MalasianStirFryChicken

Set in 1964, this is the story of world-famous sleuth Tim Rinnissen’s first introduction to detective work. The crime, five years’ old, is an old-fashioned bludgeoning, with traces of attempted poisoning, corruption of officialdom, and an introduction to investigation sponsored by a couple of nudists, locally famous for their gourmet cooking. Tim’s youth and inexperience lead him into trouble, but the nudes rescue him by solving the crime-- feeding him a Malaysian dinner as they analyze how they did it.

 Malaysian Stir Fry Chicken

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons Thai roasted chili paste (nam prik phao)
8 oz chicken breast, sliced into thin pieces
1/4 onion, cut into pieces
2 oz green beans, tips removed and cut into 2-inch strips
1/2 small carrot, peeled and sliced
1/4 green bell pepper (capsicum), deseeded and thinly sliced
1/4 red bell pepper or 1 red chili, deseeded and thinly sliced
3 bird’s eyes chilies, lightly pounded, optional
1 1/2 teaspoons sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce

Method:

Heat up a wok on high heat and add the oil. Add the garlic into the wok and stir-fry until aromatic, follow by the Thai roasted chili paste or nam prik pao. Add the chicken and quickly stir fry, until the chicken is half cooked. Add the onion, green beans, carrot, green and red bell peppers, bird’s eye chilies and stir to combine well with the chicken. Add the sweet soy sauce and fish sauce, stir to blend well. (If you want your chicken to be a little saucy, you can add two tablespoons of water now.) As soon as the chicken and all ingredients are cooked through, dish out and serve immediately with steamed rice.

Cook’s Notes:

1. Thai roasted chili paste or nam prik pao is a key ingredient in Thai cooking. You can purchase bottled nam prik pao from Asian supermarkets, Southeast Asian (Thai & Vietnamese) food stores, or online here. To make it from scratch, you can follow SheSimmer’s recipe here.
   
2. There are many variations of this recipe…you can use cauliflower or broccoli instead of green beans, you can also add fresh or canned young corns. You can use white wine instead of the water to thin the sauce. The essence of the dish is in the sauce, not the vegetables used.