spiced steeped chicken

steeped chicken is originally a style of cooking chicken whereby we infuse it with light flavours and serving it with contrasting pungent sauce to accentuate the flavours . somewhat inspired , i took a daring plunge and modified it to my own style . so here goes...spiced steeped chicken :

what you need ar ?

1 whole fresh chicken ( mine was about 1.8 kg) .
6 cloves of garlic , crushed but not chopped ar .
4 spring onions , chopped .
6-8 heaped tablespoons of chicken stock powder .
3 teaspoons of light soy sauce .

seems normal so far leh ? here are my own twists :

1 stalk lemongrass (don't do anything to it) .
3 thumb size chunks of ginger .
3 red chillis , incompletely perforated on both sides (i.e. three one inch cuts along each side) :


(allows extraction of chilli flavours without the interference of the seeds) .
1 star anise .
8 cloves .
11 kafir lime leaves .
a handful of chopped coriander .
3 tablespoons of ground white pepper .

how liao ?

before you do anything , make sure the chicken is clean hor . for extra measure , pour some red vinegar generously into the chicken . this contributes to flavour and also acts as a disinfectant .

then , make sure you have a pot big enough for it , chuck the chicken inside and fill it with just enough water to immerse the chicken in . i didn't have a big pot so i improvised using one of my deep pans , and covering the exposed parts with another pan to capture the steam ensuring it was cooked in time . anyhow , just put all the above mentioned ingredients into the pot with the chicken , bring it to a boil and let the mix simmer for a nice hour . by then , your broth will contain yummy rendered fat and your chicken will be so soft , you don't even need a knife to pick off the bones . of coure , needless to say , unless you want to be selfish , don't eat this alone hor...can finish one chicken alone meh ?



serve with rice . the broth is surprisingly yummy (if you pretend the degraded ingredients were invisible ar) . if you want an individual sauce to accompany this , just mix some chilli (preferably the small red cili padis hor) , minced garlic , 1/2 light soy sauce , 1/2 dark soy sauce , and a generous amount of sesame oil (peanut oil also can) lor .



Tags: spice steeped chicken budget recipe

May's Porky Pork

Uh...Ok, I must admit the picture of Porky Pork doesn't look too appetising (I am, after all, not famed for my lavish presentation style). However it does taste good and it is quite cheap to make! Yes!

This is a Chinese dish and it is very simple to make, believe it or not. Very good party food because you can make loads of it.

Vat you need:

Mince pork
Potatoes, peeled and sliced
Eggs
Cornflour
Oyster Sauce
Garlic, chopped finely

How now, brown cow?

1. After peeling and slicing the potatoes, throw them in a pan and fry em' till they are cooked and nice and brown. Set aside.
2. Mash up mince pork with a fork. In a separate bowl, beat a few eggs and season with pepper.
3. Mix the pork and eggs together. Mix well! Add a little cornflour (about 2 teaspoons).
4. Heat oil in a pan. Using a spoon, spoon out the pork. Arrange your cute porky cutlets well so that they don't stick to each other.
5. Turn porky cutlets over to cook through. Once cooked, set porky aside. Repeat until all the mince is used up.
6. Add chopped garlic into the pan and fry until fragrant. Throw in the potatoes. Add some oyster sauce and stir well.
7. Mix some cornflour and water and add it to the potato mixture. This will thicken the oyster sauce gravy. Season to taste with some salt.
8. Throw in your porky cutlets and toss well.

Dig in!

Tags: chinese pork gravy budget recipe

May's Lagsane

You know how a lagsane looks like, right?

Well, because I forgot to take a picture of my finishing product the other day *knocks head*

I learnt this recipie from my Mum but made quite a number of alterations to it as I am, after all, lactose intolerant and I wanted to do away with the rich, too creamy (and very fattening) white sauce that often accompanies your usual lagsane.

So yes, May's little version of her lagsane. This recipie makes a small portion, not the big arse ones in those huge ceramic trays.

Vat you need:

Instant lagsane sheets
1 small bag of Pizza Cheese (a combination of mozarella, cheddar and parmasen cheese)
250g mince beef
Tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
1 carrot, grated finely
2 bay leaves
Parsley, chopped roughly
Garlic, chopped finely
2 onions, chopped roughly

How now brown cow?

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Fry garlic and onions until garlic is fragrant and the onions are soft.
3. Over medium flame, add mince beef a little at a time.
4. Once cooked, add in about 5 or more tablespoons of tomato paste. Turn flame down to low. Add diced tomatoes.
5. Add grated carrots, bay leaves and parsley.
6. Add more tomato paste, about 3 tablespoons more.
7. If you need to add water, add only a little (I normally do not add any water. Always use boiled water if you have to.)
8. Allow the sauce to simmer. Season to taste with sugar, salt and black pepper.
9. Alternatively, you could add some chili flakes to spice up the taste of the sauce!
10. Remove sauce from heat.

So now you have your sauce, yes? Good. Now's time to arrange the lagsane sheets before you pop it into the oven. So how?

First, oil the tray with a little olive oil. Then arrange the sheets like so:



Remove bay leaves from the sauce, then pour the sauce onto the sheet like so:



Then sprinkle the Pizza Cheese on top of the sauce. If you're a cheese fan then you can sprinkle lots. If you're like me and cautious about the fat/lactose content, go easy on the cheese!



Now, repeat those 3 simple steps. Sheet-sauce-cheese. If you are using a big ceramic tray to cook your lagsane, you need to turn the lagsane sheet(s) the other way around (you'd need to break the sheet in half to do this.) This is done so that when the final product pops out of the oven you'd be able to see nice criss-cross layers.

Once you've repeated those steps (you may need to repeat the three steps 2-3 times depending on the size of the tray) and your tray is now filled to the brim with cheese, pop it into the oven for 30-40 minutes.

Check that the lagsane is cooked! We don't want our guests biting into hard pasta, no?

Tags: beef lasagne budget recipe