Dark Soy Sauce Chicken with Potato Cubes Stew

I love this dish especially during busy weekday nights where I only have very limited time to prepare dinner. This one pot dish look and taste rather quite similar like "Beef Stew" due to it's ingredients like Onion, Carrot, Potato and Tomato. But this is more like a fusion dish towards Asian taste whereby dark soy sauce, sesame oil and cooking wine is being incorporate into the ingredients.

Yesterday after sharing a photo of this simple home cook dish over at Facebook page (Here), I was surprised that there are quite a number of the readers actually "Like(s)" this dish and also requested for the recipe. So without any photos on the preparation steps, I hope you can still follow the recipe and cooking method below.    

This dish can be cooked in either dry or soup version because you can adjust the amount of water according to your preference. I preferred more gravy if I am having this as a one pot dish so that we can  drizzle it on  steamed rice. The gravy has a combination of sweet, sour and starchy flavour due to  the tomato and potato. Usually with this my family will always request extra serving of rice to go with this dish.

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 3)
5 Chicken Wings, cut into halves
3 Medium Size Potato, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
2 Medium Size Tomato, halves and seeds removed
1 Medium Size Carrot, peeled and cut into 1cm thick slices
2 Medium Red Onion, cut into wedges

Seasonings:
1 Teaspoon Thick Dark Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
50 - 70ml Hot Water

Method:-

1.Trim and clean the chicken wings, cut them into halves(drumlet and mid-joint), marinate with 1 teaspoon of cornflour, 1/2 teaspoon of dark soy sauce, sesame oil and cooking wine. Set aside for 3 - 5 minutes while preparing the rest of the ingredients.

2. Heat up a saucepan or frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil, fry the potato cubes(dust it evenly with some cornflour)for 3 minutes or until slightly golden brown, remove on plate and continue the same method with carrot.

3. Next using the same saucepan/pan, toss in onion wedges and saute till fragrant before adding in the marinated chicken wings.

4. Fry both side of the chicken wing till slightly brown, add in potato and carrot together with seasonings and give it a quick toss before pouring in the hot water(water level must be able to cover the chicken).

5. When the mixture comes to boil, add in tomato and simmer on low heat for about 15 - 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through, potato and carrot soften and soup is almost thicken.

6. Lastly, drizzle some sesame oil and dash of pepper, top with spring onion(cut into sections) and serve with hot steamed rice.


Total cost for this dish is about S$3.70 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Chicken Wings = S$2.50
~ Potato, carrot, onion and tomato = S$1.20

Food Voucher GIVEAWAY!!!

~ Closing Date: Monday, 09 May 2011, 2359 hours for more details pop over HERE.

[Giveaway!!!!] NEW BK SHOTS Burgers

Recently Burger King(BK) launched a range of 3 new products targeting on young women specially under the campaign "WHAT WOMEN WANT, WOMEN GET". This new BK SHOTS Burgers compact the flame-grilled goodness of the usual BK burger into bit-size option which can be split into two and shared among friends and families.

Here I have a pair of BK SHOTS Burger voucher to share with with ONE lucky winner so that you too will get a chance to try out these new launched products. If you are interested, just leave your Name and which BK SHOTS burger you would like to try, example "I would love to try the NEW BK SHOTS Rodeo Beef Burger" in the comment box and I will pick ONE Lucky winner on Tuesday, 10 May 2011. Result will be announce on Tuesday, 10 May 2011(Noon). (VOUCHER can only be used in SINGAPORE)

For those who prefer chicken over beef, this BK SHOTS Spicy Chicken Burger will certainly suits your preference with its perfectly fried crispy chicken patty nestled between soft fragrant seedless buns instead of the usual sesame bun. And for extra flavour this chicken patty is also served with spicy BBQ sauce that pairs up heavenly to meet your satisfaction.
Price: BK SHOT Spicy Chicken Burger @ S$2.50 each (a la carte)

And as for the beef lovers, they have two difference choices that you can settle for. This BK SHOTS Redeo Beef Burger comes with it's signature onion rings as one of the stuffing. With this choice you would be able to get a good combination of crispy onion rings, American cheese, flame-grilled 100% beef patty in generous spread of BK Special spicy BBQ sauce.
Price: BK SHOT Rodeo Beef Burger @ S$2.50 each (a la carte)

But if you prefer sauteed onions more than fried onion rings, perhaps this BK SHOTS Grilled Onion Beef Burger will be a better choice for you. These baby burger is pack with perfectly sauteed onions melded in their spicy BBQ sauce that served in soft fluffy seedless bun with combi of 100% flamed-grilled beef patty, cheese and creamy mayonnaise sauce. And this is definitely my first choice to order compare to the other two mentioned above as I love the unique fragrance of sauteed onion.
Price: BK SHOT Grilled Onion Beef Burger @ S$2.50 each (a la carte).

Overall I think this new BK SHOTS Burgers are great for kids and young students due to it's size whereby they can easily spilt and shared the burger with their siblings or friends at a affordable cost of S$2.50 for each BK SHOTS burger or S$4.95 for a meal(with medium fries and medium drink).

Thanks everyone for your participations on this "BK SHOTS Burger Voucher" Giveaway.
Congrats to the Winner (click to View)

Japanese Steamed Sweetcorn Bun(Mushipan)

Recently I was addicted to the "NEW" Mango and Matcha steamed cake from one of the well-known local bakery known as Fourleaves. I am not sure whether have you tired it but I love it's fragrant, soft and fluffy texture which I could eat either 2 or 3 during breakfast. In this post, I would share with you this Japanese Steamed Cake/Bun, also known as Mushipan(蒸しパン) which is one of the healthy breakfast or tea-cake that contains no butter or oil in the ingredients.

Thanks to my new overseas foodie friend, Nami from Just one Cook I managed to try out some of the steamed cake recipes from "Cookpad", a Japanese website that Nami gave me. And with some online translation tools I roughly figured out the ingredients and steps for making these lovely quick and easy tea-cake which you might be interested too.

These steamed buns are very simple and easy to prepare and you can even make it for breakfast in less than 30 minutes if you prefer those freshly steamed bun that is pipping hot, fluffy and soft. As you venture further down on the recipe you will notice that the batter mixes up in less than 5 minutes, after which you could spoon it into prepared cups, steamed and enjoy the fluffy steamed bun.

Ingredients: (makes 4)
100g Cake/Plain Flour
1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
25g Caster Sugar
1 Large Egg, 60g
50ml Water
1/2 Cup Fresh/Frozen Sweetcorn Kernels
1 Tablespoon of Vegetable/Corn Oil, optional

Method:-

1. Sift flour and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside. At the same time, preheat a steamer/wok filled with water till boiling point.

2. Using a balloon whisk beat egg and sugar together till foamy and pale in colour before adding in oil and stir till combined.

3. Next divide the sifted flour into two batches, stir in alternately with water to form a smooth batter.

4. Lastly stir in 2/3 of the sweetcorn kernels and reserve the rest as toppings.

5. Spoon the cake batter evenly into 4 prepared foil/ramekins cups that are lined with paper liners.

6. Place the cups in the steamer/wok(with boiling water in it), cover and steam over high heat for about 12 - 15 minutes(depending on the size) or until a skewer inserted into one of the buns comes out clean.

For this first attempt, the texture of these "Mushipan" was still quite alright even though it is not as fluffy as those that I bought from the bakery. But I am sure practices make prefect and on making this  it also widen up my knowledge on another interesting Japanese tea snack that I have not notice before. To read up more on this Japanese "Mushipan", you could also head over to Nami's blog on another related post HERE.

SNACK PREVIEW

Japanese Steamed Matcha Bun with Chestnut

If you prefer Matcha and Roasted Chestnut more than Sweetcorn. Do stay tune for this upcoming recipe.

[$20 Budget Meal] Winter Melon, Woodear and Pork Ribs Soup, Stir-fry Nai Bai and Steamed Threadfin With Zha Cai

With S$12.00 on hand what do you usually order for dinner to feed a family of 3 - 4 person? Is it a S$3.00 packet of Chicken Rice or those mixed vegetables Economical Rice(Chap Chye Rice)? Here with S$12.20 we managed to whip up a hearty Winter Melon Soup to cool down the heat, Stir-fry Nai Bai for the greens and a plate of healthy Steamed Threadfin to increase daily protein in-take especially for growing kids.

This is a very light and refreshing soup with the nature sweetness from the sweetcorn, red dates and wolfberries. The adding of winter melon helps to cool down the body system whereas the woodear(black fungus) in Chinese herbal medicine term it is usually use to increase the fluidity of the blood and improving circulation.

WINTER MELON, WOODEAR AND PORK RIBS SOUP

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 3)
300g Of Pork Ribs
150g Winter Melon, cut into chunk
2 Cluster of Fresh Woodears(Black Fungus/木耳), cut into big pieces
1 Sweet Corn, cut into sections
6 Big Red Dates

Method:-

1. Blanched pork ribs in boiling water for 2 - 3 minutes, remove and rinse with tap water. Set aside.

2. Bring 1.5 litres of water to boil in a soup pot.

3. Add in all the ingredients except wolfberries and when the mixture comes to boil again, lower the heat and simmer for about 30 - 40 minutes.

4. Lastly drop in wolfberries and season with salt to taste according to own preference.


Total cost for this dish is about S$6.00 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Pork Ribs = S$3.00
~ Fresh Woodear = S$1.00
~ Fresh Winter melon and Corn= S$2.00

This is one type of Baby Bok Choy or also known as "China Nai Bai(乃白菜)" that comes with curl and dark green leaves compared to the other type with lime green leaves. I usually bought this type "mini" veggie instead of the full-grown size to use for stir-fry as they are more tasty and crunch. And what you need to do is just trim the leaves/stalks, rinse it with water to get rid of the dirt/soil in between before cooking.

Ingredients:

1 Packet of Baby Bok Choy Nai Bai Cai(乃白菜)
2 Slices of Ginger
2 Cloves of Garlic, light pound
Pinch of Salt
1 Teaspoon of Cooking Wine
Some Wolfberries, optional

Method:-

1. Heat up a large frying pan with 1 tablespoon of cooking oil.

2. Add in garlic and ginger, saute it for about 30 seconds till fragrant.

3. Quickly throw in drained bok choy and stir till the leaves begin to wilt.

4. Season with salt, cooking wine and add in the wolfberries, give it a quick toss before dishing it up on serving plate.


Total cost for this dish is about S$2.00 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Baby Bok Choy Nai Bai Cai(乃白菜) = S$2.00

STEAMED THREADFIN WITH SALTED PICKLES(ZHA CAI)

Ingredients: (serves 2)
1 Piece of Threafin Fillet, around 300g
50g of Salted Pickles(榨菜)
2 Stalls of Spring Onion, cut into sections
Few Slices of Ginger, jubilee
1 Chili (optional), cut into thin slices

Seasoning:
1 Teaspoon of Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon of Cooking Wine
Dash of Pepper

Method:-

1. Clean and remove any scales from the fish, rinse and pat dry using kitchen paper towel. Set aside.

2. Rinse salted pickles under tap water, drain well and cut into 0.5cm thick strips. Put 1/2 portion of it on steaming plate together with some ginger and spring onion before placing the fish on top.

3. Top fish with the rest of the ingredients and drizzle with seasonings.

4. When the pot of water comes to boil, steamed fish over medium high heat for about 10 - 15 minute till the fish is cooked through.(you can test using a fork to flake the fish meat after 10 minutes to check)

5. To serve, drizzle some extra sesame oil and dash of pepper on it and spoon some sauce at the bottom of the fish to moist the fillet and enhance the taste.

Total cost for this dish is about S$4.20 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Threadfin = S$3.50
~ Salted Pickles = S$0.30
~ Ginger, Chili and Spring onion = S$0.40