Congrats to the winner: Aroonsri
A representative of Thai Trade recently reached out to me to see if I would like to host a sponsored giveaway for Mom in the City readers. Since I love Thai food, I was happy to participate. There are various kinds of rice available in and from Thailand – sticky rice, traditional white jasmine rice, brown rice, and jasberry (a healthy alternative). As a foodie, I appreciate that a variety of dishes can be eaten with rice. Read about my experience with Thai rice below and then learn how you can win a $50 American Express gift card to shop for the ingredients in the recipe or to dine at a local Thai restaurant – it’s your choice!
I was sent a bag of Jasberry Rice (a Thai rice) to try. It is a new variety of rice that is whole grain and gluten-free. It’s healthy but how does it taste? It’s actually good. It has a similar taste and texture as brown rice. It’s just more colorful (which is fun for kids) has a stronger fragrance and the texture is a bit softer. I prepared the rice according to the cooking instructions on the label. The label says that it takes 20-30 minutes for the water to be absorbed. It actually took 40 – 50 minutes for the rice to be cooked to my desired texture when using a saucepan though.
Recipe
In keeping with the Thai theme, this rice would go especially well with the Thai Yellow Chicken Curry that I learned how to prepare on my date at the Institute of Culinary Education. ICE had given me permission to share two recipes from the Asian Favorites Couples Cooking class with you and I shared the Beef Bulgogi recipe. I somehow forgot to share the curry one though. It’s the perfect dish to go with this Thai rice. Enjoy!
Credit: Institute of Culinary Education
Yield: Serves 6
Yellow Curry Paste
10 to 25 dried red bird’s-eye chilies, seeded and soaked
2 large pinches of salt
2 tablespoons minced galangal
4 tablespoons minced turmeric
4 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 heaping tablespoons shrimp paste
Soak the chiles in warm water for about 20 minutes.
Drain the chiles and combine with all the other ingredients in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.
Curry
1½ pounds skinned boneless chicken thighs
Canola oil, as needed
2 (14-ounce) cans coconut milk, ½ cup thick coconut cream reserved
½ recipe Thai yellow curry paste, or to taste
2 cups fresh chicken stock
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
3 Thai eggplant cut into 6 wedges (or substitute Japanese eggplant cut in half lengthwise, then into 1-inch pieces)
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons palm sugar
- Trim chicken of all gristle and fat. Cut the meat into large bite-sized chunks and set aside.
- Brown the chicken pieces in a wok using a small amount of canola oil. Work in batches so that you don’t crowd the wok. Transfer the browned chicken to a bowl, and reserve.
- Heat the coconut cream in the bottom of the wok until the oil separates. Add the curry paste and cook for a minute or two in the coconut cream.
- Add chicken stock and potatoes, and cook over medium-high heat, until the potatoes begin to get tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add the remaining coconut milk, eggplant, fish sauce and palm sugar. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the eggplant is tender, about another 10 minutes. Return the chicken pieces to the wok to infuse the chicken with flavor, and cook until the chicken is done, about 5 minutes.
- Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve immediately.
Giveaway
To enter the giveaway for a $50 American Express gift card:
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- Leave a comment on this blog post (by July 21st at noon EST) with the name of the type of Thai Rice you’d like to try with your next dish – Traditional Thai Jasmine Rice, Thai Sticky Rice, Jasberry Thai Rice, or Thai brown rice.
- Include the hashtag #ThaiRiceisBetter in your comment.
That’s it. If you would like an additional entry, you can send out a tweet saying [clickToTweet tweet=”Find out why #ThaiRiceisBetter at mominthecity.com!” quote=”Find out why #ThaiRiceisBetter at mominthecity.com!” theme=”style3″]
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