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ysabetwordsmithTonight we intended to make coconut chicken. We wound up with something totally different but really delicious. If you love limes, I highly recommend making this. It is the limiest thing I've had other than Key Lime Pie.
"Lime-Ginger Chicken with Vegetables Stir-Fry"
Ingredients:
Sauce:
juice and zest of 1 lime
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Stir-Fry:
1/2 package sugar-snap peas
1 cup frozen carrot shreds, thawed
1 can water chestnuts, drained
Half a 1 1/4 pound package of chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 thumb of ginger, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
Directions:
If the coconut milk is cold, let it sit out to warm up so it will mix easily. It gets semisolid when chilled.
Wash the lime and zest it into a small bowl. Then roll the lime against a table to help break down the pulp. Cut the lime in half and juice it. Add the juice to the zest.
Into the same bowl, put 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Stir until well mixed. Set aside.
Rinse 1/2 package of sugar-snap peas. Break them into bite-sized pieces and remove any strings. Put in a small bowl and set aside.
Measure 1 cup of frozen carrot shreds and microwave briefly to thaw. (You can use fresh shredded carrot if you wish.) Put in a small bowl and set aside.
Open the can of water chestnuts and drain. Set aside.
Cut 1 pound of chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
Start heating the wok.
Mince 1 thumb of ginger. You don't need to peel it unless you just want to. Put the bits in a small bowl. Make sure it's wide enough for your spatula to fit inside.
Peel and mince 2 cloves of garlic. Add the bits to the bowl with the ginger.
Pour 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil into the wok. Add the minced ginger and garlic. Stir-fry briefly.
Put in the sugar-snap peas. Stir-fry until they become tender.
Add the chicken bits. Stir-fry until they turn white.
Put in the carrot shreds. Stir-fry briefly to warm.
Add the water chestnuts. Stir-fry briefly to warm.
Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables. It will pool in the bottom of the wok. Stir-fry until it looks glossy and thick.
Serve the stir-fry over rice, noodles, or another starch.
Notes:
This recipe has a vivid, brilliant lime flavor far beyond any lime chicken I've had in a Chinese restaurant. (Those typically use a heavy sauce based on corn syrup over fried chicken bits.) If you like lime-heavy things such as key lime pie, this is well worth making. One lime has about 32% of the daily requirement of Vitamin C, so one serving of this recipe has a third of that, just over 10% -- plus whatever the other vegetables add. I got a lot of zest and juice from this lime.
1 medium Persian lime = 1 1/2 teaspoons zest
1 medium Persian lime = 1 to 3 tablespoons juice
I used coconut milk as a base for the sauce, expecting to make coconut chicken, but we couldn't taste it at all in the finished product. The coconut was completely eclipsed by the lime and ginger. Another time, we will try again for a coconut sauce and maybe add shredded coconut.
Honey comes in many types. I used dark wildflower honey because that's what I had, but wildflower is normally a light type of honey. If you want the dark note, look for something like buckwheat honey; if you don't care about that, regular clover honey is fine. Next time I might try adding an extra tablespoon of honey to balance the lime more.
White pepper is the same as black pepper, it just has the dark outer shell removed. The flavor is similar, perhaps a bit mellower. Use this in light-colored dishes where dark specks might be unappetizing.
Sugar-snap peas have plump pods. If you can't find those, substitute snow peas, which have flat pods. Both are highly nutritious and tasty in stir-fries.
Frozen carrot spirals are very convenient for wokking because they are easy to measure and they cook almost instantly. You could also use sliced carrots, but those would need considerably longer to cook.
Water chestnuts are aquatic vegetables with a tender yet crispy texture. I was very pleased with the canned ones we used, which aren't overly crunchy like restaurant ones sometimes are. So that was a hit.
Putting a pound and a half of chicken into a wok tends to be overkill, so we used half the package, which worked out better. If what you can get is a pound of meat, that's fine.
Garlic and ginger are my go-to aromatics for stir-frying. Using the fresh roots is both healthy and delicious, much better than preserved versions.
We both enjoyed this recipe very much, even though it didn't turn out as expected. Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. \o/
"Lime-Ginger Chicken with Vegetables Stir-Fry"
Ingredients:
Sauce:
juice and zest of 1 lime
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Stir-Fry:
1/2 package sugar-snap peas
1 cup frozen carrot shreds, thawed
1 can water chestnuts, drained
Half a 1 1/4 pound package of chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 thumb of ginger, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
Directions:
If the coconut milk is cold, let it sit out to warm up so it will mix easily. It gets semisolid when chilled.
Wash the lime and zest it into a small bowl. Then roll the lime against a table to help break down the pulp. Cut the lime in half and juice it. Add the juice to the zest.
Into the same bowl, put 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Stir until well mixed. Set aside.
Rinse 1/2 package of sugar-snap peas. Break them into bite-sized pieces and remove any strings. Put in a small bowl and set aside.
Measure 1 cup of frozen carrot shreds and microwave briefly to thaw. (You can use fresh shredded carrot if you wish.) Put in a small bowl and set aside.
Open the can of water chestnuts and drain. Set aside.
Cut 1 pound of chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
Start heating the wok.
Mince 1 thumb of ginger. You don't need to peel it unless you just want to. Put the bits in a small bowl. Make sure it's wide enough for your spatula to fit inside.
Peel and mince 2 cloves of garlic. Add the bits to the bowl with the ginger.
Pour 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil into the wok. Add the minced ginger and garlic. Stir-fry briefly.
Put in the sugar-snap peas. Stir-fry until they become tender.
Add the chicken bits. Stir-fry until they turn white.
Put in the carrot shreds. Stir-fry briefly to warm.
Add the water chestnuts. Stir-fry briefly to warm.
Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables. It will pool in the bottom of the wok. Stir-fry until it looks glossy and thick.
Serve the stir-fry over rice, noodles, or another starch.
Notes:
This recipe has a vivid, brilliant lime flavor far beyond any lime chicken I've had in a Chinese restaurant. (Those typically use a heavy sauce based on corn syrup over fried chicken bits.) If you like lime-heavy things such as key lime pie, this is well worth making. One lime has about 32% of the daily requirement of Vitamin C, so one serving of this recipe has a third of that, just over 10% -- plus whatever the other vegetables add. I got a lot of zest and juice from this lime.
1 medium Persian lime = 1 1/2 teaspoons zest
1 medium Persian lime = 1 to 3 tablespoons juice
I used coconut milk as a base for the sauce, expecting to make coconut chicken, but we couldn't taste it at all in the finished product. The coconut was completely eclipsed by the lime and ginger. Another time, we will try again for a coconut sauce and maybe add shredded coconut.
Honey comes in many types. I used dark wildflower honey because that's what I had, but wildflower is normally a light type of honey. If you want the dark note, look for something like buckwheat honey; if you don't care about that, regular clover honey is fine. Next time I might try adding an extra tablespoon of honey to balance the lime more.
White pepper is the same as black pepper, it just has the dark outer shell removed. The flavor is similar, perhaps a bit mellower. Use this in light-colored dishes where dark specks might be unappetizing.
Sugar-snap peas have plump pods. If you can't find those, substitute snow peas, which have flat pods. Both are highly nutritious and tasty in stir-fries.
Frozen carrot spirals are very convenient for wokking because they are easy to measure and they cook almost instantly. You could also use sliced carrots, but those would need considerably longer to cook.
Water chestnuts are aquatic vegetables with a tender yet crispy texture. I was very pleased with the canned ones we used, which aren't overly crunchy like restaurant ones sometimes are. So that was a hit.
Putting a pound and a half of chicken into a wok tends to be overkill, so we used half the package, which worked out better. If what you can get is a pound of meat, that's fine.
Garlic and ginger are my go-to aromatics for stir-frying. Using the fresh roots is both healthy and delicious, much better than preserved versions.
We both enjoyed this recipe very much, even though it didn't turn out as expected. Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. \o/
Fresh carrots
Date: 2021-03-25 04:15 am (UTC)Another trick that can be fun is borrowed from salad making technique. Just grab a vegetable peeler and start scraping away, like you were making carrot curls to put in ice water before adding to the salad. Keep going as far as you can. If you start at the pointy end, and work your way up, there will be minimum waste.
Both of these techniques produce chopstick-sized bits of carrot that cook quickly.
Re: Fresh carrots
Date: 2021-03-25 04:22 am (UTC)Now consider that carrots are almost always sold only in large bunches. That's way more than I could eat before they go bad.
We saw various recipes that called for small amounts of carrot, usually shredded. Shredding carrots is a pain in the ass. Matchsticking -- which I tried with ginger -- is also a nuisance.
Then I remembered that spiralized carrots are available in the freezer aisle. They don't go bad. They can be used in any relevant quantity. They are easily reduced to shreds by bashing them a few times against the counter. My partner Doug will put up with small amounts of shredded carrot in a dish. For the forseeable future, that meets our carrot needs very nicely.
Ironically, he loves carrot cake. They taste quite different when cooked.
Re: Fresh carrots
Date: 2021-03-25 04:33 am (UTC)Out here in California, almost all supermarkets and produce markets offer loose carrots at prices that are usually better than bags or bunches. Must be a local thing, as I've seen the same deal in other places in the country. And there are always multiple farmers' market stands that will let people buy just one or two. It seems odd that your area is bereft of such opportunities. Maybe it's not having much of a local crop that causes it.
I suspect I'm spoiled, living out here where something fresh is almost always in season and available at a good price. I remember living in Wisconsin, where that was less the case.
Re: Fresh carrots
Date: 2021-03-25 05:56 am (UTC)It's frustrating because we both like healthy vegetables, but not a lot of overlap. I love broccoli and cauliflower, he loves dark leafy greens. Though we did both enjoy the bok choy a great deal, so that's an excellent discovery.
>> Out here in California, almost all supermarkets and produce markets offer loose carrots at prices that are usually better than bags or bunches. Must be a local thing, as I've seen the same deal in other places in the country.<<
Here in Illinois, I've only seen that at Harvest Market, and then only a few times. If it were easier to pick and choose, we'd probably eat more vegetables. Now it usually requires thinking ahead 2+ meals to use up as much as possible. Used to be, people typically lived in family units of 6+ which made selling things in quantity advisable. Supermarkets have largely failed to account for the change to 1-2 person households -- with the exception of convenience items, which frequently are single-serving.
>> And there are always multiple farmers' market stands that will let people buy just one or two. <<
Those do that here too.
>> It seems odd that your area is bereft of such opportunities. Maybe it's not having much of a local crop that causes it.<<
I think that's it. They don't want to ship things loose if they can avoid it.
>>I suspect I'm spoiled, living out here where something fresh is almost always in season and available at a good price. I remember living in Wisconsin, where that was less the case.<<
Partly spoiled, but partly people are just too stupid and lazy to produce food locally. They forget how vulnerable an extended supply chain is to enemy action, inclement weather, labor issues, infrastructure failure, etc. It's always best to grow things locally as much as possible. Okay, we're not going to get pineapples here, but Russia managed to grow citrus, and almost all garden crops can be grown almost year-round in coldhouses quite far north. You do have to take off a few weeks around the winter solstice unless you provide supplemental lighting, but otherwise you can grow the cool-season crops in cold weather and the warm-season crops in cool weather.
Re: Fresh carrots
Date: 2021-03-25 06:37 am (UTC)D'yah think COVID, and the cock-up in Texas (inclement weather and infrastructure failure), might drive the point home a bit? Why am I so cynical about that actually doing any good? Four Horsemen always gonna horse.