Category: Poultry

Thai-ish Crispy Dumplings

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I love a dumpling, especially one that arrives golden, crisp, and dangerously easy to keep eating. These Thai-style dumplings are my own loose interpretation. Not exactly authentic, and certainly not something I’d dare present to a grandmother in Bangkok. But they’re savory, crunchy, a little sweet, and deeply satisfying.

Ingredients:

  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil, plus more for deep-frying
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon cilantro stems, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 4 ounces white mushrooms, cut into 1/2-inch dice
  • 8 ounces ground chicken
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained and cut into 1/4-inch dice
  • 25-35 wonton skins
  • 3/4 cup sweet chile sauce, for serving
  1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the sliced green onions, garlic, cilantro, white pepper, and mushrooms and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, until the onions and mushrooms have softened. Add the chicken, soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and water chestnuts and stir with a wooden spoon, breaking up the chicken as you stir. Continue to stir-fry for about 7 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the liquid has evaporated. Remove the pan from the heat and let the filling cool to room temperature.
  2. To assemble the dumplings, lay a wonton wrapper flat on a work surface and put 1 tablespoon of the cooled filling in the center. Dip your finger in a bowl of water and brush the perimeter of the wonton wrapper with your wet finger and fold the wonton over diagonally to make a triangle shape and seal the wonton to close. Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers and filling.
  3. To fry the dumplings, pour the oil to a depth of 1 inch into a wok or frying pan and carefully heat to medium-high. Line a baking sheet with paper towels and set aside.
  4. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lower a few dumplings into the hot old and fry for 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning carefully, until golden brown all over. Using the slotted spoon, transfer the dumplings to the towel-lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the dumplings are cooked.
  5. Serve the dumplings with the sweet chile sauce.

Hot and Sour Wontons

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Hot and sour wontons are one of those dishes that make it almost impossible to settle for a bland meal. Tender dumplings swimming in chili oil, black vinegar, garlic, and spice: sharp, rich, and unapologetically bold. Learning to make them at home felt less like a project and more like a necessity.

Ingredients:

For the wontons:

  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 2 green onions (or Chinese chives), minced
  • 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
  • 40-50 square wonton wrappers

For the sauce:

  • 1/4 cup chile oil
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 3 tablespoons Chinkiang vinegar or a mixture of 1 tablespoon rice vinegar and 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds

To serve:

  • 2 tablespoons crushed roasted peanuts
  • Small handful cilantro leaves, chopped
  1. Make the sauce: Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl and stir until sugar is dissolved. Set aside until ready to use.
  2. Make the wontons: Combine the chicken, salt, sugar, pepper, green ionions, garlic, and wine in a medium bowl and knead and turn with clean hands until the mixture is homogenous and starting to feel tacky, about 1 minute.
  3. Fill the wontons, using a tablespoon of filling per skin. Use your fingertip to add a thin layer of water around all the edges of the wrapper. Pull two corners together and pinch them shut to form a triangle, then seal up the edges of the triangle, making sure to push out as much air as possible. Moisten the folded corners, then pull them toward each other, making them meet and cross in the center. Repeat until you’ve made all your wontons.
  4. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Cook about 20 wontons at a time until they are completely cooked through, about four minutes. Drain the wontons and transfer to a warm serving platter. Repeat with the remaining wontons and spoon the sauce on top of the cooked wontons. Sprinkle with peanuts and minced cilantro and serve.

Italian-ish Ramen

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This is the most comforting soup you’re going to have this winter. If tortellini soup and ramen had a baby, this would be it.

Ingredients:
  • 2 large chicken thighs, preferably skinless and boneless
  • 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil
  • 4 cups lower-sodium chicken stock
  • 3/4 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (about 3 tablespoons), divided
  • 8 ounces uncooked thin spaghetti 
  • 10 basil leaves, sliced, divided
  • 4 soft-cooked large eggs, peeled and halved lengthwise
  • Calabrian chile paste, for serving
  1. Pat chicken dry using paper towels; sprinkle with pepper and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high. Place chicken and cook, undisturbed, until crispy and golden brown, about 7 minutes. Flip chicken, and cook until browned on other side, about 4 minutes. Carefully remove and discard all but 2 tablespoons of rendered chicken fat from Dutch oven, leaving chicken in Dutch oven.
  2. Add chicken stock and 1 1/2 tablespoons Parmesan to Dutch oven; bring to a simmer over medium-high. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook about 15 minutes.
  3. While chicken cooks, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high. Add pasta, and cook 1 minute less than package directions for al dente.
  4. Remove chicken from Dutch oven, and let cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Shred chicken (discard skin and bones if using), and set aside. Reduce heat under Dutch oven to low; sprinkle stock mixture with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste. Add shredded chicken and half of sliced basil (about 1 tablespoon) to stock in Dutch oven. Bring to a simmer over medium-high. Drain pasta, and add to simmering stock mixture in Dutch oven. Cook until pasta is al dente, about 1 minute.
  5. Divide pasta, chicken, and broth among 4 bowls. Top evenly with eggs, remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons Parmesan; remaining basil, and a small spoonful of Calabrian chile paste, to taste.

Thai-Style Spring Rolls

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No two spring rolls are alike but what sets a good spring roll apart from a great one is that it must taste delicious on its own, even without dipping sauce. These fried spring rolls are spectacular with or without sauce, and good luck eating just one. (I like one or ten of these with sweet chile sauce, for what it’s worth.)

Ingredients:

  • 2 ounces glass noodles
  • 6 dried wood ear mushrooms
  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil, plus more for shallow-frying
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon minced cilantro stems
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 4 ounces ground chicken
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 8 ounces mung bean sprouts
  • 20-30 spring roll wrappers
  • 3/4 cup sweet chile sauce, for serving
  1. Soak the glass noodles in a bowl of warm water and soak for about 20 minutes, until pliable. Drain and cut into 4-inch lengths with kitchen scissors. Set aside.
  2. Soak the dried wood ear mushrooms in a bowl of hot water for about 20 minutes. Rinse, drain, and squeeze dry. Slice the mushrooms into 1/4-inch wide strips, discarding any hard, knobby ends. Set aside.
  3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, cilantro stems, and pepper, and fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the chicken, mushrooms, fish sauce, and oyster sauce, and saute, breaking up the chicken with a wooden cooking spoon, for about 3 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Add the bean sprouts, glass noodles and water and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute, until the noodles are soft and most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove the pan from heat and allow the filling to cool completely.
  4. To assemble the spring rolls, take 1 spring roll wrapper and lay it on the work surface with one corner pointing toward you. Place 2 tablespoons filling along base of wrapper. Fold bottom over filling, then fold in left and right sides. Tightly roll up to completely enclose filling.
  5. Heat oil (enough to be 1-inch deep) in a frying pan to medium-high. Shallow-fry spring rolls, a few at a time, and cook, turning carefully occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels and serve with chile sauce.

Thai-Style Jok with Chicken Meatballs

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I visited Thailand nine years ago and have been missing it ever since. Bangkok was brimming with delicious food and I was so excited to try it all. But on my third day there, I got sick. This jok (or congee) nursed me back to health within a couple of days. Sick or not, this jok is delicious and I find myself craving it whenever the weather gets cold. It’s savory, salty, spicy, and super comforting.

Ingredients:
  • 1 lemongrass stalk
  • 1/2 cup jasmine rice
  • 5 cups chicken stock (or water)
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • Fish sauce

For the meatballs:

  • 8 ounces ground chicken
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

For the prik nam som:

  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup boiling water
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • Two garlic cloves
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced serrano or Thai bird chiles

To serve:

  • 2 cups roughly chopped greens such as kale or spinach
  • 4 eggs
  • Cilantro, minced
  • Green onions, thinly sliced
  • Sweet Thai preserved radish, minced
  • Fried shallots
  • Prik nam som
  1. Make the prik nam som: Combine all the ingredients in a jar. Allow to cool and set aside.
  2. Make the jok: Smash the lemongrass a few times using the back of a knife to bruise it up and help release flavor. Combine the rice, lemongrass, and stock in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender and the water has thickened into a porridge, about 1 hour total. Discard the lemongrass when the congee is done. Season with pepper and fish sauce to taste, and set aside, keeping the congee at a bare simmer on the stove, stirring occasionally and thinning it with water if it gets too thick.
  3. Make the meatballs: Combine the chicken, pepper, fish sauce, salt, soy sauce, garlic, and sugar in a small bowl. Mix with your fingers until the mixture is homogenous and sticky, about 30 seconds. Wash your hands and using wet hands, pinch off teaspoon-sized pieces of the chicken mixture and form into small balls. Drop the balls directly into the simmering congee. Cover and continue to simmer until the meatballs have firmed up, about 3 minutes.
  4. To serve: stir in the greens and continue cooking until greens are wilted and the meatballs are cooked through, about 3 minutes longer.
  5. Ladle some hot congee into the bottom of each of 4 serving bowls, then crack a raw egg on top. Divide remaining congee among the bowls. Let them rest for a couple of minutes before serving to allow the egg to cook partially. Garnish each bowl with cilantro, green onions, preserved radish, and fried shallots. Serve, passing prik nam som to the table to be added as desired.