Kung Pao Chicken 宫保鸡丁

This Kung Pao Chicken 宫保鸡丁was taught to me by my mom, and I really enjoyed it. Somehow, I couldn't find it in my old blog, which shows how long it's been since I've made it. Here it is, documented for future reference.

What you need:

1400g chicken thigh

1 egg white

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp oil

20 dried chilli, clean with a dry cloth and cut into small to remove seeds

5 slices of young ginger

2 cloves garlic, sliced

2 stalk spring onion, cut into inches

½ tsp red peppercorn

Gravy

1½ tbsp water

1½ tbsp sugar

1½ tbsp wine

3/4 tbsp black soy sauce

½ tbsp sesame oil

½ tbsp light soy sauce

1½ tbsp black vinegar

3/4 tbsp corn starch

Method:

Remove bones and cut to cubes.  

Marinate egg white.  Mix well.

Then add soy sauce and cornstarch, mix well.

Mix in oil and let it chill for min ½ hour.

Heat enough oil in the wok and put in the seasoned chicken.  Stir for 2 min and remove, leaving about 3 tbsp oil in the pan.

Put in the dried chilli and fry till dark.  

Next add red peppercorn, ginger, garlic and fry till aromatic.  

Put in the chicken and stir to mix.

Stir in the gravy mixture and stir until gravy is thickened.

Enjoy!

Thai spiced chicken with rosti

Trying to clear off the potatoes so today we have Thai spiced chicken with rosti for dinner.

The only time-consuming part is grating the potatoes, the rest is easy as you can marinate the chicken the night before.  

The rosti can also be served with an egg with ham as a meal.

So a rather versatile recipe

What you need:

600g chicken breast fillet, cut into strips

1 tbsp lemon grass, remove the outer layer and only want the young part, chopped

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp salt

1½ tbsp oil

2 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

2 tsp sweet chilli sauce

2 spring onion, chopped

1 tsp pepper

1 lime, cut into 6 wedges

Rosti

600g potatoes

3 tbsp plain flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp salt

Method:

Remove excess fats and sinew from the chicken.  Mix in lemongrass, lime juice, salt, pepper, oil, garlic, ginger, sweet chilli sauce and spring onion.  Mix well, cling wrap and chill overnight.

Grate the potatoes, and squeeze out as much water as possible.  Mix with the plain flour and egg.  Season with salt.

Divide into 6 portions.  

On a hot, lightly oiled pan, cook for 10 mins on each side or until golden.  Flatten with a spatula so that you can achieve a more crispy texture.

Drain the chicken and reserve the marinade. 

Add some oil to the pan and cook the chicken for 3 mins on each side or until golden brown.  Brush with the reserved marinade while cooking.

Serve with rosti and a squeeze of lime juice.

Enjoy!

Fried Tumeric chicken

This Fried Tumeric Chicken is a classic item for Nasi Lemak.   Long ago, I was taught to make this but since I did not document it down.  My memory failed me and I did not get the right taste for it.

So today I shall jot it down.  

What you need:

chicken leg

turmeric powder

salt

Method:

Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients.  Chill overnight.

Fried until golden.

Enjoy!

Parmagina Chicken

Since my son loves Italian food, for this 26th celebration, I had an Italian theme.

One of them is Chicken Parmiginana which is my first attempt.  It is really easy to put together and I am pleased that I got good feedback from my sister-in-law who is a very good cook. 

Learning: This dish is very easy to put together.  I prepared the sauce the day ahead as well as the marination of the chicken.  

The coating and frying only take a few mins and can be done early and set aside till you are ready to put it into the oven to finish up.

Overall, the chicken came out flavourful and juicy.  Next round, I should brown the cheese top a little more with a blow torch

Adapted Here and here

What you need:

Sauce:

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can crushed tomatoes

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

1 tbsp fresh basil

Method:

Place a medium saucepan over medium heat and add olive oil. Add chopped onion and saute until soft (5 minutes), then stir in garlic for 1 minute until fragrant.

Add crushed tomatoes, oregano, salt, and pepper.  Break the crushed tomatoes further.

Simmer partially covered for 15 minutes.

Stir in chopped fresh basil and remove from heat.

Chicken:

3 large eggs

1½ tsp garlic, minced 

3 tbsp parsley, chopped (I omitted)

Salt and pepper to season

4.5 large chicken breasts halved horizontally to make 6 fillets

1½ cup Panko breadcrumbs

¼ cup breadcrumbs (with added Italian herbs)

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

1½ tsp garlic or onion powder

¼ cup olive oil for frying

Method:

The Chicken:

Slice the chicken thigh into half.

Whisk eggs, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. 

Add chicken into the egg, rotating to evenly coat each fillet in the mixture. Cover and marinate overnight.

Preheat oven to 220°C. Lightly grease a baking dish with cooking oil.  Set aside.

When chicken is ready for cooking, mix bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and garlic powder together in a separate shallow bowl. 

Dip chicken into the breadcrumb mixture to evenly coat.

Just before cooking in a pan, do another round with the remaining crumbs.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot and shimmering. Fry chicken until golden and crispy, (about 3 mins each side).

Place chicken on the baking dish and top each breast with sauce. 

Top each chicken breast with 2-3 slices of mozzarella cheese and about 2 tbsp of parmesan cheese. 

Sprinkle with basil or parsley. (I forgot to)

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling and melted, and the chicken is completely cooked through.

Enjoy!

Spicy Tomato Chicken

Of late, we have been eating lots of spicy food.  The reason was to entice the son to eat more.  Also, the helper is not good at cooking Chinese food, so while we were away, this will ensure son to eat at home.

This Spicy Tomato Chicken turned out good.

With a little adjustment, I feel the rempah can be used for Nasi Lemak as well.  

Enjoy!

Honey Baked Chicken Mid Joint

My kids love Har Cheong Mid Joint but I am getting tired of cooking the same old style over and over again.  So this round, let's have some Honey Baked Chicken Mid Joint instead.

Good that it did not disappoint.

What you need:

1 kg chicken mid joint

2 tbsp oil

3 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp salt

A few dashes of black pepper

6 tbsp cornstarch

Honey garlic sauce

4 tbsp unsalted butter

4 tbsp minced garlic

½ cup honey

4 tbsp soy sauce, low salt

Method:

Wash and drain dry the chicken, in a bag, combine chicken mid joint, oil, garlic powder, salt and black pepper.  Seal the bag and massage the wings thoroughly.  Chilled.

Once ready to cook, coat with the cornstarch.

Arrange on the air fryer.  13 mins, turn at halfway mark. 180℃ AF.

Once the chicken is all fully cooked.   Prepare the sauce.

In a non-stick big pot, melt butter and add in the garlic and saute until fragrant. About 20 sec.

Add in the honey and soy sauce and let it simmer while stirring for 3 mins.  Once it thickens, add in the chicken mid joint and cover with the lid.  Toss a few times to ensure all wings are coated.

Transfer to serving dish and toss some toasted white sesame seeds (I have forgotten).

Enjoy!

Ninja Grill Chicken

I was told that Ninja Grill produces juicy roast chicken, got to give this a try.  Here is my Ninja Grill Chicken that I just cook by feeling.

  

What you need

1 chicken

Garlic powder

Salt

Pepper

cooked quinoa 

cooked chestnut

Butter

Rosemary

Thymes

Method:

Rub garlic powder, salt and pepper onto a clean and drain chicken.  Let the marination work for 2 hours.

In a wok, melt the butter and add in the mushroom.  Saute until mushroom is soft.

Add in Insert the quinoa and chestnut.

Season lightly and let the stuffing cool down.

Stuff into the chicken cavity and sew up the hole with kitchen twine.

Bind the feet.

Preheat grill to 180℃.  (air crisp).  Time: 45 mins - 60 mins (depending on the size of the chicken)

Lower the chicken into the bowl, breast side down.

30 mins into baking, turn the chicken half way through.  Insert a skewer into the breast to see doneness.

Enjoy!

Air fried Five Spice Chicken 烤五香雞

During a small pocket of time, while checking on FB, this Roast Five Spice Chicken 烤五香雞 captivated me.  Am glad that I marinate this overnight as the flavour is more in dept.

Ever since I discovered these tiny chicken, I am getting the hang of handling whole chicken.  In fact, I am loving it because it is still juicy.

Now that I butterfly the chicken, it is so fast to cook. 

Adapted

What you need:

2 small chicken, wash and drain.  Remove the butt.
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp five spice powder
1 tbsp light soy sauce (as my soy sauce is rather dark)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sesame oil 

Method: 

Using a scissor, butterfly cut the chicken.  Starts from the breast. 

In a bowl, combine all the marinate and mix well.

Rub well into the chicken. Let it chill overnight in the fridge. 

Preheat air fryer to 180⁰C for 3 mins.
 
Roast for 10 mins for each chicken. 

Baste the marinate once during the roasting.


Brush a thin layer of sesame oil once out of the oven.

Enjoy!

Salt and pepper chicken wings 椒盐鸡翅

My kids always ask for Shrimp Paste Chicken but I am getting bored cooking the same old style again.  So this time round, I decided to try Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings 椒盐鸡翅.

It is also my first time using sweet potato starch as coating and because of that, I also deep fried rather than the usual air fried.  The reason being that I did not want my chicken to come out looking pale.  

Findings: The coating is surprising light and crispy.  For this recipe, definitely need to be heavy handed in salt and pepper.  Best to marinate overnight.


Enjoy!

Char Siew (4) (Instant pot)

Circuit Breaker Day 42

Though I had tried some awesome Char Siew Recipes and recorded in this blog nevertheless, I still want to experiment with others.

I am attempting yet another Char Siew recipe but I changed the cooking method to use the instant pot instead.

These days, I am having a problem if I am on my feet for too long.  I need to find ways to cut short my time in the kitchen and I am beginning to love this method of cooking.

This Char Siew (4) (Instant Pot) is good!

Adapted from here and here

Learning experience: 

The choice is yours, if you prefer more fatty meat, opt for that.  Since my family is not a fan of fatty meat, we actually had a leaner one.  But making a good char siew, you might want to consider more fats than ours.

Give yourself more time on the marination.  I personally feel that the longer I marinate the meat, the nicer it becomes.  So I chilled the meat overnight.

What you need:

1 kg pork with fats, cut into a long strip.  (I got the butcher to do it for me and also he was the one to choose the cuts for this recipe).

6 shallots, remove skin and stem

6 garlic, remove skin

40g sugar

10g honey

10g Chinese wine

20g oyster sauce

30g light soy sauce

5g dark soy sauce

¼ tsp white pepper powder

Syrup
1 tbsp honey

½ tbsp hot water

Method:

Add garlic and shallot into TM bowl.  Blitz for 6s/Sp10.  Remove.

Using a ricer, extract the juice.

Add into the pork and the rest of the seasonings. 

Chill meat overnight. 

Put the pork including the marinade into the inner pot of Instant Pot.

Cover and turn the steam release handle to the “sealing” position.

Press the “stew” button and set 20 mins. Let it run "natural release" for 10 minutes.

Quick-release.  When the flat valve fully in rested position, open the cover and take out the pork. Reserve the sauce for dipping.

Mix honey and water well. Set aside.

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Pan-fry the char siew pork until both sides are lightly brown. Brush syrup on the surfaces.

Slice and serve.

Enjoy!

Cold Chicken Salad

Saw this video on Instagram and since it is in Japanese, I have to guess my way to create it.

This Cold Chicken Salad is simply delish on this hot weather.  Good enough for lunch or dinner.

After attempting it, I think this can be an easy dish to bring to a party.

What you need:

2 Chicken Thigh or chicken breast
½ tsp salt
2 Japanese cucumber (I only have Malaysian cucumber on hand)
Cherry Tomatoes
1 spring Spring onion
1 tbsp mirin

Seasoning
½ tsp sugar
½ tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp white pepper
½ tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp toasted white sesame

Method:

Cut the spring onion, leaving the stalk for the seasoning.

Season chicken with salt, place the spring onion on the chicken and steam until cooked.

To prepare the seasoning:

Dice finely the spring onion stalk.

Combine the rest of the seasoning together.

Once the chicken is cooked, removed 3 tbsp of the juice and add into the seasoning.

Shred the chicken up and place it back into the remaining juice.

Cut cucumber the into wedges and slice tomatoes into half.  Arrange on serving plate.

Place shredded chicken on top.

Drizzle in the seasoning.

Serve






Enjoy!

Grilled Turkish Chicken

Actually, I have gotten pretty good feedback for this Grilled Turkish Chicken.  Since I did not really get to eat this kebab during the party, I make another batch for our dinner.

This time around, I also do away with the skewer as I am not grilling them over the BBQ stove but in the oven instead.

This recipe will be my to go to in the future.

Adapted

What you need:

1kg chicken thigh
65g yoghurt

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp ketchup

3 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp salt

1 tsp black pepper powder

1 tbsp chilli powder

1½ tsp cumin powder

⅛ tsp cinnamon

Method:

Cut chicken into cubes.

In a plastic bag, combine all the seasoning and mix well.

Add in chicken and rub it into the marinate.  Chill overnight.

Skewer it with a combination of colourful peppers, onions and pineapple.

Grill to doneness.

Enjoy!

Crispy Shrimp Paste Chicken Wing (脆皮虾酱鸡翅)

During a recent eat out, we did not have good experience for my kids' favourite 虾酱鸡.  The dish served was pathetic, for S$6.80, we got 4 tiny pieces of greasy and cold chicken wings!  I can tell right away that it is a reheated dish.

So decided to serve this at home and let them eat till heart's content.

Usually, I will just marinate with my golden rule of 1kg wings to 1 heap tbsp shrimp paste.  I did not bother to coat it with flour as this dish will be eaten up before even it gets cold.

Anyway, today I shall try making it as Crispy Shrimp Paste Chicken Wing  (脆皮虾酱鸡翅).

Learning experience: 

I did not find any difference by adding in additional shrimp paste.

I believe the trick is to marinate it longer rather than adding more condiments.

Perhaps next time, I shall try to deep-fry it rather than air bake them which is now my favourite cooking method for this dish.

What you need:

1 kg chicken wings
2 tbsp shrimp paste

1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp cornflour

Plain flour  (coating)

Method:

In a bag, add in shrimp paste, sesame oil and cornflour.  Rub thoroughly.

Add in chicken wings and rub the sauces with the wings.  Seal and chill overnight.

Brush a layer of oil on the wings before air-frying.

Bake at 170°C for 6 mins and turn for another 6 mins or until golden.

Enjoy!

Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup (Samgyetang:삼계탕)

The 2 trips to Korea, I always enjoyed the Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup (Samgyetang:삼계탕).  The first time, it was by the tour company's recommendation and the 2nd was lead by our friend, K.  Accordingly to hub, he said that one was the best and it is really good.

Unfortunately, during a recent trip, I tasted a really lousy one along Myeong-dong.  Well, I guess you can never find quality food along a tourist zone.

Dissatisfied and happened to have some dried Korean Ginseng on hand.  I went on to buy a kampong chicken to prepare this at home.

Source

What you need:

1 kampong chicken

2 korean ginseng

½ cup short grain rice, rinsed and soaked.

2 red dates

4 cloves garlic

1 litre water

Dipping sauce

3 tbsp soya sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp sugar

chilli (optional)

Diced onion

toasted white sesame

Method:

Remove innard and rinse chicken well.  Cut off the neck, butt and feets.

Insert some rice, 2 garlic 1 red date and ginseng, continue this sequence until all ingredient used up.

Add chicken and water in a slow crockpot and let it cook on high for 4 hours.

Heat up a porcelain bowl and add in the chicken and the broth.

Sprinkle with chopped spring onion and serve piping hot with dipping sauce.

Enjoy!

Sichuan Chicken Wing (Air fried)

Shrimp Paste Chicken Wing is a hot favourite for the family.  They love this dish so much that they never failed not to order them whenever we dine out.  Frankly speaking, I got tired of cooking and eating it.

So decided to try out something new.  Hopefully they will be able to know that besides Shrimp Paste Chicken Wing, there are other option in life.

Today, I shall have Sichuan Chicken Wing (Air fried) for a change.

What you need:

1 kg of mid joint chicken

1 tsp five spice powder

2 tbsp oil

1.5 tbsp fresh ginger juice

2 tsp sichuan peppercorns, grind to powder

4 tbsp light soy sauce

Salt (to taste)

Method:

Rinsed chicken.  Drain.

Mix all ingredients with the chicken and let it sit chilled for overnight.

Preheat oven to 180°C and grill chicken for 7 mins and turn over for another 7 mins.  (This was done by air fryer)

Enjoy!

Ayam Sio

There is this nice lady that shared her Ayam Sio recipe and I quickly jotted it down so that I can cooked for my family today.

Thanks Esme Lim for sharing this great recipe.

Findings: I omitted the frying part as I was running out of time.   Besides, a little saltier than our usual, this dish is super delicious.  It goes really well with rice.  

Definitely a keeper!

What you need:

5 boneless chicken thigh

25 shallots

5 tbsp ketumbar (coriander seeds)

3 tbsp preserved salted yellow bean (taucheo)

5 tbsp dark soya sauce

1 tbsp vinegar

4 tsp white pepper

¾ packet of tamarind pulp

700ml water

7 tbsp brown sugar

2½ tsp salt (will reduce this to 1½ tsp) 

Method:

Wash chicken parts and drain dry.

Rinse coriander seeds.  Drain dry completely before toasting in the wok.  Keep stirring over low heat for 1 min.  Pound while it is still hot until fine.  Set aside.

Soak tamarind in 700ml water for 20 mins.  Squeeze and sieve pulp.  Set aside.

Pound shallots until fine. 

Mash the bean with vinegar. 

In a big bowl, pour in tamarind juice, sugar, salt, pepper, shallots, coriander powder, mashed beans and mix well.

Put in the chickens and marinate it for 5 hours.

Transfer to wok, cover and let it simmer over med heat.  Turn once or twice to ensure it is fully cooked (about 20 mins).

Remove chicken from wok and continue to simmer the gravy for another 3 mins, uncovered.  Set aside.

In a clean wok, heat oil and grill the chicken meat until golden brown and fragrant over low heat.  (about 10 mins).  Remove and set aside to cool.

Once cooled, cut into bite size and pour gravy over.

Garnish with cucumbers or tomatoes.


Enjoy!

Black Pepper Chicken (Thermomix)

Am trying to tidy up my kitchen and thus been eating out almost everyday.  As you age, you tend to have less energy to multi task.  Since my girl is joining us for dinner, which is a rare occasion now, I wanted to provide home cook meal for her.

After trying Black Pepper Chicken at a demo, I decided to attempt it at home as I feel that the taste can be enhanced further with some marination before hand.

Guess this will be a good alternative method without clean up much.

What you need:

600g chicken parts 
1.5 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tsbp oyster sauce
2 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tbsp sesame oil

20g black peppercorns
10g rock sugar

2 tsp cornflour with a little water
60g yellow onions, cut into slices

Method:

Marinate chicken with soya sauce, dark soya sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and shao xing wine.  Set aside.

Rinsed black peppercorns and dry it, then put it into the Thermomix vessel, toast at 3 min 30 sec, Varoma and speed 1

Add in rock sugar and grind at turbo for 2 sec 4 times

Add in chicken and marination, cook for 12 mins Varoma at reverse mode speed 1.  

Mix corn flour with a little bowl.

Add in sliced onion and corn flour mixture, cook 3 mins at Varoma, reverse speed 1

Serve hot with Jasmine rice.


Enjoy!

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken

Son invited some of his school mate over for a count down.  As I didn't want to fuss the whole day in the kitchen, having Grilled Teriyaki Chicken will be the best option.

This recipe is extremely easy and it takes minimal effort to feed a bunch of young adults and leaves you plenty of time to do other stuff.

What you need:

9 chicken leg, deboned

½ - ¾ cup teriyaki sauce (depending on the size of your chicken)

½ tsp pepper

Root vegetable of your choice

Bell pepper

Method:

Clean chicken and let it drain.

Mix pepper into teriyaki sauce.

Pour into a bag and add in the chicken.

Give it a good rub, making sure your seal the bag properly.

Let it marinate over night.

Heat up a pan and with skin side down, brown the skin until golden.

Give the glass dish a rub with oil.

Place your root vegetable at the bottom and the chicken on top.

Drizzle some olive oil if you desired but I did not.

Bake at 180°C for 20 mins and add in the bell pepper for the next 10 mins.

Bake till the chicken is cook when you have no problem piercing the skewer through the thickest part of the chicken.

Remove and drain off the juices.

Thicken the juice with flour solution and some beer to act as gravy.

Cheers to 2017!

Long John Silver Copycat

When I was young, I love going to Long John Silver much more than Mac.  It is that crispy texture that I love.  Also found the taste unique.  

After that, I found the quality of the fish as well as the prawns dropped.  The serving quantity also became pathetic.  

Today, I suddenly craved for that and since I needed to clear off the chicken and some fish in my fridge, I shall cook Long John Silver Chicken and Fish Copycat for dinner.

I guess I have enough of fried food for now.  

What you need:

500g chicken breast, cut into thick strip
1 tsp salt
2 tsp garlic
½ tsp pepper

400g fish fillet, cut into block
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Batter

200g plain flour
4 tbsp cornstarch
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
3 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
¾ tsp onion powder
¾ tsp garlic powder
330ml water

Method:

Marinate meat according to the above seasoning.  Let it chill for 1 - 2 hours.

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add water slowly and stir until batter formed.  If you prefer lighter texture, add a little more water.

Heat oil. (when you put your chopstick in the middle, bubble forms and that shows oil is ready)  

Dip fish or chicken in batter to coat completely.

Deep fry until golden brown on both sides.

Drain off oil.

Serve.

Note: the remaining batter, you can drizzle into oil to form crumbs.

Enjoy!

Black Pepper Chicken

My kiddos enjoy black pepper sauce alot.  Even ever we dined western, they will always request for either black pepper chicken or black pepper beef.

When my hub's friend gave me some good quality black pepper, I am already thinking we shall have Black Pepper Chicken.

I don't like too complicated recipes and this one really suits my chop chop quick quick dinner for the family.

Just add sauce and let it marinate overnight.

Bingo, you have an easy and quick to whip up dinner for the family.  Either pair it with potato or with rice.  Either way, still enjoyable.

Recipe will follow as today I am really tired from some charity work.