Yellow Curry Paste Cauliflower Chicken Drumettes (黃咖哩醬椰菜花鷄翼, Wong4 Gaa3 Lei1 Zoeng3 Je4 Coi3 Faa1 Gai1 Jik6)

This is a simple to make cauliflower curry dish. Aside from cutting up the vegetables, there’s no other work involved in preparing this dish – there’s no need to marinate or brown the chicken drumettes before cooking (just buy already cut chicken wing pieces). The curry paste and coconut milk come from a can, so all you must do is open the cans. It doesn’t get any simpler than this.

Enjoy!

Basil Chicken Wing Beer Curry (咖哩紫蘇啤酒鷄翼, Gaa3 Lei1 Zi2 Sou1 Be1 Zau2 Gai1 Jik6)

Beer and curry seem to go together, so why not cook a stew with the two ingredients? The recipe could have just as easily used garam masala powder to make a spicier version of this dish. The amount of the curry powder can also be customized to suit your tastes, so feel free to increase or decrease the amount used in the recipe. Chicken wings (midjoint or drumette pieces) are ideal for this curry dish because they cook quickly. All the ingredients, except for the corn starch slurry and basil leaves, are added to a Dutch oven in the beginning to make this quick cooking one pot dish.

Enjoy!

Basil Chicken and Shrimp Green Curry (咖哩紫蘇蝦鷄, Gaa3 Lei1 Zi2 Sou1 Haa1 Gai1)

The tasty seafood-meat combination common in Chinese dishes also works well in a curry, in this case a green curry. Using a prepared curry paste makes this dish quick cooking and easy to prepare. While this recipe uses shrimp and chicken are marinated beforehand, this step can easily be omitted if time is short and the dish will still be tasty. The spiciness of the dish comes from the red chili peppers and can the quantity can be adjusted to personal taste, or omitted altogether. I like my potatoes a little crunchy, so I add them at the end, but if you like them a little softer, add them in with the chicken at the beginning of cooking.

Enjoy!

Red Curry Lamb Stew (燉咖哩羊肉, Dan6 Gaa3 Lei1 Joeng4 Juk6)

Lamb stew meat was available at my local supermarket, so I couldn’t resist buying it to make a curry based dish. When lamb is pre-packaged and labeled as stew meat in the USA, the meat is usually cut from the leg. The convenience of pre-packaged lamb stew meat means that you can purchase the quantity of meat needed for a dish, rather than having to purchase a portion or whole lamb leg to cut into pieces. Using a one dish sized can of curry paste also serves to simplify making this dish. The curry paste is first stir fried and then the coconut milk is added before the rest of the ingredients. The dish actually cooks quite quickly and just about any set of vegetables can be used.

Enjoy!

Japanese Curry Chicken Wing Stew (咖哩鷄翼, Gaa3 Lei1 Gai1 Jik6)

Japanese curry goes well with chicken wings. The chicken wings are marinated before being browned in the Dutch oven. I always marinate my chicken (out of habit and being able to use the chicken in other stir-fry dishes), but you can simplify this recipe and not marinate the chicken at all. Chicken wings cook very fast, so only 15 minutes is needed to cook them with the carrots after being browned. As usual a prepared Japanese curry sauce mix is used and added at the end to finish the dish.

Enjoy!

Japanese Curry Pork and Squid (咖哩魷魚豬腩肉, Gaa3 Lei1 Jau4 Jyu4 Zyu1 Naam5 Juk6)

The combination of pork belly and squid in a Japanese curry sauce is surprisingly tasty. S&B brand Japanese curry mix is used and is a really easy way to make a curry sauce. The mix comes already prepared in cubes, and one-half a package or four cubes are used to make the sauce by just adding water. Since pork belly is used, the cooking time is longer than the usual Japanese curry dish. If pork belly is not available, boneless country style pork ribs can be substituted.

 

My local Asian market occasionally has cooked squid available. I use it whenever I can, but frozen or fresh squid can be used instead. The squid gets added at the end of cooking, so if it’s not already cooked, it will be when the dish is ready. The quill has to be removed from the squid, since it’s inedible, and the only tricky part to removing the quill is keeping the already cooked squid body and tentacles intact when you do this – sometimes it’s impossible.

Enjoy!

Masaman Curry Basil Chicken

Here’s another easy to make coconut-curry chicken dish. As I stated in the Panang Curry Chicken Wing Stew recipe, I began using Maeseri brand (Masaman) curry in my curry dishes because they come in single use cans and in a variety of flavors. The chicken is marinated, but that step can easily be omitted if you’re in a hurry. The carrots are cut relatively thin so that they can cook quickly with the chicken. The broccoli florets are added at the end of cooking and are just cooked long enough so that there’s still some crunch to them (i.e. broccoli florets get mushy if cooked too long).

Enjoy!

Panang Curry Chicken Wing Stew

Coconut curry dishes are surprisingly easy and fast to make when prepared curry paste is used. The sequence for cooking these curry dishes is to stir fry the prepared curry paste, add coconut milk (and some water), boil, add the meat, cook, add the vegetables, cook, and serve. I’ve started to use Maesri brand curry paste rather than the Mae Ploy brand. While both of these prepared curry pastes come in a multitude of flavors, are tasty, and available at your local Asian market, the Maesri brand curry paste comes in 4 oz. (114 g.) cans, while the Mae Ploy brand comes in 14 oz. (400 g.) plastic tubs. What would happen is that I would use a small portion of the Mae Ploy curry paste in a dish and then the plastic tub would sit in my refrigerator for a long time until I made the next curry dish. The Maesri brand can is one use, so there’s no need to save the excess in the refrigerator and its “fresh” out of the can. So unless you make curry dishes often or in huge quantities, using the small cans for one dish is the way to go.

Enjoy!

Beef Flank and Tendon Stew (燜牛筋牛腩, Man1 Ngau4 Gan1 Ngau4 Naam5)

 

This recipe was updated on 23 Sep 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Beef outside flank (also called drop flank) and beef tendon go together to make a classic Chinese stew. Beef outside flank is a thin cut of meat from the cow with silver skin, which requires long slow cooking to become tender and is available at your local Asian market. The silver skin is an integral part of the stew, so it shouldn’t be removed before cooking! This cut of meat should not be confused with the more common beef flank or flank steak, which is used for stir frying. Beef tendon is tough and requires long slow cooking, at which time it becomes soft and gelatinous, so it’s totally about mouth feel. Chee Hou sauce is the other important ingredient. Chee Hou sauce is similar in taste to hoisin sauce (which can be substituted) and has a slightly spicier taste to it.

Starting with this recipe, I’ve changed the format to include metric measurements and a list of the equipment needed to make the dish. Living in the USA all my life, I’ve always used the English measurement system, so from now on I hope the recipes are friendlier to the rest of the world.

Enjoy!

Japanese Curry Chicken (咖哩鷄, Gaa3 Lei1 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 20 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

 

Cauliflower is in season now, so here’s an easy to make curry dish using cauliflower and prepared Japanese curry cubes. There are several brands of prepared Japanese curry, I happen to use S&B, and they range from mild to extra hot. There really is no heat in these prepared curry cubes, but the “hotter” the curry, the darker the sauce. In this case, the “medium” version was used. I always marinate my chicken (out of habit and being able to use the chicken in other stir-fry dishes), but you can simplify this recipe and not marinate the chicken at all.

Enjoy!

Japanese Curry Pork (咖哩豬腩肉, Gaa3 Lei1 Zyu1 Naam5 Juk6)

 

This recipe was updated on 09 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

 

This is a very simple curry dish to cook due to the use premade Japanese curry cubes. There are multiple brands of prepared curry sauces, I happen to use S&B brand, but this is an easy way to make a curry dish since all you add is water to make the sauce. The premade curry cubes range from mild to extra hot, but to be honest, there’s no heat whatsoever to the cubes, even the extra hot version.

Enjoy!

Miso Salmon Stew (燉味噌鮭魚, Dan6 Mei6 Cang1 Gwai1 Jyu4)

 

This recipe was updated on 12 Aug 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

This is an easy to make, fast cooking stew using miso paste and salmon. Any vegetables can be used in the stew, I happen to have carrots, daikon, and green beans. The amount of miso paste to use depends upon the type and brand of prepared miso paste you use.

Enjoy!