Stir Fry Pasta with Chicken, Shrimps and Greens

Mixed seafood in Seafood Mui Fan; seafood in Braised Seafood Soba Noodles; chicken and shrimps in Wat Dan Hor - Rice Noodles with Egg Gravy - I shall make the "chicken and/or seafood" one-dish repertoire more complete by including a Stir-Fry Pasta dish! Cos' I just love this rhythmical lingo - Chicken, Shrimps and Greens !

Steamed chicken - two easy recipes

Foil-steaming is what I turn to when I am really lazy, especially when it comes to poultry. But I thought foil-steaming follows similar concept as roasting/baking in an oven ? No heating a pan of oil, no sauteing different ingredients at different stages, no standing near the stove to "eyeball" the cooking, no washing of greasy pan - sounds almost like idiot cooking. You only need to assemble, seal and cook (steam) - sounds even more like idiot cooking. Other than steamed meat cake, I do it many ways with chicken too.

Steamed Chicken with Mushrooms, Ginger and Green Onions
Ingredients: 6-8 chicken wings (note:chose smaller pieces of chicken so that it takes shorter time to cook), 1tbsp soy sauce, 1tsp brown sugar, 2tsp oyster sauce, 1tbsp rice wine, 1tsp sesame oil, some pepper, mushrooms, strips of ginger and green onion

Steamed Chicken with Carrots and Onions
Ingredients: 8 drumlets (note:chose smaller pieces of chicken so that it takes shorter time to cook), 1tbsp soy sauce, 1tsp brown sugar, 2tsp oyster sauce, 1tbsp rice wine, 1tsp sesame oil, some pepper, 1tbsp coke(optional), carrots and onions (note: they will sweeten the entire dish when cooked)

See how the carrots and onions turn sweet and soft after steaming

For these two dishes, basically what you need to do is assemble then steam for about 15-20 mins (depending on size and amount of chicken used)

Don't even need to wash a plate or greasy wok/pan for your cooking.

Tag: steaming, chicken

Three Cup Chicken, or Vegetarian's Three-Cup Mushrooms

Two cups? What cups? A cup, B, C...F or G cup for Gargantuan? :P How about three cups in equal sizes? Heeee.....

Hey you, I am talking about Three-Cup Chicken (三杯鸡 San Bei Ji). And it is NOT Three Cups of Chicken, either. This is another really simple yet robust dish, making use of easy available seasonings and....tapping on the aroma of fresh basil!

Simple. First, you need chicken (wings or other parts, fresh or frozen - up to you). Not Three Cups of chicken BUT the essentials THREE CUPS - each of equal amt. dark soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil - hence the name Three-Cup Chicken.

This dish is popular in Taiwan and so I had a go at it when I was in Taiwan. I've seen it demonstrated in some Taiwan cooking programmes but here, I have it tailored to more "homemade" cooking. Sure, use a claypot at the final stage if you wish. I don't have a claypot then, so made do without it. If you are vegetarian, you can try have a go at Three-Cup Mushrooms - easily another flavor- and fragrance- bombed dish.


Three Cup Chicken
Ingredients:
Chicken wings(I use frozen and had it thawed), garlic, ginger, green onions, slice red chili (de-seed if you don't want too spicy), fresh basil

Seasoning: Proportion of sesame oil and dark soy sauce and cooking (rice) wine should be equal.

Directions:
1. Heat up sesame oil in wok or pan
2. Add ginger to fry in sesame oil till it exudes aroma
3. Add chicken wings (that's what I use - frozen chicken wings that have been thawed), sear the chicken to brown on all sides
4. Add minced garlic, followed by dark soy sauce. Turn down heat to simmer 5-8 minutes. (Note: Taste test here - if too salty, add a little brown sugar to "tone" it down)
5.Turn heat up again when sauce is bubbling, add the Chinese wine (Note: when adding wine, do not drizzle directly on the chicken; instead slowly pour wine on the sides of the pan, allowing the heated metal to evaporate the alcohol content; this way, the fragrance of the wine is retained)
6.Cook till chicken is done and sauce has reduced (Note: At this stage, you can pre-heat a claypot on your stove, then pour the entire mixture into the claypot)
7. Add fresh basil and red chili last, mix well
8. Garnish with scallions. Best with steamed rice!

Delicious!

Tag: chicken, three cup chicken

Herbal Chicken Vermicelli Soup - Mee Sua Soup?

Vermicelli that is made of wheat instead of rice - 面线 (Hokkien: mee sua, Cantonese: min seen, Chinese: mian xian). While appearing similar to bee hoon (rice vermicelli), this has a very different texture, and for different culinary uses as well. If it's made of wheat, isn't it considered a kind of pasta ?

On the package, it was written buckwheat and mee sua! So...something like thin soba ?


Looks like whole wheat angel hair pasta when cooked.

However, I believe the moisture content in the making(kneading) of pasta, vermicelli and buckwheat noodles (soba) varies PLUS we tend to look for al denta in pasta but not in rice vermicelli unless you overcook the pasta to be as soft as rice vermicelli's texture. Beachlover's Kitchen also talks about somen and mee sua here.

You can substitute mee sua with angel hair pasta by slightly overcooking the latter! :D

Back home, mee sua soup is commonly seen once a year - during birthdays. A bowl of simmering mee sua soup with minced pork balls and one hard-boiled egg. Rice vermicelli (mee sua) and as the Chinese characters literally mean Noodle 面 Threads 线...threads tend to be long, so signifies longevity in birthday celebrations.

Herbal Chicken Vermicelli Soup
Ingredients:
Chicken, chopped to pieces; 1 Chinese herbal pack; some vegetables(bok choy) blanched; mee sua (vermicelli) cooked according to instructions.

Directions:
1. Boil the chicken with herbal pack according to herbal pack instructions.
2. When ready, ladle the soup over the cooked mee sua, serve immediately

It is easy to think of what you can with Chinese herbal packs. This is a one-dish meal I'm serving other than boiling the chicken with the herbs to make Herbal Chicken Soup, and steaming the chicken with the herbs to make Steamed Herbal Chicken, also known as Emperor Chicken.



Tag: noodles, vermicelli , mee sua

Tomato Chicken Curry

I have wanted to cook this dish for some time now, because it spells one of my favorite flavor combinations - spicy and tangy.


There are many spicy + tangy (combinations, permutations, levels, grade etc.) I love. For example, the combination of tamarind (assam) and pineapples in Assam Pineapple Prawns or Assam Fish, Tom Yum Soup and even Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup. These dishes are unique in the spice and sourness combination because each different ingredient (eg. chili or spice powder; tamarind, fruits or condiments such as vinegar) is tapped and employed differently for a characteristic taste via different cooking techniques). This Tomato Chicken Curry also has its spice and tangy factor but it is definitely not as sourish since tomatoes only adds a very mild tangy dimension. Well, ripe tomatoes are supposed to be mainly sweet, not sour.

Tomato Chicken Curry (Dry Version)
Ingredients: Chicken chicken drummettes or chicken wings, 1 medium-size tomato (cut to medium cubes), half a can of diced tomatoes, onions(sliced), 2tsp curry powder(or more, adjust accordingly), some chicken stock/water, salt and sugar to taste.

Directions:
1. In a lightly oiled pan, saute the onions till soft, then add in the raw cubed tomatoes.
2. Add in chicken and fry at medium heat to brown the chicken a little.
3. Then add in curry powder and half a can of diced tomatoes with the "tomato juice", mix well, and allow entire mixture to simmer and cook. If too dry, add some stock/water to partially submerge the chicken.
4. After ~10-15mins when the chicken is cooked, the sauce reduced, the onions turn soft and sweet, it is ready. Add in salt or sugar accordingly if you wish too (Note: For myself, the onions have given the dish its sweetness, so I did not add any sugar)


Almost like chutney curry?

Tag: tomato, curry

One pot rice with chicken and shitake mushrooms

Dinner! ...It's oyster sauce-flavored chicken

A countable few slices of abalone

plus mini-shitake mushrooms (added while braising oyster sauce chicken wings)

Shitake mushrooms as cute and mini as raisins

then cooked (and warmed) just like another dish (the next day)

Rice-cooker meal for the busy executives

In short, I make oyster sauce chicken quite often. Sometimes, I will add shitake mushrooms to this recipe, cook double the quantity and keep the leftovers to be re-heated with rice the next day. This is usually what I do - whenever I steam ginger chicken, braise sesame oil and ginger chicken or chicken with assorted mushrooms. Ahhh...and the miracles of the rice-cooker. If you have followed my blog, you should also have noticed that I seldom do fried rice on a wok/pan. Rice cooker - one of the most basic kitchen appliances - allows me to have "fried" rice the easy peasy way. These Tom Yum Fried Rice, or Cabbage and Char Siew Fried Rice, are miracles from a basic (2-button: cook and warm) rice cooker.

I kid you not.

Tag: chicken, mushroom, rice

Oyster Sauce Chicken Wings - restaurant food at home

Oyster Sauce Chicken Wings 蚝油鸡翅 - easy preparation, a few key techniques, and finally made so delectable that you will want to keep this for your entertaining plans, especially if you want to delight your guests with restaurant-style Chinese cuisine at home.

To enhance "value" to your dish and do what the chefs do - PRESENTATION!

Now, you will discover and undiscover how easy a dish Oyster Sauce Chicken can be.

Oyster Sauce Chicken Wings 蚝油鸡翅
Ingredients:
6 thawed chicken wings, lightly marinated in ~2tbsp rice wine + ~1tbsp soy sauce

Seasoning:
2tbsp oyster sauce + 1tsp brown sugar + 4-6 tbsp water

Directions:
1. Deep fry the chicken wings in hot oil (Note: according to some Chinese chefs, this will allow the chicken to easily have a "golden" coat when braised later in oyster sauce - gives a golden brown appearance, shiny look and not a sense of dull).
2. After deep frying, set aside to drain excess oil in kitchen paper towels
3. Pour away excess oil from wok with remaining of about 1tbsp(or less) oil
4. Add in the oyster sauce mix and hear the wok/pan sizzle
5. Add the chicken wings back in the wok/pan and space them well. Technique: Use a spoon to continuously spoon/drizzle the oyster sauce mix contained in the pan, over the chicken wings while simmering in oyster sauce mix in the pan. This will ensure the chicken wings are uniform in golden brown appearance.
6. Then allow the chicken wings to simmer low heat (pan covered) for a while till the sauce reduce further. There will be no gravy/sauce for this dish as intended to be.

I have no idea how...but the chicken wings were so tasty. You may have thought the final "surface braising" of chicken with the oyster sauce will just render the chicken to be tasty outside, tasteless inside but apparently, it is not. These are perfectly cooked, totally-flavor infused chicken wings!

鸡翅竟然有入味!

Finger-lickin' , tender, fall-off-the-bone chicken wings, how could you resist ? I can't.

Tag: comfort food, chicken,oyster sauce chicken

Sesame oil and ginger chicken

No matter how often I eat comfort foods, I never got get sick of them. Due to the ease of preparation and cooking in comfort foods, I never got sick of them as well. Yes, cooking has become somewhat a chore in the past one month as I had to deal with the move, packing, unpacking and some bits of disorientation, all at the same time. Fortunately for comfort foods, I'm still able to find some joy in enjoying my own simple cooking and when it is definitely not a cooking chore.

Sesame oil and ginger chicken
Ingredients:
-~ 8-12 pieces small chicken drumlets/wings, marinated in 1tbsp oyster sauce at least 2hrs
- 4 caps fresh shitake mushrooms, cut to halfs or comparable to size of drumlets/wings
- 2 garlic, minced
- 2 scallions, julienned to strips
- 4 thumb-sized young ginger cut to fine strips
- 1tbsp sesame oil
- white pepper to taste

Seasonings:
- 1tbsp sesame oil
- 1tsp cooking rice wine
- 2tbsp some water or adjust accordingly

Directions:
1. Heat 1tbsp sesame oil in pan/wok at low-medium heat
2. Add in garlic, scallions and ginger to the pan/wok, fry till aromatic
3. Add in chicken and mushrooms, then fry at medium-high heat for about 3-4mins.
4. Add in seasonings, mix and fry well, then turn to simmer till chicken is cooked. This will take about 3-5mins (if using small chicken parts)
5. When ready to serve, dash in white pepper, dashes of more sesame oil, and sprinkle of cooking rice wine, then immediately turn off the heat.



There are many ways and variations to cook the dish and this happens to be another of my version - where sesame oil and ginger are the stars that make the chicken shine!

Other easy chicken recipes that you won't chicken-out in the face of it, has got to be steamed chicken with ginger and braised chicken with assorted mushrooms.

What is your comfort food or comfort foods?

Tag: comfort food, chicken

Chicken noodle - instant noodles with steamed chicken

Steamed chicken noodle/Noodle with steamed chicken

Ingredients: Chicken thigh meat sliced; ginger cut into fine shreds; scallions/spring onions jullienned on the bias, some crushed ginger; red/yellow peppers

Marinade: oyster sauce, cornflour, sesame oil

Method:
1.Marinate chicken for 30 mins
2.Lay the chicken slices on a plate, sprinkle ginger and scallions on top of chicken, add in the additional crushed ginger and put it to steam for about 15-20mins (or until the chicken is cooked)
3. Dish the steamed chicken (with its gravy) over cooked instant noodles (like me...no time...so need to be instant) or cooked rice (when you have more time), and toss the noodles well to let them soak the gravy.
4. Serve with any vegetables of your choice.

For detailed quantity of ingredients and marinade, you can refer to this steamed chicken recipe.


This is another surprise though the name steamed chicken noodle itself may sound so-military, so-bland, and so-unappetizing. Remember...when you steam the marinated chicken with ginger and scallions, you get natural sweetness from the chicken mixing with the marinate seasonings and ginger+scallions. The result is...AWESOME, though nothing fanciful. That chicken clear gravy will line each previously-tasteless noodle strand with moist, and flavor. I wonder if this sounds easy to you but all I had to do was to marinate, assemble the chicken to let it steam; cook the noodles; finally toss them together and I said...PRESTO!

P.S. You can choose the so-much-effort-and-pride-put-in recipe here, or the quick-turn-around-yet-delicious recipe here, to prepare and cook the chicken. I chose the latter.

Tag: steamed chicken, instant noodles

Chicken curry, curry chicken

The main basic ingredients in this dish are chicken, curry, and in my opinion, coconut milk (what is chicken curry without the coconut milk, the lemak - Lemak is a culinary description in the Malay language which specifically refers to the presence of coconut milk which adds a distinctive richness to a dish.).



Spices generally depends on the cooking style -
-masala powder, saffron, ginger and so on (depending on cookery style)
-kunjit (yellow ginger)
-galangal (blue ginger)
-lemongrass
-turmeric
-coriander
-cumin
-fennel
-garlic
-cinnamon
-star anise

When onions are added, it tends to make the chicken curry sweeter. Of course, I still usually like my Singapore or Malaysia chicken curry with potatoes.

Chicken curry/curry chicken
Ingredients:
Coconut Milk, Coriander, Onion, Sugar, Salt, Chili, Cumin, Fennel, Garlic, Turmeric, Cinnamon, and Star Anise



It's usually eaten with rice or roti (bread).

In Singapore, some of us like to search for the baguette when it comes to chicken curry. However, I found that brioche is so much a better choice, It's not that tough and chewy as baguette and have an eggy taste which adds another layer of of taste and dmianeional when paired with chicken curry.


(1) You can always eat them from the start, dipping with bread


(2) Or when you find that rice ran out and you only have bread, this the perfect time to let this instant sponge showcase


(3) A good brioche has the porosity like sponge, and soft just like sponge


(4) The plate is cleaned :p

*Burp*


Tag: chicken curry, curry, curry chicken

Chicken rice

Chicken Rice
First, the rice:

Made from the same stock used to poach/cook the chicken(below), ginger and scallions were also added to the same stock while poaching the chicken. When cooking the rice with chicken stock, finely minced garlic was added as well. You will get aromatic chicken rice!

Then, comes the chicken:

I would say this is the most patience-testing part in making chicken rice. Refer back here.This method works perfect! Succulent moist juicy chicken. Basically, you should never allow the chicken to come to a boil - Bring a pot of water with ginger and scallions to boil. Then completely immerse the chicken into the pot, turn off heat immediately, cover the pot and leave to stand for about 1 hour(with an interim step at approx. the 30th minute). Since I used chicken drumsticks, I did not have the "cavity" problem as opposed to handling whole chicken. After about 30 minutes, the "water" or rather chicken stock, with the immersed chicken should be re-heated to almost boiling point, then again turn off the heat and left standing for the remaining 30 minutes of that 1 hour.

Of course, some say the MOST AUTHENTIC Hainanese Chicken Rice has to use 文昌鸡 (Wen Chang chicken) - from Wenchang City, Hainan Island. Wenchang is the source from where most overseas Hainanese migrated. Majority of Singapore's Hainanese population has ancestral roots in Wenchang. Maybe that's what made Hainanese chicken rice such a popular and national dish in Singapore.

Not forgetting the chili sauce:

The chicken rice chilli sauce is typically concocted from fresh chilli, garlic, ginger, vinegar, sugar and salt. Sometimes, the Hainanese has grated ginger as an additional condiment as well.

To add variety, color and some refreshing vegetables for my home-style chicken rice:

Broccolini was blanched and drizzled with some oyster sauce, and not forgetting tomatoes!



Though I have completely emptied everything on the plate into my stomach while I am writing this, I felt hungry again after looking at it :O


Don't you think chicken rice is not as unhealthy as it seems?
A wholesome, colorful, tasty meal of delicious aromatic chicken rice with that succulent tender chicken, just a spoonful away :)

Spicy crispy roasted chicken wings

This should go well with Nasi Lemak or Sambal Seafood Fried Rice

Baked/Roasted Spicy Chicken Wings
Ingredients: galangal powder, crushed garlic, turmeric powder, crushed ginger, coriander powder, curry powder, sambal belacan, some lime juice, salt

WOOPS! I did not measure the quantities as I just added dashes of them into the mixing bag with the chicken wings. As a gauge, the proportion ratio should be about 1: 1.5 : 2

The quantity and proportion equation...for 1: 1.5 : 2 ratio
galangal powder = crushed garlic = turmeric powder < crushed ginger = coriander powder < curry powder = sambal belacan

Hope I have not confused you with the Math :P



Directions: Marinate for at least 2 hrs or more. When ready to bake, preheat the oven. Place chicken on a foil pan and drizzle some olive oil on it. Roast/bake at 325F for 25-35mins, then last 5mins, increase temperature to 350-360F for added crispiness. (Note: the oven temp may depend on the parts of chicken you have used. Some chicken parts have thicker portions of meat and may take longer to cook).

Outcome: Oh...so delicious. Spicy to perfection - not too overpowering. Combination of spices...miraculous! Moist in the inside, crispy on the outside



Guilt: None (IMO only)


Justification: Deep pool of frying oil not required. Deep-frying pan not required. No splatter of oil on the kitchen stove and floor. Just need a temperature-controlled oven.

Hmmm...when there is no guilt, where comes the justification? No need! DUH! :O


Tag: chicken, spicy chicken,baked chicken

Chicken nugget burger

Easy lunch, for the lazy one.

Chicken nugget mini burger
1.Reheat frozen chicken nuggets


2. Reheat english-style breakfast muffins (by the grill)


3. Ready meal, for the hungry me


Tag: chicken nugget, chicken, chicken burger

Braised bittergourd with chicken and tofu

Braised bittergourd with chicken and tofu


Usually like my bittergourds cooked till soft


Ok. I know some of you do not like bittergourds

Other quick and easy recipes:

Steamed bittergourds stuffed with pork


Bittergourd soup

Tag: vegetables, karela, bittergourd, bitter melon, steamed bittergourd

Tamarind Chicken

After the chicken lays eggs, the eggs are placed up the rice pedestal and the chicken forsaken.



I never tasted such a dish before. The closest I have done is Baba Coriander Chicken. The ingredients are almost the same just that as the name of the dish speaks for itself, Ayam Sioh or Tamarind Chicken uses generous amount of tamarind whilst Baba Coriander Chicken uses salted soy beans , (a.k.a tau cheo, in hokkien) and lemongrass. The flavor of these two chicken dishes are completely different.



Anyhow, I followed the recipe to a T (used tamarind pulp to squeeze and extract the tamarind liquid), except I use the slow-cooker to slowly braise the chicken instead of frying. Still taste good. A very appetizing dish with rice.



Tag: tamarind, tamarind fruit,tamarind paste