Chicken and Brown Beech Mushroom Stir Fry

If there was one thing I missed living in Kissimmee, it was the big Asian supermarkets that we have so many of, here in Southern California. I could spend hours just zipping around the isles just looking at everything from the ridiculous amounts of prepared sauces and condiments to the great array of snacks.

All throughout my cooking career, I have always been partial to Asian food. It's just what my palate has woken up to. I also love that there's a certain mystique with each country's cooking style and ingredients that really is hard to master due to it being passed down from generation to generation within the family. Some of these ingredients can, at times, be a little intimidating to incorporate to our daily menus. That's the nature of the beast, though, isn't it? If you happen upon a certain ingredient that you've been curious about, pick it up and try it out. We often get stuck with the same routine dishes that we make for our family day in and day out that we forget that there's a world of ingredients out there that definitely deserve to find their way in to our pantries and plates. They don't need to be these exotic and expensive items either. Just new to you ingredients will suffice. 

So on our recent trip to the Asian market I decided to pick up some Kecap Manis and Brown Beech Mushrooms. So the same old stir fry was a little different this time around... in a good way. I've always loved Kecap Manis. It's seasoned Indonesian sweet soy sauce and it just does wonders for certain dishes. Think of it as a Teriyaki sauce with a tinge of garlic and anise.

The Brown Beech Mushrooms are a bargain at about a dollar for a package. They have a more pronounced flavor than button mushrooms so if you aren't a mushroom fanatic, go easy on them and see if they're a keeper in your repertoire. Like most mushrooms,though, they take in flavor quite well, specially in intense flavored Asian cooking. They might even be a good meat substitute for you vegetarians out there. Stay tuned for that one....

Chicken and Brown Beech Mushroom Stir Fry

1 lb chicken breast thinly sliced on a bias

1 package of Brown Beech mushrooms (trim off base and separate)

1 medium sized onion sliced in to half inch thick slices

5 heads of garlic minced

4 tablespoons Kecap Manis

2 tbsp oyster sauce

black pepper to taste

3 tbsp cornstarch

3 tbsp water

5-6 tbsp of vegetable oil
cilantro for garnish

marinate for chicken

thumb sized ginger peeled and sliced thin

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sesame oil

in a bowl, add the sliced chicken, ginger salt and sesame oil. massage well. then add the cornstarch and water. massage meat well then keep in fridge for at least an hour.

Cooking

Heat a wok until it is smoking. In batches, cook off the chicken meat then set aside.

Add about 3 tbsp of oil and once the wok starts to heat up again, add the mushrooms and keep stirring until they have softened a bit. about 2 minutes

Next, add the garlic and onions and stir fry for about 30 seconds.

Then add your chicken, stir for another minute then add the Kecap Manis, oyster sauce and black pepper.

serve right away with steamed rice and enjoy!

Honey Chili Fried Chicken and Mushroom

As I've grown older, I realize that food remains the book marker of the story of my life. Not so much as marking these huge, memorable moments in my life, but the small blips on the radar that make for the filler of the past 35 years. Fond stories I tell about my dad breaking down a bushel of crabs to make omelets back home in Philippines to a steaming plate of Yang Chow fried rice at a cafe and 3 in the morning after a long night of drinking with friends.

This dish reminds me of a restaurant back in Philippines we used to always go to. There wasn't anything particularly special about the restaurant or the food that they served. It was a chain restaurant that was located in pretty much every major mall. It wasn't a food court type of joint, but an actual sit down a la carte restaurant. As I tried remembering more details about the place, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't any of those details that I was reaching for. It was the family day out. We didn't have a car so it was buses, jeepneys and tricycles everywhere we went. I always remember those times every time I strap my daughter on to her booster seat now. Maybe it wasn't worth all the trouble to go to this place and have this particular fried chicken dish, but maybe a  day spent exploring Metro Manila with my family by bus isn't such a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon. 

Honey Chili Fried Chicken and Mushroom

Honey Chili Fried Chicken and Mushroom

2 large chicken breasts cut in to bite sized cubes

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup corn starch

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 beaten egg

oil for deep frying

2 cups button mushrooms quartered

1 small onion large diced

3 cloves of garlic minced

1 thumb sized ginger peeled and roughly sliced

sauce

1/2 cup Oyster sauce

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup water

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp sesame seeds

2 tbsp Sambal Oelek or Sriracha (or whatever hot sauce you have in your pantry)

all ingredients put together and stirred until well incorporated

Procedure

-mix the flour, corn starch, baking powder, salt and pepper together in a paper bag or tupperware with cover

-toss the chicken with the beaten egg and throw in the dredge mixture and shake well until all of the meat is coated well

-heat oil to 375 and fry the chicken until golden brown and crispy. 

-let the cooked chicken drain or a rack and set aside

-heat up a wok or a large skillet and sweat the onion, ginger and garlic then add the mushrooms then saute until tender

-add the chicken and toss for a minute then pour the sauce and quickly stir until all the meat is coated with the sauce

serve hot with steamed rice. Enjoy!

Honey Chili Fried Chicken and Mushroom

Chicken Stir Fry with Mushrooms and Green Beans

The star of this dish is none other than the Green Beans because they came from our garden. It was barely enough of a harvest to balance this dish, but it's always satisfying to be able to step outside and pick fresh vegetables from the garden to cook right then and there. Talk about farm to table dreams. Someday, we will definitely get there when not just one or two components of a dish comes from within our own little farm, but every single one of them. No pesticides or synthetic fertilizers to negate the goodness that these vegetables are suppose to bring to our bodies.

A quote by Sarah Ban Breathnac states The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers, but above all, the world needs dreamers who do. Some day the maintenance of lawns will be subjugated by the nurturing of vegetable gardens. It may be an idea that won't sustain for now due to the way people's lives are now constructed, but maybe some of us can help push the idea along. That good clean, whole foods should be the absolute norm and not thought of as an elitist health fad.

So we decided to celebrate the idea and our green beans became part of a tasty stir fry.

Chicken Stir Fry with Mushrooms and Green Beans

green beans from our garden

Chicken Stir Fry with Mushrooms and Green Beans

1 chicken breast thin sliced
1 cup green beans cleaned and blanched
1 cup of any type of mushrooms sliced
1 onion large diced
1 thumb sized ginger peeled and sliced
3 cloves garlic minced

marinade

3 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp baking soda (optional. works as a tenderizer)

sauce

3 tbsp Chinese rice wine
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp sambal (or Sriracha or whatever hot sauce you have in your pantry)
pinch of white and black sesame seeds

please click this link for the video for mobile phone users:  youtube video of procedure

Tinolang Manok sa Ampalaya (Chicken Ginger Soup with Bitter Melon)

Testing out recipes on a daily basis, especially for the blog, you tend to forget to eat healthier. Healthy food is a tough sell in any household, but now, more than ever, it is a must. I've written about the health benefits of bitter melon, but I doubt too many people can even begin to get past the bitter part of the vegetable. My wife and I love the vegetable and anything that will help keep diabetes away is a welcome staple in my diet.

Rainy days here in Florida reminds us of Philippines and what better way to enjoy the rain with some soup. Tinola, traditionally is a basic chicken soup flavored with ginger usually accompanied by papaya and water spinach. This particular recipe is a rendition coming from my wife's province. Bitter melon is widely used in dishes in the norther part of Philippines. I enjoy this vegetable as a stir fry, such as Stir Fried Bitter Melon with Shrimp, but a little less oil and cholesterol was the mission for the night and I think we did well. The bean thread noodles makes the soup a bit heartier so eating it with rice is optional......... so I thought.

Tinolang Manok sa Ampalaya (Chicken Ginger Soup with Bitter Melon)

Tinolang Manok sa Ampalaya (Chicken Ginger Soup with Bitter Melon)

1/2 lb chicken breast cut into large cubes
1 whole bitter melon seeded and sliced diagonally into 1/2 inch pieces
1 thumb sized nob of ginger smashed
 3 cloves garlic
1/2 small onion sliced thin
1 cup dried bean thread noodles
2 tbsp fish sauce (optional, you can use salt to taste)
black pepper to taste
4 cups water or chicken stock

Below is our first instructional video. Let us know how you like it! Enjoy the dish! :)

Baked Chicken Buns

We have some family that came over from the U.K. and today, along with my Mom, went on a road trip to Canada. A whole day of driving and filling up on junk fast food isn't the way to go so we decided to make a hearty snack for them to munch on. Well, from the last update, all the buns were gone before they even crossed over to Virginia. Note to us: double the recipe for the next road trip.

Growing up, one of my favorite snacks were steamed buns called Siopao which is basically the cousin of the Chinese Dim Sum staple, Char Siu Bao. This one is the baked version of this delicious snack. The steamed buns are usually stuffed with a savory sweet pork braise but the request from mom was to make it with chicken so that's what we did. These buns turned out great and the best part is that the recipe for the stuffing can be as versatile as you want it to be. Omit some of the ingredients you don't want and substitute ones that you love.

Baked Chicken Buns

Click below for the Sesame Buns Recipe

Sesame Buns Recipe

Chicken filling Ingredients

1 lb chicken breast boiled and shredded
1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots parboiled
1/2 cup diced russet potato parboiled
1/4 cup raisins
3 cloves garlic minced
3 tbsp Oyster sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
pepper to taste

Procedure
-sweat the garlic then add the chicken, peas and carrots, potatoes and raisins and saute for 5 minutes or until the chicken has a bit of color
-add the rice wine, soy sauce and Oyster sauce and pepper then saute for another 5 minutes then transfer to a tray to cool the mixture for stuffing

-following the instructions for the buns, once the dough has been kneaded and has rested for 10 minutes, divide the dough in to 12 equal pieces stuff them each with about 2 tbsp of the Chicken filling. Pinch the bottom of the dough to seal in the filling.
-once they are all stuffed, place them each in a cupcake liner and proof until the dough has doubled in size. about 45 minutes to 1 hour
-preheat oven to 375 then egg wash the tops of the buns and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.

                         


Enjoy!

Herb Garlic Roasted Chicken

The Whole Chicken. Complete and economical yet so neglected. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, bags of chicken wings, little trays of chicken tenders, frozen barbecue boneless chicken wings for up to $8.00 per pound and the list goes on and on. Next time you're staring down at a whole chicken on sale for under a dollar per pound, grab one and click over to this recipe. I have to warn you though, this dish does require a bit of planning ahead. It isn't a "got stuck in traffic now I'm pressed for time to get dinner on the table" type dish, but I promise that the extra planning will definitely pay off. On the plus side, whether you eat the skin or not, it's a whole lot healthier than a bucket of chicken....much cheaper too. In the end, nothing is much better than a family sitting together eating a home cooked meal.

Herb Garlic Roasted Chicken

Herb Garlic Roasted Chicken

Brine. It is the key to having moist and juicy chicken and the reason why you must plan ahead.

1 gallon water
3/4 cup Kosher salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp whole black pepper
1 head of garlic cut in half to expose all the cloves
1 bunch fresh parsley or whatever you fresh herbs you have.

put everything together except fresh herbs, bring to a boil and let cool to room temperature

submerge the chicken and keep in the fridge for at least 12 hours.

remove chicken from the brine and pat dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture, place on a rack and back to the fridge for at least 6 hours. this is key for very crispy skin.

for this recipe, the fresh herbs that will be going in the chicken cavity is lemongrass since i have it growing in the backyard. use whatever herbs you like, about two cups of it and make sure to bruise the herbs to release the essential oils prior to stuffing it in the chicken. grab the head of garlic from the brine and stuff it in there with the herbs. season the skin with some fresh cracked black pepper. NO MORE SALT. the brine already took care of that.

now truss the chicken for even cooking. I lost my butcher's twine so I used sewing thread. No big whoop ;) here's a quick video from Chow:

have the chicken out to reach room temp before cooking.

preheat the oven to 450

bake chicken on a rack at this temp for 10-15 minutes then bring it down to 350 for 20 minutes for every pound of your chicken. (these are just guidelines. all ovens are different so cooking times will vary)

once out of the oven, PLEASE DO NOT CARVE IMMEDIATELY. loosely tent with foil and let rest in a warm area for 20 minutes.

carve and ENJOY!

Baja Style Grilled Chicken Tacos

I had a hankering for some chicken tacos today and figured it was a nice day to grill some meat before the 4 days of miserable rain this week. This is a no frills dish. Feel free to use chicken breasts but I like to roll with chicken thighs. Chicken breasts can quickly dry up on you specially on the grill, but thighs give you a little more margin of error. Trim off the excess fat and throw it in the marinade and I guarantee you, you'll have a tastier product. Also, speaking of marinade and marinate. Marinade is the mixture that the meat goes in to. (noun) Marinate is what the meat is doing in the Marinade. (verb) Just in case you were using them interchangeably, now you know. :)

Baja Style Grilled Chicken Tacos

Baja Style Grilled Chicken Tacos

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup orange juice. (fresh squeezed is much better and throw the skin in the marinade while you're at it)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1 tsp dried oregano

marinate the chicken for at least an hour in the fridge, but as usual, overnight would be perfect.

grab your choice of corn tortilla, put a bed of fine shredded cabbage and then the chopped up grilled chicken. top with diced onion and tomato. sprinkle with some rough chopped cilantro and a dollop of Mexican crema. Enjoy with a bottle or two of Dos Equis.

Penne with Sausage and Mushroom

The sole purpose of making sausage today was so that it makes it's way to some pasta. Lately we've been eating more whole grain pasta because it just tastes better. The nuttier, fuller flavor of whole grain pasta makes things in the "sauce department" a lot easier. Here's a delicious, quick and healthy fix for lunch or dinner when you're pinched for time. Let Umami rich ingredients like mushrooms, tomatoes and cheese do the heavy lifting for you. Quit opening the jars of ready made tomato sauces and stay away from the rich cream based sauces in foil packets. Make. real. food. (mental note: that's a nice slogan) It's easier than you think and it will save you tons of money in the long run and most importantly, it's healthier.

Penne with Sausage and Mushroom

Penne with Sausage and Mushroom

12 oz box of whole grain Penne pasta

8 oz sausage of your choice sliced thin on a bias (although i recommend you making this awesome sausage)

2 cups your choice of mushrooms rough chopped

1 cup thin sliced yellow onions

6 cloves of garlic minced

2 large Roma tomatoes rough chopped 

salt and dried chili flakes

the process

-Boil salted water. If you're not sure how salty, imagine sea water. Yup. about that salty. 

-while waiting for the water to boil, slice and chop the ingredients. make sure you get everything because like a stir fry, this will go very quickly

-once the water boils, add the pasta and heat a separate pot 

-start with the garlic and onions and once they get a bit of color in them add the mushrooms. 

-you're going to start having brown bits stuck to the pan and that's a good thing. 

-once the mushrooms have softened and has browned a bit, add the tomatoes

-a minute later, add your sausage making sure you're constantly stirring 

-at this time, turn down the fire to low and the pasta should be cooked al dente. 8-9 minutes

-reserve 3/4 of a cup of the pasta water before draining

-once drained, turn the fire up again and add the pasta and the pasta water

-stir and taste and adjust the salt to your liking. add chili flakes to your liking as well

-serve hot with shaved Parmesan cheese. 

ENJOY!

Homemade Apple-Maple Chicken Sausage

I was reading the news today and came upon the chicken nugget recall because people complained of plastic pieces in them. I understand accidents happen, but it just highlights the fact that we really need to make a conscious effort to cook our own food. Knowing exactly what goes in to the meals that we feed our family should always be a priority.

Summer is right around the corner and grills all across the country will be fired up and my personal favorite are sausages. Now, I'm not sure how you feel about nitrites, but the verdict is still out whether it's really bad for you. Well while they're doing more studies on it, I figured I'd make some nitrite free fresh sausages. A package of "natural nitrite-free" sausages can run you from $6 on up for a pound of meat. It's kind of pricey plus you still don't know what's in there. I decided to test out the KitchenAid sausage maker set up and this is what came of it.

Homemade Apple-Maple Chicken Sausage

Homemade Apple-Maple Chicken Sausage

1 lb boneless skinless organic chicken thighs ran through the fine grinder plate
or (1 lb ground chicken or turkey)
1 large Granny Smith apple peeled and small diced
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp granulated garlic
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 ft natural hog casings

mix all ingredients together and let rest in the fridge for an hour

I used the bigger funnel for this. I find that if you have a moist sausage mixture, it makes it a little difficult to push the mixture through the chute.The first few times, it might be best to work with another person to either hold the casing as the mixture pushes through or be the one to stuff the mixture down the chute. 1 large apple might seem much but it helps keep the sausage moist inside and the Granny Smith works great in adding a sour contrast to the maple syrup and brown sugar. Depending on where you are, it might be difficult to find hog casings. Bass Pro carries them for a very reasonable price and the quality is very good. I've finished a whole pack of casings which is good for 25 lbs of sausage without a single hole.

I steamed the sausages for about 10 minutes in a half cup of water in a pan, covered, then grilled them. This insures that the sausage is fully cooked once it comes off the grill and the casings didn't char from the sugars in the mixture.

Grilled Soy Ginger Chicken with Java Rice and quick pickled cucumber

Between all the gardening and fixing the hole in the back of the truck, dinner needed to be quick and easy. It is the reality for most of us, right? Same story, look in the fridge then the freezer then the pantry then decide to just eat out. Either that or you got stuck in traffic and just ran out of time to make dinner so you drive up to the window. We neglect to realize that with a little bit of planning ahead, we would be able to eat a little healthier and/or save a lot of money. Last night, I found these chicken tenders in the freezer so I tossed in some left over dressing from the Scallop and Quinoa Salad. Turned out something simple, yet quite a tasty dinner. Best part was the whole meal for 3 and a half cost about 10 bucks.  It can't always be sexy Instagram/Facebook worthy meals, but at the end of the day, you please the most important audience there is. The Family. 

Grilled Soy Ginger Chicken with Java Rice and quick pickled cucumber

Grilled Soy Ginger Chicken with Java rice and quick pickled cucumber

8 chicken tenders or 2 large chicken breasts cut in to strips marinated in Ginger-Soy Dressing for at least 2 hours but best overnight. 

Java Rice

3 cups cold rice

1 tsp annato powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 yellow onion small diced

3 garlic cloves minced

1/2 red bell pepper small diced

4 strips of bacon

2 tbsp soy sauce

brown the bacon then drain most of the oil. sweat the onions, garlic and bell peppers for a minute until fragrant then add the paprika and annato powder. saute for about 30 seconds then add the cold rice and stir briskly to break up the rice. add the bacon and soy sauce and stir until incorporated. keep warm

Quick Pickled Cucumber

2 cucumbers seeded and shredded

1 red onion sliced thin

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste

dissolve the sugar in the vinegar then combine all the other ingredients and keep in the ref for at least 30 minutes.

Garlic Chicken

4 words to sum up this dish. Quick, easy, economical and tasty. You need to have recipes in your repertoire that you can whip up with little effort when you have things to get done.  Everybody is a little busier now than ever. We're all trying to cram more things in to our days. That doesn't mean we have to eat poorly. Grabbing something from the fast food joint is an easy out, but we aren't really doing ourselves a favor. When it comes down to it, it's our loved ones that we are feeding. Our busy lives shouldn't mean that we shove bad food in our loved ones mouths. A bit of planning ahead goes a long way in our well being.

Garlic Chicken

Garlic Chicken 

4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into bit size pieces
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 whole head of garlic minced

marinate in the fridge for an hour or mix thoroughly and throw it in a hot pan. once the meat starts to brown, turn the fire down to medium to keep the garlic from burning. a nice golden brown shade to the garlic brings it the nice sweet flavor.

Serve hot with rice and a fried egg. Enjoy!

Calamansi-Ginger Fried Chicken with Pineapple Slaw

Everybody and their grandmother has a fried chicken recipe from here to Manila. This recipe is inspired by my own Lola Toyang. (lola is grandma in Tagalog) It wasn't so much as the exact recipe of how she made her fried chicken but the whole process about it. I was about 10 years old when I first had the chance to watch her cook. She comes from a generation of frugality and was clipping coupons long before it was reality t.v. filler. There were always trays of chicken legs and thighs in the freezer because they were cheap and I would get so excited when I would see them defrosting in the sink.

Her process begins with deboning the legs and thighs, but kept the skin on. Making fried chicken without the skin is illegal in at least half the states. Trust me. She didn't move particularly fast when she cooked but she was very deliberate about everything. Every piece of chicken was inspected through her squinting eyes. Then she would squeeze a few calamansi  over the pieces and she massaged them carefully so as not to have the skin come off, then to the fridge to marinate. Towards the afternoon, after Days of our Lives and As The World Turns, she would saunter back in to the kitchen and prepares her flour mixture. Her secret was powdered soup packet. That's what was mixed in with the flour and she would lightly dredge the pieces of chicken and they fried low and slow to a perfect golden brown. For years I watched her make this and never did she half-ass the process. It was consistent and it was made with pride and integrity. My dad got that from her and I'd like to think it rubbed off a bit on me when it came to the kitchen.

Calamansi-Ginger Fried Chicken with Pineapple Slaw

Calamansi-Ginger Fried Chicken

4 pieces chicken thighs skin-on, boneless cut in to four pieces each.
1 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp calamansi juice (can substitute lime juice)
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 cup sweet potato flour, or potato flour. absolute last choice would be corn starch.

marinate the chicken at least 2 hours in the fridge but overnight is best

heat up the oil to 350 degrees. season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper on both sides. when the oil is hot, lightly does the pieces in the sweet potato starch and pat any excess off. once you have all the pieces in, turn the fire a bit lower to get a lower simmer on the oil which will insure that the skin crisps up nicely but not over dry up the meat itself. 7-8 minutes cooking time. never put deep fried items on plates or bowls lined with paper towels. they will get soggy and you will lose the crunch. instead place them on a rack. 30 minutes after taking the photos of this dish and the chicken was still quite crispy.

Pinapple Slaw

1/2 head of cabbage shredded
1 carrot shredded
1/2 medium sized yellow onion thin sliced
1 cup diced pineapple (canned crushed pineapple is fine)

2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp distilled vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
pinch white pepper
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup sugar

whisk until smooth and dress the cabbage mixture. keep in the fridge for at least 1 hour so the the flavors merry.

our calamansi tree

Chicken and Scallion Pot Stickers

Food Porn.

Everybody posts it for one reason or another.

25 years ago, Tim Berners-Lee was probably not thinking about millions of plates of food floating around in the old WWW. That and an equal amount of selfies...many of them coming from Philippines.... In any case, it got me thinking. I hope the art of dining isn't some dinosaur act just waiting to be extinct. Imagine an executive chef of a restaurant staring at a quiet dining room filled with a group of people all hovering over their plates taking photos over and over then sitting back down and posting it then having mini conversations with the people commenting on those photos... all along the beautiful plate gets colder and colder. Now imagine that happening in your own dining room. Dinner going end to end without saying much with your faces buried in your phone. I don't have to. I notice it happening in my own dining room.

I have to fix that. Dining is enjoying both the food and the company. Tell stories and do it loudly. Don't just giggle. Cackle. Dining isn't trivial nor is it just a physical obligation. In my experience, Dining is Family. My fondest memories growing up was my Dad cooking up a storm on Saturday mornings and sitting from late lunch Saturday to early dinner Sunday and then it was all week looking forward to the weekend all over again. Man, I miss that.

This recipe isn't so much as the dish but a lesson for my wife and I to remember. Once all the photos have been put up to mingle with the millions of others, it's only the 2 of us, 3 am, sharing a plate of pot stickers. Dining.

Chicken and Scallion Pot Stickers

Chicken and Scallion Pot Stickers

1 lb ground chicken (mincing chicken thighs in a food processor would be the best way to go)
1/2 bunch of green onions sliced thinly (green and white part)
3 tbsp Hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp grated garlic
salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp green onions thick slices and 1 tsp of sesame seeds for garnish

mix then cover with and keep in the fridge for at least 1 hour

Soy-Vinegar sauce ingredients

Soy-Vinegar Sauce (to be made ahead of time and kept at room temp)

2 tbsp Kimlan Soy Sauce
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sugar
dash of white pepper

stir until sugar is dissolved. set aside

Chili Garlic oil ingredients

Chili Garlic Oil

8 cloves garlic minced
3 tbsp dried chili flakes (or 8 pieces fresh red bird's eye chili minced)
1/2 cup cooking oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
pinch of salt and pepper

in low heat, saute the garlic until brown then add the chili flakes. (if using fresh chili, saute garlic and chili together) once the oil starts to change to a reddish color, add the soy sauce, sugar and salt. constantly stir as to keep the garlic from burning. once a deep reddish color is achieved turn of the fire and set aside. 

Procedure

it needs to be Won Ton Wrapper

Grab one wrapper and put about a 1/2 tbsp of mixture right in the middle then wet the top two sides with water

then fold it down the middle to form a triangle

wet both sides of the bottom points

then fold the sides to meet in the middle (as if the dumping is hugging itself)

boil  3/4 cup of water and add the dumplings in

on high heat, let all the water evaporate. once the water has almost boiled off, add about 4 tbsp of oil to the pan and turn the heat down to medium.

be patient. do not poke and prod at them. let them brown. they will lift off the pan once they are golden brown. that is the time that you flip them over and brown off the other side. 

having a little bit of burned corners are perfectly acceptable. that is where the flavor is at.

very important: once they are done, pile then all in to a bowl then pour the soy-vinegar sauce over the top then sprinkle with the scallions and sesame seeds.

then... share the plate with the one you love.

Turmeric Chicken Curry

I was browsing Web MD, not because I was perusing symptoms while assuming the worst, but because I wanted to see what they had the say about Turmeric. This root has long been known in China and India as a powerful anti-inflammatory. I still remember as a kid, watching grandparents smashing the root and applying it directly to sprained ankles with a wrap. The West is finally catching up and understanding the healing properties of Turmeric. Curcumin, which is the yellow/orange pigment  is thought to be the primary pharmacological agent in Turmeric. The great part about it is it's like Motrin, but without the adverse effects. Studies are obviously ongoing, but with the root being an antioxidant, it can only help, right? The best way to fight illness is prevention. On that note, I picked up some Turmeric at the store today and here's what's for dinner. (Left over roots will be planted tomorrow for future use.)

Turmeric Chicken Curry

Turmeric Chicken Curry

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut in to 1 inch pieces.
1 medium sized Turmeric root peeled(about the size of a big thumb) Turmeric powder will work
1 medium sized ginger
5 cloves of garlic peeled
1/2 a yellow onion
1 can coconut milk
1/2 can of water
2 bird's eye chili
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 bell pepper cut in to 1 inch pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Rough chop the Turmeric, ginger, garlic and onion and fine minced in the food processor. You may also mince them by hand. Heat up some oil in the pot and add about 3 tbsp of vegetable oil and saute the paste until fragrant but not brown. Then add the chicken and saute for another minute then add the coconut milk, water, chili, fish sauce and bell peppers. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer until sauce thickens. About 15-20 minutes.  Serve with rice and enjoy!

Turmeric getting ready for their dirty nap tomorrow.... :)