Thai Green Curry Chicken 泰式青咖哩雞

Rezept auf Deutsch - Thai grünes Curry Hähnchen
中文食譜 - 泰式青咖哩雞

Thai Green Chicken Curry
แกงเขียวหวานไก่
Ingredient for 2~4 Servings

• half chicken
• one can (400 ml) coconut milk
• 6 green thai eggplants
• 1 teaspoon palm sugar
• 8 kaffir lime leaves
• 8 thai basil leaves

Green Curry Paste

• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon galangal
• 1 kaffir lime
• 1 stalk lemongrass
• 2 shallots
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 small thai green chilies
• 1 teaspoon shrimp paste

Chicken seasoning

• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ¾ teaspoon corn flour
• ½ teaspoon soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon rice wine
• a pinch of salt

Preparation

• Wash the chicken and cut into chunks, marinade with the seasonings and set aside.
• Now prepare the spices. Remove the skin of galangal and slice into shreds. Grate the kaffir lime zest. Take the bottom half of the lemon grass and cut into rings. Remove the roots of shallots and garlic then peel and roughly chop it. Then, remove the head of the chilies.
• Put salt, black pepper corns, galangal and kaffir lime zest into a stone mortar, smash it with a pestle for 3~5 minutes.
• And now add the shallots, garlic and green chili, continue smash the ingredients for few more minutes. To finish, add the shrimp paste and mix together.
• Heat a frying pan with some oil, Sauté the chicken in medium high heat until slightly golden, remove from heat and set aside.
• In another frying pan, heat the coconut milk in medium heat. When it start to boil, add the spice paste and stir fry for 3 minutes until it start to fragrance. If the paste dry out, add more coconut milk to avoid burning.
• Add the chicken and half cup of coconut milk, reduce to low heat and cook for 10 more minutes, stir occasionally to avoid burning. You may add some water or more coconut milk for the desired consistency.
• In the mean time, prepare the Thai egg plants. Remove the leaves of the egg plants and halve into quarters.
• Add the egg plants and palm sugar into the curry and cook for 3 more minutes. Before serving, squeeze some kaffir lime juice, and drop few pieces basil and kaffir lime leaves. With this 100% original Thai Green Curry Chicken... Hey, don't forget your fragrant rice!

Massive Attack - Sly

Ingredients checklist: chicken, coconut milk, thai eggplants, palm sugar, kaffir lime leaves, thai basil leaves, black peppercorns, galangal, kaffir lime, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, thai green chilies, shrimp paste, sugar, corn flour, soy sauce, salt and cooking oil.
Utensils checklist: a stone mortar and pestle, a knife, a chopping board, frying pans and a spatula.

Marinade the chicken first.

Get all the spices prepared. We only take the bottom half of the lemon grass, cause all the aroma is concentrated here.

Make the dry ingredients first, smash the salt, black pepper corns, galangal, kaffir lime zest and lemon grass altogether.

It just takes few minutes. I’m not kidding, this unique fragrance make me feel like being in Thailand.

Then make the wet ingredients, smash the shallots, garlic and chilies. You may adjust the amount of chilies as you like. Opps… I am kind of person cannot eat hot, this little red chilie is too strong for me.

Add the shrimp paste at last. No need to worry it looks so rough. I guarantee, this handmade texture give you better flavor than what you get in the restaurant.

Fry the fatty skin side first can give a nice brown colour. It also can save your cooking oil.

Bring the coconut milk to simmer, sauté the spice paste till your kitchen is filled with aroma. 

Bring in the chicken and more coconut milk, simmer till the sauce is thicken. Don't forget to stir occasionally to avoid burning.

Prepare the egg plants before going into the pan, cause the meat of the egg plant can go dark easily.

Add the egg plants and palm sugar and cook for few more minutes.

Squeeze some kaffir lime juice, and garnish with basil and kaffir lime leaves to increase the flavor. And it is perfectly ready to serve.

Mini Tips:

Don't have a stone mortar and pestle? No problem, you can always work with an electric blender.

Find the fresh spices and Thai egg plants in south east Asia grocery store. Of course, you may replace with instant curry paste all the time, please still use spices like basil, lemon grass, shallots and garlic to keep the flavor.

History of Cupcake, Eliza Leslie

Eliza Leslie (1787 – 1858)

When talking about cupcake, the lovely little cakes should float in your brain. If rewind back to the 19th century, you will discover the meaning this name was totally different. Cupcake - a revolutionary breakthrough, was named by Eliza Leslie. It is hard to imagine, even measuring cup still not invented in this era, and every families were using a scale to weight the ingredients. Eliza omitted this regular measuring method, and replaced by just one tea cup. This cutting edge idea made cake baking become more time saving and handy.

Eilza is a American author of cookbooks and etiquette books. Since America was burgeoning after independence, the middle class started caring about cuisine and etiquette. By Eilza's humorous writing style and knowledge in cooking and social manners, her books became very popular and she is one of the celebrated woman author in the century.

Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes and Sweetmeats.

By a Lady of Phildelphia

First edition was published in 1828.

With the world's first cupcake recipe in detail.

Cup Cake

• Five eggs
• Two large teacupful of molasses
• The same of brown sugar, rolled fine
• The same of fresh butter
• One cup of rich milk
• Five cups of flour, sifted
• Half a cup of powdered allspice and cloves
• Half a cup of ginger

Cut up the butter in the milk, and warm them slightly. Warm also the molasses, and stir it into the milk and butter: then stir in, gradually, the sugar, and sit it away to get cool.

Beat the eggs very light, and stir them into the mixture alternately with flour. Add the ginger and other spice, and stir the whole very hard.

Butter small tins, nearly fill them with the mixture and bake the cakes in moderate oven.

Artikel auf Deutsch - Cupcake Geschichte

中文文章 - 杯蛋糕的歷史

Butter Cupcakes with Lemon Flavor 檸香牛油杯蛋糕

Rezept auf Deutsch - Butter Cupcake mit Zitronenaroma
中文食譜 - 檸香牛油杯蛋糕

Butter Cupcakes with Lemon Flavor 
Ingredients for ~ 12 cupcakes

• ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 lemon
• 1 ½ cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup (60 ml) milk
• Icing sugar for decoration

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 180°C (Gas mark 4). Prepare a drawing paper, and draw your favorite shapes and cut out with a cutter.
• In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Grate the lemon zest and set aside.
• In another mixing bowl and using a egg whisk, beat the butter and sugar until light and pale yellow. Then beat in the eggs, one each time, combine well the ingredients for each addition, and follow with the vanilla extract and lemon zest. 
• Start with adding little bit of the flour into the mixture. Mix gently, then alternately add the flour mixture and milk in three additions. Ending with the remaining flour, mix well all the ingredients to form a smooth batter.
• Line the cake molds on the baking tray. With a tablespoon, fill the batter evenly into the molds, or about 70% full. Bake about 18~20 minutes until light golden.
• Remove the cakes from the oven and let cool for a while. Place the drawing paper on the top of the cake and sift a layer of icing sugar. After remove the paper. Look! Your lovely self designed cupcake! This is a pure pleasure : )

Metronomy - This could be Beautiful

Ingredients checklist: Butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, lemon, flour, baking powder, salt, milk and icing sugar. 

Utensils checklist: a measuring cup, a teaspoon, bowls, cake molds, a egg whisk, a spatula, a grater, a sifter and a baking tray.

Design your favorite patterns. If you are lazy, then just make it simple.

Using a grater, peel the lemon's yellow zest.

After the butter and sugar become light and pale yellow, add the eggs one by one.

Alternately, add the flour mixture and milk.

Fill the cake molds evenly, then bake in the oven.

If you are not sure are the cakes well baked. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cakes, if there are no batter stick on the toothpick, then the cakes are done.

Place your designed paper on the cake.

Put the icing sugar into a sift, and sprinkle a layer on the top.

Look! Your custom made cupcake is done!

A smell of lemon flavor, a soft cupcake. It is double enjoyment of taste and sight.

Mini Tips:

When I made this cupcakes, I tried the vanilla beans, vanilla extract and also skipped both. But the results did not make a very big difference. Comparing to the lemon zest, it gave me a nice surprise because it truly gave a  refreshing fragrance to the cakes. Especially when they are fresh from the oven, just tear open the cakes and apparently, the smell of lemon would fill into your nose.  

If you only have salted butter, please take off the ¼ teaspoon of salt. As too much sodium would affect the result of the baking powder.  

If your hometown is humid like Hong Kong, the icing sugar patterns only can last about one day. So... better prepare the topping just before inviting your friends. 

Reference recipe: 

Joy of baking