{Korean Cooking Project} Kimchi Tofu Soup - 김치순두부찌개

Kimchi Stew (김치 찌개) is one the Korean's favourite soup which is available all year round at their dinning table. It is sometime known as either "Kimchi Soup, Kimchi Stew or Kimi Jjigae " which is all referring to a pot of piping red hot soup made with Kimchi, Tofu and Meat or Seafood.

Although I have being to Korea about 2 years ago during our winter trip (read more HERE),  I have never come across my mind to learn how to prepare Korean dishes at home. As friendly speaking I am not a fan of their well-known appetizer; Kimchi(김치) or Korean Rice Cake (Tteok - 떡) which can be used to cook soup, stewed or noodles. (stay tune for my upcoming Korean Rice Cake with Ramen - Rabokki)

KIMCHI TOFU SOUP
(김치순두부찌개)

Recently I am into watching Korean drama craze whereby it makes it curious and keen to learn some of their basic homecook dishes shown in the drama such as Kimchi Stew(김치 찌개), Spicy Korean Instant Ramen, and Japchae(잡채) and etc. So without hesitate I loot back quite a number of Korean Ingredients(read more HERE) to start this Korean Cooking Project.

(Serves: 2 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
150g of Kimchi(김치)
200g of Chicken Fillet, cut into strips
150 - 200g Napa Cabbage(大白菜), cut into thick sections
1 Box Silken Tofu, cut into thick section
2 Stalks of Spring Onion, cut into sections
1 Medium Brown Onion, sliced
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 Tablespoons of Gochujang(고추장)
600ml Of Boiling Water
Salt and Pepper

Method:-

1. Place a hot pot or pan on the stove, saute minced garlic with some 1 teaspoon of sesame/cooking oil till fragrant. Add in chicken fillet and cook till it changes colour to almost white.

2. Add onion, spring onion, kimchi and gochujuang and give it a quick stir till combine before adding water and bring to boil.

3. Add in napa cabbage and simmer over the mixture over medium low heat for about 10 minutes.

4. Lastly add in tofu and simmer for about another 5 - 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, garnish with extra spring onion or cut chilli.

5. Serve hot with steamed rice.

For the first dish of my Korean Cooking Project, I would like to share with you this simple "Kimchi Tofu Soup ( 김치순두부찌개)" which could be prepared in about 15 minutes time.  And this is definitely a perfect soup for cold weather such as rainy days to go with a bowl of hot steamed rice or ramen.

JAPCHAE(잡채)

(Preview)

Stay tune for my next Korean dish which is known as "Japchae(잡채)", or also known as "Korean Stir-fry Noodles with Beef and Vegetables". 

{Lunchbox} Aglio e Olio and Homemade Teriyaki Chicken

Since this week is the March School Holiday break, I have more control over the timing and presentation while preparing our lunch menu. Here we have something different from our usual school day lunch where I spent an extra 15 minutes plating up the dish in cute lunchbox with appealing decorations.

I think most of the kids might not like green vegetables, sweetcorn or even root vegetables such as carrot or onion. So in order to get kid's enjoy their meal, as a parent we can make something appealing for their eyes using simple tools and decorations. With a flower food cutter and cute food picks I managed to come out with this quick and simple lunchbox which I am sure even the adults can't resists having some for themselves too.

Caramel Chicken with Potato

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This Caramel Chicken with Potato dish is one of our family all-time favourite. It was infused with sweet and savory taste from the sauce and it's definitely perfect for a one dish meal. I was first introduce to this dish by one of my neighbour, Tarron during my stay in Brisbane many years back.

Instead of using sugar which is normal called in most Caramel Chicken recipe, here we are using Sweet Soy Sauce which is also known as "Kecap Manis" to sweeten the dish as well as giving it an unique fragrant and taste.

CARAMEL CHICKEN WITH POTATO

Although this dish might not look good as it is due to it's colour but I can assured you that you would love it's delicious sauce and taste which makes you having at least 2 bowl of rice to go with this dish.

(Serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 20 minutes)

Ingredients:
1/2 Portion of Chicken(600g), cut into bite size pieces
1.5 Tablespoons Sesame/Cooking Oil
2 Medium Potato, peeled and cut into thick strips
2 Stalks of Spring Onion, cut into sections
1 Medium Red Onion, thinly sliced
4 Slices Ginger, thinly sliced
2 Garlic Cloves, lightly pound
2-3 Dried Chilli, optional
1 - 1.5 Tablespoon Sweet Soy Sauce(Kecap Manis)
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
Steamed Rice, to serve

Method:-

1. Trim and clean the chicken, pat dry and marinated it with 1 teaspoon of cornflour, light and dark soy sauce, ground pepper for at least 15 minutes before cooking time.

2. Lightly coat the potato strips with some cornflour and fry it with 1 teaspoon of oil till slightly golden brown, remove and set aside.

3. Heat up 1.5 tablespoons of sesame oil over medium low heat, saute ginger, garlic, onion, spring onion and dried chilli(soak in hot water to soften, remove seeds before use) till fragrant.

4. Add in chicken pieces and stir-fry until slightly golden in colour, stir in sweet and light soy sauce, return potatoes into pan, covered and cook for about 8 minutes with Happy Call Pan(pan locked) or until chicken is cooked through.

5. Check the taste and add extra sweet/light soy sauce according to your preference. Cook, stirring, for another 1 minute or until sauce thickens. Serve with steamed rice.

Note:-

~ You can use 4 chicken Maryland/breast meat for this recipe instead of 1/2 portion of chicken.

~ If you don't have dried chilli, you can replace it with red capsicum or red chilli.

Other than this Caramel Chicken dish, I have another similar dish using Sweet Soy Sauce(Kecap Manis) which is known as "Kaffir Lime Leave Chicken". You can read more about this post and it's recipe HERE.

Thai Green Curry Roast Chicken

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The quickest way to enjoy a bowl of comfort curry dish at home is by using curry paste that is easily available at major supermarkets. In Singapore there are many different types of curry pastes ranging from Chinese(Singapore curry, nonya curry), Malay(rendang, kari ayam), Indian(fish curry), to international choice of Japanese, Thai and etc.

Here we are using Thai Green Curry paste which is best with chicken(recipe HERE), pork or seafood whereas Thai Red Curry works best with beef, lamb or oily fish such as salmon.

Buttermilk Cereal Chicken

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Some of you might notice that I have being "working hard" on my experiments(more recipes HERE) with the Happy Call Pressure Pan(HCP). By the look of the photo above, could you believe those golden and crispy drumlets are NEITHER deep-fried or oven baked!

Yes, for your information these yummy Buttermilk Cereal Chicken is done using HCP without deep-frying or bake. With just minimum amount of oil to grease the pan, you would be able to prepare more healthy and delicious food for the family. In this post, I would be sharing the recipe for this Buttermilk Cereal Chicken using HCP and Oven.

Above shows the comparison of Buttermilk Cereal Chicken done using Happy Call Pressure Pan (HCP) via  Oven Toaster base on the recipes shown below.

BUTTERMILK CEREAL CHICKEN

(Using Happy Call Pan Method)

Look at these golden drumlets with yummy cornflakes coating, isn't it make you crave for some upon looking at it now? These super easy finger food would be something worth trying during weekend if you have some "stock-up" cornflakes in the pantry. And I assure you this definitely taste better than those deep-fried chicken from those fastfood restaurants.

(serves: 2-3 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 20 minutes)

Ingredients:
6 Chicken Drumlets
1.5 Cups Cornflakes
1 Teaspoons Ground Paprika
1 Teaspoons Grated Lemon Rind
Pinch of Salt
1/4 Cup Plain Flour
3/4 Cup Buttermilk
Olive Oil Cooking Spray
Some Salad Greens, to serve

Method:-

1. Using your hands gently crush cornflakes into crumbs, add in paprika, lemon rinds, pepper, salt and stir until well combined.

2. Place flour and buttermilk in separate shallow dishes. Coat chicken drumlets one at a time with flour, shaking off excess before dipping in buttermilk.

4. While the drumlets are still moist (this will enable the cornflake crumbs to cling), coat it one at time in cornflakes mixture, pressing on with fingertips to secure the crumbs.

5. Place drumlets on preheated HCP (light brush the pan with cooking oil and preheat on low heat for 30 seconds) with pan lock and cook over very low heat for 5 minutes before flipping the pan over for another 5 minutes.

6. Rotate the pan a few times (cook about 20 minutes) or until golden and cooked through (leave the pan unlock for the last 5 minutes to achieve crispy outer skin). Serve with some salad greens.

Tip:-

- If you have time, marinate the chicken with some extra Ground Paprika(1 teaspoon), lemon rind and 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice for about 30 minutes.

~ You can cut a slit on the drumlets to enable the meat to cook faster.

BUTTERMILK CEREAL CHICKEN

(Oven Baked Method)

For those who don't own a Happy Call Pressure Pan, you could also try out this recipe using either Oven Toaster or normal Oven and the end-result is equally good. Just for a note, the outer skin of the chicken will remain crispy for an hour or so if use Oven baked compare to HCP which need to be consume as soon as possible.

(serves: 2-3 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 30 minutes)

Ingredients:
6 Chicken Mid-joint
1.5 Cups Cornflakes
1 Teaspoons Ground Paprika
1 Teaspoons Grated Lemon Rind
1/4 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Pinch of Salt
1/4 Cup Plain Flour
3/4 Cup Buttermilk
Olive Oil Cooking Spray
Some Salad Greens, to serve

Method:-

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line baking tray with baking paper and set aside.

2. Using your hands gently crush cornflakes into crumbs, add in paprika, lemon rinds, pepper, salt and stir until well combined. Set aside.

3. Place flour and buttermilk in separate shallow dishes. Coat mid-joints one at a time with flour, shaking off excess before dipping in buttermilk.

4. While the mid-joints are still moist (this will enable the cornflake crumbs to cling), coat it one at time in cornflakes mixture, pressing on with fingertips to secure the crumbs.

5. Place mid-joint prepared tray and lightly spray/brush with cooking oil.

6. Roast for 30 minutes(turning twice) or until golden and cooked through. Serve with some salad greens.

My family loves this crispy buttermilk chicken which is so flavorsome with it's tasty, tender and juicy meat together with the crispy and hint of spiciness on the outer skin. This is sure a good finger food to be serve during parties which goes well with sparking wine or beer.

Stir-fry Fu Gui Cai and Stuffed Mushrooms with Black Moss, Glutinous Rice Wine Chicken

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Time flies, today is the 3rd day of Chinese Lunar New Year and I am sure most of you have being busying with the house to house visiting plus feasting on the delicious New Year goodies and food. Even though nowadays we could easily ordered or enjoy a hassle free reunion dinner in restaurants but I believe there are still many housewives, mothers, grandparents and etc busying with the preparation of their signature dishes for reunion dinner.

I remember when I was a kid, I always look forward to Chinese New Year to feast on those "special" dishes that my dad would only cook during New Year. And although I am not a very good cook like my dad, every Chinese New Year I would still try to cook up one or two of my self concoct dishes for my family.

STIR-FRY FU GUI CAI AND STUFFED MUSHROOM WITH BLACK MOSS
富贵花开

For this year reunion dinner, I have prepared this quick and easy stuffed mushrooms with minced meat and black moss dish to serve together the auspicious greens known as Fu Gui Cai(富贵菜). To make it more colourful and appetising, I have also added gingko nuts and wolfberries to enhance the presentation.

I would be submitting this Stir-fry Fu Gui Cai and Stuffed Mushrooms with Black Moss dish to this month Aspiring Baker #15 - Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012) that is hosted by Wen of Wen's Delight.

(serves: 3-4 | Preparation: 15 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:
6 - 8 Dried Medium Chinese Mushrooms, soaked in hot water till soften
150g Minced Meat
10g Black Moss(发菜), pre-soaked in water
10 Gingko Nuts
1 Floret of Fu Gui Cai(富贵菜)
Some Wolfberries
1 Red Chilli, sliced
3 Slices Ginger
3 Cloves Garlic
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
1 Teaspoon Cornflour + 1 Tablespoon Water, mixed well

Seasoning:
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Teaspoon Cornflour
1/2 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1/2 Cooking Wine
Dash of Pepper

Sauce:
100ml Water
3 tablespoons Oyster Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sugar

Method:-

1. Mix minced meat, black moss and seasonings together and set aside to marinate for at least 10 minutes if time permit.

2. Stuff about 1 tablespoon of the minced meat mixture into the pre-soaked mushrooms.

3. Preheat Happy Call pan with about 1 tablespoon of oil and fry the stuffed mushrooms for about 1 minutes each side or until cooked. (HCP close but don't lock) Remove and set aside.

4. Add in another 1 tablespoon of oil to saute ginger and garlic till fragrant before adding in the Fu Gui Cai (remove the leaves from the floret, reserved 1/4 of the last portion to act as flower), chilli and gingko nuts. Close the pan and let it cook for another 1 minute before giving it a quick stir and close the pan for another 30 seconds.

5. Next add in the cooked stuffed mushrooms together with the sauce mixture and give the mixture a quick sit-fry and simmer on low heat for another 30 seconds before removing the vegetables.(arrange the vegetables in the middle of the plate)

6. Lastly with the mushrooms and gingko nuts still remains in the pan, add in corn star mixture and cooking wine and wolfberries, mix well with all the ingredients.

7. Remove and arrange mushrooms on serving plate around the fu gui cai. You can also decorate the mushroom with the wolfberries shown above.

Note:-

~ If you prefer you could replaced the dried mushroom with fresh shiitake mushrooms.

~ Pick up other greens such as broccoli, xiao ba cai or etc according to your preference if fu gui cai is not available.

~ For more varieties you could also add in fish or prawn paste to the minced meat mixture.

GLUTINOUS RICE WINE CHICKEN
黄酒鸡

This Glutinous Rice Wine Chicken(黄酒鸡) is one of the traditional Hakka dish eaten during confinement or Chinese New Year. To cook this dish usually they would buy kampong chicken instead of the normal chicken and simmer it together with their homemade Glutinous Rice Wine. According to the Hakka this dish is good to replenish lack of blood due to fatigue, malnutrition, cold chills, irregular menstruation, anemia, postpartum weakness and etc.

(serves: 2-3 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
1/2 Chicken(about 600g), cut into bite sizes
1 Tablespoons of Sesame Oil
6 Slices of Ginger, cut into thin strips
200ml - 250ml of Glutinous Rice Wine
6 Red Dates, cut into thick slices
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Marinade:
1 Teaspoon Cornflour
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Light Soy sauce
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine

Method:-

1. Marinate the chicken with cornflour, sesame oil, light soya sauce and cooking wine for at least 10 minutes.

2. Preheat Happy Call Pan on low heat with sesame oil and saute gingers till fragrance(close but don't lock).

3. Add in marinated chicken and cook on low heat for 1 minute (closed and locked), flip the pan over and cook for another 1 minute.

4. Next flip the pan back, add in rice wine and red dates, locked the pan and simmer over low heat for about 8 - 10 minutes till the chicken is tender and cooked through.

5. Lastly add in salt to taste and serve hot.

Emmm perhaps you could also share with us which is your favourite Chinese New Year dish too :)

Happy Call Pan Recipes - Baked Sweet Potato, Sizzling Tofu and Claypot Rice

It's Happy Call Pan(HCP) recipes again! As I have mentioned before this is an "IN" kitchen gadget which is it one of the hot discussion topic in forum and Facebook. With it's quick and easy pressure cooking method, this pan has won the hearts of many people especially homemakers who aim to cook healthier dishes for the family.

In this post I would be sharing another 3 recipes using this HCP to Bake Sweet Potato, cook Sizzling Tofu and our favourite Claypot Rice (without using claypot).

{Prego Pasta Sauce} Deliciously Thick & Rich

These are my 2nd batch of recipe booklets with Campbell's featuring FOUR of their Prego Pasta Sauce apart from the 1st batch using Swanson Clear Chicken Broth(read more HERE). And our aim for these recipes is provide consumers with some quick and fuss free idea to whip up festive dishes for coming Christmas of New Year family meals or gatherings.

These recipe booklets consists of 4 recipes using 2 white and 2 red sauces from Prego Pasta Sauce range. You could find these recipe booklets available in major supermarkets such as FairPrice, Cold Storage island wide. And here I would like to share 2 of the complimentary recipes from the booklet with those who are interested to try it with the Prego pasta sauce.

CHEESY CHICKEN DUMPLINGS

This Cheesy Chicken Dumplings is a fusion of Asian Dumpling with Italian Alfredo sauce to cook up something similar to Ravioli. Instead of using egg pasta dough for the dumplings, I have replaced it with Chinese round dumpling wrappers filled with minced chicken meat mixtures.

As this could be a rich dish due to the cheesy Alfredo sauce I would recommend it to be served together with some fresh salad greens to balance the taste. And for some nutty flavour, you could also scatter some toasted pine nuts on top of the prepared dumplings before serving.

(serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
1 Bottle 350g Prego Cheesy Alfredo
20 Round Dumpling Wrappers
150g Mince Chicken Meat
20g Carrot, finely chopped/grated
2 Shallots, finely chopped
3 Fresh Water Chestnut, finely chopped
1/2 Tablespoon Chopped Parsley

Marinade:
1/2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Cornflour
2 Cloves Garlic, slice thinly

Garnish:
Freshly Grind Black Pepper
Dried Chili Flakes, optional

Method:-

1. Marinate mince chicken, carrot, shallot, water chestnut and parsley together with marinade for at least 10 minutes.

2. Wrap each dumpling wrapper with 1/2 tablespoon of mince meat mixture by wetting the edge of the wrapper with some water and fold it into half.

3. Cook the dumplings in a medium pot filled with boiling water and 1/2 teaspoon of oil.

4. Once the dumplings float on the surface, lower the heat and continue to simmer for another 1 minute. Remove, rinse with tap water and drain well.

5. Heat up 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a pan, sauté garlic slices until golden brown remove and set aside. Pour in Prego Cheesy Alfredo, toss in cooked dumplings and simmer for 1 minute. Top with garnish and fried garlic slices. Serve immediately.

BAKED HAINANESE CHICKEN CHOP

If you love those Hong Kong style baked rice with red sauce that comes in either chicken, pork or seafood I am sure you would like this fusion version of Baked Hainanese Chicken Chop. You could replace the chicken chop with either pork or seafood and bake it together with rice or even spaghetti to create 1 dish with different versions.

The is a simple version where I use bottled tomato pasta sauce to replace our usual "Asian" seasoning and at the same time retain some of the ingredients like onion, pineapple, green peas and etc to create a fusion dish. To shorten the process you could also used frozen pork/chicken schnitzel which is available in the supermarkets too. 

(serves: 4 | Preparation: 20 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:
1 Bottle( 680g) Prego Traditional Sauce
2 Chicken Breast Meat/ 4 Chicken Fillets
1.5 Cup Dried Bread Crumbs
Oil For Shallow Frying
2 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
2 Medium Onion, cut into wedges
150g Green Peas
2 Medium Tomato, cut into wedges
2 Slices Pineapple, cut into cubes
1 Cup Shredded Tasty Cheese

Marinade:
2 Teaspoons Sesame Oil
2 Teaspoons Cooking Wine
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
½ Teaspoon Ground Pepper
1 Tablespoon Cornflour
1 Large Egg

Method:-

1. Tenderise the chicken by flatten it with a meat mallet or the back of the knife for easy cooking before marinate it for least 10 minutes.

2. Pour cooking oil into a frying pan till about 1cm in depth and heat it up. At the meantime roll the marinated chicken fillet in breadcrumbs, pressing firmly.

3. Cooked chicken fillet for 2 - 3 minutes on each side until golden brown or cooked through on medium low heat. (do not use high heat or it will burnt the breadcrumbs)

4. Drain on absorbent paper, cut into 1cm thick slices and set aside.

5. Sauté onion till soft add in green peas and cook for 30 seconds before stirring in Prego Traditional Sauce, tomato and pineapple, simmer for 2 minutes.

6. Arrange chicken schnitzel on top of the cooked pasta or rice in a baking dish, top with pasta sauce mixture and shredded tasty cheese.

7. Bake in pre-heated 200 degree oven for 5 minutes until cheese turns golden brown. Serve.

Lastly hope you would like these 4 dishes that I have prepared using the Prego Pasta Sauce for this coming festive season. And for your information, there is also a "Holiday Giveaways With Campbell's" promotion where consumers could spent S$6.00 to quality for the festive draw to win travel vouchers up to S$3,000. Details can be found HERE or at major participating supermarkets. Cheers and have a great week everyone!

{GO GREEN} Basil, Chilli and Garlic Spaghetti, Pistachio Crumbed Chicken plus Avocado Milkshake

Now till end of December 2011 is our annual end year school holidays where most of the kids get to enjoy a long holiday break before the new school term starts in 2012. Since we often had late breakfast during this period of time, I would cook something rather simple, fast and in small portion just enough to fill our stomach till tea-break or dinner.

Here we have some really quick to prepare spaghetti with nutty oven baked pistachio chicken plus a cup of smooth and creamy avocado milkshake for our brunch.

{Giveaway plus Review} Easy Thai Cooking by Robert Danhi

Last month while lasing with Bee's Easy Chinese Recipes cookbook giveaway with Tuttle Publishing, Margaret from the team suggest if I would like to review Chef Robert Danhi's cookbook on Easy Thai Cooking. (more information at www.chefdanhi.com). I was thrilled and immediately accepted the offer because my family (especially my mum) love Thai cuisines.

In this post I would be sharing 3 dishes (with a complimentary recipes) which I have tried a few days back from Chef Robert's Easy Thai Cooking cookbook. With the step-by-step photos and sample recipes you can easily follow the preparation on these delicious dishes shown below.

Chilli Jam Chicken

When it comes to prepare dishes for our daily meals I am always on the move in searching or creating quick and easy dish that can be served within an hour. With a kid at home as well as busying with work and household chores sometime I would also need some help from those instant sauce to add flavour to the dishes. Like example; today I am using the "Dancing Chef - Special Sauce" which is a closer version in term of taste to the western "chilli jam". And this sauce actually goes well either meat and seafood too.

Yang Sheng Le(养生乐) - Cordyceps Concentrated Herbal Soup

 

Last monthly, I have bought a few bottles of these Yang Sheng Le(养生乐), concentrated herbal soup from Fairprice during one of it's promotion. And for your information this concentrated soup is a collaboration by two trusted brand names Eu Yan Sang and MAGGI. Although for most of us this might be just another "instant" soup base which enables you to prepare quick and easy soup within minutes but with some extra bits of ingredients you could also turn this into a once pot dish too.

To enjoy and prepare these delicious herbal soup, what you need to do is to dilute the mixture with water and simmer it for about 20 minutes before serving. Yan Sheng Le Concentrated Herbal Soup is also endorsed as the "Healthier Choice" by the Singapore Health Promotion Board and as well with the following :-.

~ All Natural
~ No Preservatives
~ No Added MSG
~ No Added Artificial Colouring/Flavoring

Retail Price: From S$7.50 per bottle onwards

Ingredients: (serve 3 - 4)
1 Bottle of Cordyceps Concentrated Herbal Soup
1 Black Chicken (乌鸡) or 600g Chicken Pieces
1 Litre Boiling Water
Some Wolfberries and Red Dates

Method:-

1. Trim and cut the black chicken into quarters, rinse and blanched in a pot of boiling water for a about 3 minutes. Remove, rinse and set aside.

2. Empty contents of herbal concentrate from bottle into 1 litre of boiling water and mix well.

3. Add chicken pieces, bring to boil.

4. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes and serve hot.

These concentrated Herbal Soup comes in a few different types of flavour but we loves the American Ginseng Concentrated And Cordyceps Concentrated most. The photo shown above is Black Chicken with Cordyceps Herbal Soup in 20 minutes. The Cordyceps Concentrated Herbal Soup consist of 5 herbs such as :-  Cordyceps, Bei Shan Shen, Bei Qi, Yu Zhu and Chi Pi which provides nourishing goodness for the body.

Celebrate Mid-Autumn Reunion with Swanson

 

Finally after about 2 months of preparation such as drafting, cooking, tasting and photoshoot on the dishes, my 1st set of Recipes booklet with "Swanson Clear Chicken Broth" is available at major supermarkets island wide. The launch of this Quick Meals by Swanson recipes is to enable consumers to cook up something fast and yet nutritious for the family during Mid-Autumn Reunionor anytime of the day.

In this recipes booklet it consists of 2 soup and 2 noodle dishes whereby I would share with you two of the related recipes that are available in the booklet such are:-

Chicken Karaage

Sorry for the lack of post(s) these few weeks because I was pretty busy with a few projects on hand. I would try to get all the draft post(s) published as soon as possible but to compensate, I have invited a few well-known bloggers to guest post(s) some of their home-style dishes and bakes.

Today's let put our hands together and welcome Nami from "Just One Cookbook". I know Nami through her comments on my blog a few months back. From her blog link I also get to know her better as well as exploring her wonderful recipes collection on her home-style Japanese Cuisines. She is also the one who help me to look up recipes on Japanese website regarding the Japanese Steamed Cake which I wish to learn more about it. Today I am so happy to invite Nami to Cuisine Paradise to share her classic “Chicken Karaage” recipe with us and I sure you would like it as much as we do. Enjoy!

Hello readers of Cuisine Paradise! Usually, I’m just the same as you, a fan enjoying Ellena’s delicious creations. She was generous to invite me to contribute a recipe on her site so today I will share one of my family’s favorite Japanese dish, Chicken Karaage (鶏の唐揚げ) recipe. I am a dedicated visitor to Ellena’s site and her mouth watering photos always make me hungry. With her extensive library of recipes from around the world, I learned so much from Ellena and especially Chinese and Southeast Asian cooking techniques. Personally I’ve used multiple recipes from her site to feed my family lunch and dinner and her website has been a great inspirational resource.

Chicken Karaage is a classic Japanese fried chicken dish. It’s a very common Japanese home cooking recipe and many Japanese restaurants including Izakaya (Japanese tapas) offer it in many countries all over the world. You might also find them as a main dish in lunch teishoku (meal set) at restaurants or bento box (lunch box) you buy from Japanese supermarkets. Usually the chicken is marinated in a mix of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and lightly coated with potato/corn starch mix, then finally deep fried. However, each family has different way of preparing it, and here is mine that my family loves.

I hope you enjoy my Chicken Karaage recipe and thank you so much Ellena for having me!

Chicken Karaage

Difficulty: Modearate
Cooking Time: 60 minutes (excluding marinade time)
Makes: 5-8 servings

Ingredients:

5-10 Chicken thigh fillets, cut into 2 inch pieces (make sure each piece is about the same size so it takes about the same amount of time to deep fry.)

Seasonings
¼ onion, grated
½ Tbsp. ginger (1.5 inch ginger), grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp. cooking sake
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup corn starch (Please adjust if necessary. If you use 10 chicken thighs, probably about ½ cup)

Oil for deep frying

A couple of lemon wedges
Ichimi Togarashi (Japanese red chili pepper flakes) (optional)
Green onion for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Put chicken in a Ziploc bag and combine all the ingredients for Seasonings in a bowl and mix all together.

2. Pour the Seasonings into the Ziploc bag and rub the chicken well with hands. Keep it in the fridge for at least 1 hour, preferably 3-4 hours.

3. In a wok, add oil to about half way full and heat it on medium high heat. When you put a chopstick in the oil and bubbles start to appear around the tip, the oil temperature is now around 180C (356F) and ready for deep frying.

4. When oil is ready, take out the Ziploc bag from the fridge and transfer the chicken into a bowl and discard the marinade (liquid). Then add corn starch and mix quickly. You don’t need to mix it evenly (as you see in the picture below). The uneven coating gives each piece its unique texture.

5. Place each piece of chicken separately into the oil. Do not overcrowd the wok, fry maximum 5 pieces at a time. If you put a lot of chicken in the oil, the temperature will drop quickly and chicken end up absorbing too much oil. Make sure the oil temperature stays around 180C (356F) at all time.

1. Deep fry for 90 seconds.
2. Transfer the chicken onto a wire rack (if not, paper towel) to drain the oil for 4 minutes,
3. Deep fry again for 45 seconds, or until golden brown.

Transfer the chicken onto a wire rack to drain the oil. Before you start the next batch, skim/remove leftover crumbs from the oil in order to keep it clean.

6. Serve the chicken with lemon wedges. Squeeze the lemon right before you eat. You can dip in Ichimi Togarashi if you enjoy spicy chicken.


For more Japanese home-sytle recipes, you can refer to Nami website at Just One Cookbook for more recipe ideas.