A southeast Asian Easter; Vietnamese chicken recipe
I hit 40k on Magic Under Glass. The end looms on the horizon! At least, gosh, I hope so. I'm exploding with eagerness to work on the mermaid book, or...something.

I've been reading almost twice as many books this year as I did last year. A couple good recent YA reads: Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale. I could not get into Goose Girl to save my life, but I had to read this book, since the setting is based on the Mongolian steppes, which is so unusual and intriguing to me. The plot drew me in, too: a girl and her maid are locked in a tower with food reserves for a number of years because the girl refuses to marry this jerk from another region. (Forgive me if I'm not describing this in the best detail.) Anyway, it didn't disappoint. I tore through it. It's a page turner with a lively voice.

I also loved Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell. The characters are just over-the-top enough to be hilarious, without losing the heart of the story. It's another page turner, about a overachieving, perfectionist girl who travels in Southeast Asia with her crazy grandmother. It also has a fabulously quirky love interest: an Asian "cowboy" named Hanks with fake sideburns. Somehow this is more charming than one might initially suppose. It's hard to predict which books are going to go on my "Top 10 YA Reads of the Year" list, but I can almost guarantee this one will make it because the characters and predicaments are so memorable.

Changing subjects...

My mom's birthday is March 22nd. It didn't seem right for her to make Easter dinner on what is practically her birthday, so I volunteered to handle dinner this year. It was not the traditional menu, but it was a hit. Mom made Vietnamese summer rolls and my sister handled the simple dessert of strawberries, whipped cream and ginger thins. I made the rest (with sister as most-crucial kitchen aide): ga xao sa (Vietnamese lemongrass chicken), browned green beans in soy sauce and honey, and Jasmine rice. For mom and I, the sole avocado-aficionados in the family, I also made a simple salad of avocado and mango dressed with lime juice and olive oil, black sesame seeds and cilantro.

Then we had an easter egg hunt. Since some of us are trying to eat healthy *cough* she filled them with loose change and stickers.

I've shared my recipe for Ga Xao Sa before, but I'm sharing it again because I've figured out, over the many times I've made it, how adaptable and delicious it is. (Of course, if you adapt it, it's not exactly called Ga Xao Sa anymore...)



The basic foundation of what makes the recipe good is the marinated chicken. I always marinate it in the following, per 1 lb cubed chicken:

--1 T. fish sauce (available at Asian markets or Asian sections of better grocery stores)
--1 t. sugar
--2 t. cornstarch
--1 T. dark sesame oil (ditto w. fish sauce, also often available at health food stores)

The recipe also calls for it to be marinated with lemongrass stalks, but I have done it with minced ginger and/or garlic for other delicious results.

You can easily add vegetables. Saute them first in a wok or wok pan on med-high heat, in a little peanut oil, unti their colors come out and they're softening a little, and set them aside. I usually do broccoli and red pepper. You could do mushrooms, green beans...anything you like.

Next, the recipe calls for heating peanut oil and adding 2 T. minced scallions or shallots and 2 cloves minced garlic. I usually do scallions, and I do a LOT more than 2 T...like half a bunch of scallions. But you could also do onions, or you could leave that out entirely. Last night I had no scallions, and I added the garlic in later so it wouldn't burn or get lost on the sides of the wok somewhere.

Cook the chicken at a high-heat and stir it *constantly* until you don't see ANY pink. A thick crust of brown stuff will form on the bottom of the wok, which is good. When the chicken is cooked, you can add minced garlic at this point if you like, and cook just 30 seconds or so to soften the flavor.

Then, add the finishing sauce. Per 1 lb. chicken:

1 T. fish sauce
1/3 c. water
1 T. brown sugar

Pour it in, lower the heat. Your wok will have a thick crust of brown stuff on the bottom. Now that you have liquid in the pan, you can scrape all that stuff up and it becomes part of the sauce. (Add a little more water if the sauce evaporates too fast.) Add the veggies back in and stir so they can get some of the sauce on them too. At this point you can also add fresh herbs like sweet Thai basil or cilantro if you like; let them cook just enough to wilt. And, you're done!

To sum up (optional steps in parentheses):

--Marinate chicken for at least 2 hours
--(Stir-fry vegetables)
--(Briefly saute aromatics)
--Stir-fry chicken at high heat in peanut oil until done
--(Add aromatics)
--Add finishing sauce
--(Add back in vegetables and fresh herbs if desired)



It's very easy and to this day, the only recipe I've found that tastes like food from a good Asian restaurant.