Tag Archives: chicken

Cooking

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Hainanese chicken rice, especially popular in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, is an elegant meal centered around a poached chicken and spreading its flavor to an accompanying rice and dipping sauces. It’s one of those elementally simple dishes where the quality is generated from finesse and technique.

I surveyed a collection of online recipes by Tasty, Food52, Steamy Kitchen, and Nyonya Cooking and smashed their common elements together into a sort of statistical average recipe. 

Read those blogs for insight into why the recipe works. Really the only addition I can contribute is that a typical American supermarket chicken, weighing 5.5 pounds and bred for enormous breasts, is prone to poaching unevenly. Take care to find a suitable chicken and good ginger.  Continue reading Hainanese Chicken Rice →

Cooking

Thanksgiving Sides Recipes

My residency all pitched in to cook/cater/potluck a Thanksgiving lunch during Wednesday noon conference before the holiday. Due to budget constraints and also my desire to have more home-cooked food, I volunteered to cook about half the sides to supplement our Wegman’s turkey dinner for 10 to 12. To stretch that to 25-30 people, I made these recipes for Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, potato salad, and chicken, but in double or quadruple quantities. Separately, for Thanksgiving itself, I learned to make stuffing.

Disclaimer: as usual, these are mostly ingredient lists with no secrets here. As I become more comfortable cooking, these “recipes” are probably less suited for general use…

Continue reading Thanksgiving Sides Recipes →

Cooking

Chicken Ragu

I feel like this is the one of the only non-dessert non-Asian dishes I’ve done. Recipe based off this.

Chicken Ragu

  • In 2 tbsp olive oil, brown 6 chicken thighs. Reserve chicken.
  • In drippings, saute 1 onion chopped, 2 celery stalks chopped, 4 carrots chopped until soft. Add 5 cloves garlic minced.
  • Chop up chicken, then return to skillet.
  • Add 1 cup dry white or red wine. Deglaze pan. Cook on medium until half has evaporated.
  • Add 28-oz can chopped tomatoes, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 cup chopped parsley, salt and pepper, pinch of red pepper flakes.
  • Simmer covered for 1.5-2 hours. Reduce uncovered until thickened.
  • Serve on pasta.
Cooking

Pad Thai

The signature taste of pad thai’s pan-fried rice noodles is the tamarind. I got it from the Asian supermarket as this big block that expires in two years. It tasted fine?

Recipe kind of from thaitable.com and cookingclassy.com.

Pad Thai

  • Fry 1/3 cup extra firm tofu cut into matchsticks. Set aside.
  • Cut 1 lb chicken breast into thin strips. Julienne 1 carrot, 1/2 red bell pepper.
  • Prepare 8 oz Thai rice noodles: soak in lukewarm water until flexible but not expanded, about 10 minutes. When in doubt, undersoak.
  • Saute 1 shallot minced, 3 cloves garlic minced, white part of 2 scallions minced until fragrant. Mix in 1 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tbsp tamarind paste, 2 tbsp dark brown sugar, 1 tbsp soy sauce, juice of half lime.
  • Saute chicken until almost done. Add carrot and bell pepper. Add 2 cups bean sprouts, (1 cup chinese chives).
  • Crack 2 eggs into center of wok. When almost set, scramble in noodles, and chicken.
  • Serve topped with tofu, green part of 2 scallions sliced, 1/3 cup cilantro chopped, 2 tbsp crushed toasted peanuts, lime wedges.

 

 

Cooking

San Bei Ji

San Bei Ji translates to “three cups chicken,” hinting at a simple elemental recipe of 1 cup each of soy sauce, cooking wine, and sesame oil. Please don’t actually use that recipe. That would be 1) a lot of chicken; 2) really oily and stinky-fragrant considering how strong modern sesame oil is. Recipe from thewoksoflife.

San Bei Ji (Three cup chicken)

  • In wok, infuse 2 tbsp sesame oil, 1 inch ginger sliced into rounds, 3 cloves garlic sliced.
  • Sear 1.5-2 lb chicken thighs cut to strips or pieces.
  • Transfer to small pot. Add 1/4 cup shaoxing wine, 2 tbsp dark soy sauce, 2 tsp light soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar. Simmer covered for 10 minutes.
  • Uncover to reduce sauce. Add 2 sprigs thai basil leaves, 2 scallions sliced.
Cooking

Massaman Curry

I learned about this Muslim-influenced Thai curry made with chicken potatoes, and peanuts. Thankfully I got the timing right so that the potatoes were soft but not mushy, the chicken cooked through but moist, the peanuts still crunchy, and the tomatoes just falling apart. Except I didn’t have plum tomatoes so I used my (ridiculously good) pearl tomatoes eighthed instead.

I’m growing fond making curry from scratch! I’ve got a big spice pantry to consume now anyway.

Recipe from foodandwine.com

Massaman Curry

  • Saute 1 onion diced.
  • Add 2 cloves garlic minced, 1/2″
    ginger     chopped, 1 tsp five-spice, 1 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp salt.
  • 1 cup chicken stock, 1/2 cup coconut milk.
  • Add 1/2 lb potatoes, peeled and cubed, simmer for 12 minutes.
  • Add 1.5 lb chicken breasts, simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Add 1/2 cup chopped peanuts, 1/2 lb plum tomatoes, 3 tbsp cilantro, simmer for 2 minutes, until chicken is done.
  • Serve on rice.

Thai Cabbage Salad

  • 4 cups shredded napa cabbage, part red cabbage
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced to bite sizes
  • 1 small cucumber, seeded, half moon sliced
  • 1 cup edamame
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
  • Dress with 4 cloves garlic (plus 2 red bird’s eye chili peppers seeded) and 1/4 tsp kosher salt mashed to create paste. 2 tsp light brown sugar, 2 tsp fish sauce, 1 lime of juice (2 tbsp).
Cooking

A Japanese meal

Despite being Taiwanese, my family is probably more into Japanese food. Time to make some.

 

Oyakodon (chicken and egg on rice)

I like this dish so much that I used to order it at all sorts of Japanese restaurants, even forgoing other delicacies. Last year, my mom taught me her version, which is like a Taiwan/Japan hybrid with lots of egg. This time, I’m aiming for more traditional: steaming in the sukiyaki broth, following justonecookbook.com. (last updated 8/29/17)

170204-5740

    • In a small pan, 1/4 cup dashi (1/8 tsp hondashi in boiling water), 1 tbsp mirin, (1 tsp sake), 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar.
    • Add 1/2 small onion thinly sliced in single layer.
    • Add on top 1-1.5 chicken thighs cut into bites obliquely and seasoned with salt and pepper.
    • Simmer covered on medium for 10 minutes.
    • Drizzle in 1 egg. Stir around to distribute. Garnish with scallions/mitsuba. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, until egg is just set.
    • Slide onto bowl of white rice.

 

Chawanmushi (savory egg custard)

My mom makes it with chicken broth instead of dashi. Huh?! Tracking this japancentre.com recipe, with input from here and here.

170204-5742

  • 3 eggs, beat gently
  • 1 cup dashi (1/2 tsp hondashi powder in 1 cup boiling water), 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp mirin, 1 tsp sugar, pinch salt.
    • can substitute with about 1 cup (equivalent of 1.5x volume of eggs) warm chicken broth.
  • Mix into egg slowly. strain through fine sieve.
    • Can add shiitake mushrooms, kamaboko fish cake, carrots, marinated strips chicken shrimp. arrange in bowl and pour egg around.
  • steam 5 minutes medium bowl, then open pot to let out steam, then steam 3 more minutes, until clean toothpick.
    • Can garnish with scallions/mitsuba at halfway point of steaming.

 

Miso Soup

Following instructions on the miso packaging, haha

170204-5735

  • miso paste, sugar, dashi (ratio?), water.
  • serve with scallions, tofu, kombu.

I also stir fried lotus root.

 

For the grand finale:

Castella (Japanese Honey Cake)

I followed this recipe from justonecookbook.com/castella to the letter. Paraphrased here.

170204-5730

  • 3 eggs, at room temp. Beat thoroughly.
  • Add 1/2 cup sugar, with electric hand mixer beat at highest speed for 7+ minutes, until quadruples in volume.
  • 2.5 tbsp honey, diluted with ~2 tbsp warm water, mix in for 30 sec at low speed.
  • 3/4 cup bread flour, double sifted. add in thirds, mixing 15 sec at low speed in between, 1 min at end. Don’t overmix.
  • Pour batter into parchment paper-lined 9×5 metal pan. Dredge with toothpick to break large air bubbles. Drop on counter to level.
  • 325 F, 35 minutes, until clean toothpick.
  • Wrap tightly in plastic, refrigerate overnight upside down.
  • Cut off sides, serve in slices.

updated 3/25, fixing a typo.