Food glorious FOOD!!

What do Banana Flowers, Chicken and Bok Choy have in common? Not much!  However, you can use these ingredients to make a delicious Khmer meal!

We usually try to take a cooking class in different countries we visit.  As part of our cooking class in Siem Reap, I thought that Banana Flower Salad (as a starter), and Bok Choy stir fried with Khmer Chicken (as my main) were two dishes that sounded interesting and were ones that I had never had before.

I really didn’t know what to expect with either of these dishes, and was pleasantly surprised at how well they turned out!

Banana Flower Salad

Ingredients:

½ Banana flower – cleaned and cut into thin slices
Juice squeezed from ½ fresh lemon
1 Small carrot peeled and grated
2 sprigs fresh Sweet Basil – remove leaves and cut into small pieces
2 shallots thinly sliced

1 tbsp crushed peanut

Banana Flower in the market.

The main ingredients for Banana Flower Salad

Dressing:

Ingredients

• 1 shallot
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 sweet chilli pepper
• Cilantro/Coriander
• 1 lemons/limes
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp Chicken base
• 1 tsp palm sugar
• 1 tbsp of Oyster sauce

Method:

1. Clean and slice banana flower into very thin slices and immediately soak in cool water with lemon juice and set aside.

2. Grate the carrots, slice the shallots and chop the Cilendral. Set aside and make the dressing.

Dressing:

1. Melt the sugar, oyster sauce and water over medium heat until dissolved

   

2. Mince the shallot, garlic, chilli pepper, and coriander into small pieces and sauté in caramelized mixture until soft

The sauce ingredients

Add the ingredients

Stir fry and mix with the sauce

3. Add more water along with chicken base. Add more oyster sauce and lemon juice according to taste.

Add chicken base and mix

Add Oyster sauce according to taste

Add water and lemon/lime juice according to taste and stir

4. Set aside to cool.

Assembling the salad.

1. Drain banana flower and remove excess water.  Place in a medium mixing bowl.

2. Add remaining ingredients to mixing bowl.

3. Add dressing, and toss salad to coat.

Serve immediately!

Banana Flower with mini banana shoots

Banana flower salad with leaves removed earlier.

Khmer Chicken and Bok Choy

Ingredients (serves 1)

1 Chicken leg, skin and bone removed
3 pieces Bok Choy cut lengthwise in quarters
2 Lemon grass, sliced
1 Kaffir lime leaf chopped
4 slices Galangal
About 1″ Turmeric root – peeled and sliced
About 1″ Finger root – peeled and slice
½ tbsp. Crushed Roast peanut
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Sugar
1 tbsp Oyster sauce
2 tbsp Coconut cream
2 cloves Garlic diced
2 Shallots diced

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fish sauce
2 c water
½ tsp chicken powder
½ tsp black pepper
corn starch mixed with water to thicken the sauce

Method :

1. Chop lemon grass, kaffir leaf, turmeric, galangal, garlic, and shallot and crush with mortar and pestel or blend in a blender.

2. Add the blended mixture to the chicken in a medium mixing bowl.

3. Add coconut cream, oyster sauce, chicken powder, peanut, mix together until the chicken is well coated and let it sit for 5 minutes.

4. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to a hot pan; add all of the contents from the chicken bowl and cook the chicken for 10 minutes per side covered until cooked through.

Stir fry the bok choy:

1. In a hot frying pan add 1 tbsp of olive oil, garlic, sugar, fish sauce.  Add bok choy and stir 3-4 minutes.

2. Add water, oyster sauce, chicken powder, black pepper, corn starch with water and continue to stir.

3. Once the corn starch has thickened, remove the bok choy from the heat.

Place bok choy on a plate and pour the chicken over top; add optional rice and serve.

Both of these recipes were easy to make and delicious!  Give it a whirl!