Tuesday 8 February 2011

[Valentine's Day Dish] Spice Up Your Love

Almost every year during the month of February, it is always full of Excitement and Happiness whereby everyone is looking forward to either Chinese Lunar New Year, Yuan Xiao Jie(15th Day of Chinese New Year or known as Chinese Valentine’s Day) or 14th February, Valentine’s Day.

I remembered last year I made some delicious Valentine’s Day cookies (recipe HERE) to share with my friends and family, which makes them feel warm and loved. And for this year Valentine’s Day I am honor to host one of the monthly “Aspiring Bakers” event organised by, Small Small Baker with the theme for February on “Love In The Air”. So here goes my two recipes for this month submission……..

During Chinese New Year, “Mandarin Orange() and “Tangerine(橘子)” are considered traditional symbols of abundance and good fortune. These fruits are frequently displayed as decoration or presented as gifts to friends and relatives. In traditional Chinese medicine the dried peel of the Mandarin Orange is also used in the regulation of “Chi” and treat abdominal distension, enhance digestion and etc.

I am sure most of us who celebrates Chinese New Year(CNY) will sure to have some left over Mandarin Oranges that we bought for the traditional CNY door to door house visiting to your friends or relatives. So if you are cracking your head on what to do with those extra oranges, here are two simple recipes that which I made use of Mandarin Oranges to whip out coming Valentine’s Day dish.




STIR-FRIED CHICKEN WITH MANDARIN ORANGE


Preparation: 20 Minutes                                     Cooking Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients: (serves 2)
1 Skinless Chicken Breast(about 250g), cut into chunks
A pinch of White Pepper
1 Teaspoons Soy Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
1/2 Tablespoons Corn Flour
6 Dried Red Chilies, rinse with water
4 Slices Of Ginger, cut into heart shapes
4 Cloves Garlic
1 Medium Red Onion, cut into wedges
1 Whole Mandarin Orange Skin, cut into heart shapes
1 Mandarin Orange, peel into individual segments
2 Stalks Spring Onion, cut into section
20g Roasted Cashew Nuts, optional

Seasoning Sauce:
50ml Mandarin Orange Juice
1.5 Tablespoons Water
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Chinese White Rice Vinegar



Tips:
~ If Mandarin Orange is not in season, you can replace it with some sweet Orange.

~ Slowly remove the outer skin of the Mandarin Orange, then use any small "Heart Shape" cookie cutter to cut out "hearts" from it.




Method:
1. Marinade the chicken pieces with pepper, soy sauce, wine and corn flour; mix well and set aside.

2. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.

3. Preheat frying pan and pan-fried chicken till golden brown on each side. Remove and set aside.

4. Return the wok to medium high heat with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the dried chilies and stir-fry briefly until they are fragrant.

5. Toss in the onion, ginger, garlic and stir-fry for another 30 seconds before adding the mandarin orange peel and continue to saute till the oil is fragrant.

6. Next add in chicken and sauce mixture, stir till thicken then toss in orange segments, cashew nuts and spring onion to coat evenly with sauce. Serve immediately with Orange Scented Rice(recipe HERE).


This dish is infused with great aroma and hint of spiciness from the "dried chilies". While the sauce itself has a balance mixture of sweet and sour taste from the orange juice which blends well with all the chicken and firm orange segments when consume.

I think this is the 2nd recipe which I have incorporate fresh fruit in a stir-fry dish, where the 1st recipe on about the "Stir-Fried Pork Fillet With Longan". But if you prefer something lighter perhaps you can take a look at this "Steam Cod With Tangerine" which includes "Mandarin Orange" as one of the ingredient too.

I am also submitting this post to "Aspiring Bakers #4: Love In The Air! (Feb 2011)", hosted by Me(Cuisine Paradise) at this link HERE.


3 comments:

  1. I love the small heart shape mandarin oranges~ so sweet & cute. =)

    ReplyDelete
  2. so cute! you cut the orange into heart shape. nice! (: (:

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Cathy and Sweetylicious :) Hope u like this Valentine's Day Dish.

    ReplyDelete

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