Super 88 foodcourt - A smorgasbord of Asian cuisine

Crispy Basil Chicken

Super 88 is one of the local Asian Supermarkets (there's several other smaller markets around) to Allston. They have a pretty good selection of Asian sauces, vegetables, and snacks, among many other things. There's a large seafood section where you can get fresh (read: alive :P) fish or not as fresh (read: not alive) fish on ice. You choose a fish, tell the fishmonger, and he'll gut it, scale it, and if you want, remove the head and the tail as well. They also have a decent selection of meats, though I think the seafood section might actually be bigger but they have a coarse grinder for their meat, which is the way I like it. And I can't forget the fresh noodles that are stocked as well.

But one of the unique things about this Super 88 is that there's a food court, called the Super 88 Connection. There are about 8 (I might be forgetting one) places to get a freshly cooked meal, spanning Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Chinese, and Indian food. There's also a bubble tea stand, Lollicup that has a wide variety of sweet drinks.

Anyway, on this particular occasion, a few friends and I decided to stage a family-style lunch, that is, we all order something different and share. Ended up with quite a variety of food from four of the different restaurants...the basil chicken is shown above. All in all quite delicious, two of my favorite dishes to get at Super 88 are shown, see if you can guess which one! ;)

Basil Squid:

Vegetable Tikka Masala:

Lemongrass Pork:

Pork Kimchi:

Mini Potluck Weekend Cooking

I don't think I've had a lazier weekend yet this year. Spent roughly 14 hours of both days sleeping but I feel great because of it. Must've needed it.

Anyway, ended up going to Super 88 (no pics, boo!) with Linh to grab lunch and groceries and she put forth an idea that we could do a mini-potluck and invite a couple other friends. So Jason and Zac ended up over for dinner and some hearty Rock Band.

I've never noticed this in the Asian grocery stores but the meats are soooooo much cheaper than in the regular grocery stores. I mean, the quality (Not too sure on that word anyway based on some of the news that's been coming out of the meat industry) doesn't seem all that different and you get better cuts, not to mention all the special bits you'd never find at a Stop & Shop :)

And Super 88 has such awesome lunch selections. Stuffed myself with some Crispy Basil Chicken from Wisteria and a Japche Tukboki from Misono Wok. Forgot to pick up a Vietnamese Sandwich but I doubt I needed it at that point.

So I've actually got two recipes today, one courtesy of Linh. Pictures are at the end.

Thit Kho (Vietnamese Pork Stew)

Ingredients
1 lb Pork (Sliced, any type you want)
1/4 Medium Yellow Onion
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Crushed Black Pepper
2 tbsp Caramelized sugar
2-3 tbsp Fish Sauce

Method
1. Throw all of the ingredients into a stew pot, mix together well
2. Add water to the same level as the pork
3. Cook on high heat and bring to a boil.
4. Simmer on medium for 20 minutes
5. Taste frequently (add more seasoning if needed), should be a salty sauce with sweet pork.

Thai Chicken with Basil - Kao Pad Krapao

Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3-4 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Thai chili peppers (Bird chillies)
8 - 16 oz Chicken Breasts/Thighs
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp chopped shallots
1/3 cup thai basil
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Optional:
1 small red bell pepper
1 small yellow onion
Cold cooked rice (for a fried rice-like meal)

Method
1. In a wok or large frying pan, add oil and stir-fry the garlic under medium-high heat.
2. When the garlic sizzles and turns golden, add chillies and chicken.
3. When the chicken is lightly browned, add the vegetables (probably after about a minute)
4. Mix in the sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce and rice (optional).
5. Add shallots, basil leaves and cilantro. Cook about another minute or so, then serve.

Here's the picture. The Thit Kho is on the left, and the Basil Chicken on the bottom right. Linh made some string beans as well to add a little healthiness to the whole meal. I ended up using too much chili peppers and Jason wasn't able to handle it too well. But it still was tasty! :)