Asian Baked Chicken

This is what a perfect week night dinner recipe should be...easy, inexpensive, delicious, and most of all, fast.

I adapted this recipe from here but instead of chopping the aromatics, I grate them.  Much, much quicker.  And all moms know that on week nights, every minute counts!

I marinate the chicken the night before so that I can just pop the entire thing in the oven when I get home.  But if you're using boneless chicken pieces, even just a couple of hours in the marinade is enough.

Anyway, here goes...

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1-2 tbsp grated ginger (depending on how much you like ginger!)
5-6 cloves of garlic, grated
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
10-12 pieces of chicken

For the chicken, I sometimes buy a whole one and have it chopped, or I use a combination of chicken pieces (like in the photo above), or I will also use boneless, skin-on thighs or breasts.  You can use skinless chicken pieces too but I find that it dries up too much before the sauce gets nicely caramelized.

And another tip: When I buy ginger, I cut them up into 2-3 inch pieces and grate as I need. I could never finish those huge pieces and used to end up throwing a lot of shriveled ginger.  Now, I always have fresh ginger on hand.  Plus, if you grate it, you don't even have to peel!  How grate (pun intended) is that?!

On to the rest of the recipe...

In an oven proof dish, mix the first 6 ingredients.  Coat chicken pieces well with the marinade and leave for 12-24 hours in the fridge.  When you're ready to cook, take the chicken out about an hour before to let it come as close to room temperature as possible.  Bake in a 475 degree oven for 30-45 minutes.  Baking time will largely depend on what pieces you decide to use and whether you use bone-in or boneless chicken.  If you don't get that nice crust on top and the chicken is already done, turn on the broiler for a few minutes.  Watch closely because the sugar in the marinade will cause it to burn quickly.

Serve with lots of white rice to sop up all the sticky, sweet, savory sauce.

Korean Chicken Wings

I'm not happy with the fact there BonChon Chicken does not have a presence in Toronto. I am quite displeased, in fact. So what does one do when one cannot buy Korean chicken wings? One googles a recipe and tweaks it to one's own taste....

(A)

48 Chicken Wing Pieces (cut off excess thick skin/fat)

4 Tablespoon of rice vinegar

1 Tablespoon of salt

½ Teaspoon of black pepper

4 Garlic Cloves (whole)

1 Small onion (whole)

(B)

Some rice flour (about a cup) for dredging wings

Peanut oil for frying

(C)

2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce

4 Tablespoons of Rice Vinegar

3 Tablespoons of Koh Chu Jang (hot red pepper paste)

4 Garlic Cloves, grated

3 Tablespoons of Thai sweet chili sauce or honey

2 Tablespoon of dark brown sugar

Directions:

1) Soak wings in cold water for about 5 minutes, drain and repeat 2 times.

2) In the meantime, bring a pot of water to boil and add in all the “A” ingredients. Boil for 5 minutes.

3) Add the chicken wings to the pot and boil until the meat is cooked (do not over cook).

4) Drain the wings in a colander.

5) Lightly dredge wings in with rice flour.

6) Heat up the oil for frying. Fry wings until lightly golden brown and crisp.

7) Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, add all the “C” ingredients. Simmer until sauce thickens (about 5-10 minutes). Should not be too thick, about the consistency of maple syrup.

8) Toss wings in sauce. Add a bit at a time. Don’t put too much sauce or the wings will become soggy.

Chicken Lettuce Cups

Another post with no exact proportions...

But, lots of pics!

Cast of characters:



lean ground chicken, chopped carrots and celery, sliced green onions, chopped mushrooms, minced garlic, grated ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, ground pepper, iceberg lettuce

1. Saute green onions, celery and carrots until soft.
2. Add garlic and grated ginger. Saute until garlic is soft.
3. Add ground chicken. Cook until no longer pink.
4. Add mushrooms.
5. Season with hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, pepper, and sesame oil.
6. Keep sauteing until all the liquid is absorbed and you end up with this:



Meanwhile, pull lettuce leaves apart very gently. I must say, this is probably the hardest part of this recipe! If you are so inclined, like I was, trim to perfect little cups...like so:



To serve, place some chicken into the lettuce cup and enjoy!

Turbo Chicken v. 2

Sorry, I don't have a picture but you just have to trust me on this one. To all the Pinoys our there who have a turbo and have tried this recipe of mine, here's a variation: instead of using salt and pepper, use half to 3/4 of a packet of sinigang mix and rub it all over the chicken. Let this sit for a couple of hours (or overnight) and then follow the recipe above for cooking instructions. It sounds weird but boy, was it ever so malinamnam!

Roast Chicken with Garlic

Do you have a favorite steak rub? Mine is this one and I use it on practically everything...steak (of course), porkchops, chicken,potatoes, ribs, roasts, gravies, fish, etc, etc.

To make this super simple roast chicken, spatchcock a 2-3 lb bird and sprinkle it with your favorite rub. Preheat oven to 350. Meanwhile, in a cast iron pan, brown chicken with the skin side down for 5-7 minutes. Flip chicken over and scatter 2 quartered onions and 10-15 cloves of unpeeled garlic around the chicken. Stick the entire pan in the oven and roast for about an hour until the juices from the chicken run clear. Skim off fat from drippings and pour drippings, onions and garlic on top of bird.

Apricot-Glazed Chicken with Prunes

I'm a huge Food Network Fan. It's my default channel when I can't find anything else to watch in the 24,578 other cable channels we have. Watching it gets my culinary creative juices flowing. Besides, some of the hosts are not bad looking. Hehe!

I found this Dave Lieberman recipe and I decided to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was! Next time though, I'm going to tweak it a little bit more. I think a tablespoon of whole grain mustard should give it a nice kick of acidity to act as a counterpoint for the sweetness of the apricot glaze. Plus I'm going to add more garlic. Lots more. Like 2 whole heads more. Seriously. :-)


Apricot-Glazed Chicken with Prunes

6 chicken thighs and 6 drumsticks
1 cup apricot jam/preserves
15 whole prunes
1 head garlic, peeled, cloves kept whole
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. pepper
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
30 sage leaves

1. Mix everything in large bowl.
2. Arrange chicken pieces in a single layer in a large baking dish.
3. Tuck the prunes, sage and garlic cloves in between chicken pieces.
4. Pour the marinade on top of the chicken.
5. Bake at 400 for an hour or so until brown.
6. Transfer chicken, prunes, sage and garlic pieces onto a serving platter.
7. Pour liquid in the baking dish into a bowl.
8. Skim off the fat (there will be LOTS).
9. If the sauce is too watery, you can reduce it a bit to thicken it.
10. Pour sauce on top of everything.

We had this for dinner with some garlic mashed potatoes. Yum!

Chicken with Szechuan Peppers

I'm always on the look out for new spices. So when I saw these Szechuan peppers in my regular Asian supermarket haunt, I quickly put them in my cart to use for my next cooking adventure.

Normally, when I cook, I don't measure. I open my pantry, see what I have, take it from there, and play it by ear (or by tongue, I suppose). This also means that I normally don't use measuring spoons. I often pour and sprinkle, going mostly by gut feel, and taste as I go along. But once in a while, I regret not using a measuring implement. Today was one of those days...

I snipped a corner of the Szechuan pepper bag and poured what I was planning to be about a teaspoonful of pepper. Instead, I must have put 2 tablespoons worth! I tried to get as much of it out of my already sizzling pan, but I could only do so much damage control. Luckily, the dish turned out okay. The peppers added an unintended "crunch" which I'd much rather not have with my chicken :-P

Chicken with Szechuan Peppers
400g ground chicken
1 asian eggplant, minced into 1/4 inch pieces
5-6 fresh shiitake mushrooms, minced into 1/4 inch pieces
2 tsp. minced garlic
6 slices ginger
2 stalks green onion, sliced thinly
1 tsp. szechuan peppers
2 tbsp. chinese cooking wine
1/4 cup chicken broth
2+2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. oyster sauce
2 tbsp. hoisin sauce
1 tsp. chili garlic oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. rice vinegar

1. Marinate ground chicken in 2 tbsp. soy sauce and cooking wine. In a separate bowl, mix the rest of the soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, chili oil, sesame oil, sugar, vinegar and chicken broth. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok/pan until very hot. Put szechuan peppers and saute until fragrant.
3. Add garlic, ginger and green onions.
4. Saute aromatics for a couple of minutes.
5. Add chicken, cooking until it is no longer pink.
6. Add eggplant and mushrooms, keeping the food moving in the pan. Cook until vegetables are soft.
7. Pour in sauce mixture and saute just until the chicken and veggies are coated with the sauce.

Chicken Casserole ala Campbell

What can you make with chicken thighs, a can of Campbell Cream of Mushroom Soup and some imagination? You can come up with a dinner that's surpisingly very good and extremely easy to make!

Chicken Casserole ala Campbell
8 chicken thighs, trimmed of excess skin and fat
garlic seasoning (which I got from Costco...I think any steak seasoning would make a good sub)
3 shallots, sliced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 can water
1 tsp. pepper
salt to taste (if necessary)
1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. whole grain mustard

1. Sprinkle chicken generously with seasoning.
2. Over medium-high heat, heat oil in an oven-proof skillet (I used an enamelled cast-iron one).
3. Brown chicken on all sides. Set aside.
4. Saute shallots until soft.
5. Add soup, water, pepper, worcestershire sauce and mustard. Mix with a whisk until smooth.
6. Taste and adjust the seasoning at this point.
7. Place chicken in the skillet.
8. Bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes.
9. During the last 5 minutes or so, turn on the broiler to brown and crisp up the chicken skin. Watch that it doesn't burn! (I'm notorious for this!)

I served this with smashed potatoes with the sauce as the gravy. Another "make again" dish for me.

A whole lot of chicken

Last week...

Son #1: Oh, BTW mom, I volunteered to bring chicken for our thanksgiving lunch next Thursday.
Me: Oh really? How many people will be going?
Son #2: Well, there are 22 in my class plus our teachers and the parent volunteers.
Me (trying hard to be calm): Ok then. Chicken it is.

Today:

Me: Holy cr@p! The thanksgiving lunch is tomorrow!

So what do you do when you need to make chicken for 22 kids and their teachers?

1. Run to the grocery and buy 36 chicken drumsticks.
2. Season chicken with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder.
3. Add a cup of oil and toss chicken around until pieces are uniformly covered with seasoning.
4. Marinate for an hour.
5. Preheat oven to 400. Bake chicken for 20 minutes. Flip and bake 15 minutes more.
6. Meanwhile, mix together 2 cups of bottled bbq sauce, 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1/4 cup hoisin sauce.
7. Once chicken is cooked, toss in sauce.
8. Bake 5 minutes per side.
9. Done.

Whew, that wasn't so bad. I even had time to wrap some foil around the drumsticks. I'm sure the teachers wouldn't appreciate 22 pairs of sticky hands.

Adobo sa Gata (Adobo in Coconut Milk)

Adobo is probably the quintessential Filipino dish. This dish, which is a stew of a protein in vinegar, garlic, black pepper, and soy sauce, can be found in practically every Filipino household. There are endless variations...more soy sauce, no soy sauce, dry, saucy, twice fried, chicken, pork, chicken and pork, etc., etc.

I posted a favorite recipe a few weeks back, but today I decided to try something new. Adobo sa gata is a dish popular in Marinduque, an island province in the Philippines. I based my recipe on the one in "The Best of Food Magazine Cookbook" and I just tweaked it a little bit.

12 chicken pieces (I used legs)
2 tbsp. cooking oil
4 tbsp. vinegar
2 1/2 tsp. salt (to taste)
1 tsp. ground black pepper
3 thai chilis
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 slices ginger
2 bay leaves
1 medium onion, sliced
2 tsp. turmeric powder
2 cups coconut milk

1. In a pan, heat oil and brown chicken pieces well.
2. Lower heat and add salt, pepper, onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, bay leaves and vinegar.
3. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes until almost all of vinegar has evaporated, flipping chicken pieces once.
4. Add coconut milk and simmer for about 20 minutes.
5. Best served with white rice (like many other things).

This recipe was a hit with the boys! Definitely a "make again" dish!

Chicken Wings

1/4 cup butter

3 tbsp. tomato ketchup

2 tbsp. bbq sauce

2 tbsp. soy sauce

2 tbsp. sweet chili sauce

2 tsp. sriracha hot sauce (add less or more depending on how hot you want your wings)

1 tsp. worcestershire

salt to taste (amount really depends on whether you're using salted or unsalted butter)

1. Mix everything together in a saucepan over low flame until the butter emulsifies into the rest of the ingredients.

2. In large container with a lid, put cooked wings and pour sauce on top.

3. Shake, shake, shake until all the wings are coated with the sauce.

4. Serve with blue cheese dressing* and celery sticks.

*Mash blue cheese into sour cream. Add a splash of worcestershire.

Traditionally, this recipe calls for deep fried wings but I actually cook my wings in the oven. No fuss, no muss. Plus I can do LOTS of wings without having to slave over a splattering pot of hot oil. For instance, today, I made about 50 wings, which fit nicely in my oven all in one go.

Place wing pieces in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment (to prevent sticking). Bake in a 450 oven for 15-20 minutes. Flip chicken pieces over and bake 15-20 minutes more until nice and golden brown.

Asian Brined Chicken

It's been a crazy week. Son #1 needed surgery and the past few days felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster. Fortunately, everything went well and he's home now, recuperating.

I've missed my kitchen, I've missed cooking, and I've missed blogging. And after preparing tonight's dinner, laying out the table, saying grace and eating together, I feel some semblance of normalcy already.

I brined this chicken last night and the 24-hour soak really worked wonders. The chicken was very juicy and amazingly flavorful. Even the breast meat, which can sometimes taste bland, was excellent. Of course having each bite with a bit of crisp skin helped.

Asian Brined Chicken

1 3-4 lb. chicken
4 cups water
1/2 cup oyster sauce
1/2 cup dark soy sauce
1 tbsp. sriracha hot sauce (optional)
2 tbsp. grated ginger
1 tbsp. minced garlic
3 stalks lemongrass, chopped into 1 inch pieces
3 kaffir lime leaves
1/4 cup chinese rice wine
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. five spice powder

1. Mix all the ingredients except the chicken until well blended.
2. Soak chicken in brining liquid for 12-24 hours. Keep chicken in fridge.
3. Butterly chicken (or not, if you so prefer) and roast at 325 for 45-50 minutes.
4. Raise oven temperature to 400 and roast chicken for 15 minutes more.
5. Alternatively, you could use a turbo broiler and roast chicken at 175, skin side down for 30 minutes. Flip chicken over and roast another 30 minutes.
6. Allow chicken to rest for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

The low roasting temperature for this dish allows the chicken to cook without overbrowning. The soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar will burn if you roast the chicken at a high temperature. So start low and then increase the temperature toward the end of cooking to brown and crisp the skin.

Son #2 had his chicken with hoisin sauce, but I enjoyed mine with a sprinkling of Eurasian Black Sea Salt, which has an "eggy" flavor due to its higher sulfur content. It was a very nice "welcome back home" meal indeed.

Green Chicken Curry

This is my version of "thirty minute curry." It's delicious, simple, and very easy. Plus, it's a great way to get my kids to eat their veggies. I like the Mae Ploy brand of curry paste but I always fix it up. Somehow, ready made pastes and powders lack that oomph that gives Thai curry its kick.

• 6 boneless chicken thighs, cut into cubes
• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 heaping tsp. shrimp paste
• 2 tbsp. green curry paste
• 2 tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 5 slices ginger
• 3 kaffir lime leaves
• 3 stalks lemon grass, cut into 1 inch pieces (white parts only)
• 2 heads broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 cup sliced white mushrooms
• 1 cup snow peas
• 1/2 red pepper, cubed

1. Simmer coconut milk with shrimp paste, curry paste, fish sauce, sugar, ginger, lime leaves and lemon grass for 10 minutes.

2. Add chicken and cook for 10 minutes.

3. Add veggies. Simmer for a few minutes more.

4. Serve with jasmine rice.

Adobo Flakes

Any Filipino cook worth his/her salt will know how to make adobo. This dish of meat stewed in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves and pepper is prepared in almost every household in the Philippines. But each region, each province and each cook will have his or her own variation of this ubiquitous dish.

This version of mine is by far my favorite way of cooking adobo. I don't make it often because it involves many steps and dirties up so many pots and dishes. But when I do, I make a huge batch enough for 3 meals or so. I serve one portion and freeze the rest so we can reheat the adobo and have it when we feel like having something truly Filipino.

ADOBO FLAKES

8 chicken legs (thigh and drumstick)

2 cups light soy sauce

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup apple cider vinegar

10 cloves garlic, smashed

1 tbsp. whole peppercorns

4 bayleaves

2 tsp. minced garlic

2 tbsp. oil

1. In a non-reactive pot, simmer chicken in the next 6 ingredients for about 45 minutes. Do not cover the pot and rearrange the chicken once in a while to make sure that all of the pieces spend some time submerged in the simmering liquid.

2. Once the chicken is done, take the pieces out and cool. Meanwhile, strain the cooking liquid and remove all the fat that floats on top. Set the liquid aside.

3. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones.

4. In a non-stick pan, saute the minced garlic in the oil until brown and add the chicken meat plus 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Boil over medium high heat.

5. As the liquid evaporates, break up the chicken pieces and stir occasionally. Add 1/4 cooking liquid at a time and let this evaporate while shredding the chicken meat with a spatula.

6. Continue with this for another 4-6 times or so, adding liquid as the chicken meat dries up. You will use up about 1 and 1/2 cup of your cooking liquid.

7. Let the chicken meat fry in the pan, stirring frequently and making sure the bottom does not burn. Slowly, you will see that the chicken meat will become dry and slightly crisp.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are pictures of the transformation...from the ordinary to the sublime :-)

Lemongrass Chicken with Shrimp Paste

It was Thai night tonight and this dish was a resounding success! It doesn't look pretty but it was excellent! In fact, Son #2 wants to bring the leftovers for lunch tomorrow, never mind that the shrimp paste smell might scare off his classmates. :-)

I didn't really use a recipe but just improvised as a I went along. I have a bunch of kaffir lime leaves in the freezer. The leaves freeze extremely well, which works out because you only really need a few leaves at a time. I also freeze ginger slices (usually 5-6 slices in a tiny ziplock bag) so that I always have some on hand. Next time, I'm going to try freezing lemongrass and see whether the flavor holds up.

Lemongrass Chicken with Shrimp Paste

500 grams chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch strips

3 stalks lemongrass, cut into 1 inch pieces (white parts only)

1/2 tsp. chili flakes

6 slices ginger

1 tsp. chopped garlic

3 green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 bunch sitaw (snake/long beans), cut into 2 inch pieces

2 asian eggplants, sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds

3 heaping tsp. bagoong (shrimp paste) -- I used Barrio Fiesta

3 kaffir lime leaves

1/4 cup water

3 tbsp. oyster sauce

2 tbsp. sweet chili sauce

handful of whole thai basil leaves

1. Heat about 2 tbsp. oil in a pan/wok.

2. When oil is very hot, add garlic, ginger, chili flakes, green onions and lemongrass.

3. Saute for about a minute then add chicken pieces. Spread chicken over bottom of pan and don't touch for a minute or two.

4. Add in the beans and eggplant.

5. Put in kaffir lime leaves, oyster sauce and shrimp paste. Saute everything together.

6. Add water and chili sauce. Mix.

7. Cover for a 3-4 minutes to let veggies cook.

8. Remove cover. Add in basil leaves and sesame oil.

9. Stir just until everything comes together.

10. Serve with hot jasmine rice.

Penne with Chicken

I have a small herb planter hanging on our fence. Having it inspires me to be more creative about using herbs in cooking. Plus, it's so convenient to have the herbs right outside, ready for picking. And, having an herb garden makes me feel more "Martha Stewart-ish." Right now, I have 3 kinds of basil, italian parsley, chives, thyme, rosemary, and mint.

The picture above showes some italian parsley, globe basil and small leaf basil that I picked for our dinner. I got home late so it had to be a quick one. So I looked at what I had on hand and this is the dish I came up with.

Penne with Chicken

450 grams penne pasta, cooked and drained

2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
steak seasoning

5 strips bacon, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tsp. chopped garlic

1/2 tsp. chili flakes

200-250 grams sliced mushrooms

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into strips

8-12 grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1-2 cups baby spinach

a handful of parsley and basil, chopped

freshly cracked black pepper

salt

grated cheese for garnish (I had some Manchego so I used that)

1. Cook bacon until crisp. Set aside. Drain most of bacon fat from pan, reserving about 1 tbsp.

2. Season chicken breasts with steak seasoning and pan fry in same pan. This takes about 5 minutes per side. I cook the chicken until the outside is very brown. I find this add so much to the final flavor of the dish.

3. Remove chicken to a cutting board and slice into 1/4 inch pieces. Set aside

4. In the same pan, add olive oil, garlic and chili flakes. Saute until garlic is soft.

5. Add mushrooms, peppers, and tomatoes. Cook til veggies are soft but not mushy.

6. Add in chopped herbs, sliced chicken plus all the juices, and bacon bits. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Add pasta, baby spinach and cheese. Toss until everything comes together. The heat of the pasta will wilt the spinach.

Finished product...

Turbo Chicken

Sometimes simple is best. Take "turbo chicken" for instance. This is our favorite way of cooking chicken. Nothing beats a butterflied chicken, seasoned generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, cooked in a "turbo broiler". I like it with Jufran, worcestershire and sriracha. Hubby uses tabasco instead of sriracha, Son #1 just has Jufran plus worcestershire, and Son #2 eats his with Heinz tomato ketchup.

The final product, a golden brown chicken with perfectly crisp skin, reminds me of Max's Fried Chicken. So good!!!

How to cook: Butterfly chicken, season both sides generously with salt and pepper. Cook in turbo at 200 degrees Celsius, skin side down for 25-30 minutes. Flip over and cook another 20-25 minutes until golden. Trust me, this recipe is foolproof!