Ginger fried Chicken

Gai Pad Khing - ไก่ผัดขิง


Gai Pad Khing is a tremendously popular dish with Thai people. It is a dish which is just as avidly eaten with both "khaw Suay" (boiled rice) and also "Khaw Thom" (rice soup). It has a very aromatic perfumed taste to it,

It has many healing qualities and is used as " aharn samun prai - อาหารสมุนไพร", meaning herbal remedy. It is good for both liver and kidneys, stomachache, and also wind problems. In addition it is helpful to remedy high acidity, ulcers, and gall bladder problems.
It is often also used in diet programs for the weight losing qualities of ginger.

Ingredients;

1 cup of chicken meat (you can choose yourself if to use on the bone or off the bone)
1/2 a cup of Mouse ear mushrooms, 1/2 a cup of shredded fresh ginger (khing - ขิง)
One large fresh onion, peeled, and one large red peepper, chili or bell pepper is ok 0 sliced into medium long strips.
1 tablespoon of diced garlic, 2 spring onions, 2 tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of yellowbean sauce (Thao Jiaw - เต้าเจี้ยว)
one tablespoon of maggi seasoning sauce, or knorr seasoning sauce
1 tablespoon Nam Pla (fish sauce - น้ำปลา), 2 tablespoons of vegetable or sunflower oil.


Method;
Clean and dice the chicken into pieces. Take the mouse ear mushrooms and remove the hard and woody pieces. lean and slice the onion into thin slices - the spring onions should be sliced longways into long thin strips to keep their natural shape visible.


put the "Grata" (Thai wok type pan) on the gas and heat the vegetable oil (use a medium flame). Sautee the garlic until it has a golden color and sweet aroma. Add the chicken and fry it thoroughly, stirring constantly.

When it is cooked, add the mouse ear mushrooms, Thao Jiaw yelllowbean sauce, ginger, and sliced onions, and fry lightly - don't overfry these ingredients, as they should have some crispness and bite to them. Now add the maggi or knorr seasoning sauce, nam pla and sugar. There should be a light sweetness and saltiness to this dish so test the flavour and add more sugar and nam pla or seasoning sauce (go easy on the maggi) if necessary. sprinkle the fine shredded spring onion and red pepper over the dish once you have it on the serving plate. You can vary the dish by adding thinly sliced carrot or even pineapple chunks if you like a more sweet taste. some people also use tomatoe but i dont think that the acidity fits with the ginger.

Serve immediately with either boiled jasmine rice or rice soup.

Links;
Kruaklaibaan