The Asian Culinary Encyclopedic: November 2009

Express Your Love, A Gift for Special Person on Christmas is a Good Idea, and Show Your Beauty

Pan-Fried Chicken with Celery

key words: Chicken, Chinese Recipes, Stir-fry

This dish, Pan-Fried Chicken with Celery is very popular in Chinese home cooking. It’s a quick stir fry, with less preparation work. I bet many kids who grow up in Hong Kong would know this dish very well. It's interesting enough to realize a fact that not all people like eating celery because of its unique flavour, yet for those who like would just love its aroma. Not only I love the smell of celery, but also its crunchy texture. I’m not saying about those overcooked celery of course. Celery is high in dietary fiber and contains many vitamins. It is an ideal food for people who are on diet. Well, I’m not on diet, yet eat celery once in a week at least. That said, celery can help lower blood pressure too.

Braised Sweet Soy Chicken Wings

key words: Chicken, Chinese Recipes

Most of my friends in Hong Kong love chicken wings. So does my daughter. She can have wings for snack, lunch or dinner. Whenever chicken wings are cooked, they won’t stay too long on table. I really love this quick and simple recipe of cooking delicious chicken wings for her.

Ever heard of this, that literally means “Swiss Wings”? Well, it’s neither originated in Swiss nor has anything related to Swiss at all. Actually, they are cooked in sweet soy sauce with herbs. There was a funny story spread around according to Chinese wikiipedia. The recipe of Swiss Wings was invented by a man, named 徐老高 (Xu Lao Gao) who owned Tai Ping Koon Restaurant in Hong Kong that was inaugurated in 1860. That said, a foreign visitor asked one of their waiters what the name of the recipe was. The waiter answered, “Sweet Wings”. Due to the problem of communication, the visitor took it as “Swiss Wings”. So the name of Swiss Wings in Chinese (瑞士雞翼) has been used and circulated around since then.

This time I used the popular ready-made sauce by Lee Kum Kee and cooked some wings on the go. Not for long, all of them were gone as expected.
Braised Sweet Soy Chicken Wings

Baked Chicken Wings with Honey & Lemon

key words: Bakery, Chicken, Western Recipes

Whenever we have chicken wings for lunch, dinner or snack time, my daughter would never have enough. One of my friends even screams out, “Chicken wings, I love you.” , when any wings are on table. I don’t know if chicken wings have got any magic. Last week I baked chicken wings with honey with lemon juice. It became a big hit in my family as expected. When all the chicken wings are gone, the same question still came to me, “Did you leave some more in the pan?” Uhh…

Baked Chicken Wings with Honey & Lemon

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken wings
1/2 (freshly grated juice) lemon, about 3 Tbsp, skin reserved
bay leaves, fresh of dried

Marinade:

3 Tbsp light soy sauce
3 Tbsp honey
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Baked Chicken Wings with Honey & Lemon Procedures

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C (392F).
2. Rinse chicken wings well and pat dry with paper towels. Cut into pieces. Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Place chicken wings in a ceramic baking pan in a single layer. Cut reserved skins into quarters and add to pan with bay leaves. You might like to drizzle over olive oil as well. But I didn’t use any oil as thechicken wings will release heaps of oil while baking. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until cooked. Turn once after baking for 20 minutes, basting with sauce. Brush with honey on the surface of the wings when almost done.
4. You’ll notice a layer of oil over the sauce in pan, just use a teaspoon to remove the oil. Serve wings on a platter at room temperature. Transfer sauce in a small bowl for dipping or just pour over the wings if desired.

Tip:

If you don’t want any sauce and get the BBQ effect, use metal baking pan instead of ceramic one.
You can add more lemon juice and honey to your preference.

Stewed Chicken Wings with Chinese Black Mushrooms

key words: Chicken, Chinese Recipes

Here’s one of our family’s most favourite dishes for dinner. You can’t image how my kids like eating stewed chicken wings with mushrooms. Whenever I cook this dish, my kids will finish a big bowl of rice with the yummy chicken wings and sauce.

I think the mushrooms from Japan is the best ones that most suitable for stews. These mushrooms were bought by my mum from Hong Kong when she visited our family. My kids are really “experts” in eating mushrooms. Their taste buds can easily detect and differentiate the best mushrooms from the mediocre ones, even though I didn’t teach them in this regard. By the first bite of my mum’s mushrooms, they said, “Love these mushrooms indeed, delicious!”

The best dried mushrooms are thicker and bigger in size with sweet aroma. Try to find the mushrooms with best quality. It’s worth every dollar.

Stewed Chicken Wings with Black Mushrooms

Ingredients:

8 chicken wings, sectioned
8 dried Chinese mushrooms
1 carrot, chopped
4 slices ginger
1/2 shallot, diced
1/2 cup water

Seasoning:

2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp Shaoxing wine
1/2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp chicken powder (chicken bouillon powder)
1/2 tsp salt

Thickening:

2 tsp cornflour
4 tbsp water
a dash of sesame oil
a pinch of white pepper

Stewed Chicken Wings with Black Mushrooms Procedures

Method:

1. Soak mushrooms until softened. Trim the stem, julienne or cut into halves as you like. Peel carrot and roughly chop into bite-sized pieces. Blanchchicken wings in boiling water to remove the blood. Drain well. Marinate for at least 25 minutes.
2. Heat cooking oil over medium heat. Sauté mushrooms for a while. Set aside. Add more oil and sauté ginger and shallot over high heat until aromatic. Add marinatedchicken wings and stir fry until lightly brown. Toss in mushrooms and carrot and stir fry. Pour water together with the marinade over the ingredients and cook with a lid. Bring it to a boil. Simmer untilchicken wings and carrot are cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes. Don’t overcook the chicken wings, lest the chicken meat would fall apart.
3. Add thickening and cook to your preferred consistency. Dish up. Serve with hot rice.

Stir-Fried Asparagus with Chicken & Bacon

key words: Chicken, Chinese Recipes, Stir-fry

Asparagus is quite expensive in Hong Kong throughout the year. I still can remember that a plate of blanched asparagus might cost a fortune in some Chinese restaurants. Luckily, I can easily find beautiful and fresh asparagus when they are in season in Australia. Asparagus could go very well with chicken. This dish, stir-fried asparagus was also enriched with the flavour of diced bacon. Yummy!

Stir-Fried Asparagus with Chicken & Bacon

Ingredients:

200g asparagus
100g chicken thigh (or chicken breast), diced
1/2 strip bacon
1 tsp garlic, crushed
1 tsp XO sauce (available at Asian stores)
a dash Shaoxing wine
3 tbsp chicken stock

Asparagus
Marinade:

1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cornflour
a pinch pepper
a dash sesame oil

Thickening:

1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cornflour
2 tbsp water

Stir-Fried Asparagus with Chicken & Bacon Procedures
Method:

1. Rinse asparagus and drain well. Cut into about 5cm (2 inch) lengths and put the thicker sections apart from the thinner ones.
2. Marinate chicken for 20 minutes. Roughly chop bacon.
3. Heat oil in wok or pan over medium heat. Cook bacon until golden brown or crisp if desired. Transfer on paper towels to absorb excess oil. Add chicken in wok. Stir fry until cooked, about 3 minutes.
4. Add some oil in the same wok, sauté garlic over medium-high heat. Toss in the thicker sections of asparagus as they need more time to cook. After stir-frying for a while, add thinner sections. Stirring occasionally. Sprinkle wine. Add stock and cook until sauce dries up a bit and the asparagus is cooked. Yet don’t overcook them, lest they turn yellow. Toss back chicken and bacon. Add thickening and XO sauce. Quickly stir and combine well. Done!

Soy Sauce Chicken (With Less Soy Sauce)

key words: Chicken, Chinese Recipes

To cook a whole chicken is really a challenge. If the chicken thigh is cooked, the other parts might be over-cooked and the meat turns tough. When it comes to cook the whole chicken in soy sauce, it yields experiences and skills to control the heat and cooking time.

I found it’s much easier to get satisfied results with this cast-iron casserole. It heats foods evenly and retains the heat inside for longer time. The cast-iron casserole is extremely good for slow cooking. So I used it to cook the popular Chinese dish, soy sauce chicken. Traditionally, the amount of soy sauce that has to be used is quite a lot. It has to cover the whole chicken. Having done the cooking, it’s a problem of how to recycle the soy sauce as it’s too much. With the cast-iron casserole, the cooking calls for smaller amount of soy sauce that easily consumes, either for going with white rice, or frying noodles. It’s extremely yummy!
Soy Sauce Chicken

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1.7kg organic chicken (or free range chicken)
1/2 cup light soy sauce
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
6 to 8 slices old ginger
2 stalks spring onion
2 cloves garlic, sliced
30g rock sugar
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
a small piece dried tangerine peel, optional (homemade or get from Asian stores)
3/4 cup water

Dried Tangerine Peel

Soy Sauce Chicken Procedures

Method:

1. Soak tangerine peel to soften and rinse well. Set aside.
2. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Place half of the spring onion and ginger into the chicken cavity. Rub wine all over the chicken. Tie chicken legs together with a string (as picture shown).
3. In a large casserole, heat up some cooking oil and sauté ginger, garlic and spring onion. Pour light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and water into the casserole. Add tangerine peel. Bring to a boil. Add rock sugar and slower the heat to low. Carefully place chicken into the casserole. Beware that the heat should be as low as enough to keep little bubbles springing up. Don’t use high heat because the chicken would be over-cooked easily and the meat won’t be smooth and tender otherwise.
4. First, place chicken’s breast down for 10 minutes, covered. Turn chicken’s back down for another 8 minutes, covered. Turn chicken to left, leg to the bottom, for 13 minutes, covered. Then turn chicken to right, leg to the bottom, for another 13 minutes, covered. Remove the lid, turn chicken’s breast down to the bottom again. Cook over high heat until the sauce boils vigorously again. Cover and turn off the heat. We’re going to use the heat inside the casserole and continue to cook the chicken for another 20 to 25 minutes. Test the chicken if it’s cooked through or not. Insert a needle or chopstick into the thickest part, like chicken thigh, if clear liquid runs out without any blood, it’s done. If it's not cooked, then heat the sauce for a few minutes more. Transfer chicken to a platter and wait until the juice absorbs, about 5 minutes. Discard the ginger and spring onion inside the cavity. Cut into bite-sized chunks. Ladle hot soy sauce over the chicken. Serve hot.

Notes:

1. The cooking time depends on how big the chicken is. The level of heat is also crucial. Practice makes things perfect anyway.
2. Every time you turn the chicken, baste with the soy sauce to keep the whole chicken moist and add colour evenly.
3. Use half of a chicken or chicken legs if you like. It’s much easier and needs shorter cooking time.

Baked Coconut Chicken in Portuguese Style

key words: Bakery, Chicken, Western Recipes

Both coconut milk and chicken are my family’s favourite foods. Cooking both of them together will definitely win everybody. This Portuguese coconut chicken looks like curry, but it’s not hot at all. This time I’ve deliberately added many different vegetables that cooked in coconut sauce, topped with creamy baked cheese. Who can resist the chicken inside? Ha…

Baked Coconut Chicken with Fried Rice

Ingredients:

400g chicken thigh fillet (or chicken breast)
2 potatoes, chopped
1/2 carrot, chopped
1 onion, chopped
6 green beans
1/4 capsicum
1 cup cheese

1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
3/4 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 tsp minced garlic
3 bowls fried rice (or white rice)

Marinade:

2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger sauce
pepper, to taste

Thickening:

1 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp water

Baked Coconut Chicken with Fried Rice Procedures

Method:

1. Rinse chicken meat and pat dry with paper towels. Trim fat and cut into bite-size. Marinate for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 200C (390F).
2. Heat oil on saucepan and sauté minced garlic. Toss in onion and sauté until translucent. Add marinated chicken and cook over medium heat, until lightly brown. Add potatoes and carrots, stir until evenly heat all ingredients. Sprinkle turmeric powder and cumin powder. Stir fry until aromatic. Pour chicken stock and bring to a boil. Slow heat to medium-low and cook until the potatoes turn soft. Add green beans and capsicum and cook for a while. Add coconut milk and bring to boil again. Add thickening and cook to your preferred consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Taste by yourself until you’re satisfied.
3. While cooking the sauce, heat up another wok (or frying-pan). Add whisked egg to fry rice. Head over and take a look at how to fry yummy rice. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
4. Transfer fried rice (or hot white rice) to a ceramic baking dish. Pour coconut sauce over the rice. Sprinkle cheese to your preference. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until cheese turns golden. Done. Serve hot.

Notes:

1. Use the left-over rice to fry is the key to have yummy fried rice.
2. If you use white rice, it should be a bit drier than usual because it will absorb the coconut sauce while baking.

Kung Pao Chicken Recipe

key words: Chicken, Chinese Recipes, Stir-fry

Kung Pao chicken (or Kung Po chicken, is a very famous and popular Chinese dish, originating in Sichuan province, central-western China. This dish is quite hot, yet you can adjust the amount of chilies and suit your preference to mild or little hot in homecooking anyway. Many people are very curious about why this dish is called Kung Pao chicken instead of chili chicken or fried chicken. According to Wikipedia, the dish is named after a late Qing Dynasty official, Ding Baozhen (1820 -1886). He was born in Guizhou, served as head of Shandong province and later as governor of Sichuan province. His title was Gōng Bǎo (宮保), or palatial guardian. The name "Kung Pao" chicken is derived from this title.

Nice stories about Ding were spreading around Chinese community. Ding was very found of foods and skillful in cooking. He also hired many famous cooks in his home to cook for his guests. There was a dish, fried diced chicken, often served on his guests’ tables. His guests loved this dish very much. So they named his fried diced chicken as Gong Bao Chicken.

Kung Pao Chicken

Ingredients:

200g chicken breast, diced
1/4 capsicum, diced
50g peanuts
3 to 4 garlic, sliced
6 dried chilies, roughly chopped
a dash of Shaoxing wine

Dried Chilies

Marinade:

2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
1/2 tsp sugar
A dash of sesame oil
A pinch of pepper

Seasoning:

1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp cornflour
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬)
1 tbsp water
1 tsp white vinegar
Sesame oil, to taste

Kung Pao Chicken Procedures

Method:

1. Marinade diced chicken for 30 minutes.
2. Bake peanuts in a preheated oven (180C/356F) for 3 to 5 minutes until lightly brown. Don’t let them unattended. Or you might like to deep fry peanuts in hot oil. Note that the peanuts will continue to turn darker after draining out from hot oil. Set aside
3. Heat oil in a wok or frying-pan. Sauté garlic and dried chilies over medium heat until aromatic. Toss in marinated chicken and stir-fry until the outsides turn white. Sprinkle wine and stir quickly. Add capsicum and cook until softened. When the chicken is cooked through, add seasonings. Turn heat to high and cook until sauce dries up a bit. Sprinkle peanuts. Dish up and serve hot.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe

key words: Chicken, Chinese Recipes, Stir-fry

Sweet and sour sauce is a kind of versatile sauce, going very well with any kind of meat, like pork, beef including chicken of course. This dish, pan-fried chicken in sweet and sour sauce is perfect for going with white rice. You can deep fry the chicken if you like. This time I just pan fried the chicken for saving the oil, good to health as well.

Pan-fried Chicken in Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ingredients:

275 gm chicken thigh fillet (or chicken breast)
1/2 capsicum
1 onion
1 tomato
3 slices pineapple (fresh or canned)
1 tsp minced garlic
salt to taste
2 Tbsp water

Marinade:

2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp Shaoxing wine (or sherry)
1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger juice
a pinch of pepper

Sweet and sour sauce:

2 Tbsp ketchup
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp pineapple juice
2 Tbsp water

Thickening:

1/2 tsp cornflour
2 Tbsp water

Pan-fried Chicken in Sweet and Sour Sauce Procedures

Method:

1. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Cut into bite-sized chunks. Marinate for 1 hour. Cut onion, capsicum and tomato into pieces. Set aside.
2. Slightly coat marinated chicken with cornflour. Fried over medium-high heat until both sides are brown and cooked. Set aside.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok or frying-pan. Sauté onion and garlic, add capsicum. Add tomato and 2 tablespoons of water, cook for 2 minutes, or until all ingredients are softened. Pour sweet and sour sauce, add pineapples and bring to a boil. Toss in chicken and stir well. Sprinkle salt to taste. Add thickening and cook to your preferred consistency. Dish up and serve hot with rice.

Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe

key words: Asian Recipes, Chicken, Rice

Ever tried the famous Hainanese Chicken Rice? I’m not quite sure if this popular dish was originated from Singapore or Malaysia. Some friends told me that it was from Singapore. Is it right? No matter you go into a Singaporean or Malaysian restaurant, they would definitely offer this dish on their menu, not very expensive and worth trying if you didn’t. The chicken meat is very smooth and tender, going so wonderful with the unique chili sauce. I can’t describe how yummy is the rice. It’s not ordinary white rice, but is cooked with chicken broth. So you can imagine that’s a luxury treat when you order Hainanese chicken rice with not-so-expensive price, enjoying a dish with rich flavours. However, it’s quite disappointed when I go into some restaurants that only offer salty and oily rice instead of the premium rice cooked with chicken broth.

When it comes to cook this dish, there’s a traditional way of using the whole chicken. Due to my family’s craving for chicken legs, I simply used chicken legs so that I saved more of my energy and time for cooking. That’s good to me and my family.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 chicken legs
4 to 5 slices ginger
1 spring onion (shallot), sectioned
2 cups white rice, rinsed and drained well
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
2 to 3 bay leaves
Salt, to taste
2 cups chicken stock
Cucumber, few slices for garnish

Iced water for soaking cooked chicken:

1 bowl water, should cover the chicken
20 ice cubes

Ingredients for chili sauce:

2 to 3 chilies (depends on how hot you like)
5 slices ginger
6 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp lime juice
4 Tbsp chicken stock
sugar, to taste
salt, to taste

Hainanese Chicken Rice Procedures
Method:

1. Heat oil in wok, sauté minced garlic and grated ginger until aromatic. Be cautious, don’t let them burn. Or else your rice would turn brown when cooked. Add drained rice and stir fry for 3 minutes. Toss in bay leaves and pour chicken stock into the rice. Bring to a boil. Transfer to electric cooker and cook rice as usual.
2. Rinse chicken and drain well. Place spring onion and ginger on chicken and steam over high heat, covered with a lid, for about 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Insert a chop stick or needle into the thickest part of chicken leg. If clear liquid runs out, it’s cooked. Immediately transfer chicken legs into iced water and soak for 15 to 20 minutes. This is an old traditional Chinese way of making the skin and meat of steamed chicken become smoother and tenderer.
3. To prepare chili sauce, just process all ingredients with a food processor for a minute. Add salt and/or sugar to taste.
4. When the chicken legs cool down, drain well. Chop into chunks and serve with cooked chicken rice. Garnish with cucumber slices if desired. Many Chinese people like eating steamed chicken with minced ginger and spring onion sauce. Just heat up a bit oil in wok or saucepan. When the oil becomes very hot, immediately pour the oil onto minced ginger and finely chopped shallot. Add salt or soy sauce to taste. That’s the popular ginger and shallot sauce for chicken. This Hainanese chicken tastes fantastic, accompanying with both chili sauce and minced ginger shallot sauce.

Chicken and Mushroom Pie

key words: Bakery, Chicken, Western Recipes

Generally speaking, it’s pretty croweded in every restaurant on Mother’s Day, so we didn’t really want to dine out. Yet my family suggested that I should have a day off from kitchen, at least not cooking for dinner as usual. Then came an idea from my daughter. She would like to bake a chicken and mushroom pie for us. My husband said it was a nice Mother’s Day present that was better than those bought from gift shops. Thus, I didn’t need to cook, yet was quite busy around in the kitchen, giving a bit of coaching to my daughter and taking photos of her cooking. When the pie came out from the oven, I couldn’t wait to taste it. The creamy fillings and the puffy pastry made me a memorable Mother’s Day. Together with pumpkin soup and garlic bread, I was so full to take any dessert.

Chicken and Mushroom Pie

Serves 3

Ingredients:

350 gm skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
100 gm button mushrooms, halved if large
20 gm butter
1/2 onion, diced
1 celery, chopped
8-10 green beans, diced
1/3 carrot, diced
3/4 cup salt-reduced chicken stock
25 gm plain flour
100 ml pure cream
2 Tbsp parsley, coarsely chopped
1 puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp milk

Chicken and Mushroom Pie Ingredients

Marinade:

2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornflour
a pinch of pepper

Chicken and Mushroom Pie Procedures

Method:

1. Rinse chicken and drain well, chop into chunks. Marinate for 15 minutes. Heat oil in frying-pan, cook chicken for 5 minutes, until lightly brown. Set aside.
2. Melt butter on medium. Sauté onion, celery, carrot and green beans until soften. Add flour and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring, to make a paste. Gradually stir in stock and cream. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir through mushrooms and chicken. Season, stir in parsley.
3. Preheat oven to 200C (392F). Roll out pastry on a floured surface. Place a 4 cup-capacity pie dish upside down on pastry. Cut around dish. Cut out leaves from excess pastry to decorate and damp with a bit of water to place onto the pastry. Cut a 1cm slit in center of lid.
4. Spoon chicken mixture into pie dish. Top with pastry and crimp edges to seal. Whisk together egg and milk. Brush over pastry. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden. Serve hot.

Chicken and Corn Soup (Chinese Quick Soup Recipe)

key words: Chicken, Chinese Recipes, Soup

This chicken and corn soup comes in handy for me whenever I can’t think of what soup to cook for the day. I always keep one or two can(s) of creamed corn soup in my pantry. Best of all, this soup is very hearty, no fat at all. Corn is very nutritious and very good to our health too. My daughter loves this soup and would gobble it up without any complaints.
Chicken and Corn Soup

Stewed Chicken Wings with Chestnuts

key words: Chicken, Chinese Recipes

Stewed chickens with chestnuts is quite popular in Hong Kong and a typical Cantonese home-cooking dish. It’s hard to describe how delicious this dish is. In Australia, we don’t often have fresh chestnuts available. Luckily, I found fresh chestnuts were on sale at a nearby supermarket. Frankly speaking, this dish is quite easy to cook except the job of cracking the nuts and removing the papery skin. There are some frozen chestnuts without any skins available at Asian grocery stores if you would like to save time on cracking the nuts. Very handy.

Stewed chicken wings with chestnuts

Ingredients:

600 gm chicken wings
300 gm chestnuts, removed shells and papery skin
1/2 tsp minced garlic
water, about 2 to 3 cups that cover all ingredients
basil, for garnish

Marinade:

1 tsp freshly grated ginger juice
1 tsp cooking wine
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp cornflour
1/2 tsp sugar
a pinch of white pepper

Seasoning:

1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cornflour
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
a pinch of pepper
a dash of sesame oil

Method:

1. Remove the shells of chestnuts with the tip of the knife and peel the inner brown papery skins off. (see note)
2. Marinate chicken wings at least 20 minutes. If the chicken wings are frozen, defrost and blanch them in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain well, and then marinate them.
3. Heat oil on a wok over medium heat to sauté minced garlic until aromatic. Add marinated chicken wings. Stir and cook until the chicken turns lightly brown. Add chestnuts and stir fry for a while. Pour in water to cover all the ingredients. Bring it to a boil and cover with a lid. Turn to lower heat and simmer until tender. Add seasoning to thicken sauce to your preferred consistency. Garnish with basil if you like.

栗子 chestnuts

Note: There were many methods to remove the skins of chestnuts quite easily.

1. Use oven: Use the tip of a sharp knife, score an X on the flat side of the chestnut. Place scored chestnuts on a baking sheet and roast in an oven preheated at 200C for 15 to 20 minutes. This will cause the X to open up a little and you can easily remove the shell with the inner brown skin.
2. Use hot water: Use the tip of a sharp knife to remove the outer shells. Soak the chestnuts in hot water about 80C for 3 to 5 minutes. The inner papery skin would be much easier to peel off with a knife. Or use another method that I experiment quite efficient and quickly get the job done. Instantly put the hot chestnuts on a clean towel. Rub one by one with the towel rigorously. The papery skin would also come off easily. If any one of them can’t be peeled off at the first time, put it back in hot water and soak for another few minutes again. Repeat the procedure. While the chestnuts are still hot, it’s quite easy to remove the papery skin. Once they cool, the skins are difficult to remove, so keep the batch warm while you work.

One last note:
If using a sharp knife to score an X on the chestnut concern you, you might like to invest and buy a little gadget in order to satisfy your desire of eating fresh chestnuts.

The Chestnutter, looking like a garlic press, helps mark a perfect X on the shells of chestnuts, without risking your fingers being hurt at all.

Chicken Wings in Lemon & Ginger Sauce

key words: Chicken, Chinese Recipes, Fruit

It seems that chicken wings won’t be enough whenever they are cooked for my family. My daughter is a chicken wing lover. As it’s quite easy to cook and there are many different ways of cooking chicken wings, I love cooking for her. Here comes her favourite dish, chicken wings in lemon and ginger sauce. The taste of this dish that is mainly sweet & sour, blended with the heat of ginger makes the chicken wings irresistible. I think I have to double the size if I cook this dish again. While eating the wings, my daughter asked me why I hadn’t cooked more. The quantity listed here was not even enough for her, let alone for the whole family. Huh….

Chicken Wings in Lemon & Ginger Sauce

Ingredients:

700 gm chicken wings (middle parts)
1 lemon
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
3 to 4 slices of lemon

Marinade:

1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp cornflour
2 tsp Shaoxing wine
pinch of pepper

Seasoning:

1 1/2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp cornflour
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp water

Chicken Wings in Lemon & Ginger Sauce Procedures

Method:

1. Cut chicken wings into chunks, and stir in marinade. Set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Heat frying pan with oil over medium heat. Fry chicken wings until both sides are brown (see picture 1). Add grated ginger, cover and cook for a while. Once there are some steam release, cook 2 to 3 minutes more to make sure the chicken wings are cooked through. Toss in seasoning and lemon slices, combine with the chicken wings (see picture 2). Cook until sauce dries up a bit. Dish up. Serve hot.

Indonesian Satay Chicken

key words: Asian Recipes, Bakery, Chicken

This satay chicken recipe was from a friend who was a chef in Malaysia. How could it be?

We held a Hong Kong style BBQ party some time ago, grilling foods on charcoal. The Malaysian chef bought some marinated satay chicken to share with us. The chicken was so tempting that nearly everyone there liked it very much. At the end of the party, we all begged him for the recipe. He was so generous to share with us that all of us brought the best thing back home. The best thing is that we can cook this satay chicken whenever we like.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any charcoal BBQ burner at home. So I baked the marinated chicken instead. The meat was very soft and succulent. Comparing with grilling and baking, I’ll vote grilling of course, yet this baked satay chicken didn’t let anyone down in my family. Yummy too! The secret is to use all those spices to marinate chicken for at least one day.

Indonesian Satay Chicken

Ingredients:

550 gm chicken thigh (or chicken breast), cut into small pieces
1/2 onion
7 skewers

Seasoning:

1/2 tsp chicken powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp sugar
1/2 Tbsp coriander powder
1/2 Tbsp turmeric powder
1/2 Tbsp cumin powder
1/2 Tbsp sweet paprika powder
1/2 Tbsp chili powder (optional)
1 Tbsp curry powder, parrot brand
a dash of sesame oil

Method:

1. Cut chicken thigh into 1 to 1 1/2 inches in thickness. Smash onion with a food processor. Mix all ingredients, marinate chicken and put in a fridge at least one day.
2. Preheat oven to 200C. Soak skewers in cold water for 10 minutes. Skewer marinated chicken.
3. Heat oil over medium heat and fry chicken until both sides are light brown. You don’t want to burn them, so be careful as some sugar was added into the marinade.
4. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easier clean up then spray with cooking spray. Bake for 25 minutes. Brush with honey when almost cooked. Insert a needle into the thickest part of the chicken. If no liquid runs out, it’s done. Serve with salad.

Fried Chicken with Ginger (Japanese Style)

key words: Chicken, Japanese Recipes

This dish is very like Japanese cuisine, actually evolved from the previous recipe, Japanese Pork Chops in Ginger Sauce. This recipe calls for hashed ginger, not grated ginger sauce, that would make chicken fillet much more unique in taste. You can use ginger sauce if you don’t like it too hot in taste, of course.

Fried Chicken with Ginger

Ingredients:

300 gm chicken breast fillet
2 Tbsp ginger, hashed
1/2 onion, cut into strips
1/2 capsicum, cut into pieces
salt, to taste

Marinade:

1 Tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp cornflour
dash of sesame oil
pinch of pepper

Seasoning:

1 1/2 Tbsp Japanese soya sauce
2 Tbsp sake (Japanese cooking wine)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
pinch of pepper

Fried Chicken with Ginger Procedures

Method:

1. Skin and trim fat from chicken breast fillet, rinse, wipe dry and cut into lengths. Stir in marinade and leave for 20 minutes.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil to sauté onion until translucent. Add capsicum and cook until tender. Sprinkle salt to taste. Set aside.
3. Add more oil to pan over medium heat to sauté chicken till almost done. Remove, let sit on kitchen towel to soak up excess oil for later use.
4. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil to sauté hashed ginger. When you smell the aroma of ginger, toss in chicken fillet, sprinkle wine and pour in seasoning mixture, add onion and capsicum. Cover lid to stew ingredients for 1 minute until cooked through and sauce dry up. Dish up, serve hot.

Pan-fried Chicken Wings with black pepper and Honey

key words: Chicken, Chinese Recipes

There are hundreds of thousands of ways of cooking chicken wings. My daughter loves eating chicken wings, no matter how I cook. There’s a saying invented by me and circulated around our family, 『有雞翼，會為食！』If it’s translated in English, it goes like this: “Chicken wings in front of your eyes, you’d be turned into a hungry guy.” My daughter can clear away all the chicken wings on table by herself.

This time I tried a new combination of black pepper with honey to cook sauce for chicken wings. Wow, it tastes fantastic. Watch out if you set this dish on table. Your kids definitely can’t stop eating until all of them are gone.

Pan-fried Chicken Wings with black pepper and Honey

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken wings
1 onion, shredded
1 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp honey (optional, to taste)
a dash of freshly crushed black peppercorns

Black Peppercorns

Black Peppercorn Grinder

Seasoning:

1 tsp light soy sauce
2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp cooking wine
1 Tbsp cornflour
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
a dash of ground black pepper

Fried Chicken Wings

Method:

1. Rinse chicken wings and cut into pieces. Marinate with seasoning at least for 30 minutes.
2. Sauté shredded onion over medium heat in a wok until golden. Set aside.
3. Add oil to wok again, fry chicken wings until golden on both sides. Pour in the seasoning mixture, cover chicken wings and cook for about 10 minutes until cooked through. Add freshly crushed black peppercorns, toss in fried onion and stir well. Add honey and mix well. Taste by yourself. If you are satisfied, dish up. Sprinkle some salt or add more honey to your taste if needed.

Pan-Fried Chicken Wings in Thai Sauce

key words: Asian Recipes, Chicken

Many Chinese families, just like us, love eating chicken wings. There are hundreds of thousands of cooking chicken wings methods. No matter how we cook the chicken wings, the dish would be very delicious. And I also have tried a variety of cooking methods to please my family, especially my daughter. This time I used Thai sweet and chili sauce. The sweet, sour and spicy flavors blend perfectly together to make a unique sauce that is so great for dipping the pan-fried chicken wings. Truly, it’s very delicious. If you use fried chicken breast, this Thai sauce will also match wonderfully.

Chicken Wings in Thai Sauce

Ingredients:

6 chicken wings, about 750gm

Marinade:

1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 salt
1 teaspoon corn flour
1 Tbsp cooking wine
a pinch of white pepper

Sweet and spicy sauce ingredients:

2 Tbsp Thai sweet & chili sauce
3 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Thickening:

2 teaspoons corn flour
2 Tbsp water

Pan-Fried Chicken Wings

Method:

1. Cut chicken wings into 3 pieces. Put into boiling water to blanch for 3 minutes in order to get rid of any blood. Drain and wipe dry, marinate chicken wings over 1 hour.
2. Heat a skillet over high heat. Don’t need to add any oil as the chicken wings have got some fat that would melt over heat. When both sides are brown, slower the heat to medium. Cover with a lid to cook for about 10 minutes, or until done. Dish up and drain on paper towel. Serve on a plate.
3. Pour sweet and spicy sauce ingredients into a small sauce pan. Bring to the boil, then add thickening. When it boils again, turn off the heat. Serve in a small bowl for dipping the chicken wings.

Sweet & Spicy Thai Sauce

Teriyaki Chicken Recipe (Classic Japanese Cuisine)

key words: Chicken, Japanese Recipes

Japanese cuisine is always on our family’s menu. Having tried to cook this Teriyaki Chicken, my dear daughter commented that it just liked the ones she enjoyed in Japanese restaurants. Well, I was thrilled when hearing this comment. You probably share the same feeling with me when our loved ones like and appreciate what we cook for them. Indeed, it’s a big reward. That’s all what I aspire to achieve in cooking.

I didn’t use the ready-made teriyaki sauce, but just some mirin. Mirin is a wonderful ingredient in Japanese cuisine. You can use it to create many different kinds of Japanese dishes. Keeping one bottle in the fridge can easily cook a delicious Japanese dish on the go.

Teriyaki Chicken

Ingredients:

350gm chicken breasts or thigh fillets
1 onion, shredded

Marinade:

2 tablespoons sake (rice wine)
4 tablespoons light soy sauce
4 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon grated ginger juice

Rice Wine and Mirin

Method:

1. Rinse chicken fillets and wipe dry with kitchen towel. Trim them if needed. In a bowl, mix all marinade ingredients together. Marinate the chicken in the mixture for 15 minutes.
2. Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan and sauté shredded onion on medium heat until soft. Set aside.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to fry the chicken until both sides are browned. Pour the sauce used to marinate chicken in the pan and bring to the boil. Cover the pan and turn to low heat until done. Add onion and quickly stir well. When the sauce becomes thick, turn off the heat. Serve on a plate. Pour thickened sauce over the teriyaki chicken. Done.

Fried Chicken Thighs

Tips:

1. While frying the chicken, beware that the chicken will be burnt easily because some sugar added in the marinade. Don’t use heat too high.
2. This dish can go with salad or steamed rice perfectly.

Chicken Fillets in Tomato and Dijon mustard Sauce

key words: Chicken, Western Recipes

I can’t wait to share this chicken fillets recipe with all my readers because the taste of them is very unique and sensational. My lovely daughter asked me to cook this dish for her repeatedly. I got thumbs up at the first time of serving this dish on our dining table.

Both tomato ketchup and Dijon mustard are very popular in cooking. But blending these two sauces together will make a big difference in taste that you’ve ever imagined before.

As for mustard, I love Dijon mustard very much as it’s not too hot but with a very special flavor. In addition, the rosemary and basil are very good “friends” in boosting up the flavor of chicken. It’s so yummy that I couldn’t wait until the dish is completely prepared. I ate one small piece of chicken fillet at the minute I finished cooking. Shhhh…..

The Asian Culinary Encyclopedic

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Various Chicken Recipes, Asian culinary Recipes

Sweet and Sour Chicken, The asian Culinary Recipe

Sweet and Sour Chicken, The asian Culinary Recipe

Western Chicken Recipes

OVEN FRIED CHICKEN BREASTS

GOURMET CHICKEN

Western Fried Chicken with cheese

OVEN FRIED CHICKEN

Western fried Chicken with eggs

SUNDAY FRIED CHICKEN

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The Asian Culinary Encyclopedic

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Various Chicken Recipes, Asian culinary Recipes

Sweet and Sour Chicken, The asian Culinary Recipe

Sweet and Sour Chicken, The asian Culinary Recipe

Western Chicken Recipes

OVEN FRIED CHICKEN BREASTS

GOURMET CHICKEN

Western Fried Chicken with cheese

OVEN FRIED CHICKEN

Western fried Chicken with eggs

SUNDAY FRIED CHICKEN

Search This Blog

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