Friday 18 August 2017

[recipes + video] Sweet And Savory Honey Recipes


*in collaboration with Huiji Honey

Honey which is a natural sweetener for making beverage is also an excellent addition for baking and cooking. It can helps to retain moisture in the cake or adds as a golden hue to sauces and dressing. Personally I find honey blend well with most meat dishes especially chicken and it make great dressing when mix with lemon, mustard sauce or fresh herbs too.

From what I read up you can actually replace 1 cup sugar with half portion of honey in your recipes to cut down the amount of sugar used. So for a healthier diet perhaps you can try adding honey into your next bake or checkout our honey related recipes below.



CHAR SIU aka Chinese BBQ Pork
(密汁叉烧)


Making chair siew (BBQ pork) at home is not as difficult as you think because even for those who are busy there is always ready-made sauce to ease the task. Recently I just tried another method of making char siew by braising the meat in a heavy duty pot before it being caramelised. Besides that I also mix my own marinade using ingredients such as honey, red wine lee (for a nature red colour), fermented beancurd and etc.

Watch how we made Char Siew (BBQ Pork) using stove method.


(Yield: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 45 minutes)

Ingredients:
500g - 550g pork belly (五花肉)
1 tablespoon red wine lees (红槽)
1 cube fermented beancurd (腐乳)
1 tablespoon cooking wine
2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon caster sugar
3 tablespoon honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated ginger

Method:
1. Trim and cut pork belly (you can replaced with chicken breast or boneless chicken drumstick) into long strips, you can ask the butcher to do it for u.

2. In a glass bowl combined all the above seasoning ingredients and mix well.

3. Next add in meat and marinate for at least an hour or overnight in the fridge. Remember to turn the meat once or two to let it adsorb the marinade.

4. Take out meat from fridge 15 minutes before cooking then add everything into a heavy duty pan together with extra 100ml of water and bring to boil on medium heat.

5. When the mixture comes to boil, lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes or until meat is tender. Turn meat every 10 minutes to coat well with the sauce and prevent it from burning.

6. Remove meat from pan and set aside to cool before slicing. You can add some hot water to thin the sauce and use it to drizzle over the char siew or rice.

*And like what you saw on the first photo and video clip I also made "fan choy" using these homemade char siew together with hard boiled egg and mushroom.



HONEY SOY CHICKEN
(蜜汁酱油鸡)


This easy and delicious sweet and sticky drumlets recipe is one of our family favourite and you can always twist the ingredients according to your preference such as omit turmeric powder or minced garlic.  Each drumlet is coated with a layer of finger-liking honey soy sauce glaze plus the crunch of walnut and sesame seeds make eat bite so irresistible.


(Yield: 8 drumblets | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 20 minutes)

Ingredients:
8 chicken drumlets
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder, optional
1 tablespoon Japanese soy sauce
1 teaspoon cooking wine
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger juice
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, optional
* 2-3 tablespoons honey

Method:
1. Preheat pan with 1 teaspoon of oil and saute minced garlic till fragrant. Add drumlets and cook till slightly browned on both sides.

2. Next pour in reserve marinade sauce and 2 - 3 tablespoons of honey then let it simmer over low heat for 15 minutes or until meat is cooked.

3. Turn and rotate drumlets to coat well with the sauce as well as prevent them from burning.

Meanwhile using another smaller pan, toast some sesame seeds and walnut over lower heat till fragrant and lightly browned. Set aside

4. When the drumlets are done toss in prepared sesame seeds and walnuts.

5. Give it a few stirs and remove to serving plate.



SPICY CHICKEN MID-JOINT
(辣酱鸡)


When you do a Google search here are quite a number methods which you can make Korean-style Spicy Fried Chicken at home. And if you look thru the recipe below, mine is definitely not the authentic version but it still taste good as long as you nail the sauce.

For me the key ingredients for the sauce are Korean chilli paste, hot pepper flakes and honey which makes a good combo for sweet and spicy sauce. Besides that grated pear or brown onion can be added for natural sweetness and flavour too.

(Yield: 8 Mid-Joint | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
8 mid-joints
1 teaspoon cooking wine
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger juice
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
2 cloves garlic minced

Method:
1. Trim and cut chicken mid-joints then marinate using the above for at least an hour or overnight in the fridge.

2. Lightly coat marinated mid-joints with potato or corn starch.

3. Deep-fried in hot oil till golden brown, remove and set side.

4. Sauté minded garlic with some oil till fragrant, add in fried chicken mid-joints and give it a few stirs.

5. Next add in spicy sauce mixture and coat it evenly. Toss in some roasted sesame seeds and chopped spring onion. Remove to serving plate and serve immediately.

Spicy Sauce Ingredients:
1 heap tablespoon of gochujang (Korean red chilli paste)
1/2 tablespoon gochugaru (Korean hot pepper flakes)
1.5 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoon rice wine
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2 clove garlic, minced

Method:
1. Mix all the sauce ingredients (except minced garlic) till combined. Set aside.

Note:
- rice wine can be replaced with 1 grated Apple/Pear
- you can taste the sauce to check the seasoning on whether more honey or soy sauce is required
- the sauce will be slightly spicy due to the hot pepper flake so if you can't take too spicy, omit it


Huiji Honey is one of the ingredients which I often use to replace sugar in cooking and baking. I love this natural raw honey because it has tinge of floral fragrance plus the handy bottle and its special designed cap also helps to prevent spillage making it easier for you to squeeze the amount you prefer.

Above is my daily warm lemongrass & pandan leave drink sweeten with drizzle of honey to help ease digestion especially after a full meal.

Lastly hope you like these three simple homecook dish which you can prepare easily without spending long hours in the kitchen. Oh ya just a note you can always swap the deep-fried mid-joint using air-fryer or oven baked before coating with the sauce. 

Disclaimer: This post is brought to you by Huiji Honey.

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