Roast Chicken ala Beancounter

Winter has been unfairly associated with everything grim. But to be honest, despite the drop in temperature, there are lots I like about winter. Foremost of which is the food. Chief of which are roasts.

It’s a season we have to have, might as well find pleasure in it.

Although I enjoy roasts regardless of the time of year there’s no better occasion for it than during the cold months. It’s comforting. It’s satisfying. It’s delectable. And the other great thing about it, it’s easy.

Winter is the season to bulk up, pig out and do as little as possible (that’s what I plan to do anyway). My recipe for roast chicken ticks all that. It’s filling. It’s rich. And almost effortless.

By the way, the parsley I used here were from my very own garden. Feel free to substitute your preferred herb. Rosemary perhaps?

Roast Chicken ala Beancounter

1 whole chicken (less than 2kg)

125g softened butter

1 bunch parsley (half of which chopped finely, half left whole)

3-4 cloves garlic crushed (with a knife & a bit of salt)

3-4 garlic cloves whole

1 lemon cut into 4 wedges

Salt

Pepper

Roasting vegetables your prefer (season with salt & pepper and some olive oil)

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C.
2. Prepare your herbed butter by combining the butter, parsley and crushed garlic. Make sure it’s mixed well.
3. Season the chicken (inside and out) with the salt and pepper.
4. Fill the chicken cavity with the lemon, garlic cloves and some parsley.
5. Loosen the breast side skin careful not to tear. Fill it with the herbed butter. Massage the chicken with olive oil all over.
6. Put the chicken (breast side up) and the vegetables in a large baking dish. Place in the oven.
7. After half an hour turn the chicken over onto its other side. After a further half hour turn the chicken over breast side up and roast for another half an hour or until done. Serve hot!

Crispy Fry Fried Chicken (ChickenJoel TM)/Pork Chops

If you want that “take-away” (“take out” for those in North America) taste in your fried chicken/pork chops it’s pretty hard to go wrong with Ajinomoto’s Crispy Fry Breading Mix. Yup, Ajinomoto! Probably the most well known MSG (monosodium glutamate) manufacturer in the world. So, if you’re MSG sensitive or want nothing to do with MSG at all please look away now.

Well, I don’t know if Crispy Fry has some MSG in it but just in case…

I do want to make it clear though that I was in no way paid by Ajinomoto to promote their product. I’m including it in my blog purely for taste reasons.

There are days when we just feel like eating take away food (take out” for those in North America). Unlike in the Philippines where you can get almost anything delivered right at your doorstep (yes, including McDonald’s), here down under the quickest way would have to be the drive-thru. But sometimes I couldn’t even be bothered to drive. It’s times like those when Crispy Fry comes really handy.

If you like your fried chicken with gravy you’ll be glad to know that each Crispy Fry packet also comes with a gravy mix.

I was introduced to this product by Mister J. He’s also showed me some tricks he’s learned during his stints at fast food restaurants to make your chicken extra crispy.

The recipe below, once again, is Mr J’s very own (in his own words):

Really Krispy Pork Chops (Also applies to ChickenJoelTM)

Rub a small amount of salt & pepper on thinly sliced pork chops (about a kilo or nine pieces).
Let stand for a few minutes. Meanwhile...

Mix about 200 grams all purpose flour, a teaspoon or less of fine salt and pepper. Or just mix the flour with commercially prepared breading mix such as Ajinomoto Crispy Fry or magic seasonings like Knorr Real Sarap.

Break an egg and manually cover the chops. In a separate bowl, bread the chops with the flour mixture, pressing with your hands to make sure the flour sticks to them.

Transfer the breaded meat to a sieve and dip in a bowl of water or wet it a little under a running tap for about 5 seconds. Shake vigorously.

Do the breading for the second time this time without dipping in the water. Be sure to eliminate excess flour by sifting.

Deep-Fry until golden brown.

Malaysian Chicken Curry ala Beancounter

I’ve heard somewhere before that there is no such thing as “curry powder” in India. It is more an innovation to help cooks like me who are less astute in combining spices.

Curry powder usually includes coriander, turmeric, cumin, and fenugreek. Depending on the blend, additional ingredients such as ginger, garlic, fennel seed, cinnamon, clove, mustard seed, cardamom, mace, nutmeg, and all sorts of peppers may also be added.

I’ve named my recipe as such as I find the Malaysian Curry powder blend to suit my taste the best. The recipe below is a variation to my Beef Curry recipe which I blogged about months ago.

Using a whole free range chicken makes for a tastier curry than simply using chicken breast. But if you’re horrified at the thought of bones in your curry then use de-boned chicken meat by all means.

Malaysian Chicken Curry ala Beancounter

Ingredients
2-3 cloves of garlic chopped
6 slices of ginger
1 stalk of lemon grass sliced
1 red capsicum julienned
4-6 teaspoon Malaysian curry powder (more if you want it spicier)
1 whole free range chicken cut into pieces
1 can coconut cream (substitute coconut milk if you want a less creamy sauce)
Salt to taste
Potatoes quartered and fried
Carrots
A bit of oil for sautéing

Tip: It’s best to use heavy based pots.

Procedure
1. Marinate the chicken in a little of curry powder. Heat up a bit of oil using heavy based pot. Sear the chicken pieces in the pot (a few at a time) to seal in the juices. Remove from the pot and set aside.
2. Add a bit more oil if needed. Sauté the ginger first.
3. After about a minute or so add the garlic. Before it turns completely brown add the lemon grass.
4. After another minute add the onions and the capsicum (save about a quarter for garnishing later). Cook this for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the curry powder to the mix and cook for another minute.
6. Add the chicken and the carrots to the mixture.
7. Add the coconut cream and simmer for about 40 minutes.
8. Add the potatoes and simmer for another 10 minutes.
9. Serve with roti parathas or jasmine rice.

Chicken Karaage

Chicken Karaage is a better alternative if your kids love chicken nuggets. You can make it as low fat as possible by using skinless chicken breast and using less coating. The other bonus, you’ll be guaranteed you’re actually eating chicken and not some composite meat product.

It is also quick and easy to make which is another plus for busy parents. The most difficult part is cutting the chicken and grating the ginger. Other than those it is just a matter of combining the ingredients together and frying the marinated meat.

I think traditionally this is served with mayonnaise but we’ve opted for Tonkatsu sauce for that extra Japanese kick. It’s a fruity sweet sauce not very dissimilar to ketchup.


Chicken Karaage

2 pieces of chicken breast cut into nugget size
3-4 tablespoons soy sauce
3-4 tablespoons mirin or sherry
Walnut size ginger grated finely (it’s best to use a ginger grater if you’ve got one)
Cornflour
Oil for frying

Combine the chicken, soy sauce, mirin and grated ginger and marinate for half an hour.
Heat up the oil to about medium heat.
Coat the chicken pieces in cornflour and fry until golden brown.
Serve with rice and miso soup. It also works well served with salad.

Hainan Chicken Rice ala Beancounter

It definitely wasn’t love at first sight but my heart definitely did melt after the first bite of Hainan Chicken Rice. In the beginning, I could not see the attraction people have for this dish. Nothing by the way it looks strikes me as spectacular. I mean it’s just poached chicken and rice… But my opinion did a big turn around after tasting this quite unimposing but magnificent dish!

I first had it back in my university days. It was heaven on a plate (1 plate and two bowls actually) for a student on a very limited budget. I remember tagging along with some friends to this hole in the wall restaurant called Tak Chee (don't know what it means but it must be along the lines of "double happyness" or something that's supposed to bring good luck) to have their famous $5 chicken rice.

I paid an homage to this same restaurant where "we first met" years after I've left Perth. But sadly though, on my most recent visit early last year it was shut ...permanently (probably to make way for new apartments).

Like anything really good I was a little bit intimidated by Hainan Chicken Rice. There’s at least three parts to it (the chicken, the rice and the soup) that made it seem daunting to try at home. It took years before I even attempted it. I had varying degrees of success in the beginning but I eventually got it right, to my taste that is. Well, my friend Patrick thinks it’s the best chicken in Brisbane so I must be doing something right! *LOL* another shameless self-promotion!

Hainan Chicken Rice

Chicken

1 very fresh chicken (preferably free range)

6 slices fresh ginger 2 cloves garlic, slightly bruised

2 spring onions1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp light soy sauce

Some sea salt

Some ground white pepper

Poaching Stock

Chicken bones a kilo of chicken wings or legs

3 pieces of ginger

2 spring onions

Chicken Rice

3 cups jasmine rice

Some chicken fat taken from the whole chicken

2-3cm ginger finely chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, chopped very finely or grated

3 ½ to 4 cups of poaching stock

1 pandan leaf

Chilli Sauce

10 fresh red chillies, seeds removed

1-2 cloves garlic

5cm fresh ginger

2 tsp poaching stock

Lime/Lemon juice to taste

Sea salt to taste

Ginger & Spring Onion Sauce

Walnut size finely chopped ginger

2 cloves garlic finely chopped garlic

½ tsp salt

Chopped spring onion

Oil (not Olive oil)

Chicken Soup

Poaching stock

Chopped spring onion or small amount of shredded lettuce


1. Firstly, make the stock to be used to poach the chicken. In a large enough pot (to fit the whole chicken) put some water and add some ginger and spring onion and the chicken bones/wings and bring to a boil. You can use already made chicken stock if you like but still add the ginger and the spring onion.
2. While waiting for the stock to boil prepare the chicken by rubbing it with salt and a bit of white pepper inside and out. Place the spring onion, slices of ginger and the garlic inside the chicken.
3. After letting your stock boil for a couple of minutes lower the heat to the lowest setting. Place the chicken in the stock breast side down. Let it poach (the water should be barely boiling) for about half an hour. Turn the heat off and cover and leave for another half an hour.
4. Remove the chicken from the stock and set aside. You should chop it just before serving. Dress it with some light soy sauce and sesame oil.
5. Next prepare the chicken rice. Wash the rice then drain well. Render the chicken fat in a little bit of oil in a pan.
6. Add the finely chopped ginger and garlic.
7. Add the rice and stir fry for about a minute or two.
8. Transfer the mixture to a rice cooker and add enough stock as recommended by your rice cooker brand. Place the pandan leaf in the rice cooker as well.
9. For the chilli sauce combine the chillies, garlic and ginger in a blender. Add the stock, lime/lemon juice and some sea salt and blend together.
10. For the ginger and spring onion sauce, heat up some oil in a pan in very high heat. Add the ginger, garlic, spring onion and salt and fry for a minute. Take off the heat and set aside.
11. For the soup, adjust the taste of your poaching stock to your liking. Add some chopped spring onion/shredded lettuce before serving.

Tinola (Filipino Style Chicken Soup)

If you’ve read my previous post you’ll notice that there were two papayas in the one of the photos. One was already peeled (I used to make Som Tum/Som Tam) while the other was still completely whole which I especially set aside with tinola in mind.

It’s the height of summer in Australia. Some people might think it odd to want soup when temperatures are soaring. But tinola, the Filipino version of the chicken soup, is actually quite soothing and refreshing with its dominant ginger flavour. I add tanglad (lemongrass) to my tinola for added “freshness”.

I would normally use dahon ng sili (chilli leaves) to finish off this dish but over the weekend I was given a fresh bunch of malunggay leaves (Sajin in the Indian subcontinent) which I liberally added to my soup.

Although I said use half a chicken in my recipe what I actually did was save the best parts for a Max’s style friend chicken and whatever is left I used for the soup.

For a refreshing end to the meal I made rock melon drink. Recipe for this one in my next post!

Tinolang Manok (Filipino Style Chicken Soup)

2 tablespoons oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1 large onion chopped
6-8 slices fresh ginger
1 lemongrass sliced
Half a chicken cut into serving pieces
1 small green papaya cut into thick wedges
4 cups of water or chicken stock
1 cup malunggay or spinach leaves
Fish sauce to taste
Salt & black pepper to taste

1. Heat up the oil in a pot. Fry the ginger first. Add the garlic after a minute or so and fry until golden brown.
2. Add the lemongrass and cook for another minute.
3. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent.
4. Add the chicken pieces and cook for about 3 minutes or until the chicken pieces have changed colour but not yet fully cooked.
5. Add the water or stock and bring to the boil.
6. Lower the heat and adjust the taste using salt, pepper and fish sauce. If you’ve used stock you obviously need less salt and fish sauce. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
7. For a clearer soup make sure you skim the soup.
8. Add the papaya and cook until the papaya is done to your liking.
9. Finally add the malunggay leaves. Turn off the heat after about 30 seconds.
10. You can serve this as a complete meal or as a soup to go with your main meal.

Lunch Club – Tramy’s Fried Chicken Wings (Canh Ga Chien)

If you’re tried of the usual fried chicken Tramy’s recipe is worth giving a go. The only twist to the usual Pinoy fried chicken recipe is the addition of garlic. Garlic might not be big in size but they sure make an impact!

It’s simple! It’s quick! But very satisfying!

We served it with fresh cucumber salad and some soy/chilli sauce.

Here’s her recipe.

Canh ga chien Fried chicken wings

Ingredients

1 kg Chicken wings cut into wingettes (separate the wing by cutting the joints then get rid of the pointy bit) for easy frying

Salt & pepper to taste

3-4 cloves chopped garlic

Lots of oil for deep frying

Procedure

1. Combine ingredients and marinate chicken for at least 1 hour

2. Heat oil over medium heat

3. Put all the chicken in the hot pan and cook the chicken until golden brown.

4. Serve hot with jasmine rice and some fresh salad.

080723 – Lunch Club – Singapore Chicken Curry (Again!)

Yes, it’s Singapore Chicken Curry again! Not that anyone is complaining (maybe there are but are just to afraid to say it to my face). It’s just that the point of Lunch Club is variety but due to our busy schedules we had to make do with what’s quick and easy to make.

Singapore chicken curry (again!)

Anyway, to vary today’s lunch we are neither having the curry with roti paratha nor jasmine rice. For a bit of a twist I have brought store bought chapattis (garlic) instead.

chappati proudly Australian made

Everybody seemed to enjoy the meal even if we’ve had it a few times already.

ready to eat chappatis

Lunch Club – Singapore Chicken Curry & Roti Paratha

I try to write about Lunch Club soon after we’ve finished lunch but last Thursday was just crazy. I didn’t find the time to do so as I had to complete some other tasks because I had to go on leave the following day. It school holidays, you see, in our part of the world. And I promise my children that I would take them out at least one weekday during their break.

Anyway, Thursday is my turn to cook. Being pressed for time and all I had to come up with some quick and tasty. I have prepared this meal once before for Lunch Club and it was a hit. The amount of effort was not an indicator of how the meal turned out.

Roti Paratha fresh out of the packet

So, on Thursday we had Singapore Chicken Curry served with Roti Paratha and/or Jasmine Rice. My friend from the Lion City has graciously provided the curry paste freshly flew in from Singapore. I have to find out where I can get this in the land down under as it will run out pretty soon. I am not heading to Singapore anytime soon to top up my supply.

Singapore Chicken Curry, Roti Paratha and the ever present cucumber salad

Here’s the recipe:

Singapore Chicken Curry

2-3 Desiree potatoes (one potato cut in 4)
3 pieces Chicken breast cut up in large pieces
2 tablespoons Singapore curry paste
1 can Coconut cream (or coconut milk if you prefer a lighter sauce)
Salt to taste
Oil whatever you prefer

Mix the curry paste and the chicken and leave for at least half an hour. While waiting fry the potatoes then set aside. Put a bit of oil in a pan and fry the chicken pieces then set aside. Remove the oil then put back the chicken pieces. Add the coconut cream. Wait for it to boil then add the fried potatoes. Let is simmer for 10-15 minutes. Voila! Best served hot on top of steaming jasmine rice or with roti paratha.

Lunch Club – Sarah’s Chicken & Rice Vermicelli

First of all, I’m pleased to advise everyone that there’s been some rearrangement of the kitchen furniture. One of the tables was moved to the centre of the kitchen. This made the table a lot more useful in that you can actually fit four people.

miss Sarah preparing today's lunch

Today was Sarah’s (not her real name to protect her identity) turn to prepare lunch. It was Asian style chicken with rice vermicelli. The chicken was cooked with ginger and onions and diced up aubergine. This is then served with the rice vermicelli. Steamed broccoli was optional but it was a nice touch to include in the dish.

our table in its new location

I like my noodles more on the spicy side so I’ve added chillies with soy sauce to dress it up. It was a very satisfying meal even pregnant women will love! *wink* wink*

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