Do you ever wonder where people get their ideas for new recipes? I do. Like those recipe videos your friends are always sharing on Facebook--I saw one once where they made monkey bread out of canned cinnamon rolls. The one my mom made when I was growing up used canned biscuits. But instead, this video showed the obligatory mysterious pair of hands doing the slow motion pull-apart of gooey cinnamon roll bites, icing dripping down the sides. Why didn't I think of that??? Why haven't I done it yet??? Why am I not doing it RIGHT NOW???? I didn't think of it because creativity is not my thing. The only way I'm going to get a good idea is to steal it from someone else. Which brings me to this sandwich.
My family just came back from a trip to Hawaii. Most of my vacations result in at least one amazing food memory; the one that sticks out in my mind above all others. The authentic boeuf bourguignon I had in France the first time I went there, for example, or the picnic lunch of fresh baguette and cider that my husband accidentally sprayed all over me when I went back years later, the amazing fried chicken with a drizzle of honey from the Bryce Canyon Lodge, the freshly caught and prepared shrimp I had on the beach in Honduras after an ocean kayaking trip......the list goes on and on. I'm fortunate to have seen, and eaten in, some amazing places. This trip we cooked at our rental home for almost every meal because, in case you've been living under a rock and don't know it, Hawaii is really damned expensive. The days were dwindling down and, despite how super cool it was to watch my brother and husband hack open a fresh coconut right out of the backyard while my daughter squealed with delight, no food memory in regards to an actual meal had yet been made. Luckily, at what was quite literally the final hour of our trip, before heading to the airport, I had a sandwich so good, I resolved to go home and recreate it. I've been home less than a week and I already gave it a whirl. I guess you could say it made an impression. I will give credit where it is due, to the amazing chef at Uncle Bo's in Haleiwa, Hawaii on the north shore of Oahu. I believe he called his version the Mekong Dip. It was so amazingly good. It seemed to have a bit of a Vietnamese flair to it (although our server told me the chef is from Laos, so it's probably more likely that I don't understand the subtle differences between Vietnamese and Laotian food). My version ended up tasting more Thai-ish, which is unsurprising to me, given that I am a fanatic for Thai food. The overall concept, however, is still the one I stole from Uncle Bo, which can be stated as the following: what if a banh mi did it with a french dip, and they had little bastard sandwich babies?
I was totally winging it, and I have to say, I'm pretty proud of my first effort. The "dip" part of mine tastes a lot like tom kha gai soup, in my opinion. I'm sure mine is never going to be as good as Uncle Bo's, so I'ma name mine the Tom Kha Gai Dip. If you want to get tipsy, pair it with an Incline Cider Company Lemongrass Cider, or a Kona Brewing Company Lemongrass Luau. Yay for stealing other people's creativity! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go buy 4 cans of cinnamon rolls.
Pressure Cooker Tom Kha Gai Dip
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 cans unsweetened coconut milk, divided
2 Tbs. prepared red curry paste
2 tsp. brown sugar
2 kaffir lime leaves, dried
a generous handful of fresh cilantro--leave the stems attached so it's easier to fish out after cooking
1 Tbs. fish sauce
1 lime, juiced
salt to taste (I used a little less than 1/2 tsp.)
4 crusty rolls
Possible Garnishes
sliced fresh tomato, cucumber, yellow or white onion, jalapeno, red bell pepper
fresh bean sprouts
fresh cilantro or basil
Whisk together one can of the coconut milk with the curry paste and brown sugar. Add the chicken to the pressure cooker, along with the cilantro and lime leaves. Pour in the coconut milk / curry paste mixture. Put the lid on the cooker and set to manual for 10 minutes. Allow a natural pressure release for 10 minutes and then release any remaining pressure and open the pot. Use tongs to remove the chicken and set it aside. Remove the cilantro and kaffir lime leaves and discard them. Turn the pot to saute and whisk in the remaining can of coconut milk and fish sauce. You just need the sauce to get hot again after adding the room temperature can of coconut milk; it won't take long. While the sauce is reheating, shred the chicken. After the sauce is hot, remove it from the heat and stir in the lime juice and salt to taste. Build the sandwiches using a good hard roll with a nice, crusty exterior that won't immediately fall apart when you dip it. Pile on some chicken and your garnishes of choice. Serve with a little bowl of the coconut curry sauce, dip, and nosh.
