Coconut Curry Seafood Stew

This is a delicious coconut curry seafood stew with a lot of ingredients common in Vietnamese and Thai cooking.

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons grated ginger
2 tablespoons pureed lemon grass
2 tablespoons curry powder
6 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon tamarind soup base  (or 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice at the very end)
2 (13.5 ounce) cans coconut milk
1 teaspoon chili oil
1 pound medium peeled and deveined shrimp
1 pound hardshell clams
8 ounces mussels
8 ounces halibut (cut into 1x1 inch pieces) or fresh Alaska king crab meat
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
cooked jasmine rice about 4-6 cups
Siracha Chili paste (optional to add heat)

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oil in large pot over medium heat.  Cook and stir in ginger, lemongrass, and curry powder in oil for 1 minute.  Pour in chicken broth over mixture and stir continually to incorporate irall ingredients.  Stir in fish sauce and brown sugar; simmer for 15 minutes.  Stir in tamarind soup base and coconut milk.  Add shrimp, clams, mussels and halibut and cook till no longer translucent about 5-8 minutes.  Serve in a bowl with 1/2 cup of rice and garnish with cilantro.

Vietnamese Chicken Salad. Gio Ga.

1 large chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1 lb bag of fresh cole slaw
1/2 bunch of cilantro chopped
8-10 basil or mint leaves, julienne... optional.
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced and soaked in cold water.

fresh lime juice.

Dressing:
1/2 C Vinegar
2 T Oil
1/4 C sugar
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper

Make dressing first. Mix all ingredient in a large jar. Shake well. Drain onions. Place sliced onions in jar with vinegrette. Shake again. Let onion marinade for at least 5 minutes.

Combine first four ingredients in a large bowl. Add marinated onions. Add vinegrette. Toss well. Squeeze 1-2 lime wedges over salad. Serves 4.