5 Spiced Chicken

Mr.Vince told me that he was so hungry when he cooked this dish, that's why it's a thigh drumstick part. He used 5 spice powder and the taste was amazing, he said. I might try this soon, how about you?

Ingredients:
1 joined thigh drumstick (cleaned)
1 tablespoon 5 spice powder
1/2 lemon
salt to taste

Procedure:
1.  Squeeze the lemon all-over the chicken then, sprinkle the 5 spice powder and salt.
2.  Preheat the oven at 200C, then baked the chicken for 40 minutes.
3 Serve and enjoy.

Click the link for my version of Yellow Fried Rice
Yellow Fried Rice 

Contributed by Mr. Vince O' Malley

Sarciadong Manok

My grandma is a good cook for this using the fresh tomatoes from our garden, so good and delicious.
Today I tried remembering her recipe but I added tomato sauce. It is delicious and creamier.

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo Chicken legs or any chicken part yo want to use
1 onion
2 tomatoes
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup tomato sauce
4 cloves garlic
1 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

 Procedure:
1. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper then deep fry it until brownish. Set aside
2. Saute the garlic, onion and tomatoes until soften, then add the chicken and simmer for a minute over medium heat then add the tomato sauce and stir.

3. Add the water, salt and pepper then simmer for l5 minutes or until cooked stirring ocassionally, then add the beaten egg and give a good stir and simmer until done.
4. Serve it hot with rice.

Italian Chicken Noodle Soup

The cold and flu has hit my house hard. I am still healthy, but my hubby not so much, and my daughter is sick too, which means she comes to stay with me so I can nurture her back to health and make her my famous Chicken Noodle Soup. 

I have been told many times that I make the best chicken noodle soup. I sometimes even tell myself when I am sick and forced to eat soup from a restaurant. I always wish someone would make me my soup instead, but I have not taught anyone how I do it. Even though it is not hard to do, when I am sick, I am usually too sick to try to show someone. So I am finally writing down my simple recipe that is sure to comfort the sick. Enjoy!

Italian Chicken Noodle Soup

1 lb. Italian chicken sausage

2 Tbsp Olive oil

8 cups chicken broth

1 onion

3 carrots

2 celery stalks

1/2 Tbsp garlic, minced

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 bay leaf

Cooked Ditalini pasta, or pasta of your choice.

salt and pepper to taste

I first start out by making a mirepoix. It is a combination of onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. The base to any really good soup. Chop them up into similar size pieces, except the garlic should be minced. Add olive oil to a skillet and add the mirepoix. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Cook stirring often until onions are translucent. 

Meanwhile cook your pasta according to package directions. 

I like using ditalini, but you can use whatever noodles you like. 

Drain. 

In a large stockpot, add your chicken broth, cooked vegetables, Italian seasoning, and a bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer. 

Meanwhile brown your chicken sausage.

Remove the bay leaf from the stock. 

Add your sausage and noodles to the stock, and serve. 

Chicken Adobo

update from April 2007

When I first made chicken adobo 4 years ago, I was a little apprehensive about the seemingly large amount of vinegar the recipe called for. However, the vinegar mellows with cooking and the sauce is amazing over freshly steamed rice. I prefer a 1:1 ratio of soy to vinegar. I reach for a milder vinegar like rice, white wine, or cider vinegar. I personally find plain white vinegar is too monotonous and abrasive. You can marinate the chicken as long as you want but this is rarely something I plan that far in advance. I usually throw all the ingredients together in a pot and let it sit for about an hour (sometimes I skip this part entirely if I feel particularly lazy).

Chicken Adobo
approximately 2 pounds of dark meat chicken (thighs and drumsticks)
1/2 cup soy sauce (low sodium preferably)
1/2 cup rice or cider vinegar
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
5 garlic cloves, smashed with the side of a knife
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Optional: small yellow onion, thickly sliced

Optional step: Combine everything in a large bowl and marinate for 1 hour, up to overnight.

Bring everything up to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn the chicken halfway through the cooking process.

Remove the chicken and bring the sauce back to a boil and continue to boil the sauce until it reduces by about half to a slightly thickened syrup.

Optional: When I'm not lazy or starving, I've broiled the chicken (skin side up for a few minutes) in the oven to go the extra mile. You have to keep an eye on it because it will go from crispy to burnt in a minute under the broiler. I have heard of people throwing adobo on the grill but I personally have not tried this. I imagine if the chicken is super tender it may fall through the grates. Consider yourself warned and don't blame me if this happens. Broiling/grilling is not necessary, the chicken is perfectly delicious without this final step.

Serve the chicken over rice and spoon the sauce on top.

(cooked with onions)

Guest Post! Shanghai Drunken Chicken

Shanghai Drunken Chicken at Rasa Malaysia

Yes, I'm still here. No, I haven't forgotten about this blog. I know the crickets have been chirping here more than I've been posting. If only I have more free time because right now it's virtually non-existent.

I can't remember the last time I've been sick but a bug was bound to get me sooner or later. I woke up this morning with the whole nine yards--fever, sore throat, cough, and aches all over. I tried to catch up on my reading but that wasn't happening. I should have known reading about urine and kidneys gets nowhere when you're sleep-deprived and feverish. So, instead of studying, I resigned myself to spending the day in my pajamas with chicken noodle soup, catching up on food blogs and many issues of Bon Appetit (au revoir Gourmet, you will be missed!).

This is long overdue but check out my guest post on Rasa Malaysia! I was torn between drunken chicken or crab cakes; drunken chicken won but I did make some crab cakes after Bee got me thinking about them. This project was 3 months in the making due to a combination of my hectic schedule and perfectionism. The recipe was far more seasonally appropriate when I started it in July. Bee, thank you for being a great host and for being so understanding about my numerous delays in getting this done.

Chicken and Basil Stir Fry

I never understood why so many people like white meat over dark meat. White meat is so bland and boring and ridiculously easy to overcook. Dark meat on the other hand, is succulent and flavorful, nearly impossible to overcook, and actually tastes like chicken. Oh well, to each his own! It works out better for us dark meat lovers anyway because thighs and drumsticks are always cheaper than breasts. But no worries, this stir fry is delicious no matter what kind of chicken you like. Just be more careful about the chicken drying out if you're using a breast or tenderloin cut.

I'm trying to post more student-friendly, easy/quick to cook recipes. Do you guys think a recipe like this would qualify? The ingredient list isn't terribly long and most of them aren't hard to come by. Prep and cook time was maybe 30 minutes?


Chicken and Pepper Stir Fry with Basil
1 pound chicken thighs or breast sliced into strips or slivers
1 large red bell pepper sliced
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
1 - 3 Thai red chilies, seeds removed and thinly sliced or sub some jalapenos(to taste)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 C fresh whole basil leaves (sweet or Thai varieties are both okay)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil for stir frying
Fresh lime juice (optional)

*Note: if you use a rice cooker, start cooking your rice first.

In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar.

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add the shallots. Cook the shallots until they are translucent and soft, about 3 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium high and add the chicken, bell peppers, grated ginger, minced garlic, ground pepper, and sliced chilies. Continue to stir fry until the chicken is nearly cooked through, about 2 minutes, then add the sauce. Cook for another minute and the sauce will thicken. Add more soy sauce or salt if you need to. Stir in the fresh basil at the end. Squeeze a little lime juice on top if you have some limes on hand. Serve over steamed rice.