Dennis Chan's Hip Asian Comfort Food, part 2

Chef Dennis Chan watches over foodies more accustomed to eating, photographing and reporting than cooking.

Last week, I shared the first part of Chef Dennis Chan's do-some-of-it-yourself dinner for food writers. Now it's on to the main dish and dessert.

Dennis, owner of Blue Bamboo Restaurant in Jacksonville, FL, and author of Hip Asian Comfort Food, showed everyone how much fun cooking his way could be.

Sophie stirs while her mother, Belinda Hulin Crissman, holds.

Thai Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry was so easy even a child could do it; Sophie, daughter of food writer ( Roux Memories, A Cajun-Creole Love Story with Recipes) Belinda Hulin, did.

Here's the recipe.

Thai Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry

 Makes three generous servings, four or five if one of a multi-course Asian-style dinner).

2 TBS. oil
8 (that is not a typo!) cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 lb. chicken breast, sliced
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup onions, sliced
1/2 cup green onion, sliced
1 Thai chili pepper, sliced (the seeds are where the hot is so add accordingly)
1 TBS. dark soy sauce
2 TBS fish sauce
2 TBS. rice vinegar
2 TBS. sugar
1/3 cup slivered fresh ginger
Thai basil for garnish

Complete measuring, slicing, slivering and crushing.

Heat wok. Add oil, swirl to coat pan. Saute garlic. Add chicken and saute for about one minute. Add mushrooms and saute for another minute.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir until all are completely cooked.

Serve over steamed rice and garnish with basil.

We had two desserts; this was the most popular and featured the most unique serving style.

Kaya Creme Toasts (Egg or Coconut Jam)

Serves six

3 cups heavy cream
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
9 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 TBS. vanilla
toast rounds or crackers for serving

Pour heavy cream and coconut milk into a saucepan. Sprinkle 3/4 cup sugar onto cream and bring to a boil.

Combine remaining sugar with egg and yolks. Slowly drizzle in hot cream mixture. Add vanilla, mix gently and pour into small ramekins.

Bake at about 350 degrees (F) in a water bath for approximately one hour. Creme will jiggle slightly when ready.

Spread on toast/crackers to eat.

(It's perfectly good bruleed or just eaten as a creme but the crackers will give you and your guests a new taste treat.)

Dennis Chan's Hip Asian Comfort Food

Chef Dennis Chan, the culinary creator of Blue Bamboo restaurant in Jacksonville, FL., and the book, Hip Asian Comfort Food, rarely does the expected.

Chef Dennis Chan whisks up some cotton candy for cocktails.

So when he invited a group of food writers and bloggers by for a tasting, Chef Dennis began with a new drink, his classic Cucumber-Lime Saktail with a twist, vodka instead of sake and cotton candy (!) instead of simple syrup. This Kicked-Up martini was surprising and surprisingly good.

We soak, fill and fold.

Little did we know we'd be preparing some of our meal, beginning with Fresh Unfried Spring Rolls with Vietnamese Peanut-Hoisin Dipping Sauce that could make shoe leather edible. Fill and fold was simple enough and the next course, Seoulful Edamame, was already put together. Good thing because we were soon too busy eating to even think about cooking.

Here are the recipes for the Kicked-Up Martini and Seoulful Edamame.

Kicked-Up Martini

1 serving

1 lime wedge
1 cucumber wedge
1/4 oz. simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar by volume boiled until syrup forms)
2 oz. vodka or sake
Begin by filling a glass with cotton candy.
Muddle lime and cucumber in bottom of a shaker. Add ice, vodka and syrup and shake well. Pour over cotton candy in a chilled glass and garnish with a lime wedge.

Stir. Cotton candy will dissolve.

Seoulful Edamame

Water for boiling
1 lb. frozen edamame, shell on.
Salt for seasoning
Seasame seeeds for garnishing

Korean Seoul BBQ Sauce
2TBS. Korean fermented hot pepper paste
 3 TBS. sugar
2 TBS. soy sauce
1 tsp. rice wine vinegar
2 tsp. sesame oil

Whisk all ingredients for BBQ sauce. It comes out spicy so you might want to add the hot pepper paste a tablespoon at a time. Can be made a few days ahead and stored covered in the refrigerator.

Boil edamame until tender. Toss in salt then sauce. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve while warm.