KennethT

A large component of this curry is the curry powder. You can use a store bought curry powder, but unless it's specifically a Nyonya style one (I can't find a good one in NYC, but maybe those in Asia can), the final curry can come out quite differently. It's hard to make a small batch of curry powder from scratch due to the scaling - the batch I make is just under one kg total, which I then split into 85g packages which are put in zip lock bags with the air removed as much as possible and then frozen. The rempah (spice paste) isn't very complicated so I don't make it in large batches. This recipe is for 4 chicken thighs, a little less than 1.5 pounds. Curry powder: 420g coriander seed 150g cumin seed 100g anise seed 150g whole dried chilli (dried prik chee faa or other medium spicy chilli), snipped into pieces, seeds removed 50g turmeric powder 50g white peppercorn 26g true cinnamon 14 pieces whole clove 1 whole nutmeg 18 cardamom pods 1 whole star anise 25g poppy seed Put all of the spices on a baking sheet, except the poppy seeds, and bake at 200-250F for about 45 minutes or until completely heated through and fragrant. Add all the spices to a heavy duty blender (in batches if needed) and blend on high speed until completely powdered (or preferably a large spice mill). Spread on a baking sheet and allow to cool completely. Portion into 85g packets, seal and freeze the extra. ============== 4 skin on, bone in chicken thighs 8.5 ounces coconut milk 1/3-1/2 cup oil (rice bran oil or other neutral oil) - you need a lot more oil than expected to fry the rempah properly 55 g curry powder 1 stem curry leaves, destemmed 4 kaffir lime leaves chicken seasoning: salt msg sugar 20-30g curry powder rempah: 120g shallot (preferably the Asian shallot), finely chopped 25g ginger, peeled and sliced thinly 5 cloves garlic 1t Malaysian belacan (shrimp paste) - different from Thai shrimp paste 1. Season the chicken thighs on both sides with a sprinkle of salt, msg and sugar and then the curry powder and let sit at least 30 minutes to marinate. 2. Pound the shallot in a mortar until broken down a bit, then add ginger and pound more, then add garlic and pound until it is a rough paste. Break the belacan into small pieces and then pound into the paste 3. Heat the oil in a saucepan or small wok big enough to hold the chicken over medium heat and fry the rempah until soft and fragrant 4. Add the curry leaves and kaffir lime leaves and fry until fragrant 5. Add about 1/4 of the coconut milk and whisk to combine, then whisk in the curry powder. If it gets too dry and paste-like, add a bit more coconut milk. Fry until some of the red oil starts to separate out of the liquid. 6. Add the rest of the coconut milk reserving a tablespoon or two, plus about 1/2t salt, 1/4t msg and 1t sugar, and whisk to combine. 7. Bring to a low boil (if not already there) and add the chicken thighs, skin side down. Add a little bit of water if necessary to cover the chicken then cover the pot and cook over low heat (to maintain the low boil) for about 8 minutes. 8. Remove the cover and turn the chicken (scraping the bottom of the pan for any spices that may have stuck) and continue to cook uncovered until the chicken is cooked through. The curry should thicken considerably. 9. Once cooked, remove the chicken and set aside. Remove as much of the layer of oil that has accumulated on top of the curry as possible, then add the reserved coconut milk and taste for seasoning. 10. Serve with jasmine rice

Thanks. I probably should put it up there if for no other reason than so I can remember what I did so I can do it again! Do you think I should make a separate recipe for the curry powder or combine them into a single recipe? Of course you can use your own curry powder but I can't get a good Nyonya style one around here - one store has what they call Malaysian curry powder and I've used it many times for this dish but the homemade one is much better. I make a big batch grinding all the spices in a blender and then freeze in batches. Opening up the bag now, many months later, it's as fresh as it was when I made it.

Nyonya chicken curry. I've been working on this curry for years, never really happy with it. Until now! Really complex with belacan (Malaysian shrimp paste), shallots, ginger, garlic and a homemade curry powder and coconut milk, with some home grown curry leaves and kaffir lime leaves. It was too addictive - now I'm stuffed!!!

I've always heard about slightly freezing oysters (or keeping them in drained ice) to make shucking easier, but I've wondered about deep freezing for long term storage. I've seen you make them now for years and have always wondered - how does the texture of the deep frozen/defrosted ones compare with fresh? Any kind of mushiness (more than a normal oyster would have 😉)?

Vietnamese lemongrass chicken, Gà Xào Sả Ớt

I know this is really old, but can you give me the name of the places you get your unsalted shaoxing? I'm almost at the end of my bottle, and I'm so sick of using the salted stuff - it makes it so much more difficult to season properly!

Huh... I didn't realize there were different standards to measure protein! How do they differ?

All of my roti research says that I'm shooting for a protein content of 10.8% in my flour It seems like all the prata guys in Singapore use the same brand of flour - which the company markets as "roti prata flour" and they say it's 10.8% protein. So I'm using a combination of King Arthur all purpose (the bag says 11.7%) and cake flour (supposedly 7%) to get 10.8% total. In addition to kneading less (or barely at all) I'm also going to add some extra water - rather than using a set measurement, I'll try doing it more by eye to get that shaggy dough mass that they all seem to get. I wish I got video (up close) of the guy who made the roti canai for breakfast in the hotel I stayed in in Penang - his dough spread so smoothly and easily - it looked like a joy to handle.

Sambal grouper

thanks - does it heat evenly or are there hot spots on induction?

For all of you with lots of pots/pans, has anyone used an All-Clad D3 or D5 6 or 8Qt stockpot on induction? They claim it's induction compatible, but with only the thin layer of stainless steel on the outside, I wonder how well it works. As most All Clad is/was, I assume it was originally designed to function on gas - indeed, my 20 year old LTD (with the anodized aluminum exterior) works great on gas, but not at all on induction.

For those who have been following my roti prata exercise in frustration, I tried this recipe today (but I wasn't sitting on the floor like she is). Total fail - I used the exact same hydration as she did but my dough barely even came together. I wound up having to add quite a bit more water - maybe a few tablespoons worth to get it to even come together at all, even after resting for 30 minutes after mixing. After resting several hours, when stretching the dough, it was like I was trying to stretch a rubber sheet - it snapped back worse than before and I have basically doubled the amount of oil from the last time. It was so bad I wound up scrapping the whole thing! To add to my frustration, I found this video: This guy uses no oil whatsoever in the dough and doesn't even measure the amount of water he's using!! And his water temperature is regular room temperature water (granted they're in India so room temp is probably like 80-90F). Plus, he is barely resting that dough compared to what I was doing. One thing I can discern is that he is kneading it a LOT less than I do. He's barely kneading it at all. Maybe that's what I'll try next....

In NY American Italian, it's common to drop the last vowel - so manicotti is manicott or even manigot. Drives me craz.

As it is forever known in my household.....

I had a question about hydration and humidity. From what I understand (I have very little experience with this stuff), it is standard practice to weigh the flour to figure the hydration of the dough. But doesn't the starting hydration of the flour matter? I'd assume that a certain amount of flour in a humid environment (say tropical - 70-80% humidity) would have less actual flour particles as the same weight of flour in a dry environment (say the Northeast in winter - 20% humidity) since there's slightly more water already in the flour in the humid environment. So, for example, in the humid environment, 500g flour with 500ml water (50% hydration) would actually have a slightly higher hydration than in the dry environment with the same ratio, right?

Kinda sorta linguini cacio e pepe with Argentine shrimp with capers from Pantelleria (a gift)

Taco Sunday... Foot burnin' red chilli chicken tacos (thigh meat) with guac, pickled shallot

That's true, but doing the seasoning step just speeds it up a bit.

This makes complete sense to me. If I saw someone making something speaking in English and it looked amazing, I'd like as much detail as possible also. And I also understand that those in the diaspora would be a little homesick watching this, and hearing the language would bring it back even more so. Yeah, I always thought it was her grandkid making the video!

The clay used for the Yixin tea pot is slightly porous, so oils and other stuff from the tea will lodge themselves in the clay. The "seasoning" process basically makes a really strong infusion and allows it to sit, soaking into the clay. As you use it, it will soak in more and more - this is why you only want to use 1 type of tea with each pot, especially when using high quality (read expensive) teas, you want to taste THAT tea, not a mixture of teas.

YouTube's closed caption translation works pretty well I've found...

I actually like that there's almost no discussion. It's so relaxing watching her cook, hearing the birds/insects in the background, her rhythmic chopping. Watching her is like a meditation.

Did you season your Yixin teapot? Also, it's typical to only use that one pot for a single kind of tea. So, if you use it for oolongs, don't also use it for green or red teas, etc.

Tikuanyin is probably the most common oolong here in the US, but it's a quite generic term. There are many grades and producers of it, and it can vary quite a bit depending on the source. I've had some super high quality tikuanyin in Singapore that was amazing- not so green so it tastes like a freshly mown lawn (I've had some Taiwanese tikuanyin that tasted that way) but not so fermented as to look black. This one tea store in Singapore probably has at least 20 different oolongs, 5 or 6 of them are called tikuanyin, of varying grades and provenances (depending on location/slope/sun exposure/picking time/etc within the Fujian province). I get a relatively inexpensive tikuanyin at McNulty's in NYC that acts as my standard weekend afternoon tea.

Long Jing (Lung Ching here in Cantonese-land) is one of my favorite green teas.