[recipes] Huiji Waist Tonic (汇集补腰精)

Steamed Ginger Chicken

No matter you are a new mother on confinement or just someone who wants to whip up some herbal dishes for the family to nourish the body.  I am sure you have tried some of those  pre-packed herbs, spices or even tonic drinks which are available in the stores. In this post I would be sharing a few ideas on how to prepare nourishing dishes with the help of Huiji Waist Tonic which could easily prepare for ourselves and kid(s) especially during exam period.

[Weekly Meal Planner #4] Recipes On Week Night Dinners

[Weekly Meal Planner] Week Nights Dinners

Hi peeps, time flies and we are into second weeks of June meaning half of the 2014 is almost ended. Today we shall continue with our "Weekly Meal Planner" column which hiatus for almost 2 months with the last entry two months back in April. I am sorry that I couldn't update it promptly here as promised because I was busy with my kid's mid-year exam plus my health was not really good over the weeks too.

Back to the post, for WMP #4 I am compiling a few recipes of our week night dinners which I hope it would be useful in a way to help planning your cooking schedule. Most of the dishes featured this round are rather simple and fuss free like quick soup, omelette, stir-fry vegetables and etc.

Seah's Emperor Herbs Chicken

Steam Herbal Chicken either with steam rice or blanched noodles where we could drizzle those delicious sauce over it. Whenever we unwrapped the chicken parcel, the dining room will be filled with wonder aroma of the herbs. And with the usual tight working schedule, preparing a simple and yet delicious meal is always something challenging for me. So often I would need to settle some of our meals with those quick and easy ingredients or products which can be easily purchase off shelf from the supermarket.

Since most of us are craving for herbal chicken, I decided to fix one over the weekend using one of my favourite Seah’s Emperor Herbs Chicken Spices. This is definitely a quick and easy meal and the main ingredients that you required would be either some chicken parts or the whole chicken plus a packet of ready spices. This recipe I only used half of the chicken for steaming while the other half for making “Chicken, Longan and Burdock Soup” (recipe HERE).

Ingredients:
1/2 packet of Seah's Emperor Herbs Chicken Spices
1/2 Whole Chicken, around 500g
Aluminum Foil and Wrapper(included in packet)
3 Red Dates, cut into thick strips
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries
1 1/2 Tablespoon of Drinking Water

Method:
1. Trim, rinse and use some kitchen paper towel to pat dry the chicken.
2. Rub the spices on the external skin and internal of the chicken.
3. Top with red dates and wolfberries then drizzle the water over the top.
4. Wrap the chicken with the wrapper(tie a knot) then follow by aluminum foil.
5. Steam for about 1.5 - 2 hours depending on your preference of the meat texture.

Tips:

~ The purpose of adding water is to have more gravy for the end product.

~ Red dates and wolfberries will further enhance the taste and fragrant.

~ For stronger taste, you can also drizzle a spoonful of D.O.M Benedictine Liquor over the pipping hot chicken before serving.

 

You can get this Seah's Emperor Herbs Chicken Spices at any leading supermarket or provision stalls near your area. And if you would like to try something different, perhaps you can try this less than 30 minutes oven baked "Salt-Roasted chicken Spices" too.

Steam Herbal Chicken With BRAND’S® Chicken Essence

Since I had a few bottles of BRAND’S^® Essence of Chicken left in the cabinet, I thought of giving this dish a try. The original dish used Frog and Chicken Essence while I replace it with Chicken and some extra herbs to boost the favour as well as the fragrant.

Ingredients:
1/2 portion of a medium chicken
3 Slices Of Ginger, shredded
1 Bottle Of BRAND’S Chicken Essence
3-4 Slices Of Dang Gui(当归)
4 Red Dates(红枣)
1/2 Tablespoon Gou Qizi(杞子)
Marinade:
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Cooking/Rice Wine
10g Finely Grated Ginger

Methods:
1. Rinse the chicken, pat-fry and season with marinade for at least 30 minutes or more.
2. Arrange the marinated chicken on the plate together with the herbs, cover with foil and steam for about 15 minutes.
3. Remove from the steamer, pour in the chicken essence over the chicken, cover the foil and steam for another 15 to 20 minutes until the thicker part of the chicken is tender.
4. Remove the chicken, braised it with the chicken essence sauce and serve immediately.

Notes:
a) You can used any favour of the Chicken Essence.
b) You may omit the extra herbs if you find it too heaty.

Steam Herbal Chicken

We love to cook this Steamed Herbal Chicken at least once or twice every fortnightly either half portion of chicken, chicken wings or chicken drumsticks depending what we prefer on that week. If you have some ready Chinese Herbs at home, it is actually better to use that rather than getting premixed spices from supermarkets.

There are many different methods in preparing this dish where some might prefer stronger herbal taste or lighter. My method here might be different from your so this is just for reference and sharing you can always add or remove ingredients which is not accessible on your end.