I had a dream the other night that me and an old friend of mine made peanut butter and frosting sandwiches. They were incredible. They were also in my dreams, so who knows what kind of lies my brain might have been feeding me. What do you guys think?
Let me introduce you to the most amazing Malaysian pizza you will ever eat. (If Iโm going to use such a blatant hyperbole, I have to throw in a qualifier like โMalaysian.โ Because sometimes nothing beats good olโ pepperoni and I donโt want you coming at me with pitchforks. But I guarantee you will never find a better Malaysian-inspired pizza.)
This really is one of my favorite pizza recipes though. It is spicy and Asian and I love it, even though Asian food and I are not always on the best of terms.
As I kneaded the dough for the crust (and by โkneadedโ I mean โflipped my Kitchenaid switch onโ) I was reminded of the classic family legend of The Dough Hook. My mom used to have a stand mixer straight from the 80s, with the classic spiral dough hooks. Just a convenient way to combine food, right? Wrong. Never underestimate the ingenuity/stupidity of adolescent boys, who are 85% hormones and 15% hair,* and who can turn most regular household items into implements of death.
I donโt remember the details, I just know that in the end one of my brotherโs friends threw the dough hook, intending to spear someone across the room. Fortunately he missed, and instead punctured the wall, where it quivered horizontally, knife-like. If thatโs not inspiration to buy a stand mixer/take javelin lessons, I donโt know what is. Those dough hooks could save your life someday.
Today Iโm listening to Anna (El Negro Zumbon) by Pink Martini. It is such a fun song!
Malaysian Chicken Pizza
Source: Cooking Light
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
cooking spray
1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces (about one breast)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat, reduced-sodium Swiss cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 12-inch pizza crust (I used my basic recipe and froze half of the dough.)1/4 cup chopped green onions
Preheat oven to 500ยฐ.
Combine first 8 ingredients (through garlic) in a bowl; stir well with a whisk.
Heat a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add chicken, and sautรฉ 2 minutes. Remove chicken from pan.
Pour rice vinegar mixture into pan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook mixture 6 minutes or until slightly thickened. (mine took longer than this. It should be boiling the whole time, so stick around and stir.) Return chicken to pan; cook 1 minute or until chicken is done. (Mixture will be consistency of thick syrup.)
Sprinkle cheeses over prepared crust**, leaving a 1/2-inch border, and top with chicken mixture. Bake at 500ยฐ for 9-12 minutes on bottom rack in oven. Sprinkle with green onions. Place pizza on a cutting board; let stand 5 minutes.
*You get 1,000 awesome points if you recognize this quote from the classic teenage novel Dating: No Guts, No Glory by Joni Hilton.
**Whenever I make pizza, I roll out the dough onto parchment paper, rub the whole thing with olive oil, and use a baking sheet to transfer the dough to the pizza stone (still on the paper). I let it cook in the heated oven for one minute, then I take it out (still on the paper) and proceed with my recipe. This helps the crust keep itโs shape. I started doing this after one too many perfect circles of dough that got destroyed en route to the pizza stone.
1. Clearly Iโm a little behind on my blog readingโฆ
2. I want to eat this so much I canโt even tell youโฆ
3. And related to the actual post. I donโt like peanut butter. Can you taste it or is it just to sort of tame the spices? Have you ever made it without?
You donโt like peanut butter? Hm, that does put a damper on our relationship. (Princess Bride? Anyone?) The peanut flavor is not overwhelming, especially since there are so many other strong flavors in the sauce (hello ginger), but then again I like peanut butter. If you make this do creamy peanut butter (Iโm assuming you donโt like peanuts?) If you canโt handle any at all then I would recommend adding some corn starch to your sauce to help it thicken up. Anywhere from 2-4 teaspoons Iโm guessing. If you try it let me know how it turns out!
Youโre about to like me even less; not only have I never finished The Princess Bride, I didnโt enjoy the parts I saw (o:
I do like peanut butter if Iโm in the mood. And Iโll get some peanut-flavored things at Thai places, so Iโm not against it. Iโm just wondering if the sauce is ruined if Iโm not in a peanuty mood. I donโt know why you wonโt just made a whole patch of non-peanut butter sauce to test so I donโt have to. And then give it to me (o:
Kidding (o:
But if I make it (I want to try with creamy and with corn starch), Iโll let you know! Iโm moving next month, so I donโt imagine Iโll be doing a lot of cooking until Iโm settled in my new house. If you decide March is going to be your โHighlight of Easy Recipes for Kristy to Use in Her New Life Without Roommates (who eat all the leftovers or food she made but ended up not liking)โ then I would be all over that!
This pizza was awesome!
85 % hormone, 15% hair. Thatโs awesome. I didnโt even remember that quote and I loved that book. Did you check out the bookโs cover when you linked to it? Hello, 80โs. I think the guys were 20% hair back then. lol
I searched specifically for a copy with that book cover because it is the best book cover ever made. The more recent edition has a snappy new cover and the guy on it doesnโt look anywhere near 20% hair, or even 15%. Itโs a real shame.
The story is so much better than that Karen. Dave wasnโt trying to throw it. He was trying to wave away the smell of a fart when the hook slipped out of his hand and stuck in the wall.
whaaaaat??? How do I not know the best part of that story??? Of course there had to have been farting involved. I should change that percentage to say 80% hormones, 15% hair, 5% maliferous odors.