit of sugar to it.
- Soak the rice stick noodle in hot water for about 15 minutes.  Leave in water until you are ready to use, but do not over soak or you will end up with mushy noodles.
- Add 1 tb oil to wok, bring heat to medium-high.
- cook chicken
- Add radish and shallots and saute for a few minutes until the aroma releases.
- Turn up the heat. Add soaked noodles, then add 2TBS water. Stir-fry until noodles soften, about   5 minutes.
- Push noodles to side of wok, cook eggs quickly.
- Add 1/4 cup of Pad Thai Sauce, stir and mix throughout.
- Add sugar, chives, bean sprouts and cooked chicken
- Combine well for another minute or two.

Edited March 27, 2018 by mycox

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

Also, I recommend using Vietnamese over Thai fish sauces. Especially if it's new to you. It's more balanced and a bit sweeter. Thai is somewhat saltier. 

 

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

Also part 2

I love this recipe to highlight fish sauce.

Some friends, wife and I took a cooking class from Jam from Thai-Fresh (highly recommend). I can't find her recipe but it was my favourite dish and something I make regularly. She added equal parts shrimp to the pork to this recipe and went heavy on the fish sauce. Use shallots instead of scallions. It's amazing. 

Edited March 27, 2018 by SmokeyTheBear

[PantsTent 2002]

Good new thread idea. I've started trying to cook more Asian food. I always find myself missing an ingredient or two so yeah tips on shopping are good. 

[Call 393]

Bulgogi. 

Anyone got a preferred recipe?

[HouTex 1867]

I'm still into Szechwan.  Other than Mala in Houston you don't see it as much. Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan Cookbook is a great intro to Szechwan home cooking.

[mycox 582]

1 hour ago, HouTex said:

I'm still into Szechwan.  Other than Mala in Houston you don't see it as much. Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan Cookbook is a great intro to Szechwan home cooking.

Check out Pepper Twins. I haven't treid Spicy Girl in Midtown yet.

[Forty Acres 90]

16 hours ago, Washpark said:

rice cooker ftw.

get an instant pot to make broth for noodle / pho dishes. Bought bones from central market and cooked for 2 hours. Just add onion, fish sauce, and salt.

 

 

Very interested in this.  Made a few batches of pho lately and one was awesome and one kind of sucked.  I think it was the difference in the bones as the shitty one had this weird hint of grossness (by the smell) came from the meat.  So, what kind of bones do you use? How many when making this in an instant pot?

[Hiphopopotamos 20875]

10 hours ago, Call said:

Bulgogi. 

Anyone got a preferred recipe?

INGREDIENTS

• ¼ pear, grated
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon gochugaru (coarse Korean hot pepper flakes), or 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon grated peeled ginger
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 pound boneless pork loin, trimmed hanger steak, boneless short rib, or skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• Kosher salt
• Sliced scallions (for serving)
• Combine pear, garlic, soy sauce, gochugaru, ginger, sugar, and sesame oil in a large resealable plastic bag or medium bowl. Using a sharp knife, slice meat into very thin strips. Add to marinade, seal bag, and squish everything around until the meat is coated. Let sit at room temperature 30 minutes, or chill up to 8 hours.

• Heat 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high until oil is shimmering. Remove half of meat from marinade, letting excess drip back into bag; season lightly with salt and cook in a single layer without moving until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Toss meat and continue to cook, tossing occasionally, until cooked through and crisp at edges, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil, remaining meat, and more salt.

• Serve topped with scallions.

[Washpark 176]

2 minutes ago, Forty Acres said:

Very interested in this.  Made a few batches of pho lately and one was awesome and one kind of sucked.  I think it was the difference in the bones as the shitty one had this weird hint of grossness (by the smell) came from the meat.  So, what kind of bones do you use? How many when making this in an instant pot?

1.5lbs of pork bones. we went higher quality on the bones as we didn't trust the ones from H mart or other asian grocery stores.  It was enough broth for 6 servings. 

want to try in a pot next time but that requires 12+ hours of cooking. 

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

If you are doing chicken pho, I usually brown a whole quartered chicken in a pressure cooker, throw in the other ingredients, fill with water to the max line, and cook for 35 minutes. Strain, pick the meat off the bones and serve. 

[Mack Tripper 696]

6 hours ago, HouTex said:

I'm still into Szechwan.  Other than Mala in Houston you don't see it as much. Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan Cookbook is a great intro to Szechwan home cooking.

Chengdu Taste in Chinatown, which is an import from LA. The WaPO food critic Tom Siestema called the LA location one of the best restaurants in the country. The Houston location was very good the one time I went. 

[Mack Tripper 696]

18 hours ago, SmokeyTheBear said:

Also, I recommend using Vietnamese over Thai fish sauces. Especially if it's new to you. It's more balanced and a bit sweeter. Thai is somewhat saltier. 

 

Red Boat is the best fish sauce I've come across. It's made in Vietnam but it is Thai in style -- not sweet at all. To me Vietnamese fish sauce is way to sweet and not nearly salty enough. 

[Mack Tripper 696]

19 hours ago, SmokeyTheBear said:

Fish sauce, various Thai curries, chili oil, sesame oil, roasted sesame oil, various Asian vinegars, furikake, palm sugar, couple types of rice, rice flour, lots of coconut cream and milk, soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, sriracha. .

In the freezer I keep ginger, galanagal, lime leaf, and Thai chilies. 

I also enjoy going to the Asian markets up at 183 and Lamar and just grab random stuff (roasted garlic/shallots/onions, noodles, sauces, etc). 

 

This is a good list. I assume you mean kaffir lime leaves.  I would add lemongrass (can be kept in freezer), gochugang, Thai shrimp paste, tapioca flour, Kewpie mayo. 

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

4 minutes ago, Mack Tripper said:

This is a good list. I assume you mean kaffir lime leaves.  I would add lemongrass (can be kept in freezer), gochugang, Thai shrimp paste, tapioca flour, Kewpie mayo. 

Yes. 

And good addition of lemongrass in freezer. Didn't think of that one in the freezer for some reason. Though it keeps a while in the fridge as well. 

Edited March 27, 2018 by SmokeyTheBear

[Bat Guano 359]

I've been using this recipe for Chili Shrimp for a few years. I think it's based on Singaporean chili crab, but I've also seen variations that are allegedly Szechuan. Doesn't seem very Szechuanny to me, but you never know. It's delicious, anyway, and when the garlic-shallot-ginger-pepper mixture hits the hot oil the smell is fantastic.

 

Chili Shrimp

1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled
3 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 fresh small chilies like Thai, or seeded and stemmed dried red chilies or dried red chili flakes to taste
3 tablespoons corn, grapeseed or other neutral oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste, or 1 medium tomato, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons nam pla (Thai fish sauce)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 to 1 1/2 pounds small peeled shrimp.

1. Mince ginger, garlic, shallots and chilies in food processor.
2. Put oil in wok or large skillet and turn heat to medium-high; a minute later, add minced spices and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds.
3. Stir in tomato paste, lime juice, nam pla, soy sauce, sugar and 2 tablespoons water. Add shrimp and coat with sauce. Cook just until sauce is bubbling and shrimp turns pink, about 5 minutes.
4. Serve over rice or noodles.

[beer 3220]

Hard learned pho lessons: 

the noodles in pho used to come out wrong for me - then I discovered the pink and green bags (fresh noodle in the refrigerated section).  Fucking impossible to pull apart for one serving but worth the headache.  Also I got one of those noodle cooking baskets.  Boil way more water than you think you need so it keeps boiling even after you put in the noodle.

Also, dont just put noodle in the broth (terrible mistake)  You have to cook it separately then reheat it in your broth.  I am not a chemist - don't know why you just do. 

Good way to recycle leftover smoked brisket - makes pho amazing. 

Instant broth is OK if you dont have time to boil bones all day - but you need a little fat in the broth and dont skip the star anise and rock candy...those two seem most important. 

holy fuck could that tiny photo be any bigger?  how do we adjust that here?

 

[Bone3421 716]

On 3/26/2018 at 7:51 PM, SmokeyTheBear said:

Fish sauce, various Thai curries, chili oil, sesame oil, roasted sesame oil, various Asian vinegars, furikake, palm sugar, couple types of rice, rice flour, lots of coconut cream and milk, soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, sriracha. .

In the freezer I keep ginger, galanagal, lime leaf, and Thai chilies. 

I also enjoy going to the Asian markets up at 183 and Lamar and just grab random stuff (roasted garlic/shallots/onions, noodles, sauces, etc). 

 

This....

Will post it later after work .... Make a thai red curry pretty regular

 

[Bone3421 716]

So the curry i make is pretty simple at home....i use a 12 inch high sided skillet for one pot cooking.

Start with half a stick of butter.when melted add a healthy amount of red curry spice atleast 2 tablespoons. Pretty much making your own paste.medium hi heat fyi

Then add your sliced raw ckn/pk...i go pork most often. Stir and brown it on both sides. Then you add some minced garlic and fresh grated ginger. Let all that go for like 2 mins then add your can of coconut milk and a little fish sauce(i just pour from bottle so like one good glug)

You may then add whatever veggies you like. I go with baby corn, bamboo shoots ,chiles and half a shaved yellow onion 

Reduce heat and simmer for 15 mins and finish with some thai basil and fresh lime juice before serving

[texas08 1599]

Good thread.

[Antidean 200]

Subscribed.

[ShouldaMarriedAStripper 28]

My Ex had some stuff in the cupboard that she would only get when my mother took her to non-chain Asian markets (e.g. not 99 Ranch, H Mart etc.) A lot of those things I didn't even know the English name for, but were used when she made dishes my mother taught her. Not weird ass things you'd get from an herbalist or anything like that, just stuff/brands I don't think the big chains carry.

[Bone3421 716]

2 hours ago, ShouldaMarriedAStripper said:

My Ex had some stuff in the cupboard that she would only get when my mother took her to non-chain Asian markets (e.g. not 99 Ranch, H Mart etc.) A lot of those things I didn't even know the English name for, but were used when she made dishes my mother taught her. Not weird ass things you'd get from an herbalist or anything like that, just stuff/brands I don't think the big chains carry.

Nice insight bro....glad to know there are weird asian ingredients

[Neonmoon 38129]

Posted this in the Shit I’ve Cooked Lately Thread but it goes here too

Thai Curry Vegetable Soup with Tofu

The broth was so good

[Grimas 669]

One of the family's favorite dish to cook at home and is fast is shaken beef or Bo Luc Lac. Get a beef tenderloin (Asian markets have frozen ones for $25), remove silver skin and dice into 1" cubes.  Marinate in some Ponzu, garlic, oyster sauce, a little sugar and salt.  Separately, thinly slice a purple onion and marinate it with about a cup of rice wine vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar.  This becomes the salad dressing.  On a platter, lay down a bed of spring mixed greens and then a layer of thinly sliced Roma tomatoes on the greens.

Fire up the wok.  (Most stoves can't get a wok hot enough but I picked up a commercial grade food stall wok burner when I lived in Asia that gets up to 30k BTU's). Get the wok smoking hot - I mean where the steel turns red and then toss in the beef (but not the liquid that it was marinating in as that will boil the meat) and stir and shake (hence the name) the beef constantly.  3 minutes should get you a good m. Rare cook.  Take the hot beef and dump in on top of the tomatoes and greens.  Place the pickled onions on the beef and then drizzle the rice wine marinade the onions were in over the whole thing.  Ring dinner bell...  

my wife likes to make a dipping sauce for the beef - combine lime juice with white pepper in a little bowl...

[SMUlawUTgrad 81]

That’s my absolute favorite dish. Sounds so good.


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[Asithappens 974]

Dang, awesome thread. I'm just 4 years late.

For rice cooker I can't recommend the Zojirushi enough. I've bought 3. 

For tom yum soup I cheat and get a paste in a bottle from my local asian grocery store. Same with tom kha soup. 

Thanks for the note on differences between vietnamese and thai fish sauce. 

[speed817 19280]

Never knew this thread existed...my kind of food!!!!

Pics of dishes from my own kitchen over the last few weeks....

Dan Dan noodles with minced pork

Pho

Chicken congee

Wonton noodles (Mom's cooking)

[shadow_operative2.0 15984]

Got a recipe for the wonton noodles? 

[kilroydos 267]

I'm trying the Momofuko bo ssam tomorrow night.  It's curing now, so I'm crossing fingers that it comes out alright.

[Doug E. Fresh 452]

2 hours ago, kilroydos said:

I'm trying the Momofuko bo ssam tomorrow night.  It's curing now, so I'm crossing fingers that it comes out alright.

Let us know how it comes out and upload some pics. Tried it about a year ago and didn’t quite come out like I hoped so need to try it a second time.

[speed817 19280]

6 hours ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

Got a recipe for the wonton noodles? 

I do not. I've never attempted it as I'm not the type of cook who want to wrap wontons, dumplings or egg rolls. That was always my sister's job when we were growing up. 🤣

[52-80 19159]

On 3/2/2022 at 7:07 PM, speed817 said:

Chicken congee

 

looks fucking legit and goddd i havent had congee in a while

[52-80 19159]

My favorite channel for Asian cooking - though it's 90% Thai centric.

She has a good rundown of all the various sauces and brands for soy, fish sauce, oyster sauce, etc

https://www.youtube.com/c/PailinsKitchen

 

 

[WhatTheBuck 28783]

Regarding rice cookers. I’ve posted this elsewhere before but if you’re going to buy a rice cooker, get one with a lid that detaches completely for ease of cleaning. I mistakenly followed the advice of America’s Test Kitchen and purchased one with a lid that’s connected on a hinge and that makes cleaning it more of a pain. I didn’t even think of that when I bought it but I’d definitely choose a different one next time.

I like the convenience of the rice cooker but I can cook rice just fine in my little enameled Dutch oven and that’s really easy to clean. I only use the rice cooker when I’ve got too much else cooking on the stove to deal with a pot of rice. One of the nicest things about the rice cooker is that it keeps the rice hot and steamy for a long time. Perfect if you’re running a restaurant. But if you’re just making stir-fry for one then it’s really not necessary.