Brandon's Chicken

Using butter, pan-fry pre-salt-marinated chicken thighs, dusted with plain flour on all sides, with a few drops of lemon juice and sprinklings of dried mixed herbs. Ensure all parts of the meat is properly cooked before serving.

21 Wings

21 wings

• 4 tbsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos
• 1 tsp pinch of salt
• slightly less than 1 tbsp of sugar
• 21 wings
  

Mix ingredients to Marinate wings. Cook in Oven over rack at 200 degrees Celcius for 20 mins, before flipping them on their other sides. Drizzle left over marinate on the paler side that has just been flipped over to face up, and continue cooking for another 20 mins or till both sides are golden brown. Remove the wings from the oven when cooked and let it stand for 2 mins on the rack for it to crisp on the outside. Serve.

Chicken Curry

adapted from Irene's Peranakan Recipes Tried out & Worth the buy
- Curry Ayam

• 2 trays chicken fillet cut into slightly bigger than bite-sized
• 4 medium-sized potatoes, de-skinned and diced (soaked in salt water)
  
• 1 carrot diced (soaked with potatoes)
  
• 3 shallots roughly chopped and fried till fragrant
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 3 tbsp curry powder mixed with 4 tbsp water to form paste
• 2 and a half tbsp Sambal Belachan (sambal with prawn paste)
• 1-2 bowls water
  
• 200ml thick coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• small pinch of sugar
• 3 tbsp cooking oil

Heat Saucepan till hot, add the oil and fry the shallots, throw in the garlic and heat breifly, so that its aroma is released but is on just starting to brown. Throw in potatoes and carrots drained from the water, and fry till lightly browned. Add the Curry powder paste, coconut milk and Sambal Belachan and fry till fragrant, add the chicken and toss to coat well. When Chicken is starting to cook, add in the water and stir, mixing well. Consistency as desired, add the necessary amt of water. Add the salt, sugar, adding to desired taste. Let it all simmer for a while, allowing the potatoes and carrots to soften a little.

Ready to Serve.

Sticky Wings

makes 16 wings

Beautiful, extremely good-tasting.

Marinate wings in 8tbsp thick light soy sauce, 4 tbsp wine (I used 2 with a very potent Taiwanese aboriginal wine) 2 tbsp honey and 2 tbsp sugar. Preheat oven at 200 degrees celcius and line the oven tray with heavy duty aluminum foil so the foil does not tear and stick to pan while you turn the chicken wings while it cooks. Line the marinated wings neatly on the tray so they do not touch each other, with the skin facing down and drizzle more honey over the top side of each wing. Let it bake for 15 mins before turning them over, and allowing them to cook another 15 minutes before turning them over again. I turned them 3 times, and cooked the wings for about 45 mins to an hour. The wings would have turned a dark gold, and the sauce beginning to caramelize on the wings, and already caramelized at the edges of the foil. Line a plate with lettuce and place the wings over the lettuce. Serve immediately.

For a Cantonese family, the underlying fresh lettuce is great for wrapping spoonfuls of rice and meat, drizzling a little gravy over and popping into the mouth.

Honeyed Baked Chicken

Super simple with minimum preparation, extremely delicious and appetizingly aromatic.
Makes for 4

• 3 patties Chicken fillet with skin intact
• extra light olive oil
• salt & sugar
• honey
• 1/2 tomato

Slice tomato thinly and place aside. Thaw the chicken in the microwave. There should be some oil from the patties that gather on the bottom of the dish. Use this oil to grease a well-lined oven tray. Add more olive oil if necessary.
Wash the chicken patties, removing extra fats esp near the edges, but making sure the skin covers nicely still. Season the patties by rubbing a little pinch of salt & sugar over the skin.
Under the skin of each patty, line the sliced tomatoes over one side of the chicken and place on the lined & greased tray, with the skinless side facing up. Drizzle more olive oil over each patty.

Bake for 20 mins between 245 and 270 degrees fahrenheit, adjusting according to the thickness of the patties. Meat should be almost cooked, and starting to brown.
Monitor and flip the patties to allow even cooking.
Spread honey over the skins, and continue baking for 15-30 mins till the skin is a nice rich gold.
By then access honey on the tray should have caramelized or burnt. Remove and cool so the meat edges and skin is nice and crispy.

Cut into thick strips and serve with accompanying sauce or dressing of your choice.
My family, being cantonese is real easy about dressings. Everyone's happy with using Oyster sauce most of the time.

Using thicker patties make juicier results. Slightly thinner patties or pounding the patties after thawing make for faster and easier cooking and a crispier finish.

Ham & Shrimp Pasta

I finally tried tossing up the pasta.

On Tuesday when I awoke, it was the first thing on my mind. Dinner for Adam.
I was going to go for my flight, come back, toss the salad and pack him pasta for dinner.

So I did. I touched down back in SIN, went downstairs to the cold storage at terminal 2, saw the doctor for a horrid throat infection, and carried my black pepper ham, olive oil, pitted black olives, ground black pepper and bacon bits home. I only wished the olives came in a bottle instead of a can.

I needed to prepare something I could eat without needing to re-heat.

It made me happy, when he tucked away at dinner and wanted to continue eating even when the class break was over. "Never mind," he said, grinning, "I'm gonna just continue to eat. I'm very hungry."


Ham & Shrimp pasta
(makes enough for 3)
. I like using Fusilli (1/2 bag)

• 4 slices black pepper ham cut into strips
• boiled chicken fillet shreded
  
• 1 & 1/2 handful japanese shrimps (that are slightly translucent when cooked - uber sweet)
• bacon bits to add texture
• lettuce (vege is good, eat more) some suggestions - purple Radiccio lettuce
• ground black pepper (i heap it, my mom thinks it over-powers)
• fish sauce to taste
• 1 tsp sambal blachan
• 2 slices diced roasted tomatoes
  
• 5 pitted olives, sliced (mom: "go easy on the olives")
• smoked salmon would have been a nice addition
• generous amount of olive oil

- croutons
Croutons - Combine garlic, oil, salt, and bread cubes in a bowl. Mix until cubes are coated evenly. Spread the coated cubes onto a baking sheet and bake until the croutons are golden. This should take about 10 minutes.

Next thing I'm going to try. Clam Pasta.
On my shopping list: Food containers to "ta-bao" more dinners for Adam and beloved friends who might not have time for dinner before class.

I wanted to photograph it, but couldn't find an appropriate time to.

Great places to buy nice lunch boxes:

1. Sheng Shiong @ West Coast
2. Upp Cross St along the Food Centre L1 (I'll take note of the exact location and blk no. the next time I get a chance to go again)