I am on a quest to feed my family new and amazing foods on the cheap. I want those foods to be healthy and fun. Normally, I make a lot of traditional Cuban dinners because I am Cuban-American and they are the foods I grew up with. Part of my quest, however, is to teach my son to love cuisine from all over the world and to appreciate the richness of different cultures now that he is still little. I firmly believe that food brings us together and that it is important to expand your horizons and tantalize your palette with yummy goodies from all over. I have also toyed with the idea that having traditions like Mexican night or pizza night will be fun for my family and memorable for my son as he gets older. Hence, the new quest.
Now on to the Asian night shenanigans. I looked all over the blogosphere for some tasty recipes and found three awesome ones that excited me. Coconut chicken with sweet chili sauce, Thai noodles, and sweet coconut sticky rice with mangoes. I am happy to report that the recipes were a success. Unfortunatley, I had planned to take pictures of all the yumminess but was unable to because my husband was putting up track lighting in the living room at the same time and there was a mess of tools and dust everywhere. I just couldn't cook three dishes at the same time, wash all the dirty accoutrements in the sink before they took over the kitchen, and serve dinner while taking pictures too. I apologize and hope it will be easier next time.
I can say though, that my husband raved about the chicken and the coconut rice with mangoes and told me that I can throw them into rotation whenever I want. Mr. Suga Muffin is a very picky eater. Very. So this was a huge compliment from him. My four year old also liked the food and it was easy for him to eat. Personally, I loved it and can't wait to make more as it was really addictive.
I began by making the sweet coconut sticky rice with mangoes first so that I could have the rice done ahead of time. The recipe was super simple especially since I did it in my beloved Sanyo 10-Cup Micro-Computerized Rice Cooker and Slow Cooker. I LOVE that thing. Anywho, here is the recipe for one of the yummiest desserts ever.
Sweet Coconut Sticky Rice with Mangoes
Ingredients
1 cup Basmati rice (I couldn't find sweet/gluttonous/sticky rice anywhere - they are all the same thing. If you find it, by all means use it as the result will be more authentic and well, stickier. You can also substitute Jasmine rice )
1 (13.5) can of coconut milk
1 cup white sugar
1-2 mangoes
(optional - shredded coconut)
(optional - cornstarch)
Directions
1. Cook the rice as directed on the package, but instead of all water, add in one can of coconut milk, a 1/2 cup of water, and a 1/2 cup of sugar. I cooked this in my rice cooker so it was ultra, super, duper simple. I love simplicity and really, who doesn't? In my case, I threw in the aforementioned ingredients into the rice cooker and clicked the start button on the regular setting and Voila! Perfect sweet coconut rice in under 30 minutes. Honestly, I could eat this stuff by itself straight out of the pot. It would also be great as a side dish just by itself. Please note, that since I used the Basmati rice as a substitute, it was not as sticky as the traditional sticky rice. Still ABSOLUTELY Delish in my book.
2. Bring the second can of coconut milk and remaining 1/2 cup sugar to a boil over medium high heat in a saucepan. Boil until it gets to a syrupy consistency. I added a tiny bit of cornstarch to it to thicken it up.
3. Cut 1 or 2 mangoes into chunks and sprinkle some lime juice on them to stop browning.
4. When ready to serve, plate the coconut sticky rice, drizzle some of the coconut sauce on top, and throw on some of the mango cubes. I also sprinkled the masterpiece with some shredded coconut.
Enjoy your yummy plate of coconut sticky rice with mango. I certainly did. I also added some blueberries to my son's bowl. He was delighted and ate every last grain of rice. I'm sure you can try other ripe fruits in there to mix things up a bit. Mmmmm....
I found the recipe for the coconut chicken at one of my new favorite websites Budget Bytes. If you haven't already been there check it out by clicking here. You will be so happy that you did. The writer, Beth M. comes up with inexpensive and tasty recipes and itemizes the cost of each ingredient. The site is phenomenal and I can't wait to try out more of her recipes.
You can find the link to the original Coconut chicken with sweet chili dipping sauce here, but I'll give you a quick run down.
Coconut Chicken with Sweet Chili Sauce
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
2 large eggs
1/4 all purpouse flour
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 cup shredded coconut (the original recipe calls for unsweetened, but all I could find was the sweetened variety. Run the coconut through a food processor first to further shred it. This will allow it to adhere better to the chicken.)
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. salt
black pepper to taste (not in original recipe, but I'm a rebel like that)
vegetable oil for frying (optional, you can bake these as well)
sweet chili sauce (this can be found in the ethnic foods section in your supermarket)
Directions
1. Mix the flour with the salt and some ground black pepper in a bowl and set aside.
2. Mix the Panko bread crumbs with the shredded coconut in a bowl and set aside. I used my hands for this step.
3. Whisk the 2 eggs with the 1/4 cup of coconut milk in a bowl until well combined and set aside.
4. Cut the chicken breasts into strips at a diagonal. At this point you should be also heating your vegetable oil on medium high in a pan while your prepare the strips for frying.
5. Dredge each chicken strip int the flour/salt mixture, next the egg/coconut milk mixture, and finally into the bread crumb/coconut mixture. I patted the bread crumb/coconut mixture really well onto the chicken to make sure it was thoroughly coated. Do this with all the strips.
6. Once your oil is hot enough (Tip - use the end of a wooden spoon dipped into the oil to see if it's ready for frying. If you see bubbles forming around it, the oil is hot enough), gently place chicken strips into oil and fry 2-3 minutes on each side. Your strips should be golden brown and crispy delicious on both sides when done. Move them onto a plate covered in paper towel to drain. Do this with all remaining chicken.
7. Serve immediately with sweet chili sauce. One warning though, they are extremely addictive. Enjoy! Next time I am planning to try baking them to see which method I like better.
The Thai noodles were easy peasy as well and the original recipe can be found right here. It's deliciosity from Better Homes and Gardens and I just finished having a bowl of cold noodles the next day for lunch as I am typing this up. The sauce dried out a bit, but I just squeezed some lime on the noodles and they are still yummy. I do have to share that I bought fresh Chinese noodles from the grocery store and when I opened up the bag spotted moldy noodles. GROSS! I substituted 8 ounces of thin spaghetti because I am usually stocked up on that. The noodles were still good and I really couldn't tell the difference. The Better Homes and Gardens recipe also adds in tofu, but I omitted that.
Thai Noodles
Ingredients
1/2 cup soy nut butter or creamy peanut butter (I used peanut butter)
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce (I used regular as it's what I had on hand)
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 cloves garlic, quartered ( I used 3 heaping teaspoons as it's what I had and I LOVE garlic)
1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp. sesame oil
8 ounces Chinese noodles
2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup chopped unsalted peanuts
(optional - lime wedge to sprinkle on while eating if desired)
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce (I used regular as it's what I had on hand)
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 cloves garlic, quartered ( I used 3 heaping teaspoons as it's what I had and I LOVE garlic)
1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp. sesame oil
8 ounces Chinese noodles
2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup chopped unsalted peanuts
(optional - lime wedge to sprinkle on while eating if desired)
Directions:
1. Combine nut butter, water, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and lime juice in a food processor until well blended and smooth. Set aside.
2. Cook noodles as directed. Drain and throw back into pot.
3. Pour peanut mixture onto noodles and coat well.
4. Add cilantro and red pepper flakes. Toss to coat . Sprinkle with peanuts and serve immediately.
I am so happy that I got to share these recipes with you. If you try them please let me know in the comment section and tell me if you liked them or if you switched anything up. Asian night was a total success, except for the fact that I didn't get to take beautiful pics of all the yumminess around here, the fact that the fresh noodles were {yuck} moldy, and one more thing. I did something really stupid. I was washing dishes and I finished washing the blade for my mini food processor. Word to the wise: Don't ever place a processor blade teeter-tottering in a balanced sort of way on top of an already filled to the brim dish rack. Never. ever. No matter how busy you are. The blade fell. On my left big toe. And there was blood. Lot's of it. Luckily this was the blade for my mini processor and not my Ninja, so the cut wasn't incredibly deep. Still I learned my lesson. So yeah, the food was a success, the other ahem, inconveniences not so much.
What kitchen disasters have happened to all of you out there? I'd love to hear all about it.
Hope you all enjoy the recipes as much as I did.
Until next time. And in the meantime, remember to Carpe the hell out of this Diem!
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