Chicken
#COOKING: CAMERON DIAZ’S ROASTED CORN SALAD + FRIED CHICKEN THIGHS RECIPE
Cameron Diaz’s Roasted Corn Salad + Fried Chicken Thighs. Who knew Cameron Diaz was such an amazing cook? I fell into a black hole of cooking videos over the weekend and was rather impressed with Diaz‘s play-by-play of her Salad recipe. She’d explain the process of roasting and caramelizing corn, the impact of salt and the types of salt being important, plus also, her chopping skills were mesmerizing. I did worry about the raw Sugar Snap Peas being too tough and fibrous, but sliced thinly and mixed with the corn, there were no issues. She suggests serving this Salad with Chicken Thighs, which I do in my Air Fryer. I made a couple modifications because most of us don’t have her fancy vinegars and salts, and threw-in some Edamame for added protein. Simple, clean and flavourful eating meant for Summer. I make enough here for six people. Perfect with a glass of Chardonnay. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
8 Chicken Thighs2 cups of Sugar Snap Peas, de-stringed and chopped thin
4 cobs of Corn, kernels sliced off the cob
1 clove garlic, grated
1/4 cup freshly-squeezed Orange Juice (I use Cara Cara Oranges)
1/4 cup Edamame, removed from pods
6 tbsps Olive Oil
4 tbsps Rice Vinegar
1 tbsp Truffle Oil
1 tsp Pink Himalayan Sea Salt, ground
Sea salt and pepper
Cilantro, chopped (optional)
Instructions:
1. Season Chicken Thighs in Pink Himalayan Sea Salt and pepper. Refrigerate and bring out about 45 minutes before cooking.
2. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in iron skillet on medium-high heat.
3. Roast corn kernels, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Add sprinkling of sea salt. Cook till brown and caramelized (about 10 minutes).
4. Prepare dressing in small bowl with vinegar, juice, garlic, 4 tbsps olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
5. Pre-heat Air Fryer five minutes at 375°F.
6. Drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp truffle oil onto Chicken Thighs. Cook in two batches in Air Fryer, about 15 minutes each batch, turning once half-way through.
7. In large salad bowl, toss corn kernels, Edamame and thinly-sliced Sugar Snap Peas in dressing.
8. Plate Chicken Thighs with rice (if you like), and a few scoops of the Salad. Garnish with chopped Cilantro if you like. I like to sprinkle Furikake on rice for flavour. Cameron sprinkles Feta on her Salad, so there’s an option!
Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
#COOKING: BLACK PEPPER FRIED CHICKEN STEAK RECIPE
Black Pepper Fried Chicken Steak. This is a favourite, which traditionally is deep-fried but I’ve adapted it for the Air Fryer. And it came out perfect! A crispy, Panko-crusted chicken fillet topped with a spicy, savoury brown gravy, served with rice. This is something I grew-up with, a staple at any Hong Kong-style Diner or food court, and actually not too tough to prepare at home. Come to think of it, this is a converging of Southern cuisine and Hong Kong cuisine. We know Americans in the South love them Country Fried Steak and a nice gravy too!
Ingredients:
6-8 Chicken Drumsticks de-boned or thin Chicken Breast filets
2/3 cup Panko
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Sauce:
1 cup Beef Broth
3 tbsps Soy Sauce
2 tbsps Corn or Tapioca Starch
3/4 tsp Black Pepper
2 tsps Organic Raw Sugar
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tbsp Canola Oil
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 white onion, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions:
1. Season chicken in half of salt and pepper, allow to stand 30 minutes.
2. Mix salt, pepper, Panko, garlic and onion powder in shallow platter.
3. Prep shallow platter for egg wash.
4. Preheat Air Fryer for 3 minutes at 390°F.
5. Coat chicken in egg wash and then dip in Panko mixture.
6. Arrange a batch of 3-4 chicken pieces in Air Fryer. Cook for about 8 minutes, turning once halfway through.
7. Once cooked, set aside in platter.
8. In skillet, sautée onions and garlic in oil till caramelized. Add stock, soy sauce, Worcestershire, pepper, salt and sugar. Bring to boil.
9. Make a slurry with starch and equal parts water. Mix into gravy to thicken. Bring to boil and set aside.
10. Arrange chicken and rice on serving plate. Pour sauce over top and garnish with parsley.
#COOKING: BIBIMBAP RECIPE
BiBimBap. This healthy and cheerful Korean staple is an all-time favourite and I have been known to go through periods where all I eat is this. It is extremely hearty and fun to make. The term itself translates to “Mixed Rice”, which is accurate. You assemble all the ingredients together, add the sauce and toss it like a salad. While the traditional recipe uses Bulgogi Beef, I’m doing a spicy Korean Chicken and adding-in fried Zucchini fritters, Hobak Jun and Japchae, Korean Glass Noodles. This is a real tour-de-force! This recipe serves four. This is a medium-spicy.
Rice:
1 1/4 cups Botan Rice, rinsed
2 cups water
Korean Chicken:
4-6 Chicken Thighs, de-boned and cut into thirds
3 tbsps Gochujang
1 tbsp Korean Red Chili Pepper
1 tbsp Organic Raw Sugar
3 tbsps Sesame Oil
1 tbsp Shaoxing Cooking Wine
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 inch knob of ginger, peeled and minced
1 stalk green onion, cut into 2-inch-long pieces
Canola oil
Japchae:
1 handful Sweet Potato Glass Noodles
3 tbsps Sesame Oil
2 tbsps Organic Raw Sugar
2 tbsps Soy Sauce
1/2 sweet red pepper, sliced thinly
1/2 white onion, sliced thinly
2 stalks green onion, chopped into 2-inch pieces
1/2 tsp sea salt
Sesame seeds, toasted
Carrots:
6 miniature carrots, slivered into thin matchsticks
Sprinkle of sea salt
1 tbsp Seasoned Rice Vinegar
Crown Daisies:
1-2 handfuls of Crown Daisies (Spinach will do too)
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
Sea salt, to taste
Shiitake Mushrooms:
6-8 Dried Shiitake Mushrooms, soaked in water minimum 1-2 hours and sliced thinly
1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
Sprinkle of Organic Raw Sugar
Hobak Jun:
1 Zucchini, cut into 1/4″-thick slices
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup flour
Sprinkle of sea salt
Canola oil
Additional Toppings:
1/4 cup Kimchi, chopped
Sesame Seeds, toasted
4 eggs
BiBimBap Sauce:
1/2 cup Gochujang
1 tbsp water
2-3 tbsps Organic Raw Sugar
2 tbsps Sesame Oil
2 tbsps Seasoned Rice Vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions:
1. Prepare rice in rice cooker.
2. Prepare Japchae. In medium-size pot, boil water with salt. Once boiled, add Yam Noodles and cook uncovered. Bring to a boil and cook no more than 3-5 minutes. You do not want the noodles too soft. Strain in colander and run under cold water. Press dry with paper towel.
3. In skillet, heat 1 tbsp sesame oil and sautée green onions, red pepper and white onion for about 5 minutes till caramelized.
4. In small bowl, mix soy, sugar and 2 tbsps sesame oil.
5. Toss noodles into skillet with sauce and fry for about 3 minutes, careful to avoid noodles breaking. Set aside.
6. In small pot, blanch carrots and drain in colander. Toss-in rice vinegar and sea salt. Set aside.
7. In small pot, blanch Crown Daisies and drain in colander. Do not overcook. Toss in sesame oil and sea salt. Chop bunch in half. Pat dry with paper towel. Set aside.
8. In small skillet, add sesame oil and sautée Shiitake mushrooms. Add oyster sauce, soy sauce and sprinkle of sugar. Cook till the mushrooms shrink-in a bit and set aside.
9. Prepare Hobak Jun. Place flour on one plate and have beaten egg in a shallow dish. Heat skillet on medium heat with a bit of canola oil. Season zucchini gently with sea salt and once they start sweating, dip in flour and then egg mixture lightly before placing in skillet. Fry till golden and flip. Transfer to platter and set aside.
10. Prepare Korean Chicken. Marinate chicken pieces in Gochujang, Korean Red Chili Pepper, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and wine.
11. Heat large skillet with canola oil, on medium-high heat. Sautée green onion, ginger, garlic and white onion. Add chicken and cook till marinade begins to thicken (approx 10 minutes) and chicken caramelizes, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
12. Prepare sauce. In small sauce pan, sautée garlic in sesame oil and add-in remaining ingredients, bringing to boil. Pour into bowl and cool. Heat canola oil in skillet on medium heat. Fry eggs sunny-side up, leaving yolk runny. Carefully set aside, being careful not to break yolks.
13. In serving bowl, assemble by placing rice at bottom first. Create even sections for Kimchi, Carrots, Crown Daisies, 2-3 pieces of Hobak Jun, Chicken, Japchae and Shiitake. Place fried egg on-top and then add sauce. Garnish with sesame seeds.
Serve with large spoon and mix well.
Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
#COOKING: NINJA KITCHEN AIR FRYER | ONTARIO PEACH WINGS WITH SWEET POTATO FRIES AND SRIRACHA-PEACH AIOLI RECIPE
We’re so thrilled to announce our partnership with NINJA KITCHEN to show you how awesome their Air Fryers are!
Why an Air Fryer? I think you’ll agree with me that most of us are turned-off by having to deal with all the splattering grease and mess of deep-frying on your stove-top. Above this, the amount of oil required to deep-fry some of your favourites makes it unfeasible from a health standpoint to cook like that every day. The Ninja Kitchen Air Fryer gives you the freedom to fry with very little oil, yet still get that crispy coating we love so much in deep-frying whenever you want it. Above this, it cooks super-quick and also there’s very little clean-up!
This Pandemic has awoken the inner Chef in me and I am delighted to welcome the Air Fryer into my life, giving me infinite possibilities. It air-fries, re-heats and dehydrates also, in addition to air-frying!
These next few weeks, we’ll all be about peaches as sweet, juicy Ontario Peaches are in-season through early August, but in addition to desserts (check-out our recipe for Peach Cobbler here!) or just eating them whole, peaches can be infused into your cooking to give your dishes a bright, summery splash!
We’ve partnered with Ninja Kitchen to bring Wing Night to you while social-distancing with Ontario Peach Wings with Sweet Potato Fries and Sriracha-Peach Aioli. 🍑
WINGS
2 lbs chicken wings1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp five spice powder
1 1/2 tbsps baking powder
Sea salt and pepper
Drizzle of olive oil
Instructions:
1. Preheat Ninja Air Fryer for 3 minutes at 360°F.2. After cleaning wings, pat dry with paper towels and toss in spices, salt and pepper.
3. Divide wings in two batches, drizzle wings with olive oil and fry each batch on Air Fryer mode for about 14 minutes. At half-way mark, turn wings over carefully once. While, frying, prepare sauce.
SAUCE
2 Ontario peaches, pitted, skinned and cut into 1″ thick slices6 tbsps organic Canadian Maple Syrup
3 tbsps organic raw cane sugar
3 tbsps rice vinegar
3 tbsps Honey Dijon Mustard
2 tbsps ketchup
1 tbsp
1 tbsp Gochujang (Korean Pepper Paste)
Sea salt and pepper
Instructions:
1. In sauce pan, bring peaches to boil in raw sugar and 3 tbsps maple syrup on medium-heat. Reduce to low heat. Cook till flesh is soft and broken. Once cooled, strain liquid through a sieve and reserve liquid.
2. In large bowl, whisk all other ingredients together. Add 5 tbsps of peach reduction into the mix. Reserve remainder of reduction for your Aioli.
3. Once chicken wings are cooked, toss them in sauce till coated and allow to sit for about 4 minutes before transferring to serving platter. Garnish with peach slices and serve with Sweet Potato Fries and Sriracha-Peach Aioli.
SWEET POTATO FRIES WITH SRIRACHA-PEACH AIOLI
1 large sweet potato, skinned and chopped into thin strips2/3 cup Mayonnaise
2 tbsps Sriracha
2-3 tbsps reserved peach reduction (above)
1/2 tsp paprika
Sea salt and pepper
Drizzle of olive oil
Instructions:
1. Soak sweet potato strips in salt water for 10 minutes.2. Pat dry completely with paper towels.
3. Toss strips in olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika.
4. Ensure Air Fryer is preheated for about 3 minutes.
5. Air-fry sweet potato strips at 360°F for about 10 minutes, shaking once at the half-way point.
6. While frying, prepare Sriracha-Peach Aioli but whisking Sriracha, peach reduction and Mayonnaise in small bowl.
7. Serve fries with Aioli.
We’re sure this will be a favourite and we can infuse different seasonal flavours into this sauce as the year progresses! Check back as we’ll be featuring more exciting Ninja Kitchen Air Fryer creations including a juicy Steak & Taters, Hainanese Roast Chicken, Lemon Garlic Butter Salmon and Maple-Bacon Doughnuts! Yes, Doughnuts!
You can find the Ninja Kitchen Air Fryer at retailers like Canadian Tire.
Don’t forget to follow them on Instagram:
Join the conversation using the Hashtag #ILoveNinjaCanada. We just might have an exciting opportunity coming right up for our Readers in a bit!
order here:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
#COOKING: TARO-COCONUT CHICKEN RECIPE
Coconut-Taro Chicken. Pure decadence, this comforting dish is rich and creamy. The marriage of Taro (a versatile sweet, starchy potato), and Coconut is a union that came long before Bubble Tea and is just as perfect savoury. This one is dedicated to our friends at Taro PR!
Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken drumsticks, chopped into thirds and de-boned if you like
1 block of Taro, 1/2″ thick slices, then divided into quarters
1 small purple onion, sliced thin
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsps white or cooking wine
4 tbsps soy sauce
3 tbsps tapioca/corn starch
1 tbsp organic raw sugar
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
Canola oil
Coriander, to garnish
Instructions:
1. Marinate chicken with wine, 1 tbsp soy sauce and sugar in large bowl, careful to rid of bone shards. Keep in fridge minimum 2 hours.
2. Heat Canola oil in large skillet till hot on medium-high. Fry taro in batches, 3-4 minutes each side till golden. Place on dish lined with paper towels to absorb oil. Set aside.
3. Leave about 2 tbsps oil in the skillet and set remainder aside.
4. Sautée garlic and onions till almost caramelized and brown the chicken. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Add 3 tbsps soy sauce and stir evenly.
6. Add coconut milk, broth, 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil. Simmer on low, covered 15 minutes.
7. Add Taro, stir evenly and simmer another 15 minutes.
8. In small bowl, mix starch with equal parts water and stir into skillet, thickening sauce.
9. Transfer to a clay pot and broil 7-10 minutes till top has a bit of charring. Garnish with coriander and serve with rice. You’ll want seconds, potentially thirds so make extra rice!
#COOKING: THREE CUP CHICKEN RECIPE
Three Cup Chicken | 三杯雞. This is a signature Taiwanese dish which I’ve updated as one, many of us dislike bones and also two, the traditional recipe calls for a cup of wine, soy sauce and sesame oil. I don’t want to die of sodium and cholesterol! Yeah, no. LOL.
This actually is a close cousin to Basil Chicken, a Thai signature, which has fish and oyster sauces. This doesn’t. This one is really savoury and caramelized, loaded with flavour and brightened with fresh notes of basil and scallions. Serve this with some white rice and you’re all set.
Ingredients:
1 lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup white wine/cooking wine
1/4 cup freeze-dried basil or 3/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 slices ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
2 tbsps regular soy sauce
2-3 tbsps dark soy sauce
2 tbsps organic raw sugar
2 stalks green onion, minced
2 red chillies, seeded and minced
2 tbsps vegetable oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
Sea salt, to taste
Instructions:
1. Marinate chicken in salt for minimum 1 hour and refrigerate.
2. Heat oils skillet in large skillet on medium-high heat. Sautée ginger, garlic and chillies till caramelized.
3. Turn heat to high and add chicken, searing till browned on both sides, stirring often to avoid burning.
4. Add 1/4 cup each wine and water. Add soy sauces and sugar. Stir evenly and reduce to low heat, covering skillet.
5. Simmer for 20 minutes at lowest heat possible.
6. Remove lid and turn heat to high again. Allow sauce to reduce till thick, coating the chicken. This can take a few minutes.
7. Toss-in basil and green onion and mix evenly. Transfer to platter. Garnish with fresh basil or green onion. Serve.
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
#COOKING: BUTTER CHICKEN RECIPE
Butter Chicken. This Indian institution requires some meticulous treatment, but is well worth the wait. This recipe will leave you with leftovers so no need to stress about lunch or dinner tomorrow also! And it tastes better the second day! You’re welcome.
Marinade:
4 chicken breasts, sectioned
2 tbsp MDH Curry Masala Blend (red chilli, coriander, cumin, turmeric, nutmeg, star anise)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tbsps lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp ginger, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
Sauce:
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp MDH Curry Masala Blend
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup cashews/almonds, ground
3 tbsps Ghee or 2 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp oil
1 white onion, minced
3 chillies, seeded and minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
Sea salt, to taste
Coriander or green onion, chopped for garnish
Instructions:
1. Place chicken pieces in marinade, mixing well and covering overnight in refrigerator.
2. In large skillet, sautée onions in ghee/butter on medium-high heat. Add chilli, ginger and garlic and fry till caramelized. Add chicken and marinade in batches. Do not overcrowd skillet.
3. Do not cook chicken fully. Remove from skillet once half-cooked.
4. Add tomatoes and paste to skillet, plus Masala. Cook about 10 minutes on medium heat.
5. Add chicken, chicken stock and 1/2 cup water and bring to boil. Reduce to low heat and simmer 30 minutes.
6. Toast almonds/cashews. Place into food processor with a tablespoon of water and blend into a paste.
7. Remove chicken from skillet and separate sauce into a blender. Add cream and blend quickly till smooth.
8. Place sauce back into skillet on medium heat. Once it boils, add-in ground cashews/almonds and salt, stirring evenly.
9. Add chicken and reduce to low heat for 10 minutes.
10. Garnish with chopped coriander or green onion and serve with Basmati Rice and/or Naan. Pickled lime, optional.
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
#COOKING: KOREAN FRIED CHICKEN RECIPE
Korean Fried Chicken. You’ve probably had Kentucky Fried Chicken, but this Koreatown favourite is all sorts of delightful. It’s sweet, savoury, sticky and spicy and honestly not that hard to make! 🍗🌶️
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs chicken drumsticks (5-6)
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 tsp, allspice or 5 Spice Powder
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
Glaze:
3 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp Gochujang (Korean Pepper Paste)
2 tbsp organic raw sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp rice vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 chili, minced thinly
1/2 sweet orange pepper, sectioned
1 stalk green onion, minced
Instructions:
1. Season chicken in salt, pepper, ginger and vinegar for minimum one hour.
2. Pat chicken dry with paper towels.
3. In one dish, combine starch, allspice, salt and pepper.
4. Dip drumsticks in egg wash and then in starch mixture. Place aside.
5. Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat.
6. Fry drumsticks in hot oil till golden brown, about 5-7 minutes each side.
7. Place drumsticks on paper towels, absorbing excess oil.
8. In skillet or wok on medium-high heat, sautée ginger, orange peppers, garlic and chilli and sugar in sesame oil. Once caramelized, add Ketchup, Gochujang, maple syrup and soy sauce, stirring well.
9. Toss-in drumsticks and coat in glaze. Cook 2 minutes medium-high heat till caramelized. Garnish with green onion and serve.
View this post on Instagram
#COOKING: BLOOD ORANGE CHICKEN RECIPE
Blood Orange Chicken. My love of sweet ‘n’ sour often got me teased by my parents as a kid, them jokingly disowning me. Things like sweet and sour chicken balls/pork are seen as “inauthentically-Chinese”. Here is my elevated take on a food court fave. The bitterness of Blood Orange, lime, mild heat of chilli and Sambal give this dish a bit of mystery. Enjoy! 🍊🌶️
Chicken:
4 chicken breasts, sectioned to bite-size pieces and seasoned in sea salt
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup corn starch
3 eggs, beaten
Sea salt and pepper taste
Canola oil
Blood Orange Sauce:
1/2 cup Tropicana Orange Juice (no pulp)
3 Blood Oranges juiced (reserve zests of 2)
1 lime, juiced
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 cup organic raw sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Sambal
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 chili, seeds removed and minced
1 tablespoon tapioca starch
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 green onion stalk, minced for garnish
Cilantro, minced for garnish
Instructions:
1. Heat Canola oil in large skillet, medium-high.
2. Prepare coating in a dish mixing flour, corn starch, sea salt and pepper to taste.
3. Beat eggs in bowl.
4. Dip each chicken piece in egg wash and then flour coating. Once oil is hot, place pieces in oil, careful not to overcrowd.
5. Fry pieces till golden and not too dark. Takes about 4-5 minutes approximately per batch.
6. Place chicken on paper towels to absorb excess oil.
7. Once all chicken is fried, prepare sauce in another skillet.
8. On medium-high heat, sautée chilli, garlic, ginger and Sambal. Add sugar and cook till it caramelizes.
9. Add-in Blood Orange juice, zest and lime juice, stirring till sugar dissolves. Add soy sauce, rice vinegar and bring to quick boil. Add Tropicana and bring to boil. Taste with spoon to ensure flavour balance is right. If not, adjust with rice vinegar, sugar or salt accordingly.
10. Run sauce through strainer, and return to skillet. Bring to boil. In small dish, mix tapioca starch and equal part water to form paste. Stir it into the Blood Orange sauce till it thickens to the consistency of a glaze.
11. Toss-in fried chicken and coat evenly in sauce. Sprinkle cilantro and green onion. Serve.
Gallery:
View this post on Instagram
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
#COOKING: HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE RECIPE
Hainanese Chicken Rice. Adapted from Tasty. You don’t ever forget having Hainanese Chicken Rice in Singapore at a Hawkers Market like Newton Circus. Though we do have some great hole-in-the-wall type restaurants in the GTA that serve the dish as well, venturing-out during isolation hasn’t been easy.
What I love about this national dish of Singapore is that the chicken is so incredibly juicy, while the rice is incredibly fragrant. You get THREE dipping sauces!!! I get that boiling chicken is a weird concept for some, but I tell you there is nothing worse than dry chicken to me.
This is my dad’s favourite dish so I thought I’d gave it a try. Even in his early Dementia, he was aware enough to ask, “Who taught you to make this?”. I adapted this recipe from Tasty whom did a fine job explaining this complex recipe. I did my own spin on the essential dipping sauces.
Full disclosure, once a chicken is frozen, thawed, boiled and cooked fully as it is here, it is impossible to avoid that red colour at the bone. If you can get over that bit and be reassured that it’s cooked, you will come to love this comforting dish.
Hainanese Chicken
5 lb whole chicken
4 slices of ginger (1/4″ thick)
1 bunch green onions
1/4 cup sea salt
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Instructions:
1. Clean chicken well and pat dry with paper towels. Trim fatty bits off for later use.
2. Season chicken inside and out with sea salt.
3. Stuff cavity of chicken with green onions and ginger.
4. Cover chicken about 1″ in water in large stock pot and bring to boil on high heat.
5. Reduce to medium-low heat and simmer about 50 minutes.
6. Remove chicken from pot, reserving stock. Discard onion and ginger.
7. Immerse chicken in large bowl of ice cold water for 5 minutes.
8. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and rub chicken in sesame oil to keep moist.
Hainanese Rice
2 cups long grain rice
2 cups of reserved chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons reserved chicken fat
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions:
1. In large skillet, oil, fry garlic, ginger, chicken fat and salt for about 10 minutes.
2. Scoop-out one quarter of this mixture for later use. Add-in rice. Cook for 3 minutes.
3. Transfer rice to rice cooker (discard fat), add 2 cups reserved stock and cook.
While rice is cooking, cut chicken and place on platter. Prepare three sauces.
Sweet Chili Sauce:
2 tablespoons Sambal Sauce
2 tablespoons Sriracha
1 chili pepper, seeds removed and chopped finely
2 teaspoons organic raw sugar
2 tablespoons reserved chicken broth
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon oil
In skillet, sautée garlic, ginger, onion and chili in oil. Stir-in sugar, vinegar, Sriracha and Sambal Sauce. Add lime juice and remove from heat.
Ginger-Garlic-Green Onion Sauce:
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
2 tablespoons ginger, minced
1 stalk green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons oil
Sea salt, to taste
In skillet, sautée garlic, ginger and green onions in oil. Add salt and vinegar. Cook for about a minute and remove from heat.
Dark Soy Dipping Sauce:
Reserved ginger and garlic
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
3 tablespoons dark sweet soy sauce* (recipe below)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons reserved chicken broth
Combine all in a bowl, mix well.
Serve chicken on rice with cucumber slices and dipping sauces. Garnish with cilantro.
*Dark Sweet Soy Sauce:
1/2 cup organic raw sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2-3 tablespoons water
Instructions:
1. Boil water and sugar, stirring constantly over medium heat.
2. When liquid thickens, reduce heat to medium-low, stirring constantly. Scrape sugar off sides of pan.
3. Once liquid is darkened, add in soy sauce, stirring constantly.
4. Once liquid is thick, remove from heat.
5. Transfer to a heatproof bottle for storage. Refrigerate. Sauce may crystallize but will dissolve when heated.
View this post on Instagram
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
For advertising opportunites please contact mrwill@mrwillwong.com