Stir Fry Long Bean and Chicken

Yesterday, Hub bought a bunch of long beans. I am so so so terrified of snake even if it is an image of a snake in books or on TV. So I don’t really like to cook long beans. But whenever I have to cook them, I would get my son to cut it for me.

Buy the one that have no black spots, flexible but not limp and do not look dry. I am thinking of growing them when we move to our new house in Tuaran in June. Yes, we're moving again! After spending 5 years in Kota Kinabalu, we've decided it's time for us to pull up our roots and to take the next step. A decision that was not easy to make.

When we moved to Kota Kinabalu five years ago, our plan was to stay here for just one or two years then move back to Kuala Lumpur. But one year became more than five as we got comfortable in Kota Kinabalu. My daughter is not excited about moving there though.  

I will be sure to document our whole moving experience. I’ll miss living in Kota Kinabalu dearly since it has been home to us for so many years but this is not a goodbye as I’ll still be working here and my daughter will still be attending the same school. 1 hour commute to work and school! My current commute is about 10 minutes by car as my workplace is about 10 miles away from where I live. At my old job we had a girl who commuted three hours both ways. 

If it's all highway then I guess an hour is no big deal but inching through heavy traffic for an hour, I don’t know……

Stir Fry Long Bean and Chicken

Ingredients

½ skinless and boneless chicken breast - cut into strips
5 slices of ginger - cut into thin strips
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1½ teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon palm sugar / sugar

1 tbsp fermented soy beans

10 pieces of long beans – cut into 1½ -inch length
4 tablespoons cooking oil
1 clove garlic – peeled and chopped

5 tbsp water
½ tsp light soy sauce

Directions

Heat up 2 tbsp of cooking oil in a wok and sauté the ginger strips until aromatic. Add in the long bean and light soy sauce. Stir fry for about 30 second. Add 3 tbsp of water, do a few quick stirs then cover the wok. Cook for 1 minute or until the long beans is half cooked. Dish out.

Heat up another 2 tbsp of cooking oil in the same wok and sauté the garlic until aromatic. Add the chicken strips and the fermented soy bean. Stir-fry until the meat is fully cooked.

Season with oyster sauce, sweet soy sauce and palm sugar. Stir and toss all ingredients together then add in about 2 tbsp of water. Stir and cook until the sauce is thickened then dish out and serve hot with steamed rice.

Simple Pandan Chicken (Chicken Wrapped in Screwpine Leaves)

I just love everything with pandan. This is my favourite way of cooking chicken. Moist and tender. I prefer to enjoy this thai inspired dish without any dip. Quite an easy dish to prepare and the only arduous work is wrapping the chicken one by one. It doesn’t matter how you wrap the chicken actually, just cover most of it.

Simple Pandan Chicken (Chicken Wrapped in Screwpine Leaves)

Ingredients

600 gm boneless chicken 

2 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp fennel powder

2 tsp chili powder

2 tbsp oyster sauce

½ tsp salt / fish sauce

2 tbsp sugar

4 - 5 shallots – peeled and blended

4 lemongrasses (white part only) – blended

Pandan leaves – use the broad and long pandan leaves for easy wrapping

Directions

Cut the chicken into bite pieces. Set aside.

Blend the shallots and lemongrass. Do not add too much water in the blender so that the paste will not be too runny.

Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients for 1 hour.

Wrap each piece of the chicken with pandan leaves by folding the leaf to form a pocket to hold the chicken. Then insert the tip of the leaf through the gap between the leaf and the meat to fasten the pocket. This is how I normally do it. My sister finds this method tricky and she would just roll up each chicken pieces with the leaf then fasten with a toothpick.

Deep-fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.

Serve.

Chicken Pie

It has been raining here for 6 days straight. It’s supposed to clear up today and we’re supposedly finally going to see some sun. The weather has really affected my mood, though. I’m typically alright with a couple days here and there of rain, but 6 days straight just really puts one in a crappy mood.

I made this pie yesterday.  This chicken pie has been a staple in my house for years.. Everybody loved it so much. Makes a great breakfast on the run. Since I am working, it's easy for my children to pop it into the microwave to reheat.  I usually use more veggies than it calls for. I like my chicken minced. 

My son gobbled up most of it before it was fully cooled yesterday and today it didn’t last until lunch. Definitely a keeper!

It’s not difficult to make the pie crust. Spend a little time to bake up a homemade crust you can be proud of. Once you get the hang of it, the result is so much better than the typical frozen pie crust that you get at the store. There are many different ways to make a pie crust but the most classic is made with butter. This one is using plain yogurt along with butter. You can also make this recipe by hand if you don’t have a food processor.

This recipe makes about 16 individual pies.

Chicken Pie
(Adapted from Azie Kitchen)

Pastry Crust

250gm All-Purpose flour

200gm unsalted butter

110gm plain yogurt

1 egg yolk

1 st sugar (optional)

A good pinch of salt

Directions

The first thing to is to cut up the butter into cubes and put them in the freezer for 15 minutes. 

Put the flour, egg yolk, sugar and salt into a food processor and pulse a couple times to mix. Add the frozen butter to the food processor and pulse several times until the dough just barely begins to hold together. You know that the mixture is ready if when you pinch some of the crumbly dough together with your fingers, it holds together.

Drizzle the yogurt into the food processor and continue to pulse a couple times until it is moist and shaggy. If it is too moist then add extra flour to the dough. I added ½ cup of flour. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

If you not using a food processor, press or squish pieces of butter into smaller flat flakes with your fingertips until you no longer feel any cold hard pieces of butter. 

Chicken Pie Filling

500gm chicken breast – minced

1 medium carrot – finely diced

1 green capsicum – finely diced / 1 big can green peas

1 yellow onion – finely diced

4 cloves of garlic - minced

120gm white button mushroom - diced

2 tbsp olive oil

Chicken marinade:

1 tbsp oyster sauce

½ tsp MAGGI Seasoning Cukup Rasa

½ tsp Parsley flake

1 tsp sesame oil

A few dashes of black pepper

1 tbsp corn starch + 3 tbsp water (thickening)

1 whole egg + 1 tbsp of water -  lightly beaten

Directions

In a wok, sautee the garlic and yellow onion in olive oil until soft and aromatic.

Stir in the diced carrot then add in the chicken. Stir constantly until the chicken is cooked through.

Throw in the mushroom and capsicum / green peas. Continue to stir until the mushroom and capsicum / green peas start to soften. Do not overcook them.

Stir in the thickening. Let the mixture cook and thicken up for another minute or so. Turn off the heat and let the filling cool to room temperature.

Making pie

Preheat oven to 180ºC. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to about 3mm thickness. Cut out 16 dough circles just a bit larger than the aluminium mini pie pans. Press a dough circle into each pie pan, making sure the dough comes almost to the top of each pan.

Fill the pies with the chicken mixture. Cut out another 16 dough circles just the enough to cover the top of each pie. Press the dough so that the edges meet, then use a fork to seal the edges. Prick the surface of the crusts, twice, with a fork. Lightly brush egg wash on pies.

Bake pie for 35 minutes at 180C or until pastry is golden and puffed.

Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes

It's my daughter’s birthday again. Years ago, when Hub handed me this little doll with the big beautiful eyes. It was one of the greatest moments in my life.

“ Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter!  I am blessed to have you as a daughter. No matter how many birthdays come and go, you'll always be my little girl.  It has been so much fun to watch you grow up into the incredible person that you have become. I am so proud of you and cannot wait to watch you continue to grow and be all the good that you can be. I pray that this day will be the beginning of all that you hope to be and hope to have. May God bless you on this day and every day and may you continue to be the wonderful person you are. Mommy, Papa and abang wish you all the success in life. Make all the best decisions by putting our Almighty and wonderful God first and you will never go wrong! I love you very much. ”

This photo was taken at Dumpil Bay, Putatan, a few days after we moved to Sabah, to escape the madness of KL and move to a life less hectic, with more space and a better lifestyle… 

On the Bamboo Trampoline, at Murut House, KDCA, Hongkod Koisaan, Penampang. 

Since it’s also Malaysia’s 59^th National Day which is also a public holiday, so we decided to go to one of KRR branches in town, to celebrate my daughter's birthday. The food was not how we expected it to be. It came within minutes of being ordered. The roasted chicken was very pale and a bit cold. The only saving grace was the vanilla muffins. They still taste as good as before, back in the days when we frequented their other branch. I wonder if KRR sends people down to check on the quality of their food. It is a shame that the food quality has gone down so much despite the not too cheap prices. I will not be going back any time soon even if they give away free food! It is a wonder they still have customers in this day of many choices. Perhaps the market they cater to are less demanding.

This fabulous recipe is from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe’s blog which is actually adapted from The Pioneer Woman's blog and like her, I also changed a few things to suit our palates. I am not a big fan of chicken but this roasted chicken is the best roasted chicken I’ve ever had.

Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

180gm butter – softened

1 whole lemon

1 yellow onions – peeled, halved and sliced

4 sprigs of rosemary

4 sprigs of thyme

2 bay leaves

4 carrots – peeled and chopped

5 medium potato – peeled and cut into wedges

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Trim off any excess fat then exfoliate the chicken to remove any trapped dirt or unpleasant stuff off the skin by grabbing a handful of coarse salt and rub all over the skin but at the same time being careful not to tear the skin. Rinse well then pat dry.

Zest the lemon. Strip the leaves off of one of the rosemary sprigs and chop it up finely. Strip off all thyme leaves from the stems.

In a bowl, combine softened butter, lemon zest, rosemary, salt and pepper.

Place onion on a baking tray.  Onto the onion, lay the patted-dry chicken, breast side up.

Put ¾ of the butter mixture on top of the chicken then smear it all over the chicken, under the skin (including hidden spots like under the wings) and inside the cavity. 

Cut the lemon in half then stuff together with the three remaining rosemary leaves plus the bay leaves into the cavity of the chicken.

Look who's helping me preparing dinner!

Smear the remaining butter all over the potato and carrots. Set aside.

Place the chicken into the oven and roast it for 1 hour.

After roasting for 1 hour, placed the potatoes and carrots around the chicken then continue roasting for another 30 minutes or until done. Skin should be deep golden brown and juices should be sizzling.

Carve/cut up to your heart’s content and dig in.

P.S.

I would like to dedicate this song to my daughter. This song was the first she heard. Her brother played this song in our car when we first brought her home from the hospital.

Mom's Style Chicken in Soy Sauce

Everyone believes that their mother is the best cook under the heavens. I, too, think this about Ms Lee’s (my mother) cooking talent. She can cook just about any type of food.  But I didn’t learn how to cook from her as unfortunately I didn’t grew up with her. I was only with her until I was 7 years old. 

This is one of Ms Lee’s signature dishes and all my family members like it very much. Ms Lee used to cook it quite often as it’s super-fast and easy to cook. This is also one of Hub’s favourite chicken dishes. In the original recipe Ms Lee uses rice wine instead of Worchester sauce.

Mom’s Style Chicken in Soy Sauce

Ingredients

300gm chicken thigh

1 tbsp sweet soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2-inch ginger

A couple drizzles of Worchester sauce

4 tbsp plain water

Instructions

Clean the chicken and cut into bite-sized chunk then pat dry.  Set aside.

Heat about 2 tbsp of oil in a wok over medium heat and sauté the ginger until fragrant.

Add the chicken and stir-fry until the chicken has turned white.

Add the sweet sauce, oyster sauce and Worchester sauce and stir to combine.

Add plain water and stir.  Lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes until the chicken is tender.

Dish out and garnish with spring onion.

Serve. 

Chicken in Soy Sauce

When I was young, I used to not able to stomach spicy food. Somehow, as I grew up, I learnt to stomach more and more spicy food. By the time I moved over to live independently, I even developed a fondness towards spicy food.

My least favorite thing to cook is chicken since I do not like them, but when someone requests them on their plate, I will not be reluctant to cook them. Instead, I would embrace their desires and make it for them.

This is a simple, spicy, sweet yet delicious dish.

Chicken in Soy sauce

Ingredients

500kg chicken

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

6 tbsp sweet soy sauce

2 tbsp oyster sauce

3 cloves

2 cardamoms

3 star anises

1 cinnamon stick

2 cups water

1 yellow onion / 2 shallots – peeled and sliced

3 cloves garlic – peeled and sliced

3-inch ginger – peeled and sliced

4 bird’s eyes chilies – bruised

1 red chili – diagonally sliced

2 tbsp of tamarind juice (½ tbsp tamarind paste dissolved in 2 tbsp water)

½ tsp pepper

Salt – to taste

Sugar – to taste

Instructions

Clean the chicken and cut into large bite-sized chunk then pat dry. Marinade the chicken with dark soy sauce, sweet soy sauce and oyster sauce then leave it aside for at least 15 minutes.  

Heat up a wok then add about ¼ cup of cooking oil and sauté the cloves, cardamom, star anise and cinnamon stick until fragrant.

Add the sliced yellow onion / shallots, garlic and ginger and sauté until it is translucent.  

Add the chicken together with the sauces then stir-fry for about 1 minute. Pour in 1 cup of water and stir to combine well then cover the wok. Let the gravy simmer to let the chicken cook in the gravy for about 10 minutes over medium low heat. Stir occasionally.

Add the bird’s eyes chili, red chili, tamarind juice and pepper. Stir to combine well.

Finally, add another 1 cup of water and season with salt and sugar. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for another 5 minutes until the sauce thickens.

It is now ready to be served!

Mother-In-Law Chicken Rendang

They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach so I first learned to cook Malay cuisine about 17 years ago that is since I’ve known this wonderful Malay man from Batu Pahat, Johore.  As I learned to prepare the cuisine myself, I also learned to appreciate the cuisine better. Heavy on spices, for me, it is truly a culinary work of art. 

My mother-in-law was my very first teacher. She taught me how to cook and taught me almost everything about Malay cuisine. Today I want to share my mother-in-law version of Chicken Rendang.  

Chicken Rendang

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

2 stalks of lemon grass – white part only and bruised

2 cups of coconut milk (1 cup of thick coconut milk plus 1 cup of water)

1½ tbsp cumin powder

1½ tbsp fennel powder

4 tbsp kerisik (toasted grated coconut)

5 pcs of kaffir lime leaves - bruised

2 pcs turmeric leaves – thinly sliced

¼ cup of tamarind juice (½ tbsp. tamarind paste dissolved in ¼ cup water)

Salt and palm sugar – to taste

To blend into a smooth paste

4 cloves garlic – peeled and crushed

2 yellow onion – peeled and quartered

2-inch galangal – peeled and sliced

2-inch ginger – peeled and sliced

2 stalks of lemongrass – white part only and coarsely chopped

1 tbsp turmeric powder

5 tbsp dried chili paste

5 pcs fresh bird’s eye chillies (Add more if you like it spicier)

How to cook

1.    Trim off any excess fat then exfoliate the chicken to remove any trapped dirt or unpleasant stuff off the skin by grabbing a handful of coarse salt and rub all over the skin but at the same time being careful not to tear the skin and rinse well.  Cut into large bite-sized chunk then pat dry. Marinade the chicken with 1 tsp of turmeric powder and 1 tsp of salt. Fry the chicken until half cooked then set aside.

2.   In a different wok, add about ¾ cup of cooking oil and fry the bruised lemon grass until fragrant. Add the spice paste together with the cumin and fennel powder then sauté until fragrant and the oil separates out. Do not be alarmed by the amount of cooking oil in this recipe as it is crucial to ensure that the spices is appropriately cooked and to prevent the gravy from drying out during storage.

3.  Add the chicken and the coconut milk then bring to a simmer on medium heat, stirring frequently until the liquid has dried up.  

4.     Add the kerisik, kaffir lime leaves and turmeric leaves. Stir to blend well with the chicken.

5.  Add tamarind juice, palm sugar and salt to taste then continue to simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally to avoid the gravy to stick to the bottom of the wok until the oil separates out.

6.    Turn off the heat. Dish out and serve!