It is thicker and more concentrated than most curries. It is not overly spicy, and should have a slightly sweet taste.
This is perhaps one of the most assertive, yet versatile ways to serve the simple shallot.
Ingredients
This butter fried chicken recipe is in my head more often than not. That's saying something. It's one of our monthly meals at the Zimmern house, and it's yet another brilliant way to do chicken for a crowd that includes kids. Paired with a bright citrus punch and salty capers, this fried chicken entrée makes everyone happy. My son starts screaming "butter chicken" and runs up and down the hallways when he comes home from school and learns what's for dinner. I first ate this dish 30 years ago, served for a family meal one night at a restaurant in Florence where I was a stagiaire. I hadn't seen butter during my first few weeks in Italy and almost fainted when I tasted this.
Crispy fried shallots are an essential condiment in Vietnam. They turn up in soups (pho) and on salads, sprinkled onto dumplings as a garnish, and minced and added to meatballs. Crispy, sweet, and salty, they are indispensible. You may want to make double batches, as people have a hard time resisting the urge to snack on them. Strain the oil you used to fry the shallots and use it in other recipes or to fry more shallots. The strained oil, called shallot oil, will keep, refrigerated, for several weeks. The shallots should be used the same day they are fried.
This is absolutely one of my fallback dishes for entertaining families when I don't know how finicky the kids' palates are. My kids usually eat the grown-up version but occasionally one of them has a relapse of sorts and declares the sauce (which he loved the week prior) to be unfit for human consumption. Suddenly the simplified version of chicken breasts and rice or potatoes with no sauce is all he will touch. This is exactly the kind of flexible option that doesn't make the cook (aka you) nuts and vaguely irritated since you will make one dish, just one, that allows the blander eaters to enjoy the meal without rendering the adults bored out of their skulls.
From Salads: Beyond the Bowl by Mindy Fox (Kyle Books; 2012). Reprinted with permission.
It's a pleasure to sink your fork into during brunch, lunch, or dinner.
The traditional recipe for this chicken was made by heating rock salt in a wok, then burying the chicken in the hot salt and cooking on the stove, as most homes in China did not have ovens. The modern convenience of having an oven makes it much easier to control the cooking temperature. Oven-roasting produces a skin that is crisp, golden brown, and mellow in flavor, with exceptionally juicy and flavorful meat. Mei Kuei Lu Chiew tastes a little like grappa. It’s hard to believe 2 tablespoons makes much of a difference, but the liquor contributes fragrance and sweetness to the chicken. If unavailable, grappa and vodka are adequate substitutes.