[ad_1]
Kaffir lime leaves (also spelled kieffer) are used extensively in Southeast Asian cooking, where they lend the most wonderful and pungent citrus perfume and flavor to all manner of dishes including soups, curries and sauces.
Known in Thailand as magroot or makrut, the kaffir lime tree also bears a small, warty-skin fruit. But the fruit isn’t as culinarily important as the leaves because there are few available, and they yield very little juice.
While the name “kaffir lime” has widespread acceptance, it’s important to note that the term is sometimes considered offensive. The word “kaffir” derives from the equally offensive Arabic word “kapiri,” a racial slur in Sri Lanka and considered offensive around South Africa. Despite its connotations, kaffir lime is the common term used worldwide, even in South Africa. However, many chefs and foodies are shifting to more politically correct alternative names, such as Thai lime or makrut lime.
In Southeast Asia, the leaves are generally used in the same way bay leaves are used in Mediterranean cooking: whole ones are added for flavor and are generally not eaten but discarded from the dish after they’ve perfumed it. They have a tough texture, like bay leaves. Sometimes the leaves are eaten after being finely chopped or sliced. Recipes will call for slivering them very, very finely with a knife or scissors. These fine slivers are added to dishes, usually at the last minute to get maximum fragrance and flavor impact.
If you can find the fruit, treat it like a regular lime and grate the skin and squeeze the fruit to extract its juice. Kaffir lime can grow wherever citrus grows, especially in moist, subtropical areas of California, Texas and Florida. As a result, it’s available in our local Asian markets and occasionally in gourmet or natural foods markets.
You’ll sometimes find the leaves available dried but don’t buy them — they are mere shadows of their fresh cousins. You also can find them frozen, and these can be pretty good if they haven’t been in the freezer case too long.
Kaffir lime trees require lots of light, up to 12 hours a day, and don’t tolerate cold very well. They are subtropical plants. Where I live, I have a couple trees growing in big pots with wheels. This enables me to move them around and protect them from the frosts that we get in Sonoma County. If you live in a citrus-growing area, you can order trees from your local nursery. Up until the last few years, they were embargoed and nearly impossible to get because of concerns about disease and pests.
Over the years, I’ve found all kinds of interesting uses for the leaves including adding them to olive oil to perfume it or adding a crushed leaf to brew hot tea. If my grandmother were still alive, she’d slip a leaf or two into her sock or underwear drawer to subtly scent those garments!
Spicy Tomato and Lime Leaf Broth
Makes about 2½ quarts
This is a base for all kinds of additions, from noodles to fish and shellfish to vegetables and grilled meats. I often add hot pepper sesame oil to the finished stock. You can find fish sauce and Asian chile garlic sauce in Asian markets or at well-stocked grocery stores.
2 medium onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
9 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons olive or peanut oil
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes with basil
6 large fresh kaffir lime leaves
1 tablespoon Asian chile garlic sauce
3 tablespoons fish sauce, or to taste
¼ cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons palm or light brown sugar
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Add the onions and a cup or so of the stock to a blender and puree. Heat the olive oil in a stockpot over moderate heat and add the onion mixture. Cook at a simmer for 6 – 8 minutes. Puree the tomatoes and add to the pot along with the remaining stock and the rest of the ingredients.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or so. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, pushing down on the solids. Discard solids. Store covered and refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
Kaffir and Lemongrass Soup (Tom Yum)
Makes 2 – 4 servings
This is one of the most popular dishes in Thailand, eaten year-round, even in hot weather. The prefix “tom yum” means “boiled together.” This recipe calls for tofu, but you can use any protein instead, such as chicken (Tom Yum Gai), shrimp (Tom Yum Goong) or seafood like calamari or mussels. You can add other ingredients like rice noodles, cabbage or bean sprouts, too.
Ingredients, including galangal, are readily available in Asian markets. You might find galangal and makrut in the freezer case if they’re not in the produce section; don’t use dried versions. Tom yum soup bases are available in Asian markets and are OK in a pinch, but working from fresh is better and not difficult.
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 tablespoon Thai red chile paste (nam prik pao) or substitute chile garlic sauce or sambal oelek
1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 2-inch sections and crushed
6 thin slices (about 1 ounce) galangal or ginger root
6 makrut (kaffir) lime leaves, torn into small pieces, or a few wide strips of lime peel
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
6 ounces drained tofu (either firm or soft), cut into ¾-inch cubes
¾ cup drained straw mushrooms or sliced oyster mushrooms
8 cherry or grape tomatoes, each cut in half
1 scallion, white and light green parts, thinly sliced on the diagonal
Cilantro and/or Thai basil leaves
Whisk the fish sauce, lime juice and chile paste together in a small bowl.
Combine the lemongrass, galangal, half the lime leaves and broth in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, discard all the solids. If you like, you can leave these solids in the soup, but I prefer to discard them.
Add the tofu, mushrooms, remaining lime leaves and tomatoes to the pan. Simmer for 3 – 4 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the fish sauce mixture, scallions and cilantro. Serve hot.
Rice Porridge or Congee
Makes 4 servings
Anyone who has traveled in China, or almost anywhere in Asia for that matter, will recognize this recipe. Congee is the ultimate comfort food in Asian cuisine. Congee, or jook, is generally served as the morning meal and is believed to be an important restorative. You can serve congee at any time of the day, however (and you should).
Different Asian cultures have their own version of this delicious, usually savory, rice porridge. Jook is Cantonese. In Japan, rice porridge is called okayu. They are broadly the same, but what differentiates them is the amount of stock/water the rice is cooked with; it’s thicker in Japanese okayu and thinner in Cantonese congee.
Big bowls of this are dished up, then all manner of additions are close by to add at the diners’ discretion including soy sauce, chopped green onions, cilantro, finely shredded cabbage, sliced green onions, crisp fried slices of shallot, roasted peanuts, Chinese (Sichuan) pickled vegetables, pickled ginger, poached or roasted chicken or duck, cooked and dried shrimp or scallops, shiitake mushrooms or a poached egg. Here is a basic recipe to start with.
1½ quarts or so chicken stock or water
½ cup long-grain or broken jasmine rice
3 half-dollar-size coins of fresh ginger
6 large kaffir lime leaves, bruised
Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
Add the stock to a deep saucepan and bring to a boil. Rinse the rice 2 or 3 times in cold water to remove starch, then stir into the stock along with the ginger and kaffir leaves. Return to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and gently simmer for 1½ hours (see Note) or until rice is very soft, porridge-like and almost smooth. You can adjust cooking time to create the texture you like. Stir occasionally and add stock or water to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom. Remove from heat and serve with additions of your choice. Thin, if desired, with additional stock.
Note: Chinese tradition calls for cooking for 3 hours, during which time the soup gets “ricier” in taste, thicker in texture and, according to Chinese medicine, is easiest to digest because 3 hours bring the yin and yang into harmony.
Kaffir Lime and Coconut Soup with Mushrooms
Makes 4 – 6 servings
You can add any other ingredients you want to this soup. Among my favorite additions are freshly cooked crab, sauteed mushrooms (I love nameko if you can find them, but shiitake are also tasty and readily available) and crisp cooked vegetables such as sugar snap peas in place of the corn.
You also could add tofu, shrimp or other fish or thinly sliced grilled meats.
4 ounces thin rice vermicelli noodles
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 ounces oyster or shiitake mushrooms
2 cups sliced white onion (1 medium)
1-2 tablespoons yellow or green curry paste
5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups or so stirred coconut milk
3 large kaffir lime leaves, bruised
2 tablespoons fish sauce, or to taste
2 teaspoons chile garlic sauce, or to taste
1 tablespoon palm or brown sugar, or to taste
¼ cup fresh lime juice
3 cups gently packed baby spinach leaves
¼ cup scallions, cut on the bias
Thai basil and/or cilantro sprigs
Soak the rice noodles in a bowl of hot water for at least 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat half the oil in a deep soup pot and saute the mushrooms until lightly browned. Remove and set aside.
Add remaining oil and saute the onions until softened but not brown. Add the curry paste and cook for another minute. Add stock, coconut milk, lime leaves, fish sauce, chile garlic sauce and sugar and bring to a simmer. Stir in lime juice and reserved mushrooms and adjust the sweet, hot, sour and salty elements to your taste.
To serve, drain the noodles and divide among deep bowls, along with the spinach leaves. Ladle the hot soup over and top with scallions, Thai basil and/or cilantro sprigs.
Shrimp with Green Curry Sauce
Makes 4 servings
This recipe takes advantage of off-the-shelf Thai curry paste, of which there are many brands in Asian markets or online. You can use this recipe approach for all kinds of fish, chicken or pork dishes.
2 cups coconut milk, well-stirred
1 tablespoon or so green curry paste
4 kaffir lime leaves or 2 tablespoons finely grated lime zest
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
1 tablespoon brown or palm sugar
1 cup lightly packed chopped fresh spinach or green romaine lettuce leaves
Fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium white onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large red or yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons finely slivered, peeled ginger or galangal
1 tablespoon peeled and finely slivered garlic
1¼ pounds peeled, deveined medium shrimp (21-25 size)
1 cup diced and seeded fresh tomato
½ cup fresh tender basil, mint or cilantro leaves
Steamed aromatic rice such as jasmine, to serve
Add the coconut milk, curry paste and lime leaves to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Whisk the mixture to dissolve the paste. Simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce is lightly thickened. Discard the lime leaves, if using, and stir in the fish sauce, sugar and spinach. Place in a blender and puree. Adjust the hot, salt, sweet and tart elements to your taste with additional curry, fish sauce, sugar and drops of lime juice. Set aside.
In a saute pan or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and quickly saute the onions, peppers, ginger and garlic until lightly colored and crisp-tender. Add vegetables to the curry sauce. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and saute the shrimp over high heat until just done. Add the curry sauce and vegetables to the pan and heat the mixture through. Stir in the tomato and the basil leaves and serve with steamed rice.
Green Curry Chicken
Makes 3 – 4 servings
Here’s a very easy green curry with chicken in a rich coconut curry sauce.
1½ tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons green curry paste, Mae Ploy brand preferred
12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
½ cup coconut milk, well-stirred
½ cup water
4 ounces bamboo shoots
5 kaffir lime leaves, lightly bruised
2 thin red chiles, cut into thin rounds
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar or palm sugar, preferred
¼ cup gently packed Thai basil leaves
Steamed jasmine rice, to serve
Heat a pot over medium heat and add the oil. Saute the green curry paste until aromatic, a minute or 2. Add the chicken and stir to combine well with the curry paste. Add the coconut milk and water and bring to a quick boil.
Add the bamboo shoots, kaffir lime leaves and red chiles. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pot and let simmer for 10 minutes or until the curry thickens slightly and chicken is cooked through. Serve with rice.
Stir in the fish sauce, sugar and basil leaves. Turn off the heat and serve immediately, with steamed rice.
Kaffir Lime Leaf Lemonade
Makes 4 servings, but can be doubled
2 cups water
12 or more large kaffir lime leaves
1 cup pure cane sugar
½ cup lemon juice, or to taste
2 cups club soda
Combine water, leaves and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, lower temperature and let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Once the mixture is chilled, pour it into a large pitcher. Add the lemon juice and club soda. Stir and serve over ice.
Coconut and Kaffir Lime Creme Custards
Makes 6 servings
You can treat these as a brulee and caramelize the tops with sugar if you want. I prefer this with toasted coconut as a topping but have given you both approaches.
1 19-ounce can coconut milk, well-stirred
5 large kaffir lime leaves, finely slivered
1 teaspoon dark rum
5 egg yolks
⅓ cup granulated sugar
⅔ cup shredded coconut
Powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine the coconut milk, slivered lime leaves and rum in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a simmer. Remove from heat and let rest until cooled.
Separately, whisk egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl until pale and creamy. Over moderate heat, gradually add the egg-yolk mixture, stirring well after each addition. Cook until custard is steaming. Strain custard through a fine-mesh strainer and discard solids. Divide the custard evenly among six ⅔-cup ramekins.
Line the base of a roasting pan with a tea towel, folding it to fit. Place ramekins on the tea towel in the pan. Carefully pour enough boiling water into the pan to come halfway up the side of the ramekins. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until custard is gently set. Remove ramekins from pan. Set aside for 15 minutes to cool. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours to chill.
Add the coconut to a dry saute pan and toast for a couple of minutes, stirring, until lightly golden brown. At serving time, sprinkle on top of custards and finish with a light dusting of powdered sugar.
Alternately, preheat broiler on high. Divide and sprinkle ½ cup sugar evenly over the tops of the custards. Place under broiler for a minute or so or until the sugar caramelizes. You also can caramelize the sugar with a kitchen blowtorch.
[ad_2]
Source_link
