Shaoxing Wine Ginger chicken

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chicken, Chinese, easy, easy meals, easy recipe, ginger, ginger wine chicken, healthy, Home Cooking, scallions, sesame oil, shaoxing wine, shaoxing wine ginger chicken, South East Asian, spring onions, white pepper, wine, wine chicken

This dish brings back a lot of memories from my Warwick days. For some reason I remember that the preparation process was long and tedious back then! It involves deboning chicken thighs/drumsticks and skinning and julienning ginger. At the present though, I no longer find it as long and dreary a process. Perhaps I could attribute it to… better knife skills? Or maybe just better knives, I don’t think my knife skills have improved at all since then!

This is a very warming, hearty dish and the sauce is lovely with freshly cooked white rice. It’s currently a favourite with the family and guests who happen to try it! It doesn’t take very long nor need many ingredients and makes a perfect addition to the dining table. I include pictures from two attempts at cooking this dish and I realized that I naturally throw the same ingredients into the pan, despite starting off with perhaps a couple less ingredients in one of the photos. That goes to show that agaration (the South East Asian technique of cooking by guesstimating) isn’t very far off from precision after all!Ingredients from trial number 1Ingredients from trial number 2.

But don’t worry, I’ve consolidated the ingredient list and summarized it as below:-

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 2-3 stalks of Spring onions including the white bits with roots removed
• 3 inches of ginger, peeled and roughly julienned
• 4 Chicken thighs with skin on, deboned
• 3 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 3 tbsp clear chicken stock/broth
• 1 tbsp sesame oil

Chicken marinade

• Shaoxing wine 1 tbsp marinade
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2-3 tbsp soy sauce
• white pepper
• 2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tsp corn flour

Cooking Instructions

Upon deboning the chicken, remove the skin from two of the chicken thighs and discard. Keep the skin on for the remaining two chicken thighs. We want some chicken fat rendering in the gravy but not too much!

Trim off the excess fat and remove the tendons from the chicken. Tendons are tough to cut through and unpleasant to eat so be thorough in removing them whenever preparing chicken! Once that is done, cut the chicken meat into bite-sized, uniform pieces so they cook at the same speed. 

Place the chicken in a bowl and lightly mix in the chicken marinade with your hands. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes at room temperature.

In preparing the scallions/spring onions, cut them into thirds or 2 inch sections. You can take some of the green sections to slice thinly for garnishing as well.

Heat up some oil in a pan/wok on medium fire. When the oil is hot enough (i.e. if you drop a piece of ginger into the oil it starts to sizzle right away), slide the ginger into the oil gingerly (I’m so funny I know) and fry for a minute until the ginger starts to turn a little golden and the gingery aroma seeps out. The point of this step is to flavour the oil with ginger as well as prep the ginger so it’s at its best to mingle with the chicken.Add the chicken pieces and fry until half-cooked.

Then, flip the pieces over and add the chicken stock, sesame oil plus Shaoxing wine and cover to cook for a minute. We’re quick-braising/stewing the chicken with some moisture, not searing it to death. Remember, the chicken has to be swimming in a luscious pool of delicious gravy!Upon uncovering, add the spring onion sections into the pan/wok and stir fry for a little while more. Taste to check if it needs more white pepper or salt.

And it’s done!Not the fanciest of dishes but highly satisfying and easy on the stomach. Healthy too!

Check out the before and after picture of trial number 1. I used 10 thighs for that round of cooking!

Wiped clean. ❤

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Lobster glass noodle soup with shaoxing wine.

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big head prawn, big head prawn noodle soup, Chinese, chinese lettuce, chinese soup, chinese soup noodles, coriander, dinner, easy meals, glass noodles, healthy, Home Cooking, huatiao, large prawns, lobster, lobster glass noodle, lobster glass noodle soup, lobster noodle, lobster noodle soup, lunch, Noodles, One bowl meal, prawns, seafood, sesame oil, shaoxing wine, Soup, South East Asian, stew, wine broth, wine soup

Here is the second half of the lobster (first half of which went to making the lobster pasta) and the easier recipe of the two. The original version called for fresh river prawns/big head prawns but since I had the lobster, I figured I could use that instead and add in some large prawns as a bonus. Since there is no recipe that I could refer to online I tried to recreate the taste the best I could remember. Turns out I’m actually quite satisfied with the results! Now without further ado, the recipe:-

Ingredients (4 pax)

• 1/2 lobster
• 6 large prawns (in my first attempt I used 3, but the attempt with 6 prawns tasted better)
• 1 inch ginger, sliced
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp minced onion
• 1/2 cup Shaoxing wine (maybe a dash more if you like)
• 5 cups chicken stock
• Chinese lettuce (I used a quarter of a head), cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 150g Glass noodles
• Spring onions chopped into large three inch sections.
• Coriander for garnish
• Finely chopped spring onions for garnish
• salt

The array of ingredientsGlass noodlesLarge lobster.

So we shall start with the prawns. De-shell all the prawns and set the shells/heads aside. Do NOT throw them away! Then devein them and cut each prawn into three sections.Size of the prawn heads and my hand, just for comparison. Lots of flavour in those prawn heads! 

Cut the lobster into half. If the lobster is as spiny as this one, do use a towel and be very careful when handling it. A pair of strong kitchen scissors would be a great help here.

More pictures of the lobster… as you can probably tell, I’ve added pictures from a second lobster noodle attempt into the mix. The second lobster looked way fresher and more succulent with its firmer white flesh and golden globules.

When you’ve managed to cut the lobster into half lengthwise, chop the tail into three parts and dig out some of the flesh from the head (I forgot to do that here) and set that aside with the prawns. Leave the orange/golden stuff behind.

Heat up some oil in a large pot and fry the ginger, garlic and onions until the onions are translucent and the aroma of the ginger comes out. It helps to crush the ginger before or during this step.Add the prawn shells and fry until half cooked (almost that coral colour they become when they’re fully cooked) before adding the lobster head to the pot.Continue frying for a minute or so, adding a little oil if it gets too dry. Then add the shaoxing wine to soak up all that flavour that’s coming from the prawn shells and lobster head. I actually would have liked to add another half cup of shaoxing wine but I was worried my family may not like the taste so I stuck with half a cup, but go ahead and use that extra half a cup if you like. 

Add the stock and simmer for around 15 minutes before turning off the heat. Cover the pot with its respective lid and leave it for perhaps an hour.

Then, remove the prawn shells from the stock (if you had a strainer bag in the first place, use it to hold the prawn shells because it can be a chore to pick them out from the soup).

Toss in the lobster and prawn meat that was set aside earlier, along with the spring onion sections, lettuce and glass noodles. The reason why we cook the shells and the meat separately is so that we can extract the most flavour out of the seafood from the shells without overcooking the meat, which is only added at the end. If you were to cook the meat right at the start, you’re going to end up with some very hard, overcooked and dry chunks of prawn/lobster which is such a waste of good seafood.

Place the lid back on and bring the soup to a boil.

Add the sesame oil at the end and season with salt. Top with chopped spring onions and coriander. Easy peasy!

Kimchi Bibim Guksu (Spicy cold noodles with kimchi)

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bibim guksu, cold noodles, dinner, fast meals, gochujang, kimchi, kimchi bibim guksu, Korean, lunch, mains, Noodles, perilla, quick meals, sesame, sesame oil, shiso, spicy, spicy cold noodles

I’m a big fan of Korean dramas and variety shows (I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before). I blame it on those very shows that I’m getting fatter by the day. They make Korean food look so sooooo appetizing! These are one of the dishes that I saw on the telly sometime back. It sounded and looked good… cold kimchi noodles.

After a bit of research, I decided to try the recipe from Korean Bapsang (website below). Her stuff is what you’d call “daebak” (awesome). Her food photos and recipes seem pretty and easy to follow so I made the noodles a few months ago with the recipe. It was good! Totally would make this again. Cold, sour rounded by some sweetness, and a little spice. And kimchi always makes everything taste better.

http://www.koreanbapsang.com/2011/07/kimchi-bibim-guksu-spicy-cold-noodles.html#.Ug-0fhYqS0s

Speaking about spice, I ordered this dish today at a Korean restaurant. All I can say is that I must have downed a whole jug of iced water after a few bites. I’m a person that would sprinkle chilli flakes liberally all over my food and use chilli padi soy sauce as a favourite condiment so I don’t think my spice tolerance is that low. But I really couldn’t enjoy the noodles, it being so spicy! So if you’re not a fan of spicy food, you can adjust the level of gochujang to suit your preferences (this recipe isn’t that spicy in any case).

Secondly, on my recent trip to Japan, I frequented a korean restaurant in Takashimaya, Tokyo (I really liked it!) and made a discovery. In all my posts on Korean food so far I’ve been referring to shiso/Japanese perilla leaves as the Korean perilla leaf. When I tried the real Korean perilla leaf I was taken aback. I absolutely had no idea that they were so different! As wikipedia clarifies:

“The flavor is distinct from Japanese perilla, and the leaf appearance is different, as well – larger, rounder, flatter, with a less serrated edge, and often a violet coloring on the reverse side.”

Well that explains why the leaf was so large. So now, I’m on a mission to find Korean perilla leaves in Singapore ;p

Ingredients (2 pax); recipe from Korean Bapsang

• 8 – 10 ounces somyeon (somen) noodles
• 1 cup thinly sliced kimchi (fully fermented)
• 1/4 cup juice from kimchi (use a little more soy sauce and vinegar if unavailable)
• 1 tablespoon Korean red chili pepper paste, gochujang (adjust to taste)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup (use honey or more sugar if unavailable)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons rice or apple vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• Optional garnish:
• 4 perilla leaves, kkaennip, thinly sliced (my pictures show the Japanese perilla leaves/shiso leaves)
• (or cucumber or lettuce, thinly sliced)

Cooking instructions

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil while preparing the kimchi sauce.

Thinly slice the kimchi and place it in a medium size bowl. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and mix well.

Add the noodles to the pot of boiling water. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions (3 – 4 minutes).

Prepare a bowl of iced water to dip the noodles into. The recipe in Korean Bapsang calls for cold water, however if it is not cold enough the noodles could get soggy quite easily. So just in case, just use iced water.

Drain the noodles quickly and shock in iced water to stop the cooking. Drain and rinse in cold water again. Repeat until the noodles become cold. Drain well.

Here’s the fun part! Throw your cold noodles into the sauce mixture and toss so that the sauce coats the noodles evenly. Try not to over-handle the noodles with utensils or you could get mashed noodles. Not yummy. Use your wrist to toss the noodles in the bowl and use chopsticks to further mix the noodles.

Dish into a serving bowl and top with (Korean) perilla leaves. I thought Japanese ones worked just as well.

Perfect dish for a hot day!

Hoedeopbap / hwedeopbap – Korean Spicy Sashimi salad Rice bowl

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chogochujang, dinner, gochujang, healthy, hodeopbap, hoedeopbap, hwe deop bap, hwedeopbap, Korean, korean spicy sashimi salad, lunch, perilla leaves, red pepper paste, rice, salad, sashimi, sesame oil, shiso, spicy, sweet and sour

I’m currently on a Korean craze. I also am hopelessly addicted to Running Man, a korean variety show. But way too often do they show delicious, mouthwatering looking korean dishes and delicacies. Like sizzling Korean bbq, grilled oysters, kimchi, ramyeon, sea urchin, spicy ddukbokki and the list is endless. One of these demonish dishes I just saw on another episode is something called ‘ganjang gejang’, which is raw crab marinated in soy sauce and fermented. It sounds disgusting but it looks so good T______T I googled countless recipes on it but then decided against making it. One because I have no clue how to get the freshest of crabs in Singapore, and secondly, I don’t think I have the courage to successfully pickle/ferment the crab LOL.

So I settled for this dish instead. Technically its supposed to be a spicy sashimi rice bowl, but, like chirashi-don (sashimi on vinegared rice) versus just sashimi and rice in separate bowls, I really prefer to keep them separate. I like my rice hot, and this would wreak havoc onto sashimi if placed onto the rice directly like that. So yeah, I put it in a separate bowl. The sashimi salad is spicy, sour and sweet and has a nice crunch from all the vegetables in there. It could have been spicier, perhaps next time I’ll add some sliced chilli padi into the sauce for for a “BURN TONGUE BURNNNNN” experience =D 

Ingredients (2 pax)
I adapted the recipe from here http://www.food.com/recipe/spicy-sashimi-bowl-hwe-deop-bap-221946

• 2 cups cooked rice (Japanese or Korean, preferably)
• 2 ounces tilapia fillets/other white fish sashimi (I used tai)
• 2 ounces tuna, sashimi quality
• 1 cup salad greens, any combination (I used only butterhead lettuce)
• 1/8 onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 carrot, thinly julienned
• 1/4 English cucumber, thinly  julienned
• 2-3 inch daikon radish, thinly julienned
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled, minced
• 1 chili pepper, thinly sliced (I’m replacing this with chilli padi next time)
• 4 perilla/shiso leaves, thinly julienned (*edit* Korean perilla leaves)
• 16 Perilla/shiso leaves for wrapping (*edit* Korean perilla leaves, no other substitute unless you don’t mind a lettuce wrap)

Cho Gochujang (sweet and sour chili sauce)

• 3 tablespoons korean red pepper paste (gochujang) or more if you wish
• 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame seed
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon salt, taste before adding (optional)

Instructions

1. To be really specific, julienne ALL THE VEGETABLES thinly and around the same thickness and length where possible.
2. Arrange the vegetables in a bowl.
3. Julienne your sashimi too, not as thinly as the vegetables, but try to cut it into long strips. Makes it easier to pick up with the vegetables later on, rather than cutting it into cubes.
4. Mix all the ingredients for the Cho-gochujang in a bowl and taste. Add more spicy or salt if you wish but I think the salt content is fine without the optional salt.

5. Arrange the sashimi on top of the vegetables, top with minced garlic, and cho-gochujang sauce and garnish with shiso leaves.

Tastes a bit like the Chinese Yu Sheng which I really really like. And it is pretty healthy isn’t it 😉

Take a few photos of your slicing efforts

Then you mix the salad. Toss it and mix it and get the sauce into every nook and cranny.

Get your hot rice ready, alongside some shiso leaves for wrapping. If you don’t like the taste of shiso leaves, you can replace them with lettuce or other vegetables.

And so, you take a leaf, plonk some of that hot rice on top, followed by the sashimi salad. Stuff it into your mouth. Charming.

Yummeh~