We have all had Pho at a favorite Vietnamese restaurant. The noodles soaking into the broth and sinking to the bottom, large slices of crisp vegetables and juicy beef layered on top. Nothing compares to the tactile pleasure of plucking the basil leaves, and dropping them and pieces of cut chillies into the broth, followed by a generous squeeze of lime and sriracha sauce. Slurping the broth, biting into the crunchy vegetables and sucking in the piping hot rice noodles all demand great dexterity of tongue and teeth.
The nutty salty, and ever so slightly tangy peanut sauce is a staple for fresh spring rolls that just about starts every great Vietnamaese and Thai meal. We've also had green curry at our favorite Thai restaurant. There is something so exhilarating about the paste of galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and coriander leaf and shoots in the sauce that forms the core of green curry. It is like summer in your mouth. Sweeten this fresh and refreshing paste with palm sugar and give it the salty tang with fish sauce, add shallots and garlic for the aromatic flavor, to make it the king of all sauces.
What if you combine these favorite Vietnamese and Thai delicacies together?
David Tanis' recipe from New York Times is one of the most delightful, elegant, taste wise complex and quite complete dinners I have made in a long time. I modified his (Indonesian) recipe for marinating chicken to a Thai version with green curry paste. There is goodness, spice and summery fresh ingredients in every layer of this large bowl of Vietnamese- Thai delight.
I made this two weekends in a row for some lovely friends who absolutely deserve this bowl of happiness. The first weekend for Ms Butterfish and Mr. Garlic Pickle and of course for Mr. Sweet Potato. The next weekend for Ms. Roasted potato with Rosemary and Dijon mustard. Please do try this refreshing recipe to enjoy summer and entertain.
Green Curry Paste for the Chicken
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| A big bunch of coriander leaves, 2 inches of lemon grass, 3-4 kaffir lime leaves, 2 green chillies, small piece of galangal, 3 cloves of garlic, 1/4 onion, 3 tbs fish sauce and one half of the chunk of palm sugar shown here are all ground together. |
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| Use the purple portion of lemongrass only, |
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| Saute the onion, garlic and chillies prior to grinding to take the raw edge off |
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| Marinate chicken thighs in the green curry paste. |
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| Cook chicken after marinating for 2 hours. |
Sweet Dipping sauce for the vegetables
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3 green chillies, juice from 3-4 limes and lemons, 3 tbs of white whine vinegar, 3 tbs of fish sauce,
3 tbs of soy sauce, a piece of ginger, 4 cloves of garlic,a big block of palm sugar all ground together. |
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| Again saute the garlic and chillies to the the edge off |
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| Grind all together to make sweet dipping sauce |
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| Add dipping sauce to boiled shredded carrots |
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| Add dipping sauce to boiled broccoli |
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| Layer a plate with the carrots, broccoli, bean sprouts and shredded cucumber |
Peanut Sauce
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| 1/2 cup of sesame oil, 2 tbs of rice wine vinegar, 2 tbs of soy sauce, 2 tbs of fish sauce, juice from 1 lime, 2 small pieces of ginger, 1 cup of saltless peanut butter. |
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| Grind all to make peanut sauce. |
To cook the noodles
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| Rice noodles |
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Soak in hot water for 8-10 min to cook.
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| Rice noodles go with the peanut sauce |
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For the toppings
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| Mint, Thai Basil, Coriander and Lime |
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| Tear up the leaves |
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| Slice lime and spring onion |
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| Dice lemon grass bulbs |
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Saute the lemon grass in oil to make fritters
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The layering for the perfect bowl
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| Add peanut sauce to rice noodles |
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| Then add carrots, broccoli, bean sprouts, slices cucumber with the sweet dipping sauce |
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| Then the cooked chicken with green curry paste |
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| The toppings of torn leaves, lime, spring onions, lemon grass fritters. |
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| Bowl of goodness, spice and freshness is ready. |
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