Tag: main course
Kow Piek Sen (Chicken Soup with Pork Meatballs, Quail Eggs, and Rice Macaroni)
Kow Piek Sen (Chicken Soup with Pork Meatballs, Quail Eggs, and Rice Macaroni)
Kow piek sen is a great example of Laotian comfort food. This is more than just a chicken soup, my friends. Inside of the large pot I made contains pork meatballs, quail eggs, and rice macaroni with a ton of green onions and cilantro; and a ton of chicken. The soup is garnished with more green onions and cilantro, plus fried garlic. I kinda wish I made a double batch.There are a few approaches you can take when making this soup. You can use either a whole chicken or chicken pieces. I had a few bone-in chicken breasts and backs in my freezer. Do not use boneless chicken. The bones in the chicken are creating the stock. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove from the pot and pull off the meat. Place the rest of the ingredients into the pot along with the chicken. The pork meatballs are specifically Asian style. You can find them in the freezer section of every Asian market.You can find rice macaroni at just about every grocery grocery store nowadays. If you are feeding a group of people and not planning to have leftovers, you can place the dry macaroni into the pot once the chicken has been removed. Cook the macaroni until it is tender before adding the rest of the ingredients in. If you are like me and planning to have leftovers for a couple of meals, prepare the macaroni separately. Place the macaroni in the bottom of a bowl and ladle the soup over. If you don’t do this and leave the macaroni in the pot of soup for leftovers, they become mush and will ruin the soup.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 3 lbs whole chicken or chicken pieces
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 stalk lemongrass smashed; tied in a knot
- 10 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
- 12 oz pork meatball sliced in half
- 1 can quail eggs
- 4 green onions
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- 2 tsp chili oil
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 1/2 cups dry rice macaroni prepared according to package directions
Garnish
- green onions chopped
- cilantro chopped
- fried garlic
Instructions
- Place the chicken, onions, lemongrass, and salt in a pot with 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 45 minutes until the chicken is cooked completely through.
- Remove the lemongrass and chicken from the pot. Let the chicken cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones and chop.
- Place the chopped chicken into the pot along with the pork meatballs, quail eggs, green onion, cilantro, fish sauce, soy sauce, chili oil, and sugar. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Season with salt to taste.
Assembly
- Place 3/4 cup of the cooked rice macaroni in the bottom of a large soup bowl.
- Ladle the soup over the rice macaroni. Garnish with green onions, cilantro, and fried garlic.
Laotian-Style Chicken Wings
Laotian-Style Chicken Wings
I’m not a fan of heavily sauce covered chicken wings. The combination of buffalo sauced wings being dipped in ranch dressing is an abomination to the culinary world as far as I’m concerned. These chicken wings are the exact opposite. The wings are marinated in an oyster sauce/garlic/cilantro base with a few seasonings and a bit of sugar to add a hint of sweetness. You can either grill or broil the chicken wings for about 20 minutes, flipping half way through. The other option would be to bake them in the oven at 400 degrees for 45-50 minutes. The wings turn out crispy, moist, and highly flavorful without any deep frying and drowning in sauce.
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken wings drumette and wingette separated; tips removed
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/3 cup cilantro
- 3 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Place all of the marinade ingredients in a food processor.
- Blend until smooth.
- Place the wings and the marinade in a gallon sized storage bag. Marinate the wings for 8 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the wings on a rack on a baking sheet lined in foil.
- Bake the wings for 45-50 minutes, flipping half way through. Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Moghrabieh
Moghrabieh
Moghrabieh is a Lebanese chicken and bean stew. Moghrabieh also refers to the type of large couscous pearls that the stew is served over. Preparing this comforting dish is quite simple. Chicken thighs are sear with onions, then seasoned and simmered for 15 minutes. Garbanzo beans are added and simmered for an additional 15 minutes. The chicken is then taken off the bone and added back into the pot. All of that is ladled over the giant couscous pearls.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken thighs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 tsp caraway seeds
- 1 tsp 7 spice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 cups water
- 2 cans garbanzo beans
- couscous for serving
Garnish
- parsley chopped
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Season the thighs with salt and pepper and place face down in the pot. Cover with the onions. Sear for 5 minutes.
- Flip the chicken and sear for another 5 minutes. Add in the 7 spice, caraway seeds, bay leaves, and cinnamon stick.
- Pour in the water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add in the garbanzo beans. Continue simmering for 15 minutes.
- Pull the chicken from the pot. Shred the chicken.
- Add the chicken back into the pot and simmer for 5 more minutes.
