Marmite Chicken is probably more famous than Bovril Chicken. But since I only have Bovril at home, Bovril Chicken it shall be then. It is also my very first try and I am quite pleased with how it turned out.


There are two steps in this recipe. The first step is to fry the chicken and the second is to cook the bovril sauce before coating the chicken with it prior to serving. You will need to have fast hands with cooking the sauce because the sauce can dry out pretty fast. However, if you add too much water (to prevent drying out), it would be too runny and not as nice. Anyway, don't let that fear you into trying this dish. It's actually an experiment on my part and it works!

This is my recipe for Bovril Chicken


Ingredients

• 6 chicken supremes (the tender piece of the chicken breast, cut into cubes)
• 1 large onion (quartered)
• 5 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
• about 30 to 50 ml warm water
  
• Oil for deep frying

Marinade for chicken

• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chinese cooking wine
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon corn flour

Seasoning

• 2 heaped teaspoons of bovril
• salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon sugar or to taste

Method

Marinade chicken for 30 minutes or longer and deep fry till golden brown. Set aside.

Leave approximately 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in wok and saute garlic and onions till fragrant. Add seasoning and water and bring to boil. Return fried chicken pieces to wok and stir well to coat the sauce over the chicken.

Remove and serve hot with rice.


Technorati Tags : Recipe , Chicken , Bovril , Marmite , Chinese Food

This is my mother's recipe. I've never acquired the taste for bitter gourd all these years though I know it is packed with nutrients and goodness. I am informed that this dish - Chicken with Bitter Gourd is a favourite amongst many who like bitter gourd. I am also informed that the bigger and older the bitter gourd, the less bitter it is.

So, I thought why not I post it up here on this blog for those who like to eat chicken with bitter gourd but do not know how to cook it. My mum used the claypot to retain the warmth of the dish as well as to ensure that the chicken and bitter gourd continue to simmer slowly though it has been removed from the cooker. If you don't have a claypot, it doesn't really matter. Just serve it on a plate.

This is my mother's recipe for Claypot Chicken with Bitter Gourd.


Ingredients

• 1 large bitter gourd (wash, remove seeds, cut halved across the bitter gourd and then, cut to chunk bite sizes)
• 2 whole chicken legs (remove skin and cut to chunky bite sizes. You can keep the skin if you don't mind the dish slightly oily)
• 5 pieces dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked till soft and cut to two with stems discarded)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tau cheo
• 4 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
• 1 cup warm water

Seasoning

• 1 1/2 teaspoons dark soya sauce
• Salt to taste
• a pinch of sugar

Method

Heat oil in wok and stir-fry garlic and tau cheo for 30 seconds. Add chinese mushrooms, chicken and bitter gourd and continue stir-frying till outer layer of chicken meat is cooked.

Add seasoning and water enough to cover the ingredients. Bring to boil. Meanwhile, if you have a claypot, heat it up whilst waiting for the gravy to boil in the wok.

Once the gravy is boiling, transfer contents into claypot and simmer for 15 minutes on medium heat till gravy reduced to your liking. If you do not have a claypot, simmer likewise.

Serve hot with white rice.


Technorati Tags : Recipe , Bitter Gourd , Claypot , Chinese

I can't believe that this is my 50th post! And I am truly encouraged that some have left kind words of encouragement to me for the recipes here. You can't imagine how much I beam from ear to ear when I read that some of my recipes have been tried and tested to satisfaction. It's very much like how a chef will feel when the food that has been cooked is given the thumbs up or finished cleaned on the plate.

Anyway, for the 50th post, I would like to highlight a recipe which my wife shared with me (and cooked for me). She does cook...and she cooks well too. Only thing is that I have persuaded her to allow me to use the kitchen and enjoy my hobby of cooking instead.

This dish is tasty as it is hot and spicy whilst at the same time, has a hint of sourness to it (due to the vinegar / lime used). It is also very fragrant due to the quite liberal use of chinese cooking wine. It is a variant of Kung Po Chicken, I believe but tastes slightly different. Adjust the taste according to your preference. That very day when she cooked this dish, we had some cashew nuts at home and she decided to throw some in hence what you see in the picture. It is not in the recipe but you can add it in for extra bite!

This is my wife's recipe for Sauteed Chicken Supreme with Dried Chillies


Ingredients

• 500 grammes of chicken supreme (the most tender part of chicken breast which is longish in shape, slice it to cubes / thick diagonal slices)
• 20 dried chillis (pre-soaked for 30 minutes, seeded and cut into halves)
• 5 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 4 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Marinade

• 1 tablespoon chinese cooking wine
• 1 tablespoon dark soya sauce
• 2 tablespoon corn flour

Seasoning

• 2 tablespoon chinese cooking wine
• 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar (or squeeze approximately 10 limes or more for juice)
• 1 teaspoon of cornflour
• 1/2 tablespoon of light soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon of water

Method

Pound meat slightly with blunt side of knife or tenderiser. Marinade for 30 minutes.

Heat oil in wok, fry the dried chilli for 30 seconds and then add the garlic. Continue to stir-fry till garlic begin to brown. Add chicken and fry till cooked (if you wish to add cashew nuts, add them now). Then add seasoning, stir well until evenly distributed and gravy dries up.

Serve hot with steamed white rice.


Technorati Tags : Chicken , Dried Chilli , Recipe , Chinese Food , StirFry

Remember I used to have a recipe called Mixed Vegetables - Cabbage, Carrots, Wood-Ear Fungus, Dried Lily Buds and Mushrooms? Well, I am going to modify that recipe a bit instead. Using most of the same ingredients, these will be steamed together with chicken to make a nice healthy dish.

In this dish, the chicken is sweet-tasting and has a hint of chinese cooking wine as it was marinated prior to steaming. The meat will usually be tender when cooked as whole chicken leg (drumstick and thigh meat) is used and the wine further tenderises the meat. This is in contrast with the crispness of the wood-ear fungus, sweetness of the carrots and lily buds and smoky taste of the mushrooms. Truly, it comes with a riot of taste and goes well with steamed white rice.

Actually, as emphasised in most of my recipes, you don't actually have to follow the ingredients in full especially if you have difficulty finding them at the place you live. Just use a bit of creativity and substitute them with different ingredients. If you are not sure, feel free to ask me at the comment section below.

This is my recipe for Steamed Chicken with Carrots, Wood-Ear Fungus, Dried Lilybuds and Mushrooms.


Ingredients

• 2 whole chicken legs (chopped into bite pieces)
• 1 small sized carrot (sliced)
• 50 to 100 grammes of wood-ear fungus (pre-soaked till soft)
• 5 dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked till soft) or enoki, oyster or button mushrooms
  
• 50 grammes of dried lily buds (pre-soaked till soft and knotted in the middle)
• 1 whole bulb of garlic (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Marinade for chicken

• 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
• 2 teaspoons of light soya sauce
• A couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 tablespoon of chinese cooking wine
• 1 tablespoon of corn flour

Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
• Salt to taste

Method

Marinade the chicken for about an hour.

Heat oil in wok, followed by garlic and chinese mushrooms. Fry till garlic begins to brown. Add carrots, wood-ear fungus and lily buds. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Place chicken on a suitable plate for steaming (I use a stainless steel plate as seen in the picture above). Place the pre-stirfried vegetables on top of the chicken. Steam in wok / steamer for at least 20 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.


Technorati Tags : Chicken , Vegetable , Recipe , Chinese Food

Kung Po Chicken is a common dish found in most, if not all, chinese restaurants. This dish is basically diced chicken stir-fried with onions, dried chillies, cashew nuts and capsicum. Some even add water chestnuts to the dish. The aroma from the chicken which was marinated with chinese cooking wine blends well with the spiciness of the dried chillis. Meanwhile, the tender bits of chicken meat is contrasted with the crunchiness of the capsicum and onions. The cashew nuts lend a natural sweetness to the dish.



Anyway, I am not that good expressing how a dish tastes like, so I shall keep it short and simple. This dish is best eaten with plain white rice so that you can savour the full taste and aroma of the dish. Some have substituted the chicken with cuttlefish, which is quite a good alternative.

In my recipe, I have simplified the dish to my own liking. I have omitted the use of the capsicum and perhaps, the sauce is a bit different from the original recipes by professional cooks. However, I am still confident that you will like this dish if you try it out.

This is my recipe for Simplified Kung Po Chicken.


Ingredients

• 300 grammes chicken breast (cut into cubes / bite sizes)
• 2 medium sized onions (quartered)
• 10 to 15 pieces of dried chilli (washed and pre-soaked for 15 minutes prior to cooking)
• 20 to 30 pieces of cashew nuts
• 1 1/2 cups of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
• 1/2 cup (70 to 100 ml) warm water

Marinade for chicken

• 2 tablespoons of chinese cooking wine
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of light soya sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of corn flour

Seasoning

• 1 1/2 tablespoons of dark soya sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon of chinese cooking wine

Method

Marinade chicken cubes for at least 1 hour.

Heat oil in wok on high. Fry chicken cubes till golden brown. Remove from oil and place aside.

Remove cooking oil from wok leaving about 1 tablespoon in the wok. Add onions and dried chillis and stir-fry for 30 seconds to bring out the aroma. (If you wish to add capsicums which are cut into cube sizes, add them at this stage) Add pre-fried chicken cubes and cashew nuts and stir well for a minute.

Add seasoning and 1/2 cup water and close lid. Stir occasionally till water / gravy reduced by half.

Serve hot with plain white rice.


Technorati Tags : Chicken , Chinese Food , Recipe , Kung Po Chicken

This recipe is EASY. You should try it, if you have not. It is different from Tau Yu Bak (Stewed Pork in dark soya sauce) in taste but can be similar to Stewed Duck in Dark Soya Sauce save for some difference in spices used.

I used to cook this dish quite often during my university days in England and my British housemates loved it when eaten with steaming hot rice! If you make an extra effort and fry the rice ala Egg Fried Rice, you will have a truly satisfying meal. The beancurd is a complimentary item which I add to the dish. You can also add hard boiled eggs (shell removed, of course) into the dish during the simmering stage.

This is my recipe for Stewed Chicken in Dark Soya Sauce


Ingredients

• 2 chicken legs (whole)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 whole bulbs garlic (remove skin)
• Approximately 15 - 20 white peppercorns
  
• Warm water
• 1 piece star-anise (optional)
  
• 2 pieces hard-type beancurd (optional)
  
• 2 large hard-boiled eggs (optional)

Seasoning

• 2 to 3 tablespoons dark soya sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  

Method

Add sugar into a wok / saucepan which has been heated up. Let the sugar caramelise (turn liquid and brown).

Once sugar fully caramelised, add chicken legs and let it "sear" for 1 minute on each side. Add water to cover the chicken by 1 to 2 cm. Add the rest of the ingredients and seasoning. Once water begins to boil, reduce to medium low heat, cover lid and let it simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.

To serve, separate gravy from the rest of the ingredients. Chop the chicken to desired size, cut beancurd into quarters and half the eggs.


Technorati Tags : Chicken , Recipe , Food

What do you do if you have linguine (a type of pasta), chicken and siew pak choy? Cook them into a dish, of course! It will be handy if you have a can of pasta sauce in your kitchen cabinet.

This dish takes me 1 hour to prepare and cook. I am still an amateur and take a longer time to prepare the ingredients and cook them. Briefly, what I have prepared is pan-fried chicken breast, blanched siew pak choy and pasta sauce. Each can be a dish by itself but this is sort of a fusion dish using western and eastern ingredients. In fact, this is the first time I cooked this dish and I was quite pleased! (I am usually quite fussy over the quality of food I cook. My wife will attest to that!)


I hope you will give this dish a try and having learnt it, experiment on your own with the ingredients.

This is my recipe for Linguine with Pan-Fried Chicken Breast and Siew Pak Choy.


Ingredients

• 250 grammes of linguine (you can use any type of pasta)
• 1 large chicken breast
• 200 grammes of siew pak choy (wash and clean)
  
• 1 can of button mushrooms (halved)
• 1 can of Campbells Pasta Sauce (tomato, garlic and basil sauce)
• 2 large onions (chopped)
• 5 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of palm oil
• 1 pot of water
  

Marinade for chicken

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder
• A dash of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tablespoon of HP BBQ Sauce
• A dash of black pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning for tomato-based sauce

• Salt to taste
• Black pepper powder to taste

Method

Marinade chicken breast for at least 1 hour or more.

Bring water to boil in a large pot. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of palm oil. Add in the siew pak choy and blanch till the leaves turn dark green / cooked. Remove the leaves and set aside.

Cook the linguine in the pot of water according to directions on packaging. Remove and drain. Set aside and drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over it.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in frying pan and fry the chicken breast for at least 2 minutes on each side. Ensure chicken breast is thoroughly cooked by piercing the meat with a fork. Clear juice should flow when pierced. Remove from pan to cool. Slice the pan-fried chicken breast.

Heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil on a sauce pan and saute the onions till translucent. Add button mushrooms and stir well for 2 minutes. Add the pasta sauce and seasoning and bring to boil. Add half-can of water. Cover with lid, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Arrange cooked linguine on plate. Place sliced pan-fried chicken breast and siew pak choy to your liking. Pour an appropriate amount of the mushroom tomato pasta sauce over them and serve hot.


Technorati Tags : Pasta , Vegetable , Recipe

Chicken Chop is known to be a western dish and is commonly found in most western restaurants. In Malaysia, chicken chop is sometimes served in Chinese restaurants which serve western dishes and it is usually accompanied with a tomato based gravy.

Recently, I tried cooking chicken chop for a change from the usual dishes we have for dinner. I bought two chicken legs (which consists of the thigh and drumstick) which I had it deboned. Apart from the chicken legs, the only other ingredients I used were cherry tomatoes and onions, excluding the marinade and seasoning, of course. It is fairly simple and not an intimidating dish to cook. To make it more elaborate, you can even add in fried potatoes (diced).

This is my recipe for Chinese-Styled Chicken Chop.


Ingredients

• 2 chicken legs (deboned. I had the chicken skin removed as well)
• 10 cherry tomatoes (of whatever tomatoes you fancy)
• 1 large onion (quartered and separated)
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)

Marinade (for chicken)

• 1 1/2 tablespoons 0f HP BBQ Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of Lea & Perrins Worchestershire Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• A couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour
  

Seasoning (gravy)

• 2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
• Sugar to taste

Method

Marinade the chicken for more than 1 hour using the marinating ingredients above.

Heat a thin layer of oil in a frying-pan (I used a non-stick frying pan. If you don't have one, add more oil for the frying process) and pan-fry the chicken on both sides till thoroughly cooked. Pierce meat with fork to test for thorough cooking (clear juice should ooze out if cooked). Remove chicken onto a plate leaving the juice in the frying pan.

Add the onions onto the frying pan and stir fry for 1 minute. Add cherry tomatoes and continue to stir fry for 15 seconds or so. Add tomato ketchup and water and bring sauce to boil and thicken whilst adding sugar to taste.

Pour sauce over the fried chicken and serve hot with potatoes or rice.


Technorati Tags : Recipe , Chicken Chop

I am back after the long festive holidays. I had the chance of cooking a couple of dishes and this is one of them. My mum cooks this dish quite often too. I guess it's because it is quite easy and simple to cook. I usually remove the skin of the chicken prior to cooking this dish for health reasons. Furthermore, I don't like the dish to turn out with a layer of oil. In the picture below, I have yet to remove the skin.

Once you have mastered this dish, you can experiment with the ingredients - eg. adding baby corn, different types of mushrooms, celery etc.

This is my recipe for Chicken with Potatoes, Carrots and Mushrooms.

Method

Marinade chicken for 30 - 60 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in wok and fry potatoes till golden brown. Remove fried potatoes from oil.

With remaining oil in wok and at medium heat, saute the chinese mushrooms for 1 minute. Increase to high heat and add chicken and garlic and stir fry for another minute till outer layer of chicken is cooked. Add fried potatoes and carrots and continue stir frying for another minute.

Add seasoning and water and close lid. Cook for another 3 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.


Technorati Tags : Recipe , Chinese Food , Chicken

The rice cooker is a very useful kitchen equipment and is present in many Asian households. Whilst it is primarily designed to cook rice, newer versions of the rice cooker has enable cooks to use it for steaming and even boiling soup.

Recently, my mum cooked Chicken Rice using the rice cooker. It is actually another version of the popular Claypot Chicken Rice. The beauty of using the rice cooker is that the rice does not get burnt at the bottom unlike the claypot. However, for those who are fond of burnt bits of rice, you may have to try this using the claypot instead.

This is the recipe for Chicken Rice using the Rice Cooker.

Ingredients

• 3 cups of rice (measure using the cup that comes supplied together with the rice cooker)
• 2 large chicken drumsticks and chicken thighs (chopped to bit sizes)
• 5 chinese dried mushrooms (pre-soaked in a bowl of water and cut to half or quarters. Do not throw away the water used for soaking)
• 2 chinese lap cheongs (chinese sausages) (sliced)
• 4 bulbs shallots (sliced thinly)
• 5 slices of ginger (more if you like a stronger ginger taste) {Added thanks to Earl-Ku's reminder}
  
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
• warm water

Marinade for chicken

• 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 2 teaspoon of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon of chinese cooking wine

Seasoning

• 5 teaspoons of light soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce

Method

Soak rice in water for about 1 1/2 hours. Marinade chicken for the same length of time.

Heat oil in wok and fry shallots till golden brown. Remove fried shallots.

With remaining oil in wok and at high heat, add pre-soaked chinese dried mushrooms and ginger and stir fry for about 1 minute. Add marinated chicken and stir fry for another minute.

Add pre-soaked rice and seasoning and continue frying for about 2 minutes. Sprinkle a little bit of warm water to keep the rice from drying out.

Remove rice with ingredients into the rice cooker. Place the lap cheongs over the rice. Pour water (previously used to soak dried chinese mushrooms) gently over the rice to cover the rice just like how you would usually cook white rice in a rice cooker. Add plain water if the water used to soak dried chinese mushrooms is insufficient. Turn on your rice cooker and let it cook.

Serve hot and sprinkle fried shallots over the rice prior to serving.

Note : As you learn to cook this dish, adjust the seasoning to your prefered taste. You can also sprinkle chopped spring onions over the Chicken Rice for added colour and taste.


Technorati Tags : Malaysian Food , Chicken Rice , Rice , Recipe