Thai Chili-Basil Chicken with Green Mango Salad

I've had more than a few people ask me when it was that I really started to "get into" food. My general answer is that I really started to take pleasure in eating and cooking around age 19 or 20, but if I had to name a pivotal moment, that would be when I had my first bite of the crispy chicken basil at Nud Pob in Boston on a cold and snowy day in November of 2004. Crispy, succulent bits of chicken blanketed with handfuls of Thai basil and strips of fiery red and green chiles over sweet and nutty pad thai... it was heavenly and I will never forget. I used to go back there once per week during college and though I tried several items on the menu, the crispy chicken basil was by far the most memorable. When I moved to New York in 2007, I searched high and low for something similar, and though the crispy pork belly with chili, garlic, and basil at SriPraPhai gave me my fix to an extent, it just wasn't the same. The next time I returned to Boston on a trip to visit a friend, I made a beeline to Nud Pob and ordered order the crispy chicken basil, and I must say that some combination of the heat of the chiles and my sheer joy of being reunited with a long lost favorite caused my eyes to water. Yes, a dish I had eaten dozens of times in a hole-in-the-wall, bare-bones basement restaurant moved me to tears! Here is my twist on the dish, along with a refreshing green (unripe) mango salad.

THAI CHILI-BASIL CHICKEN

Ingredients:
1 pound boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch chunks
Cornmeal, to coat chicken chunks
Fish sauce*, to taste
Black soy sauce, to taste
Lime juice, to taste
Handful of Thai basil*
2 kaffir lime leaves*, torn into small pieces
2-4 red or green bird chiles*, minced, depending on desired spiciness
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2-red onion, minced
Cooking oil - olive, peanut, or vegetable are all fine

Procedure:
(1) Coat chicken chunks with cornmeal and set aside.
(2) Put a large skillet or wok over low heat with a liberal pour of cooking oil.
(3) Add minced garlic, onion, kaffir lime leaves, and bird chiles.
(4) After about a minute, turn up the heat to medium and add chicken chunks. Cook on all sides for a few minutes and add a few liberal dashes of fish sauce, black soy sauce, and lime juice. Stir to thoroughly coat chicken chunks with this pan sauce.
(5) After about another minute of cooking, add Thai basil, and allow to wilt a bit while stirring.
(6) Serve chicken and its sauce over white or jasmine rice. Top with more fresh Thai basil.

GREEN MANGO SALAD

Ingredients:
3 green (completely unripe) mangos*
1 tablespoon palm sugar*
1/2-red onion, cut into thin half-moons
Handful of peanuts
Fish sauce*, to taste
Juice of 2 limes
Handful of fresh mint

Procedure:
(1) Grate mangos into matchstick-size bits. If you don't have a grater, you can cut the mango into small, thin strips. Put into a bowl.
(2) Combine with mango a liberal dash of fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar, onion, peanuts, and mint.
(3) Serve at room temperature.

***General note on ingredients***
I understand that many of the ingredients I have mentioned are not available in mainstream grocery stores. If you are in New York, you can find any of the Thai ingredients (except for green mango) in these recipes at Bangkok Center Grocery in Chinatown, just north of City Hall. If you don't have access to a store where these ingredients are sold, here are my suggestions.

-Brown sugar can be substituted for palm sugar.
-Kaffir lime leaves can be left out in favor of slightly more lime juice.
-Jalapeños, serranos, or another type of potent chile can be substituted for bird chiles.
-Though there is no exact substitute for green mango, ripe mango sliced into small pieces combined with grated apple produces a similar flavor and texture. Regarding green mango, this can be very difficult to find. However, if you are in New York, there is an outdoor fruit stand one block to the north of Bangkok Center Grocery that regularly has them.

Salty Sticky Sweet Vinegar Drumsticks

I was browsing Serious Eats last week when I found a recipe for "vinegar-glazed chicken." Since I am a vinegar fan, I just had to try it, but with my own spin. Instead of serving the chicken over polenta, as the recipe suggested, I came to the conclusion that with football season in full swing, why not serve these drumsticks in the style of chicken wings? They are salty, sticky, sweet, and finger-lickin' good, and would be just as well-received at a Super Bowl party as they would at a sit-down dinner party. If you're serving them as finger food, a good blue cheese dressing would pair well with the tartness of the vinegar glaze on the meat.


Ingredients:
Chicken drumsticks (here, I used 8 large ones)
3/4-cup vinegar*
Four cloves garlic
Three teaspoons chopped rosemary
Salt and pepper, to taste
3/4-cup chicken broth
Olive oil

*Here, I used rice vinegar. Red wine vinegar would also work well. However, I would avoid balsamic vinegar for this particular recipe due to how quicky it thickens and hardens as it is heated. If it hardens around the drumsticks and on the sides of the pan, it can cause the drumsticks to taste burnt and bitter.

Procedure:
(1) Combine vinegar with minced garlic and chopped rosemary. Allow flavors to meld as you prepare the chicken.
(2) Season drumsticks with salt and pepper.
(3) Add a splash of olive oil to the pan and put on medium heat. Add drumsticks and brown on all sides.
(4) When chicken is thoroughly browned, remove drumsticks to a plate and remove any excess oil from the plan. Deglaze the plan with chicken broth and return drumsticks to that same pan.
(5) Allow chicken broth to reduce until about 75% of it is gone from the pan. At this point, add the vinegar/garlic/rosemary mixture.
(6) As the vinegar mixture reduces, turn drumsticks so that they are coated on all sides. Remove pan from burner when sauce is thick and syrupy in consistency, and serve chicken soon after.

Bacon, Brussels Sprouts & Smoked Mozzarella Pizza

First pizza post of what is likely to be several to come. Tonight's dinner is inspired by what I often order at my favorite pizzeria in the city. Their version is a white (sauceless) pie, non-smoked mozzarella, and instead of bacon, they use pancetta, which has much less of a smokey flavor. Since I don't have a pizza oven that reaches 800 degrees F, I form my pizza in a pre-heated cast-iron skillet and then transfer it down to the broiler. Though this method takes longer than it would with a blazing hot wood-fire or brick oven, it cooks the pizza much more rapidly than just sticking it in the oven to bake, and, gives you a nice crispy crust with char just as you would find in a pizzeria.

I will hesitantly confess that due to how little counterspace I have, I do not make my own dough. I've tried it before and had relative success, but have found that it's just much easier and more practical to buy the $0.99 dough at Trader Joe's. It's a quality product and a great value, and frankly, the 16-ounce portion is enough to make two pies, that is, if you like your crust relatively thin. If the TJ's after-work line is too long for you to bear or if there isn't a TJ's near you, a good alternative is to walk into the nearest decent pizzeria and ask them to sell you a ball of dough. Before I discovered the TJ's option, I did this often, and found that the going price is about $3.00 here in New York.

Now, whether I prepare homemade sauce depends on how much time I have. My go-to recipe is one large can of San Marzano crushed or whole tomatoes, a large onion split in half, a few garlic cloves split in half, and a large handful of basil leaves, seasoned with salt, pepper, and oregano. Cook all of this over medium-heat until the sauce starts to spatter; at this point, it's best to reduce the heat to low. When the extra liquid has evaporated and the sauce has thickened, fish out the garlic and onions halves. You'll have plenty of sauce for your pizza and, if you'd like, for breadsticks, which I prepare with any remaining dough. If you're in a hurry, just use your favorite marinara sauce.

Ingredients:
16-ounce ball of dough
Flour
Olive oil
Sauce
Smoked mozzarella, 4-6 ounces
Three slices thick-cut bacon
Petals of four brussels sprouts
Salt, pepper and oregano
Asiago cheese

Procedure:
(1) Preheat oven, with cast-iron skillet inside, to 500 degrees F.
(2) While oven is pre-heating, fry bacon and prepare dough. Assuming use of a standard 10-inch cast iron skillet, divide dough into equal portions. Coat dough in flour so that it moves around quite easily on whatever surface you're using to prepare it. I often use a large, round pizza pan. Set aside one portion of the dough for breadsticks, and knead and stretch the other portion to fit skillet. Do not, however, introduce it to the skillet yet. Drizzle dough with olive oil and rub.
(3) Since once you introduce the dough to the skillet, it will cook very rapidly, you must have all of your toppings ready to go, a technique called mise-en-place ("set in place"). Cut mozzarella into thin discs, cut bacon into small chunks, and remove the petals from the brussels sprouts.
(4) Introduce the dough to the skillet, the side rubbed with olive oil going face-down. The olive oil prevents the dough from sticking to the super-hot pan. NEVER, and I repeat NEVER, add olive oil directly to a screaming hot pan, as it will likely combust within seconds. Olive oil has a very low smoke point.
(5) Add sauce, mozzarella, bacon, and brussels sprout petals. After a couple of minutes of cooking on the stovetop, transfer pizza to under broiler. It only needs a few more minutes' worth of cooking, so check after 90 seconds and then again with each passing minute.
(6) As soon as pizza is introduced to broiler, cut breadsticks from reserved dough. Brush or drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano. Twist or extend breadsticks as you wish, and introduce them to oven.
(7) When pizza's crust is golden brown and brussels sprout petals are slightly charred, remove skillet from broiler. Since the skillet will be extremely hot, remove it with a thick oven mit or kitchen towl. Firmly grip the skillet with one hand, and with the other hand, use a spoon or metal spatula to slide the pizza out from the skillet and onto a serving platter.
(8) Top pizza with thinly shaved or grated asiago cheese.
(9) A few minutes later, check on the breadsticks. If they are not yet a light golden color, leave them in the oven for a couple minutes longer. Serve with any remaining sauce and a simple arugula salad.

Here are some close-ups: