Mum’s version of a Chicken Fricassee (affectionately known as Chicken Custard) is delicious and simple. In Bangkok, it was slightly more difficult because of the ingredients, but I persevered and was rewarded.
It’s essentially a combination of cheese, cream, chicken and asparagus over rice, topped with paprika. The challenges I faced were in the purchase of cheese (where regular old “tasty” cheese can fetch as high as AU$30/kilo … I eventually found Coon Shredded Tasty in a 250g bag for AU$6.50 at Carrefour) and the asparagus, because I was too lazy to want to use real asparagus. In the end I found tinned asparagus (white only, no green was available anywhere) after scouring four (count them … “four”) supermarkets. There were two tins that needed opening, and without THE BIG KITCHEN KNIFE, perhaps I would never have succeeded. Note to self: buy a can opener.
Also worth noting is that having rice pre-cooked can help, if your only “saucepan” available is a rice cooker. You may need to wash the rice cooker first, which is always and annoying chore, but rest assured that the dish does come together brilliantly in a rice cooker.
How did it compare? Well, I thought mine was cheesier, so I could’ve probably used less cheese, but I like cheese so it wasn’t like I was disappointed or anything.
What did Mint think? She was … curious. Not curious enough to eat a portion, but curious enough to taste (there was no gagging) and generally pop-up around offering (unsolicited) advice on whether the chicken was cooked enough yet.
I have leftovers for the next time I feel homesick and/or hungry, although it’s definately the unhealthiest thing I have eaten in months. There’s a small carton of cream and 250g of cheese in there, people.
Today I hope to have the calendar back. Sorry for the delay.