Asian Gang Trio

(Thai Green Curry Samosa
w/Ginger Wasabi Curry Sauce and Sweet Basil Edamame Chutney)

In most American markets, the Chinese restaurant has been issued a swift kick to the egg rolls in the last decade by three worthy competitors from elsewhere in the Orient: Japanese, Indian and Thai cuisines. Americans got a taste of curried paneer and nearly forgave India for developing nuclear weapons. Then we got addicted to sashimi and all its tart, vinegary accoutrements. And nowadays, you can’t walk a block in any American city without literally stepping in a plate of pad thai.
So, when the L.A. Alternative’s readers’ choice votes piled in for the best Indian, Japanese and Thai restaurants in L.A., we felt it too obvious to review the now well-known features of a good plate of sushi, so the neck-and-neck results seemed almost inconsequential. Instead, we at Hot Knives were recruited to tame the tastes of these increasingly popular cuisines by combining them all in a sick experiment of Asian fusion. The result-quite surprisingly-was the best fucking samosa this side of Nagasaki.
Samosa Dough
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup chickpea flour
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup warm water
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
Mix both flours and the salt together in a food processor. Add the water and oil in a slow stream, pulsing sporadically. On a floured surface form the mixture into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 20 minutes. After chilling, remove dough, divide in half and roll into two flat circles. Then cut each circle into four quadrants creating four triangles.
Samosa Filling
1 large purple yam
3 Tbs. green curry paste
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 Tbs. sesame oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can coconut milk
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 head cauliflower, sliced
3 cups canola oil
Take your large yam and stab it with a fork and place in large pot of boiling, salted water and cook for 10 minutes. While the yam boils, sauté the green curry paste in a saucepan with the oils and garlic for 2 minutes on high heat. Then add half the coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove yam, run under cool water and chop into small chunks. Add the yam, peas and cauliflower to the pan with the rest of the coconut milk. Simmer until cauliflower is tender and remove from heat. Place mixture into a strainer and drain excess sauce into a bowl.
Heat the canola oil in a large wok for frying on high heat. Place one large spoonful of mixture in each quadrant of samosa dough and fold half of the quadrant over itself. Pinch edges of each samosa closed and fry for 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
Ginger Wasabi Curry Sauce
2 small bulbs galangal
2 small bulbs ginger
2 Tbs. canola oil
1 Tbs. sesame oil
3 Tbs. mirin, or sake
1 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 Tbs. wasabi paste
leftover green curry from samosa filling
Skin the galangal and ginger with a spoon, slice. Heat oils in a skillet and sauté both roots for 3 minutes. Add the mirin, rice wine vinegar, cilantro and cook for 5 minutes. When most of your liquid has evaporated add the wasabi and strained curry. Cook for 15 minutes on low heat. Next, puree the mixture in food processor and set aside.
Basil edamame chutney
2 cups sweet basil leaves
3 Tbs. olive oil
2 thai red chiles, sliced
2 thai green chiles, sliced
1 Tbs. coriander seeds
1/2 cup shelled edamame
1 Tbs. tumeric
2 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
Wilt basil in a medium skillet for 3 minutes in oil on medium heat, then remove. Saute chiles in oil with coriander seeds. Add edamame, turmeric, vinegar, and wilted basil. Toss and remove from heat. Puree everything with just enough water to “move” the mixture in a food processor.
Garnish the samosa plate with Ginger Wasabi Curry Sauce and Basil Edamame Chutney, plus a splash of rooster sauce, wasabi and a pickled ginger rose.
Beverage: Yeti Special Ale sake bomb with Thai whisky chaser.
Soundtrack: Acid Mothers Temple’s Electric Heavyland