Healthy Chicken Beans

I was making this chicken dish because of wanting to eat healthy and light. I used 2 big pieces of chicken thigh with drumsticks to make into a big pot of chicken soup (as usual way of making a soup with celery, carrots and onions). However, the chicken has to be cooked just right or little al dante. Take out the chicken and let it cool down so that you can shred the meat out. No Skin for this healthy eating. Once shredded, saute some beans (I used turtle purple beans just like purple string beans) with carmelised onions and some ginger. Add some garlic salt to taste. Once near to done, add the shredded chicken meat into the pan and mix all together, saute again for a min or two. Thats it, healthy chicken beans for dinner. No starchy food. Garnish with cucumber and bell peppers, or any other vegetables you like. Lastly, drizzle some soy sauce on top and you can enjoy this meal in front of the TV.

"Anda Boleh"

Carmen's Grill

Carmen Mayo, our friend from Seattle, came back to visit her parents the other day. She invited us to go to her place and have bbq. It was just 3 of us, so I thought, great, we have zuchini, eggplant, sweet nectarine and chicken thigh in the fridge. So easy to marinate these vegetables, just use olive oil, salt and pepper, a little curry powder would be great. Chicken thigh, mixed soy sauce, olive oil, sugar, salt and Chinese 5 spice powder. Remember, chicken needs some time to cook.

"Anda Boleh"

Roasted 5 Spice Chicken with Fennel blossom infused Balsamic sauce

This dish was created because of a friend who wanted a chicken and some clean food on her plate. In my head, I was thinking of chicken thigh instead of the chicken breast. The chicken thigh is tastier and can absorb more flavor when marinated. It is moist as well when seared and then roast in the oven for few minutes. Asian flavor mostly with soy sauce, sugar and cooking wine when marinating. You must marinate  the chicken at least 4 hours, then do the bow ties pasta and sauteed mushrooms. The end result was amazing! Healthy and light for sure.

Marinate the chicken thigh at least 4 hours in the fridge:-

3 pieces Boneless Chicken thigh with skin

3 Tablespoon Soy sauce

1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice powder

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1 Tablespoon Sake or any cooking wine

1 Tablespoon Cooking oil

* mix all together in a bowl or ziploc bag, massage it well.

Bow Ties pasta:-

2 cups Bow Ties pasta

1/4 cup chopped Green onions

2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon chopped Garlic

Salt and Pepper to taste

* cook the pasta according to the instruction given, al dante then strained.  Heat the sauce pan on medium high, add garlic and green onions together with oil. Stir for 30 seconds, then add in the bow ties pasta. Stir well, add salt and pepper to taste.

Sauteed Oregano Mushrooms:-

2 cups sliced mushrooms (any kind)

3 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh Oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste

* Heat the sauce pan with olive oil on medium high. Add in mushrooms and oregano with salt and pepper, stir for 2-3 min until the mushrooms changed its color to darker brown.

Fennel blossoms infused Balsamic Sauce:-

4-5 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Fish sauce

1 Tablespoon chopped Fennel blossoms (the wild fennels you can find on the trails or raodside)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1 Tablespoon chopped Jalapeno without seeds

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

* Heat the sauce pan with olive oil on medium, then add garlic and jalapeno together, stir for few seconds. Then add the balsamic, fennel blossoms, sugar, fish sauce, cook to reduction depends on your preferred consistancy. Always taste it every minute when simmered.

Searing the chicken thigh:-

Heat the sauce pan with 3 Tablespoon Cooking oil on medium high. Pull out the marinated chicken thigh, place the skin first on the pan and seared for at least 3-4 min each side. Seared again both side for 1-2 min each. Put them in the oven at 275 F for about 2 min, while cooking the pasta, mushroom and the sauce mentioned above.

Finally assemble all the items above, make yourself a food stylist.

"Anda Boleh"

Ore-Ida Coq Au Vin

Well, another leftover food from work. It was the Vietnamese BBQ chicken. I made it into Coq au vin my style, fast and easy. I would say, less than 30 minutes cooking. It is a comfort food. Taste so good!

4 pc BBQ chicken
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup tomato
2 Tablespoon chopped Fennel leaf
3-4 pc Ore-Ida potatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
3 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Method:-
1. Heat the pot with olive oil, on medium high. Add the onions to carmelise it and then add in tomato. Stir for a min or two.
2. Then add the chicken, cook for 2-3 min. Add fennel leaf, red wine, ore-ida potatoes stir and reduce (say about 15 min) until the sauce is thick.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with steamed jasmine rice with peanut, sesame seeds and fried shallots.

"Anda Boleh"

Friggin Fantastic Chicken

Oh gosh! It was Fantastic.... Frigging....... Good! See, Malaysian loves to BBQ at night but not in the afternoon. The weather is hot and humid during the day, and unpredictable heavy storm. Therefore, BBQing at night is the common thing to do in the country. Why we say that this recipe is Friggin Good, because of the marinade. When you combined Chinese 5 spice powder, soy sauce and sugar, those are wonders and it makes you say "Hmmmmmmmm.........so good......."

Ingredients:-

2 pc each Chicken thighs and wings

Some fresh oregano

1/4 cup Soy sauce

2 Tablespoon Sugar

1 Tablespoon Chinese Rose Wine

Pinch of Salt

3 Tablespoon Olive oil

1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice (you can get it at any Asian markets near you)

Method:-

1. Marinate all the chicken with all the ingredients in a ziploc bag, overnight.

2. Roast in the oven at 400 F for about 40-45 minutes, dont let the smoke coming out from your oven.

3. The leftover marinade, reduce it on a saucepan at medium heat. Once reduced, add some butter to make into sauce. It is good spreading on the warm rolls.

Tips:- you can bbq them too. Remember, when roast in the oven, always put the chicken on the rack. Cover your sheet pan with aluminium foil, so that easy to clean after that.

 

"Anda Boleh"

Carmelised Onions Tumeric Chicken

Today, I am making this quick chinese style chicken with just onions. Gregg and I are craving for jasmine steamed rice, so I am thinking of cooking some chicken and re-stir fried the leftover Buddha delight from Asian Wok (a Malaysian restaurant near us). Also, we loved fried capers.

Ingredients:-

2 medium size Chicken Breast - cut into cubes or chunk size

1 teaspoon Tumeric powder

1 large onion - sliced

1 teaspoon sugar

salt to taste

Method:-

1. Heat a non-stick pan with some cooking oil, prefer medium to high heat. Cook the onions first, half way cook.

2. Then put in the chicken and salt, stir fried for a min or two.

2. Add in tumeric and sugar, further stir frying it for another minute until the onions turning brown and carmelised. Add some more salt to taste.

"Anda Boleh"

Michelle's Sweet and Sour Chicken

I got a notice from Gregg the other day about his co-worker, Michelle is coming over for lunch. Well, we have lots of stuffs in the fridge and our backyard, and luckily the chicken breast was thawed in the fridge overnight. I told Gregg that I am going to make Chinese food. Sweet and Sour Chicken because I saw the ketchup, have leftover lemon sauce from the scones and some old lemon on the counter. Since the lunch was just 3 of us, so I made a sauteed vegetables from our garden and steamed rice with fried capers. Honestly this is my first time making sweet and sour chicken in 10 years. I can say that my skills are getting better and better. Even Gregg and Michelle were so into it with the steamed jasmine rice with fried capers, eating just that leaving some vegetables behind. So comforty.... hmmmm.

Ingredients:-

2 chicken breast cut in chunk

2 Tablespoon cooking oil

1 cup  ketchup

2 Tablespoon lemon sauce (any kind of citrus sauce or juice you have in your fridge)

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

few slices lemon

a pinch or two salt and pepper to taste

Method:-

1. Stir fried the chicken in a hot wok with some cooking oil, a pinch salt and pepper for few minutes until little brown. Medium to high heat prefer.

2. Then add in ketchup, lemon sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil together. Stir for 2 min under low medium heat until the sauce is thick and glossy.

3. Lastly, put in the lemon slice and stir for a min.

4. Serve with jasmine rice with fried capers (you can see the recipe from my last posting).

Tips:- Chicken always better over cooked than under cooked. The more oil, the more glossy.

Chicken Top Ramen soup

Quick easy meal, thats why every household must have instant noodle at home. For Malaysian Chinese, you can see them having noodle soup for breakfast every day, with some wontons, chickens, beef, pork and seafood. It is a very healthy meal, compare to having pancakes with lots of grandma syrup (lots of calories). Start eating healthy, my friend.

Ingredients:-

1 packet Instant noodle ( I used Top Ramen)

1 handful Bean Sprouts

1 handful chinese greens

1 chicken breast (seared with all purpose seasoning)

Method:-

1. To sear the chicken, first you have to pat dry and seasoned it with all-purpose seasoning you can find in your pantry. Enough cooking oil, say about 2 Tablespoon on a non-stick pan, easier, at medium heat. The time, I would say, 5 min each side, to be safe. I always say, overcooked better than undercooked.

2. For cooking the noodle, just follow the instruction on the packet. However, I add some ground black pepper. Love it.

"Anda Boleh"

Chicken Hor Fun Soup

My bf, Gregg, called me at the last minute lunch, and I said, just come home and you are going to have a healthy light quick meal. So I quickly pull out the pork stock from the freezer, add some capers in it to give it saltiness olivey flavour. Then take a bunch of hor fun (flat small size rice noodle) from the pantry, a piece of grilled chicken made few days ago sat in the fridge, some sugar peas from the fridge, some sliced onions and fresh cut cilantro from our garden, making into this fabulous satisfying quick lunch, less than 20 min.

Ingredients:-

1 piece of grilled chicken breast (or just plain chicken breast) cut into cubes or chunks
2 Tablespoon Capers
1 bunch Hor Fun (Flat small size rice noodle)
2 handful Sugar Peas
1 handful of sliced onions
some fresh chopped cilantro (optional fresh mint, basil or vietnamese coriander)
3-4 cups of pork stock (can use any other stocks)
Salt to taste
2 teaspoon Rice Vinegar

Method:-

1. Heat up the stock in a pot, add in the capers together. Boil for 2 min.
2. Throw in the hor fun, cook as instructed. (would say, 2 min)
3. Add in grilled chicken and sugar peas together.
4. Add salt and rice vinegar to taste.
5. Lastly, garnish with fresh cilantro and sliced onions. Good with Sri Racha chili sauce. Make into 2 bowls of Chicken Hor Fun Soup.


"Anda Boleh"

Fast and Easy Leftover Chicken Curry Soup with Rice Noodle

Leftover curry sauce or soup from a restaurant? Easy, always easy to make it over. For South East Asian, we love to have curry with noodles. There are so many different type of noodles. This makeover, I am using Rice Noodle which you can find it at the Asian market near you. You can use others as well. The main thing here is the curry itself. Also the condiments and garnishing are important to give the curry soup a zest of life. So aromatic with fresh mint and vietnamese coriander. Enjoy it while the curry is still good in the fridge for days.

Ingredients:-

Leftover curry sauce or soup

Chicken breast

Water

Salt to taste

Garnishing:

Fresh Mint

Vietnamese Coriander

Method:-

1. Boil the curry sauce with 2-3 cups of water to dilute it. If it is a soup, maybe just 1 cup is enough.

2. Cut the chicken breast into chunk or cubes, add it in the hot simmer curry soup. Cook for 3 min until the chicken is cooked. Then add salt to taste.

3. Add the rice noodle into the soup, cook for 2-3 min until it is soft.

4. Serve with fresh mint and vietnamese coriander.

Better than Rachel Ray 30 min cooking!

"Anda Boleh"

Warm Chicken Sandwich

I have an old English muffin like Ciabata bread in my freezer for months. I was thinking of making a warm sandwich which I always like. I know I have a small piece of chicken breast being thawed overnight in the fridge, some sliced red onion, a whole avocado, shredded morzarella cheese, a bar of aged chedar cheese, backyard fresh parsley and red leaf lettuce. Sounds good right? It was the most fun cooking I have done, esembling, stacking and pressing down the sandwich.

Method:-

1. Preheat the oven at 375 F. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil on the bread each side, sprinkle with salt and black pepper and bake it for 2-3 min.
2. Place the cheddar cheese first on the bread. Then the sliced avocado and 1st portion of chopped parsley. Then to cover it with shredded morzarella cheese. Squeeze some ketchup on top of the cheese on one side of the bread. Put back in the oven and bake for another 3 min until the cheese melted.
3. Chicken breast have to be seared with seasoning salt or garlic salt and olive oil on a pan on a medium high heat until each side little brown, say 3 min each side. At the same time, stir fried the sliced red onion and 2nd portion of chopped parsley in the same pan with the chicken until little brown.
4. Once done the chicken and onion, lay them on a plate to serve or starting to put all together to make a sandwich.

"Selamat Mencuba"

Leftover Chicken Enchilada Angel Hair Pasta

I got the leftover chicken enchilada from Chef Neda, who is a Private Chef for a family in San Francisco. When I looked at them, I saw tomato sauce lookalike. Of cos, the taste is a little different. So in my head, I immediately think of a sauce for pasta. See, you can make over one dish to another so easily. Think of the food lookalike, and makeover them. Just add some olive oil so that the angel hair pasta or whatever pasta you are using looks shiny and great. Chopped some tomatoes and parsley to give it a texture, color and taste. Garlic salt to season and ground black pepper too. Wa la........ your new food on the plate for a party.

The only day I made Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao Chicken is very americanized. In fact, a lot of chinese food you might eat at your local chinese restaurant you would never actually find in China. But now they have become a part of our american culture, and are most likely here to stay. Gregg's family loves this type of chinese food, so I made it especially for them, this one time, when they came to visit our new house for the first time.

Recipe:

1 Chicken Breast (cut into chunk)

1 Red bell pepper (cube or slice)

1/2 Onion (cube or slice)

1 stalk Green Onion (chopped)

1 clove Garlic (chopped)

1/2 cup Roasted Walnut (chopped)

1 Tablespoon Oyster sauce

Method:-

1. Heat the work high, add the cooking oil and then the garlic. Stir for just few second, not to burn the garlic. Immediately add in the chicken. Stir the chicken until little golden, or half cooked.

2. Add in bell pepper, onion and green onion, stir fried for a minute.

3. Add the oyster sauce and stir until even.

4. Lastly, just throw in the Walnut, stir for few second. Then serve.

Bao Bao (Full Full) :)

Crispy Sage Chicken Salad

I used Sage because I have one Sage tree in the backyard. I knew the crispy taste of Sage when fried, just like tempura. Of cos, you can fried Basil and other herbs as well, depends on the temperature of the frying oil. The mix baby greens and the pan-seared chicken are good for a light lunch, with sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. Easy and tasty.

Ingredients:-

Mix baby greens

Tomatoes

Chicken breast

Sage leaf

Shreded Carrots

Sesame Seeds

Dressing:-

Olive oil

Lemon juice

Lemon rind

Garlic Salt

Sugar

Ground Black pepper

Details will be written later.

5 Spice Chicken

I was making a 4 course dinner at our friend Carmen's house. 5 spice chicken is a common asian dish I've made. It's always good to have a mainstay, something you've made many times before for a party, something you can count on, that you know will be good. Then make a few new dishes, so you can be creative and keep pushing yourself. This way, you know there will be something good and something different.

Ingredients:-

6 pcs Chicken thigh

2 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice (can get at the Asian market)

3 tablespoon Regular Soy sauce

2 tablespoon Sake or wine

1 teaspoon Salt

2 tablespoon Sugar

Methods:-

1. Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients for 1 hour or 2

2. Arrange on a rack and let it air dry a little (30 minutes at least)

3. Pop it in the oven of 350-400 F, at least 35 minutes. Check regularly.

4. Remember to keep the marinade (sauce). To make it, reduce the sauce on a pan at medium heat. Add some crushed peppers or adobo sauce or chilli sauce for a kick.

BBQ Honey Chicken without the BBQ

You can make that bbq taste without all that smoke, and coals, and fire, and all that time. Simply use a skillet and give it a bit of a char, a blackened char. With this recipe, the honey caramelized for a delicious bbq taste without all the fuss.

Ingredients

Vegetable Oil (enough to fill the pan to fry)

6 Chicken drumsticks

3 tbsps Honey

1 tsp Salt

2 tbsp Thyme

3 tbsp Soy sauce

This is so easy!

• Mix the ingredients, marinade for 2 hours
• Heat the oil on medium to high heat
• Fry in the pan for about 2-3 minutes
• Turn over
• Fry for another 2-3 minutes
• Keep flipping until the skin pulls from the bone, as you can see in the picture. (This will probably be about 20 minutes, just to play safe)

Tip: There's this great frying net, that covers a skillet, and keeps the oil from splattering. Look around to find this if you cook a lot of things in oil, it's very useful.

Now you can enjoy your bbq chicken in the dead of winter!

Happy Eating!

"Bake 1 bird and eat 2 dishes" (Ginger Chicken Soup and Roasted Chicken)

In times like these, make sure to get the most out of your chicken. With this recipe, you can use the chicken TWICE. You can make a delicious ginger chicken soup, that will bring back memories of what your mom used to make, what always made you feel better and cured that winter cold. And then you can simply put it in the oven and have a delicous roasted chicken. The soup and roast chicken will stretch out to several meals during the week.

First,

The Soup

• Wash the chicken thoroughly with hot water
• Boil water in a pot with 1 tsp salt
• Put the chicken in the boiled pot
• Add 3-5 slices of ginger
• Add 3-5 cloves of garlic
• Boil until the chicken is done - about 25 minutes
• Take out the chicken
• Put in your favorite pasta (I like spiral) and cook until done
• Add salt, ground pepper and chopped green onion for seasoning

Next, the Chicken

• Put in the chicken that you cooked in the soup into a foil pan
• Brush with a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar (and any hot sauce - optional)
• Bake in oven at 400 for approx. 15-20 minutes or until the skin is brown (It only needs to be baked this short time since it's already been cooked in the soup)

Here's to getting your cold cured fast with this!

Coq Au Vin

After eating at a great restaurant in San Francisco, called RNM, and trying their coq au vin, I wanted to do the Chef Chong version. Coq Au Vin is a fancy name for basically a chicken in a rich sauce, with vegetables. In the picture above, I served it with a soft roll and some homemade bread, because you will want to sop up every bit of this sauce, :) It's perfect for those cold winter days, or for a special celebration.

Ingredients
Chopped Bacon - 4 strips
Senior Chicken (no young chicken, this is very important, otherwise the chicken falls apart, it won't be the right texture for coq au vin)
Salt
Pepper
1 tsp. Sugar
1/2 cup chopped Mushrooms
1/2 cup Cocktail onions (this is one of those leftover items I had from a party, and here I could use them)
2 Garlic Cloves
2 tbsp. Tomato paste
2 tbsp. All purpose flour
1 box of Chicken broth (add some water)
1/2 cup Red wine
Bay leafs (if you have them)
1 tsp. Thyme
1/2 stick Butter (Paula Deen will be proud of me)
2 cups of chopped potatos
Parsley (for garnish)

Directions

• Saute the bacon on med. heat
• Take out the bacon, leave the oil in the pan
• Season the chicken with salt and pepper
• Brown the chicken in the pan, just for a few minutes
• Put aside
• Saute the mushrooms and cocktail onions until brown
• Put in tomato paste and garlic. Add in 1/2 cup of chicken broth and flour to thicken.
• Then add the rest of the chicken broth and the browned chicken, potatos, bacon, red wine, thyme, bay leafs and cook on low to med. heat for 40 minutes
• Take out the chicken and potatos, and let the sauce reduce further, adding in butter, salt and sugar.
• Garnish with chopped parsley
  

If your significant other doesn't fall in love with you after this, find a new one!

My Best Chicken Curry

This chicken curry dish is a little more advanced and was made at a dinner party, and was the main entree. For a small dinner party, this will light up your guest's eyes.

Ingredients:
Chopped 1/2 cup of onion
Chopped ginger (2 tbsp.)
chopped garlic - 2 cloves
2 tbsp. Curry powder
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 tbsp. paprika 1 tbsp.
Thai chili oil 2 tbsp.
Thai curry paste
2 cups Coconut cream
4 tbsp. soy sauce
3 tbsp. white Sugar
1 tbsp. Salt
1/2 cup plain yogurt
Chicken breast
Long beans
Sliced onions

Directions:

• Brown the onions
• Add in ginger and garlic
• Add in the curry powder and crushed pepper and paprika on low heat until the oil changes to a red color
• Add in the chili oil and thai curry paste
• Add in the chicken. Cook until half done.
• Add in 1 cup of coconut cream. Simmer for 3-4 minutes until the oil comes to the surface.
• Add in long beans and onions. Cook for a minute more.
• Add in rest of coconut cream and yogurt and stir for 2 minutes.
• Lastly, season with salt, sugar, soy sauce.
  

VOILA!

Thai Peanut Chicken

This is a twist on the classic thai chicken with peanut sauce. It came about because I had a jar of peanuts that had been sitting in my cabinet for a long, long time (after I had made some rocky road for the holidays). So what to make? How about a creamy peanutty sauce to spice up some chicken.

Ingredients

Adobo sauce
Orange juice,
Butter
adobo sauce from canned peppers
soy sauce
Sesame oil
salt
pepper
Added
Chopped Peanuts
Sugar