I was attracted to this recipe by the name. Evil Jungle Prince? What's so evil? And who was this prince of the jungle.
Turns out this recipe originated at a Thai restaurant in California. Hence it's sorta Thai. I could not find an explanation of how it came to be named.
I neglected to pick up Thai bird chilis and Thai basil during my Whole Foods visit so I had to use serranos and regular basil. I don't know how much this changed the flavor profile of the dish. For all I know I made Naughty Jungle Prince.
I'll definitely make it again soon with the proper ingredients. It was very fast to put together and the ingredients are easy to keep on hand.
Evil Jungle Prince
Recipe from Recipe Land
1/2 lb chicken breasts boneless, or 1/2 lb mixed vegetables
2-6 small red chili peppers
1/2 Stalk lemon grass
2 kaffir lime leaves
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon salt (I didn't use any salt because of the fish sauce)
1-4 tablespoons fish sauce (I used 3 tbs)
10-15 basil leaves
1 cup cabbage chopped
Thinly cut chicken into 2-inch strips. (If doing veggie version, cut vegetables into thin strips.) Grind together red chili peppers, lemon grass, and kaffir lime leaves in a food processor or pound in a mortar. Heat oil to medium-high and saute pepper mixture for 3 minutes.Stir in coconut milk and cook for 2 minutes.Add chicken (or vegetables) and cook for 5 minutes or until cooked. Reduce heat to medium-low.Stir in fish sauce, salt, and basil. Serve on a bed of chopped cabbage.
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7 comments:
I LOVE Evil Jungle Prince! The name almost as much as the food... ;)
I ran across this recipe (well, a slight variation of it) a couple of years ago when I had a pot of lemongrass growing and a reliable source for Kaffir lime leaves and I made it often. Thanks for the reminder to bring it out once more. Now, I just have to find those 2 ingredients in PA in the dead of winter.
~Vicci
Wow, this dish sounds heavenly. I have a frozen box of decent kaffir leaves that I have been trying to use up ... this sounds perfect. Thanks for the post ... I've never heard of this one.
Kristi, we tried this dish last night and it was incredible. So simple but with such flavor ... a definite keeper! I love recipes like these with minimal ingredients. Great post ... thanks for sharing! This will become one of our monthly dinner rotations for sure.
Glad you liked it! I'm making it again tonight as tomorrow I'm cooking a big dinner for friends and need something simple.
Evil Jungle Prince is actually a Lao dish, not Thai. The name Evil Jungle Prince is just a Western name that was loosely translated from the dish's traditional Lao name. The chef who was credited with making Evil Jungle Prince popular in the U.S. is actually a Lao chef from Laos who decided to serve the Lao dish at his Thai restaurants to give his customers more options besides Thai food so consequently his customers automatically assumed that Evil Jungle Prince was a Thai dish, but it's actually a Lao dish. The chef's name is Keo and he had an interview along time ago where he noted that Evil Jungle Prince is based on traditional Lao cooking. Evil Jungle Prince, as the dish is known in the U.S., is a common Lao stir-fry that originated in northern Laos. You will typically only find Evil Jungle Prince served at Lao restaurants, but also at Lao-owned Thai restaurants since the head chefs are usually Lao.
I had tried this dish at a Thai restaurant years ago and loved it -especially the name :> Your brief write-up is hilarious. Thank you.
Nothing like a blogger that does not do research. It was created in Hawaii, not California. By a very famous chef. Maybe you wanna look him up.
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