Illustrations and notes for various Asian herbs:

Go to: http://www.foodsubs.com/HerbsAsian.html

We have lemongrass in stock - 9/30 Recipe for curry chicken:

Yellow Curry Sauce Ingredients:

• 1-2 red chilies (or substitute green), depending on desired spiciness, OR 1/2 to 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 shallots (or 1 small cooking onion)
• 1 thumb-size piece galangal (see Glossary) OR ginger, sliced
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. fresh nutmeg (or substitute cinnamon)
• 3 Tbsp. fish sauce (available at Asian/Chinese food stores)
• 1 tsp. dried turmeric OR 1 thumb-size piece fresh turmeric, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 4 fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves, snipped into small pieces with scissors (discard central stem) [Note: -Kaffir lime leaves:
  http://www.thaitable.com/Thai/Ingredients /kaffir_lime_leaves.htm ]
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (or juice from 1/2 lime)
• 1 Tbsp. ketchup OR 1 Tbsp. tomato paste + 1 tsp. sugar

Other ingredients:

• ½ chicken chopped into pieces
• 1 stalk lemon grass (for more information, see below)
  
• 2 potatoes, chopped into wedges or small chunks
• 1 green and/or red bell pepper, de-seeded and sliced
• 1-2 additional kaffir lime leaves, left whole
• approx. 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 loose cup fresh coriander OR fresh basil to finish the dish 

How to use lemon grass in cooking:

http://thaifood.about.com/od/thairecipesstepbystep/ss/lemongrasshowto.htm

We have eggplant in stock (9/30)...Eggplant in garlic sauce recipe:

The ginger and garlic must be chopped *very* finely, and cooked longer than you may expect, since we are cooking them in water rather than oil!

Services 2

1 medium aubergine (eggplant) - about 300g (10-11oz)
1 tsp finely-chopped fresh garlic (about 2 cloves)
1 tsp finely-chopped fresh ginger
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 spring onions (green onions, scallions, gibbons), finely chopped
1 tsp dark soy sauce

1. Peel the aubergine if you hate the skin, or leave it on if you like the texture and think it looks pretty. Cut lengthways into oblong pieces about the size and length of 2 fingers side by side.

2. Boil 1 cm (1/2 inch) of water in a wide frying pan, then add the aubergine and cook, stirring occasionally and adding more water as needed, until aubergines are softened to your satisfaction, and very little water remains (about 7 minutes for me).


3. Remove the aubergine to a bowl, then heat another 1cm water in the pan. Add garlic, ginger and hoisin sauce, then simmer briskly for 10 minutes, stirring and adding more water as needed.

4. Add the soy sauce and spring onions to the pan, then add the cooked
aubergine, with a little more water if needed. Cook over a low heat for 5 minutes, stirring to coat the aubergine with the sauce.

5. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Lumpia - great recipe, nice instruction.

Basic Chinese cooking ingredients; spices, oil, etc.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee - YAO sells the sweetened, condensed milk !

Vietnamese Iced Coffee Recipe

2 to 3 teaspoons sweetened condensed milk
2 to 3 teaspoons medium-fine ground French roast coffee
Boiling water, as needed
Ice cubes, as needed
Equipment: Single-cup Vietnamese-style coffee filter  --or--
Coffee filter-- letting it hang down inside a cup
Put the condensed milk into a coffee cup. Place the filter on top of the cup. Unscrew the filter, add the coffee grounds, and screw the filter back on. Pour in enough boiling water to fill the filter. Close the lid and let the coffee slowly drip into the cup. Remove the filter and stir the coffee and milk together. Pour the coffee mixture into a glass of ice and stir to chill. Serve. (will also work if you just use a coffee filter and let it hand down inside a cup).

Notes:

A Vietnamese coffee press looks like a stainless steel top hat. There's a "brim" that rests on the coffee cup; in the middle of that is a cylinder with tiny perforations in the bottom. Above that rises a threaded rod, to which you screw the top of the press, which is a disc with similar tiny perforations. Water trickles through these, extracts flavor from the coffee, and then trickles through the bottom perforations. It is excruciatingly slow. Loosening the top disc speeds the process, but also weakens the resulting coffee and adds sediment to the brew.

If you can't find a Vietnamese coffee press, regular-strength espresso is an adequate substitute, particularly if made with French-roast beans or with a dark coffee with chicory. The best brand to use is Cafe du Mont.

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Here is another:

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup dark roast ground coffee beans
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 16 ice cubes

Directions

1. Brew coffee with water using your preferred method to make brewed coffee. Spoon 2 tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk into each of 4 coffee cups. Pour 1 cup of fresh hot coffee into each cup, and stir to dissolve the milk.
2. Serve guests cups of coffee, and give each one a tall glass with 4 ice cubes, and a long handled spoon. Guests pour hot coffee over the ice cubes and stir briskly with the long handled spoon, making an agreeable clatter with the ice cubes to chill the coffee.

Bitter lemon recipe and prep.

Bitter lemon is the favorite of a new acquaintance of mine from Wyoming.

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. (Skip this step if you don't plan to parboil the melon before stir-frying).
2. Cut the ends off the bitter melon and cut in half lengthwise (do not peel).
3. Remove the seeds and white pith from the middle of the melon with a small spoon.
4. Cut the melon diagonally into thin, 1/4-inch slices.
5. Place the sliced bitter melon in the boiling water and parboil until it is just tender (2 - 3 minutes).Drain. Note: Parboiling partially cooks bitter melon as well as reducing its strong bitter taste. If you skip this step, you'll want to stir-fry the bitter melon longer: for about 3 minutes, until it begins to soften.
6. Add the bitter melon in the last stages of stir-frying. In a recipe for Pork With Bitter Melon, it is stir-fried for a minute and then simmered with pork and Chinese black beans in chicken broth. The pronounced flavor of the black beans helps counteract bitter melon’s strong taste.

Note: Bitter melon can also be steamed. A popular dish consists of stuffing the bitter melon with a mixture of ground pork and seasonings, then steaming it for 20 minutes and topping with a sauce made with Chinese black beans.