The CuisiNerd

This evening was cool and rainy. Perfect soup weather. At lunch, I’d had some Baja Enchilada soup at Planet Sub, and was inspired.

To do this properly takes about 2 days**

Day 1:

1. Obtain a rotisserie chicken from your favourite purveyor of such things. I’m a big fan of Costco. You can make your own, too, if so inclined (and equipped).
2. Eat the chicken for dinner.
3. Boil the carcass for about an hour in 2 quarts of water and put the whole thing in the fridge overnight.

Day 2:

1. Take the chicken in a pot out of the fridge.
2. Scoop the solidified fat from the top of the pot and put in your soup pot.
3. Using a colander, separate the chunks of chicken from the broth
4. Remove any chunks that don’t strike you as edible.
5. Put the edible bits back in the broth and set aside
6. Finely chop up:
   1. an onion (I’ll leave it up to you how big)
   2. a red pepper (or two)
   3. garlic (how much depends on your individual taste and the current level of vampire activity in your area)
   4. green chiles (or you can cheat and use them from a can)
   5. Maybe even some jalapenos if you’re feeling wild
7. Heat the chicken fat and sauté the vegetables in it. If your chicken was lean, you may want to add some olive oil, you’re going to need about 4-6 tablespoons worth of fat for the roux.
8. Add 3/4 cup flour or masa harina and make a roux (about 3 minutes with a whisk, until it starts browning)
9. Add the chicken broth and stir with the whisk until well blended
10. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to keep the roux from sticking. When it boils, the soup will be thickened.
11. Add 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 tablespoon cumin, and salt to taste and stir it in.
12. Stir in 1.5 cups grated cheese. Cheddar works well, as does any mexican blend or something of that ilk. Please don’t use something like Velveeta, it would make me cry.
13. Let the cheese get all nice and melty as you stir it in.
14. You can add some other southwesternish sorts of things like corn, black beans, and cilantro here. Stir it, and serve.

Serving:

Goes well with a garnish of sour cream, tortilla strips, pico de gallo,  or just a nice simple roll.
Make sure you have your favorite hot sauce handy.

** But you can totally cheat by using prepackaged chicken broth and add some chicken (this works well with canned chicken breast)

Previous incarnations of this were made with Kikkoman’s prefab teriyaki sauce. This one is made from a homemade sauce.

Sauce:

1 cup shoyu or tamari soy sauce
4 or 5 cloves of garlic (or 2 Tbsp garlic paste)
2 tbsp. ginger or ginger paste
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. Mirin (rice wine) or dry sherry
drained syrup from a can of mandarin oranges
1 Tbsp oil

Mix well and add 2 lbs chopped chicken breasts, and marinate for approximately an hour.

In the last 15 minutes or so, reconstitute 1.5 to 2 cups of dried shiitake mushrooms by putting them in 1.5 cups boiling water. (you can also used sliced button mushrooms)

Drain and reserve marinade from chicken pieces and saute in a large skillet with 2 Tbsp oil until cooked. Drain the liquid from the mushrooms and add to the marinade. Add the mushrooms to the chicken. While you’re doing this, cook a pound of noodles (farfalle or rotini work well, although any noodle will do).

When the chicken is done, remove from the pan, leaving remaining liquid behind. Add reserved marinade and bring to a boil – reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Mix:

1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 c water

and add it to the mixture, stirring until thick. Once thickened, set aside the sauce and add some more oil to the pan, and toss in the cooked chicken and diced bell peppers (preferably of mixed colors). Saute until the chicken starts to brown (about 5 minutes). Add the noodles and toss until well mixed, and then add the sauce, toss, and serve. Makes great leftovers and is tasty with Sriracha “rooster” sauce.

I’ve always been a fan of this dish, and have spent a long time trying to find a recipe that I like that lives up to what I frequently order in Thai restaurants. I think I’ve found one that comes pretty close. This one comes to us courtesy of Kasma Loha-unchit. I’ve listed the ingredients here, follow the link for the full instructions.

• 2-3 Tbs. peanut oil for stir-frying
• 10-12 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2-3 shallots, thinly sliced (or substitute with 1/2 cup sliced onion) – optional
• 1 lb. boneless chicken thighs, coarsely chopped, or cut into small bite-size pieces
• 12-20 Thai chillies (prik kee noo), cut into very thin rounds; or substitute 4-6 serrano, jalapeño or fresno peppers, cut into large slivers with seeds
• 2 small kaffir lime leaves (bai ma-gkrood), very finely slivered (optional)
• 2-3 tsp. black soy sauce (the semi-sweet kind), or to taste
• 2 Tbs. fish sauce (nam bplah), or to taste
• 1 cup fresh Thai holy basil (bai gka-prow), or Thai sweet basil (bai horapa) leaves and flower buds; or use 1/4 cup dried holy basil, soaked to soften plus 1/2 to 1 cup fresh Thai sweet basil (bai horapa)
• Dash of ground white pepper

Any recipe that calls for garlic and basil in those kinds of quantities is my kind of food. Even at that, I think the recipe was still weak on the garlic. Sadly, since my wife and children aren’t as gung-ho for spicy Thai food as I am, I made this with some canned mild green chillies for the pepper flavour, and then added Sriracha (“Rooster Sauce”) to mine after serving. It’s not the same as adding Thai peppers to the original fry, but it’ll have to do.