Thai Chicken and Yang Chow Basmati

Thai Chicken (adapted from Le Cordon Bleu Home Collection)

4 chicken thighs, skin-on, bone in, or 8 chicken wings, skin-on, bone in, or any combination thereof

Marinade:

4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 T grated ginger
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tsp Nam Pla (fish sauce—do not leave out)
1/4 cup good soy sauce (not Kikkoman)
1/4 cup honey, or 1/4 cup Mirin
2 green onions/scallions, cut lengthways into thin strips
2 serrano or piquin chiles, finely diced (optional)
1 tsp. chopped lemongrass (optional)
2T lime juice

Garnish:

2 green onions/scallions, cut lengthways into thin strips
Small bunch cilantro leaves

Combine all marinade ingredients. Pour over chicken in a container with a lid. Marinate for 24 hours, or if you have a Foodsaver, 3 hours in the vaccuum marinating container (comes in handy!)

Preheat oven to 400F. Arrange the chicken in a shallow roasting pan, well-spaced. Pour over some of the marinade and bake for about 1 hour, basting frequently with remaining marinade.

Arrange the chicken on a serving dish and garnish with scallions and cilantro. Serve with rice and spring rolls with a chile-garlic dip.

Yang Chow Basmati Fried Rice

You don't need to use basmati rice for this, but the only acceptable alternatives would be Patna and preferably Jasmine. Do not use Uncle Ben's, Texmati, arborio or Calrose Japanese rice. Jasmine is the best substitute and cooks very similarly to basmati.

Pre-cooked Basmati

2 cups Basmati rice
2 T ghee (clarified butter) or 2 T vegetable oil
1/4 cup shallots
2 bay leaves
3 whole cloves
3 whole cardamom pods
2" or so stick cinnamon
3 garlic cloves, diced
2 1/3 cups chicken broth or water

Rinse rice thoroughly. Let soak in water for about 90 minutes. This allows the rice to swell somewhat and adds to fluffiness once cooked. Result of soaking is that you need less liquid to cook it in.

Drain rice through sieve. Heat large nonstick sauté pan on medium-high. Melt ghee or oil. Add shallots, bay leaves, cloves and cardamom. Sauté for approximately 5 minutes. Add drained rice and garlic. Sauté until rice becomes somewhat glassy, about five minutes, stirring constantly. Heat chicken broth in microwave until almost boiling.

Add broth, stir to combine thoroughly, reduce heat to minimum, cover pan with aluminum foil, then pan top. Steam for 18 minutes or so. Turn off heat. Let rest for 10 minutes. Remove whole spices, stir to fluff up.

Fried Rice

This must be cold — not room temperature, but cold — before preparation, so either flash-freeze very carefully until cold or store in refrigerator until next day. If you try to make fried rice with hot or warm rice you will end up with a sticky mess.

Chop the following in small dice (about 1/3 cup each; add or subtract vegetables according to taste:

Carrots
Celery
Red onion
Red or green peppers
Green onions

Plus, according to taste:

Diced garlic
Diced chilies

Prepare:

1/2 cup good ham diced in 1/4" dice
1/2 cup baby cooked shrimp

2 large eggs

1T sesame oil
2T peanut oil

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Mirin

Sauté chopped vegetables in oil on medium-high heat for approximately 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Add garlic and chilies, sauté five minutes more. Remove from pan and set aside. Sauté cold rice in 2T oil until warm. Add all the rest of the ingredients. Add soy sauce, Mirin. Stir to combine. Break eggs into bowl and whisk together. Drizzle onto rice and stir thoroughly to combine. Cover and cook on very low heat for 10 minutes. Serve.