How do you feel today? My typical answer would be either bored, depressed or tired. But not today. I feel amazing today. I woke up early in the morning after many hours of peaceful, deep sleep, burnt some 200 calories on the treadmill before having a light breakfast, refreshed myself with a hot shower before overloading our humble little cart at the morning market, and had ourselves busy all day with dinner preparations.
My contribution to our dinner was the finger-licking good Sweet & Spicy Chicken. If you would like to try this dish yourself, here’s the original recipe straight from the book in black font (and the changes I made in green font):
Serves 3
> 675g/ 1 1/2lb chicken breast fillets or boneless thighs
> 175g/6oz/ 1 1/2 cups cornflour (cornstarch)
> vegetable oil, for deep-frying
> 2 green chillies, sliced
> 2 dried red chillies, seeded
For the marinade
> 15ml/ 1 tbsp white wine
> 15ml/ 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
> 3 garlic cloves, crushed
> 1/4 onion, finely chopped
For the sauce
> 15ml/ 1 tbsp chilli oil
> 2.5ml/ 1/2 tbsp gochujang paste
> 30ml/ 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
> 7.5ml/ 1 1/2 tsp pineapple juice
> 15 garlic cloves, peeled
> 30ml/ 2 tbsp maple syrup
> 15ml/ 1 tbsp sugar
This Korean chicken dish has a spicy kick, mellowed by the sweetness of maple syrup and pineapple. The chilli and garlic lend real sharpness. Gochujang paste is a spicy condiment much used in Korean cookery.
1. Slice the chicken into bitesize strips and season with the salt and pepper. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well and add the chicken, rubbing the mixture thoroughly into the meat. Leave to marinate for 20 minutes. I marinated it for over an hour.
2. Sprinkle the marinated chicken with a thin coating of cornflour. Fill a wok or medium heavy pan one-third full of vegetable oil and heat to 170° C/ 340° F, or when a cube of bread dropped into the oil browns in 15 seconds.
3. Add the chicken and deep-fry for 3-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the chicken and drain on kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.
4. Blend all the sauce ingredients together in a large pan, adding the garlic cloves whole, and heat over medium heat. Once the sauce is bubbling, add the fried chicken and stir to coat the meat with the sauce. I replaced chilli oil and gochujang paste with two tablespoons of normal chilli sauce, and the maple syrup with honey.
5. Leave to simmer until the sauce has formed a sticky glaze over the chicken, and then add the chillies. Stir well and transfer to a shallow serving dish. Garnish with the walnuts before serving. I didn’t have any walnuts, so almonds from the pantry did the job.
Also since I only used about 300g of chicken breast, IÂ altered the quantities accordingly and the inexperience me had a little too much of honey in there.
This is my final product, looking far from similar from the picture in the recipe book, but still tasted good with white rice:
Last Sunday was Father’s Day and I planned to make Deep Fried Ice Cream for my dad, but didn’t manage to because it was a busy day with my eldest brother and his girlfriend arriving from Perth. My mom and I made some fried ice cream balls today, but my dad is still in hometown with my eldest brother. Do not worry, I am going to make some again for you, dad - Happy Father’s Day!
Here’s the recipe from my memory (yes, it is that simple - I read the recipe once and it’s stuck in my head):
Ingredients
> Ice cream (sufficient for however many ice cream balls you wish to make)
> Breadcrumbs
> Egg(s) beaten
> Oil for deep-frying
1. Place a metal tray in the freezer for an hour or so.
2. Scoop out ice cream into a ball, making sure that the ball is compacted firmly.
3. Roll in breadcrumbs and place it on the metal tray in the freezer for at least two hours.
4. Roll the balls in beaten egg(s) and roll them in breadcrumbs again. Freeze until firm.
5. Heat oil in wok or pot until hot.
6. Deep fry each ice cream ball until golden. Usually a few seconds will do.
My mom and I were so afraid that the ice cream would melt soon after we put it into the boiling oil, but they turned out to be so good!
The breadcrumbs and the egg gave it a golden colour and a warm, crunchy outer texture. The Häagen-Dazs strawberry ice cream making up the inside of the ball was cold, soft and smooth.
Bet you are hungry now!
(Sorry for the blurry photos. My concentration was on the good food, not so much on my camera.)
