Air Fried Hawker Style BBQ Chicken Wings

Today marked the 9th year we made Melbourne our home. Can't believe how time flew by. As the saying goes, time flies when you are having fun! Can't agree more!

Bought some really good sized chicken wings to make hawker style BBQ wings the previous week for a new year get together. Kids loved them so much that they requested to have them again. Very lucky to get the same size wings again from the same shop over the weekend so got them prepped and ready to cook for dinner tonight.

These wings were marinated overnight and the flavors of the marinate permeated through the wings and they are extremely flavorful. You can grill them in the oven or even on the BBQ pit... charcoal heat will be even better especially with some charring! Squeeze some calamansi limes over them and you are good to go! If you like your wings spicy... dip with some sambal belacan!

This recipe is modified slightly from here.

Ingredients

2 kg        Chicken wings (12 to 15 pcs)

70g         Shallots

30g         Ginger

8 cloves  Garlic

3tbsp      Sesame seed oil

1tbsp      Cooking oil

2tbsp      Caramelized dark soy sauce

4tbsp      Light soy sauce

2tbsp      Fish sauce

2tbsp      Oyster sauce

2tbsp      Honey/Golden syrup

½tsp       Chili powder

½tsp       White pepper

1tsp        Salt

Satay sticks/Skewers

Methods

1. Wash and pat dry chicken wings with paper towel.
2. In a blender, blend together shallots, ginger, garlic, sesame seed oil and cooking oil into fine paste.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix shallot paste with the rest of the ingredients and pour over chicken wings. Turn them around to coat them well. Cover and let them marinate overnight in the fridge.
4. Push skewer through each wing so they are straighten before arranging them in the air fryer. Only 1 layer at a time as stacking will not achieve even browning.
5. Air fry at 175°C for 5 minutes, brush with the remaining marinate sauce and continue to air fry for 5 mins. Brush with the marinate sauce again and air fry for another 2 mins (adjust cooking time accordingly depending on size of chicken wings).
6. Serve warm with squeeze of calamansi limes or limes and sambal belacan.

* You can grill in the oven at 200°C for 20 mins or over charcoal BBQ pit.

Lemongrass Chicken Skewers with Special Dipping Sauce

I was working on a project to use chicken as the main protein which is easy to prepare and decided to use one of the recipes found in my book. As I seldom like to copy other bloggers' recipes, I will try to mix and match recipes from books, internet or from cooking shows that I've watch to come out with something. The initial protein used for this recipe was pork but using chicken is just as good.

The recipe from my book does not have any dipping sauce as it was meant for kids' bento. However, I felt that it will be good to add additional flavors to make the dish taste even better. My kids agreed that the dipping sauce did elevate the entire dish to a different level.

Ingredients

500g         Chicken thigh
2 stalks     Lemongrass
4 cloves    Garlic
2 tbsp       Fish sauce
½ tsp        Salt
1½ tbsp    Raw sugar
1 tsp         Cooking oil
1 tbsp       Dark soy sauce
a dash of black pepper
A couple of cilantro with roots (coriander)
Bamboo skewers/ satay sticks

Methods

1. Cut chicken thigh into 1" cubes without skin.
2. Pound lemongrass and garlic with a pestle and mortar into fine paste.
3. Mix the chicken cubes with salt, sugar, fish sauce, dark soy sauce, cilantro (with roots), pepper, pounded paste and cooking oil. Marinate for at least 2 to 4 hours.
4. String marinated chicken cubes with bamboo skewers.
5. Heat grill pan with some oil and grill the chicken skewers till cooked.

Special Dipping Sauce

3 tbsp     Rice vinegar

3 tbsp     Lemon juice

1 tbsp     Fish sauce

3 cloves Garlic (minced)

1             Red chilli (chopped finely)

1             Bird eye chilli (optional for spicier taste)

½ tsp      Salt

1 stalk    Cilantro (chopped finely)

Methods

Mix all ingredients together.

Air Fried Chicken 65 - Dried version

I've not heard of Chicken 65 until I moved to Melbourne. Probably I did not dine enough in Indian restaurants when I was in Malaysia hence a little behind on their offerings. I fell in love with it on my first try at this little Malaysian Indian restaurant named Indian Delight and has been ordering it each time i dine there. I went to try others too but some are just way too spicy!

The other day I bought 1.2 kg of chicken wings and was wondering what can I cook with them? So, I went through all the saved recipes from FB and found a sharing by this lady in Malaysia and decided to try as she made it look so easy. Just add everything and marinate overnight! However, she deep fried her chicken and that was the last thing I want to do. And my good friend, Black Knight the air fryer came to my rescue! No used oil to discard and minimal mess in the kitchen... I tweaked the recipe a bit to suit our taste buds (need to be kids friendly so its less spicy) and to suit air frying method.

Ingredients

• 1.2kg          Chicken wings
• 2 tbsp         Garlic & ginger paste
• 1.5 tbsp      Coriander powder
• 1 tsp           Turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp         Chili powder (put more if you want more spicy
• ¾ tsp          Salt
• ¼ tsp          White pepper
• 4 tbsp         Greek yogurt/plain yogurt
• 2 sprigs      Curry leaf (chopped)
• 6 tbsp         Corn flour
• 3 tbsp         Rice flour

Methods

1. Clean the chicken wings and pat dry with kitchen towels. Cut into 2 sections.
2. Mix ginger garlic paste, coriander powder, turmeric powder, chili powder, salt and white pepper in a bowl. Pour the mixture into chicken together with yogurt and mix till well combined. Cover and leave it to marinate for 4 hours or over night for best results.
3. Prepare corn flour and rice flour on a dinner plate and mix them well. Sprinkle the chopped curry leaf over and mix the chicken before coating the chicken with the flour and place into the basket of the air fryer. If you are deep frying, you halved the flour and mix into the chicken.
4. Before you air fry, brush or spray some oil over the coated chicken wings.
5. Air fry at 180C for 15 to 18 minutes and turn mid way. Remember to brush with oil after you flipped over as the flour will not cook properly without oil. Please adjust your air frying timing as sizes of the chicken may required more or less frying time.
6. Drain on wire rack (if you put on kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil it will turn the crispiness of the skin soggy).
7. Squeeze some lime juice over the chicken prior to serving.

Speedy Rice Cooker Chicken Rice

For everyone of us who loves to cook too have lazy days when we just don't feel like labouring in the kitchen. Sometimes when I have too much too do, but still have to put food on the table, I will pick my speedy menus and one of it is this all time favourite, Chicken Rice in the rice cooker!

I used to cook Hainanese Chicken rice which has quite a few steps but taste wise is much better. However, my kids don't really complain if the same ingredients are there so mommy do cheat a little once in a while! :lol:

The rice cooker can be so versatile these days especially those labelled as Smart Cooker. You can bake, slow cook and do a whole lot more in it but they don't come cheap. For me, a rice cooker is just to cook rice :P

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I so love this speedy chicken rice recipe that I cook at least once a week! Limited ingredients but packed a punch :)

My 10 cups rice cooker was in the 'hospital' so I have to use my 5 cups rice cooker hence I can only cook 3 cups of rice with half of a medium chicken.

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Ingredients

• 3 cups Rice + Water


• ½ medium Chicken


• 2 Pandan leaves (screwpine)


• Ginger - thumb size (slightly smashed)


• 3 cloves garlic (slightly smashed with skin on) - optional


• 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine


• Salt to taste


• Sliced cucumber for garnishing

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Methods

1. Wash rice and fill with water per your regular white rice recipe (depending on your rice cooker) but remove about 2 tablespoon as the chicken meat will release juice into the rice.


2. Marinade chicken with some salt and Chinese rice wine.


3. Sprinkle some salt, add in the pandan leaves, ginger and garlic and mix inside the rice and cook per normal.


4. When the water starts to bubbles, place chicken piece on top of the bubbling rice, cover.


5. Once the rice is cooked, leave it for 10 more minutes before you remove the chicken pieces and stir the rice.


6. Chicken rice is ready to go with cucumber and vinaigrette chilies paste!

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Air-Fried Honey Miso with Rosemary Wings

Just realised that I have not shared any of my cooking using my Philip Air-fryer here! Just can't believe I've not posted anything cooked with the fryer as it has been one of my favourite kitchen gadgets the past few months!

And now that we are at it, this air-fried honey miso chicken wings is one of our favourite! I think I cook this every other weeks if not twice a week! :lol: My eldest girl just love eating these wings and at 4 she can clean all the meat off the bones all by herself! She thoroughly enjoyed them and I just have to ignore the mess she made while savouring them. >.<

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These wings are so delicious that you can polish off a kilo without even knowing! They are so good as entree for meals or as snacks. And by using the air-fryer you don't have to worry about the excess oil. You don't even need to use a single drop of oil to cook and at the end of frying, you'll get at least a big spoonful of oil out of the wings! Can eat with less guilt! :D

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Ingredients

• 1kg Wings (mid joint)


• 1.5 tbsp Red miso paste


• 3-4 pips Garlic (coarsely minced)


• 2 tbsp Honey (I mixed honey with heavy syrup)


• 1 tbsp Soy sauce


• 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce


• A dash of pepper


• 1 sprig Rosemary (break into a few sections)


• 1tsp Mirin (optional)

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Methods

1. Clean the wings and pat dry with kitchen towels and place them in a mixing bowl.


2. Mix all the other ingredients together in a medium bowl and marinade the wings for at least 4 hours. Best if leave overnight in the fridge. Bring to room temp before frying.


3. Place wings into air-fryer baking pan (this is a separate accessory) till it filled half of the pan. Fry the balanced wings in the next round.


4. Set temperature to 180°C and fry for 7 minutes. Turn the wings around and fry another 5-7 minutes or till brown.


5. Alternatively you can place the wings on the net but do place a piece of baking paper underneath the wings so the skin will not stick onto the wire mesh during cooking time.

Chicken Gingko Nuts Porridge

Gosh... been ages since my last post here! Apologize for the long absence! Having 2 kids and managing a few blogs are the reasons why I hardly post here!

The weather in Penang has finally turned cooler with more frequent rainfalls... which is really a blessing! We were having the longest hottest weather for the past few months and all of us are so glad the rain has finally returned!

During the hot weather, I seldom do a lot of stir-frying or deep-frying but more to boiling soups and porridge for the family. Darrius fell sick a few times and his cough took a long time to recover too which is why I steamed most of our dishes for his sake.

Here is another healthy porridge which I have been preparing for the family...

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Ingredients

• 1.5 cup Rice (wash and drained)


• 3L Water


• 80g Gingko nuts ('heart' removed)


• 1 stick Carrot (medium - shredded)


• 2pcs Dried scallops


• 100g Groundnuts (washed and pre-boiled to remove dirts)


• 2pcs Chicken thighs (cut into small pieces)


• 10g Goji berries (Wolfberries)


• 1tbsp Oil + salt to be added into rice and soak for 10 mins


• Salt for taste


• Lettuce for garnishing

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Method

1. In a pot, when water is boiling add in the soaked rice and let it boil.


2. Add in the chicken pieces, dried scallops, shredded carrot and groundnuts and let them boil on low fire.


3. Stir the porridge constantly every 15-20 minutes so it would not stick at the bottom.


4. Boil the porridge for an hour and when it gets thicken, add in the gingko nuts and continue to stir and let it boil for a further 20 minutes.


5. Turn off the fire, sprinkle the goji berries and mix well into the porridge.


6. Serve hot with shredded lettuce.

Fresh Turmeric Chicken

One thing I've been dying to eat during my confinement was this fresh turmeric chicken. However, due to jaundice in baby, I was 'advised' by a few friends to avoid any ginger in large amount especially turmeric. I do not know how much effect turmeric has on newborn jaundice so to be on the safe side, I avoided it for almost 3 weeks. That means my chance of having this particular dish is pretty limited!

So, die-die on the 3rd week I begged my mom to cook it for me else I'll never have a chance! :lol: Not that I don't know how to cook it just that I don't wish to handle all the yellow stuff in my kitchen! Yeah, it can get a little colorful sometimes! :) Normally I will use turmeric powder which is less fragrant. Usually I will have them pan fried but you can always deep fried it or grill it... it is an individual preference.

I asked my mom to add in some curry leafs this time as these leafs give the dish an extra flavors! They are oh so yummy! :)
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Ingredients

• 2 pcs Whole chicken thighs


• 80-100g Fresh Turmeric (crushed/blender)


• 2 strands Curry leafs


• Sesame seed oil


• Salt for taste


• Black pepper

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Methods

1. De-bone the chicken thighs (optional) and marinade with crushed fresh turmeric, some salt and black pepper for at least 30 minutes (the longer the better as the turmeric juice can absorb better) and mix in the curry leafs before cooking.


2. Heat up frying pan with sesame seed oil and pan fried both chicken thighs till cooked.

Stir Fried Glutinous Rice Wine Chicken

During my previous confinement I took a lot of glutinous rice wine chicken which was the more soupy version as my mom made her own glutinous rice wine then. This time, she did not have the time to do it herself so she ordered from a friend. The taste was not as good...

Anyway, in most confinement menu, glutinous rice wine chicken is one of the most common dish so that means we could never go without! Since the wine was not as tasty as before, my mom did the stir fried version instead which uses less of the wine.

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Ingredients

• 1 Free range chicken (chopped into small pieces)


• 300g Ginger (coarsely chopped)


• 3tbsp Sesame seed oil


• 1cup Glutinous rice wine


• 1/2cup Water


• Salt for taste

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Methods

1. Heat up wok with sesame seed oil and saute chopped ginger till fragrant.


2. Put in chicken pieces and stir fry till cook and add in some water, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally on medium fire.


3. Pour in the glutinous rice wine and continue to stir and let it simmer without covering the wok till sauce thicken.


4. Add in salt for taste (optional).

Pan-Fried Oyster Sauce Drumlets

I have been doing quite a lot of kids bento for Darrius lately which prompted me to come out with a lot of finger food recipes.  Though Darrius is pretty receptive to what ever I served him but there are still food that he will refuse. Therefore I will try to create different recipes using the same few ingredients.

Darrius is a huge fan of the pan-fried soy sauce chicken so I used that recipe to make drumlets which is very convenient to be packed into bento box as compared to chicken drumsticks. Today I am using oyster sauce instead.

Previously I never keep any oyster sauce at home simply because PiggyBeng believed that oyster sauce was made of left over water from fish in the market. o_O Yeah, apparently my BIL who used to operate a Chinese restaurant in Europe and he was told that this was how oyster sauce derived from. :P

Luckily I do watch TV and I've learned from a Master Chef (Tho-tho) from Hong Kong that oyster sauce actually came from boiling the fresh oysters with some ingredients.

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Ingredients

• 6 Chicken drumlets


• 1tbsp Oyster sauce


• 1tsp Brown sugar


• 1/2tsp Dark soy sauce


• Dash of pepper

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Methods

1. Wash and dry the chicken drumlets with a paper towel. Marinade the chicken drumlets with all the ingredients and best leave over night.


2. Heat up the wok with little oil (the skin from the chicken will release oil) and pan fried all the drumlets on low heat.


3. When the drumlets are about 90% cooked, pour in the remaining sauce from the marinade and cook till all the drumlets are fully glazed with the sauce.

Simple Chicken Teriyaki on Skewers

Yesterday I went to Tesco to do my weekly marketing and has wanted to look for some chicken wings but they ran out of stock. Only saw some miserable chicken thighs and some ok looking chicken breast meat so decided to get a pack of the latter.

Normally I'll use them for stir-fying with some vegetables but since I have quite a few pieces, I decided to de-bone them and make some simple teriyaki chicken on skewers since Darrius likes eating 'satay'. I pan fried it as I was lazy to start the oven. :P

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Ingredients

• Satay/bamboo sticks


• Japanese cucumber

Marinade

• 300g Chicken breast meat fillet (cut into square bite size)


• 1tsp Black sauce


• 1tbsp  Light soy sauce


• 1tbsp Mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)


• 1tsp Corn flour


• 1tsp Olive oil


• 1tbsp Brown sugar


• Dash of pepper

Sauce

• 1tbsp Brown sugar


• 1tsp Corn flour


• 1tsp Black sauce


• 1tbsp Light soy sauce


• 1/2 cup Water

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Methods

1. Debone the chicken meat if there's any, wipe dry with a paper kitchen towel and cut into square bite size.  Marinade and leave it for a few hours in the chiller.


2. Heat up frying pan with some oil and slowly pan fried the chicken cubes till cooked. Lift then up and put aside.


3. Continue on the frying pan with the sauce ingredients and cook till it comes to a boil and toss in the chicken cubes and let the sauce absorb into the chicken cubes on low fire. Lift up and skewer them onto bamboo sticks  and alternate with a slice of Japanese cucumber.

Pan Fried Tom Yum Chicken

After away from Penang for almost 2 weeks, I do crave for something sour and spicy. I have wanted to get my Asam Laksa fix from the hawker behind our house but with the weather so hot, I dreaded walking out of the house.

Then I was running out of idea what to cook. PiggyBeng was ever so happy if I steam him his Barramundi fillets but to be very honest, I am so bored eating the same old dish a few times a week! Luckily I bought some chicken drumsticks as spares which I normally used for lunch.

Initially i have wanted to cook pan fried curry chicken with curry leaves. I even went to pluck some curry leaves from my neighbour's garden! Then I discovered I did not have the appropriate curry powder at home! Dang! PiggyBeng only bought those for curry fish since he cook curry fish all the time.

Therefore I have to change my menu. Luckily I spotted the Tom Yum paste which I bought for my instant noodles. Sometimes back I bought some Japanese instant noodles and the flavor sucks so I bought the Tom Yum paste to replace.

And tadaaaa.... we have Pan Fried Tom Yum Chicken! :)

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Ingredients

• 2pcs Chicken drumsticks


• 1tbsp Tom Yum paste


• Lemon juice

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Methods

1. Cut the chicken drumsticks into thin pieces and marinate with Tom Yum paste and let it stand for 30 minutes.


2. Heat up wok with some oil in medium heat and slowly pan fried the chicken pieces until cooked.


3. When done, squeeze some lemon juice before serving.

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This Peace Brand Tom Yum paste is not so spicy so kids can take them. :)

Braised Chicken Wings with Sweet Potatoes

I have not been doing a lot of creative cooking of late as Darrius is eating the same food as we are so I only cook dishes that are suitable for him to consume... less spicy and fried stuff on the table. The other thing to consider when cooking with toddlers in mind is, to have lot of sauces if there is no soup accompanying that particular meal. Sauce will helps to soften the rice so it is easier on the kids to chew and swallow.

Here is another very easy to cook dish that suits the kids since sweet potatoes are full of vitamins and nutrients. What I like about this dish is, the sweetness from the sweet potatoes penetrate into the chicken as well as the sauce making it so appetizing! :)

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Ingredients

• 1 Sweet potato (medium to large size - chunk)


• 6 Chicken wings (cut the drumplets and wings into 2 parts)


• 3 cloves Garlic (minced)


• Snowpeas/Snap peas (a few pieces - optional)


• 2 tbsp Light soy sauce (or according to preferred taste)


• 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce (or according to preferred tone)


• 1.5 cups Water


• Dash of pepper


• Corn flour solution (to thicken sauce)

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Method

1. Heat up wok with a little oil and gently pan fried the sweet potato chunks. Lift them up.


2. Add some more oil and pan fried the chicken wings till they turned brownish. Lift them up.


3. In the same wok, saute the minced garlic till fragrant and toss in the chicken wings, stir, add dark soy sauce and light soy sauce, stir and add in water. Covered and turn on low fire for and simmer for10 minutes stirring occasionally.


4. Toss in the sweet potato chunks, stir and continue to simmer on low fire for another 10 minutes.


5. When you are about to turn off the fire, toss in the sweetpeas/snap peas, stir, add in corn flour solution and stir till well mix. Cover and switched off the fire.

Pan Fried Soy Sauce Chicken

Ever since I started doing Bento, I have to find some easy to prepare dishes so I can put up my Bento in a jiffy. Then again, I have to consider whether my boy will like what I prepared for him... so sometimes it can be brain draining just to think!

It was a relief that my boy is not that fussy with food and would gladly gobble down what I packed for him... well, certain standards must apply lar! *grin*

This dish is one simple ones which I used to do back in my uni days when food are expensive when you are living on a budget. I was lucky I stayed with my aunt back then, and though she will prepare meals for me most of the time but I do not want to be such a free loader all the time so I will cook when ever I can... with stuff I bought myself.

And in Down Under, BBQ is a very common occasion so this dish is that flexible... can be pan fried as well as grill or roast!

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Ingredients

• 3 Chicken drumsticks (cut lines so heat can penetrate)


• Light soy sauce (enough to cover when marinade)


• 1-1.5tbsp Dark soy sauce (or enough to cover all the chciken)


• Dash of pepper

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Methods

1. Clean all the chicken drumsticks and cut lines on the thick area so heat can penetrate into the meat while you pan fried especially if you are using frozen chicken.


2. Marinade the chicken drumsticks with all the ingredients and let them sit for at least an hour before frying.


3. If you are using frozen chicken, after you are done frying, put them in the microwave for 1 minute high just to make sure the drumsticks are thoroughly cooked inside (you will see some blood oozing out).


4. There will be some sauce left after you fried the chicken which you can cook them after you lift up the chicken from the wok and glaze them after you boiled them on the wok till they thicken up.

Herbal Chicken

This is another of my favorite dish which I have modified from the more 'difficult' version. A relative taught me how to make the Emperor Chicken which uses plastic and foil to wrap up before sending it to steam.

I find the usage of plastic (the glass paper used for craft) is not a healthy choice as we are not sure if they are considered as food grade. Hence, I omitted it. Steaming the chicken the way I'm doing it now does not compromise the taste that much and it is a more healthy alternative.

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Ingredients

• 1/2 Kampung chicken (farm run chicken) - cut into small pieces


• A few slices of Dang Gui (Angelica sinensis)


• A few slices of Yuk Chok (dried polygonatum)


• 1tbsp Wolfberries (Goji berries)


• Salt


• Water

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Methods

1. Wash, clean and rub some salt to the chicken and place in a deep set plate.


2. Place all the herbal ingredients all over the plate and add in enough water to cover the chicken pieces.


3. Steam for 15-20 minutes until chicken are thoroughly cooked. Serve.

Braised Chicken with Chinese Mushroom

Here is another easy and yummy chicken dish. I've always like braised chicken dishes as they are just so simple to cook and great for toddlers. Previously I'd put up a similar recipe but instead of chicken I used pork.

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Ingredients

• 3pcs Chicken drumsticks (cut into smaller pieces)


• 4-5pcs Chinese Mushrooms (soak and cut into half)


• 4-5 pips Garlic (coarsely chopped)


• 1x1" Old Ginger (sliced)


• Dark soy sauce


• Light soy sauce


• Oyster sauce


• Water

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Methods

1. Heat up wok with oil (2-3 tbsp) and saute the ginger slices and chopped garlic till fragrant.


2. Put in the chicken pieces and stir fry for 2 minutes then add in mushroom and dark soy sauce. Continue to stir before adding in water (around 1 -1.5 cup), stir and cover and let it simmer for 15 minutes.


3. Add in light soy sauce and oyster sauce (depending on your taste) and continue to stir.


4. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes or so before serving.

Oyster Sauce Chicken with Potatoes

Since Darrius has started taking rice, I tried cooking more dishes that has abundance of sauce or gravy. This is so he can have those gravy to help soften the rice.

During my younger days, my mom used to prepare this particular dish for us too. It is easy and very appetizing especially for kids.

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Ingredients

• 3 Chicken drumsticks with thighs (cut to smaller pieces)


• 2 Potatoes (medium size cut into big chunks)


• 1 Onion (sliced)


• 3 cloves Garlic (smashed/chopped)


• 1/2" Old ginger (sliced)


• 2 tbsp Oyster sauce


• 1 tbsp Black soy sauce


• Water (depends on how much gravy you wanted)


• Light soy sauce for taste

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Method

1. Heat up wok with some oil and saute the ginger and garlic then the onion slices. When they  turned soft, add in the chicken pieces and stir vigorously.


2. Pour in the black soy sauce and continue to stir so the sauce covers all the chicken pieces. Next add in the potatoes chunks. Stir to get them well mixed.


3. Add in oyster sauce and water and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.


4. If you added too much water and the gravy is too watery, you can add a small amount of corn flour solution to thicken it.

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Indonesian Spicy Roast Chicken

A week ago, PiggBeng purchased a few recipes book from Popular Bookshop as they are having year end sale now. Most of these recipes books get a 20% off if you are a member. They were a good buy I must say.

For this dish, I did not prepare it, instead my dear hubby took over the wok this time. This is the first dish he tried from this 'Mama Recipes' book. There are quite a good mixture of recipes found inside the book and hopefully I get to share them with all of you here...

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Ingredients

• 4 Chicken drumsticks


• 250ml Thick coconut milk


• 2 stalks Lemongrass


• 2 pcs Kaffir lime leaves


• 2 tbsp oil


• Salt an sugar for taste

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Grounded Spices

• 2 Red chilies


• 2 Dried chilies (soaked)


• 5 pips Garlic


• 5 nos Shallots


• 1/2 cm thick Turmeric or 1 tbsp Turmeric powder


• 3/4 cm thick Gelangal or Lengkuas (blue ginger)


• 3 nos Candle nuts (buah keras)

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Method

1. Stir fry the grounded ingredients till fragrant and add in coconut milk with salt and sugar.


2. Cook the ingredient till thick then put in the chicken. Stir till the chicken is 80% cooked then lift up and place chicken on a baking tray lined with banana leaf. Pour all remaining sauces on top.


3. Bake the chicken at 200 C for 30-40 minutes till chicken turn brown. Served with white rice.

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Grilled Turmeric Chicken Thigh

I bought some whole chicken thighs during one of the week and have wanted to cook some curry chicken but I forgot to buy the chili mix and coconut milk! I don't normally like to use premix curry powder as PiggyBeng said it is very heaty for him so I will avoid using unless it is absolute necessary...

The chicken thighs have been sitting in the fridge for almost a week and I forgotten about them totally until one day I was rummaging through my freezer. And since I have nothing much to cook, these chicken thighs come in real handy. The problem is, I don't have any ideas or a particular recipe in mind. So, what I do next?

Again I rummaged through my food cabinets trying to find any spices that I can make do with. The thing is, other than my Fried Nestum Chicken, I hardly cook chicken dishes as they may need ingredients that I do not have on hand. Therefore, it can be tough to think of any chicken recipes in a flash.

As I hardly use my oven, I decided to grill these chicken thighs. The outcome: YUMMY! I find them less oily and juicier... so it's healthier too! I even stir-fried some celery with garlic to go along with the rice too. The other good thing, it's little hassle and the kitchen is grease free!

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Ingredients

(Serves 2)

• 2 whole Chicken thighs (cut some diagonal lines so heat can penetrate)


• Turmeric and Cheyenne pepper - Enough to marinade both thighs


• Salt to taste


• A few squeeze of lemon juice


• Some basting oil (Olive oil + light soy sauce + sugar + lemon juice) - Optional

Method

1. Marinade the thighs with enough turmeric (fresh or powder), lemon juice and salt for at least 1-2 hours prior to baking. Best if it's over night.


2. Line baking tray with grease proof paper or silver foil. Place the thighs on the tray and bake at 200 degree Celsius, flipping occassionally.


3. Glaze with basting oil if you want the thighs to be more fragrant.


4. Grill for at least 40 minutes or till thoroughly cooked (when no more blood oozing out).

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Stir-fry Capsicums with Black Pepper Chicken

I used to use a lot of capsicums or bell peppers in my cooking before I was married as they can be eaten fresh or cooked. However, the price of capsicums had increased so much over the years (especially the red ones) so I don't buy them as often now.

Capsicum is quite a flexible ingredient, just like tomatoes. It adds some flavors to cooking and it has lots of nutrients and fibers which is good for health.

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Ingredients

• 1/2 Green capsicum - cut into squares chunks


• 1/2 Red capsicum - cut into squares chunks


• 1 Onion


• 150g Chicken (sliced or cubed)


• Corn flour


• Black Pepper


• Light soy sauce


• 1/2pcs of Chicken or Anchovies stock cube


• Water

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Methods

1. Marinate the chicken with some light soy sauce, corn flour and black pepper and let it stand for about 10 minutes.


2. Heat up wok and saute the sliced onion till fragrant, dump in the capsicums and stir for a few minutes.


3. Add in the chicken and continue to stir, add about 1/4 cup of water and let it simmer for a while either covered or uncover. Then add in the stock cube and continue to stir.


4. When the chicken is cooked, mix a little corn flour with a little water and pour over the mix to thicken the sauce before serving.

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Steamed Chicken in Ginger & Wine

I was on this Makan-makan trip up North 2 weeks back and one of the dish was this steamed ginger chicken which was quite tasty. My version is simpler as I did not garnish it with spring onions and sesame seed oil... it still taste as good...

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Ingredients

• 2 pcs Chicken drumstick and thighs


• 1 pc Ginger (3" long or more depending on your preference)


• Light soy sauce for taste


• 1tbsp Shou Xing Wine


• Pepper (optional)


• Water (add some if you want more sauce)

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Method

• Chop chicken into smaller pieces and spread the grated ginger onto them together with the ginger juice.


• Pour in light soy sauce and wine before steaming for 15-20 minutes.