Claypot Chicken with Black Fungus and Shreded Ginger

Okay, I am going to share this claypot black fungus shreded ginger chicken recipe today after seeing so many fried dishes. :) Not that I cook fried dishes everyday, I actually do steamed dishes, stewed dishes, baked dishes as well. Just that when I did simple dishes for my family due to busy schedule, I didn't put them on blog... :D

Here's the ingredients needed for this dish:-
- About 1kg chicken (I use chicken wings. Separate the winglets and drumlets.)
- 2-3 tbsp shreded ginger
- 15 -16g black fungus (I use cloud ear fungus) - soaked, half them if too big
- 1.5-2 tbsp sesame oil

- 80 -100ml warm water

Seasoning needed:-
- 3-4 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (shao xing)
- 0.5 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 0.5-1 tsp cooking caramel
- 1 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp sugar
- **another 3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (which add in when almost done)

Steps:-
(1) Heat up the sesame oil in a claypot. Saute the shreded ginger until aromatic.
(Note: It is okay to use normal wok if you do not have a claypot.)

(2) Then, add in the black fungus and stir fry it for awhile until aromatic.

(3) Add in the chicken and continue to stir fry them until half cooked.

(4) Next, add in warm water and the seasoning (except the last 3 additional tbsp of Chinese cooking wine). Cover the lid and simmer over medium heat until the sauce is thicken.

(5) When almost cooked, add in the last 3 tbsp of Chinese cooking wine (shao xing) and simmer for another 2-3minutes before removing from heat.

Now, the Claypot Chicken with Black Fungus and Shreded Ginger is ready. Serve immediately with warm rice and other dishes of your choice. ;)

Enjoy!

Bake Honey Soy Chicken

Bake honey soy chicken. I was wondering whether I should post this dish or not as it is pretty simple. I saw this easy recipe from a magazine and by reading the ingredients and steps, I was happy to keep the recipe as it is simple.

Being the main cook at home, it is indeed not easy. There are times where I stood in front of my pantry wondering what's for tonight. When children are at home during the holidays, that's even more job for mum!  Honestly, I salute the mums/dads who works full time and did the cooking after coming home. Not easy. It's either you pre-planned or you got to think fast for quick meal.

Here's the simple ingredients for this bake honey soy chicken:-

12 or 13 chicken wings, separate the winglets and drumlets (Note: I use medium big chicken wings.)

0.33 cups (ie. 1/3 cups) honey

0.25 cups (i.e. 1/4 cups) light soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato sauce

Method:-

- Mix the honey, soy sauce and tomato sauce in a measurement cup. Stir well.

- In a separate pot or bowl, place the chicken and then pour in the sauce mixture. Mix and coat well.

- Cover the bowl of chicken or cling wrap over it. Place the bowl of chicken in the fridge and let is marinate for at least an hour. (Note: I normally let it marinate for few hours as I did it in the morning and only bake it in the evening.)

 Mix and coat with the marinade...

Ready to bake...

- Preheat the oven at 200 degree C for couple of minutes.

- Place an aluminium foil on the baking tray and then spread the chicken wings on the tray. Brush some of the marinade sauce on the chicken and place the baking tray into the oven.

- Let it bake for about 30 - 50 minutes (depending on your oven) or until cooked, turning the chicken a few times. (Note: If you see that the chicken is a bit dry during the baking process, brush some marinade sauce in between the baking process.)

Now that they are ready, remove the baking tray from oven. Place the cooked chicken on serving plate or it you are like me, just serve directly from the baking tray. ;) 

This was how I serve my meal on that day. The bake honey soy chicken, fries, chicken mushroom soup, cucumber and tomato. :)

Enjoy!

Simple dish. The Bake Honey Soy Chicken for all ages! Just finger licking good!

Crispy Curry Leaves Chicken （咖喱叶鸡）

Crispy curry leaves chicken, this is another dish my children love! With the help of my Philips Airfryer, making this dish has become much easier as I do not need to use much oil or to deep fry the chicken.

Here's how I made the crispy curry leaves chicken:-

(1) The ingredients:-
- About 1kg or 1.2kg chicken wings
(Note: About 14 medium small wings, separate the winglets and drumlets. Or, you could also replace chicken wings with chicken thighs)
- 5 to 6 tbsp curry leaves (washed, pat dry, set aside)

(2) The marinade for the chicken:-

- 3 tsp light soy sauce

- 1 tsp (or 1.25 tsp) salt

- 0.75 tsp white pepper (Note: you could reduced to 0.5tsp if you prefer less pepper taste)

- 2 tbsp corn flour

Method:-

In a pot or a big bowl, put in the chicken and the marinade. Mixed well. Cling wrapped over the pot/ bowl (or use a cover) and place it in the fridge. Allow the chicken to marinate for at least 1 hour in the fridge before frying. (Note: For me, I would normally did it in the morning or about noon time depending on circumstances. I let it marinate in the fridge earlier so that I could move on to attend to other matters.)

(3) The cooking bit...

- Your choice. You could either deep fry the chicken in hot oil for about 5 minutes or use an airfryer. My personal preferance is to use airfryer simply because it's less oily.

- As a guide, I airfried my chicken in 2 batches. Place the chicken in the frying basket, spray some cooking oil on top of the chicken and airfried them at 180 degree C for about 20 minutes. (Note: Turn the chicken once for even browning.)

(4) Meanwhile, work on the curry leaves followed by the seasoning...

(i) The curry leaves - Melt about 2 tbsp of butter with medium heat. Put in the the curry leaves and stir fry them until crispy. (Note: Do not use high heat for better control as the curry leaves might turn dark / burnt very fast.) Once ready, remove curry leaves from wok and set aside for later use.

  (ii) The seasoning - Once you have dished up the curry leaves, put in the seasoning below into the wok:-

- about 1 tbsp oyster sauce

- 2 tbsp light soy sauce

- 1.25tsp sugar

And add in about 150 to 200ml water

Let the seasoning simmer over medium heat until it is almost dry, then put in all the fried chicken and the crispy curry leaves. Mix and coat well.

Once all the chicken are evenly coated with the seasoning, dish up into the serving plate. Great to eat warm with rice and other dishes of your choice.  

There, my crispy curry leaves chicken! Yum!