XO Marinated Salt & Pepper Chicken Ribs

Chicken Ribs... FRIED CHICKEN RIBS... In all it's crunch and crispiness... Juicy and tender flesh... 

I don't think I'd be the first one to say this but I have never heard of chicken ribs until I moved to Melbourne. It's odd. Though to be fair, it's not technically the ribs of the chicken. More like the wish bone to be exact. But, what's delicious about it is that it's got the texture of the thigh meat and easy to eat off of because it only has a single bone in the middle. Even more excellent when fried with salt and pepper or the duck egg yolk.

It's a dish that I've always been a fan of at low key, fuss free Chinese restaurants (especially the one at Rose Garden, ZOMG). Even though I see them sell chicken ribs and markets all the time, I actually never attempted cooking it at home until recently. No real reason in particular, just never got around to it.

I whipped up this recipe with whatever I had in the fridge and pantry. I think what really enhances a good salt and pepper dish is the fried toppings of onions, garlic and chillies. Oh, and the right amount of salt and white pepper, of course. Note: always use white pepper in Chinese cooking. I never paid much attention to the toppings previously and if I'm honest, I normally scrape it off to the side of my plate when having it at restaurants. But I realised that it actually adds so much more flavour and texture in each bite when having it together. It's so good, yum...

Anyway, this dish is seriously easy, tasty and cheap to make too. Such a winner as my sister and I couldn't have enough of it! Not messy to make because you're only frying it in a shallow pan and no splatter experienced. Hope you give this one a go.

XO Marinated Salt & Pepper Chicken Ribs

(an original recipe)

Click here to print the recipe

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

500g chicken ribs

2 tbsp XO sauce

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 1/2 cup corn flour

Oil for frying

For the topping:

4 tbsp diced onions

1 clove garlic (minced)

1 - 2 birds eye chillies (sliced thinly) *

White pepper

Other:

Salt and white pepper

Sliced spring onions (to garnish)

* Note: May be substituted with diced capsicum

Method:

1)  Marinate the chicken ribs with the XO sauce and minced garlic for at least 3 hours or overnight in the fridge.

2) Just before cooking, coat the chicken in corn flour and set aside. Heat up the oil in a shallow pan filled to about 1 cm high. 

3) Once the oil is hot, fry the chicken in batches for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side. Remove and allow to cool for about 5 minutes on a wire rack.

4) While the chicken is cooling, drain the pan leaving about 1 tbsp of oil. Fry the onions, garlic and chillies for about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add several dashes of white pepper and mix well. Set aside.

5) Place the chicken on a plate and top with fried onions, garlic and chillies. Season with salt and white pepper. Garnish with sliced spring onions. Serve immediately.

Mum's Ham, Abalone & Kailan Jade Chicken Recipe (火腿鲍鱼玉兰鸡)

A childhood favourite dish that Mum makes every special occasion till this day ever since I was young. Something I look forward to everytime I'm in Malaysia!

Very glad to have learned to make this dish from Mum

Happy Chap Goh Meh (aka last Day of Chinese New Year) to everyone!

Just in case you don't know, CNY actually last for 15 days in total... 15! How fun is that, right?

Suffice to say, there was lots of overeating involved the past 2 weeks. What else are you meant to do during this festive season anyway? Whether it's going over to my relatives' house for dinner, them coming over, friends coming over, or having meals at restaurants... It's great. Not just the food, but the catchups, really.

Anyway, very happy to be sharing a dish that is very close to my heart. This Ham, Abalone & Kailan Jade Chicken (火腿鲍鱼玉兰鸡) is featured in our home in Malaysia almost every Chinese New Year or Winter Solstice Festival without fail (the 2 major feasting festive occasions). Most Jade Chickens only have the ham sandwiched with chicken. But what Mum does to make this dish extra special is to make it with abalone too, which can be quite expensive (AU$70-100 per can), and also why we only have it on special occasions. It's quite expensive but it's for that fact that we appreciate this dish even more, because it's such a treat. 

For instance, I bought my chicken for AU$20, and canned abalone for AU$88, so this dish actually costed me more than AU$100 to make. That's my family tradition anyway, but you can totally make this without the abalone and make the sauce with the chicken stock -- just as yummy! The other thing why Mum's version is so delicious is that she insists on using the best possible quality chicken she can find. For instance, the chickens she buy are corn fed, free range and of a certain breed that is known for its silky meat texture and bright yellow skin. The cost of these chickens in Malaysia can be 4 or 5 times more than the normal chicken and can even go up to 3kg each. It's sensational. I bought my chicken from South Melbourne Market. 

The thing that makes this dish quite unique as well is the method used to poached the chicken. Mum's method of heating/cooling the chicken in short bursts helps tighten the skin, which retains its shape and texture very well. Besides that, I love Mum's method of leaving the whole chicken in the pot for an hour with the stove turned off to let it cook slowly in the residual meat. Let me tell you, this really did WONDERS to the moisture and texture of the meat. My cousin ate this in disbelief at how moist the chicken was that day, especially the chicken breast! I highly recommend this whole poached chicken method.

Anyway, I am very, very happy to have finally learned this dish from Mum that I have loved for so many years. This was actually my first attempt of making it and so happy by how well it turned out! Everyone really enjoyed it that day. Traditional Chinese home cooked recipes like these (or the Chinese 8 Treasure Duck, Sour Plum Duck, etc) really are my favourite recipes to share, because of how close they are to my heart. It's so personal to me and I think people enjoy reading about them too because they tend to be the more popular visited pages on the site.

So, yay for another Chinese New Year specialty dish to share! Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. It's so special and means a lot to me.

Cheers! Or shall I say, Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Here are some of the other dishes I prepared for my relatives when they all came over for CNY dinner:

My late Grandma's Dried Oysters, Red Dates & White Carrot Soup

Recipe: here

Mum's Deep Fried Prawns

This recipe is the BEST! Recipe: here

Chinese Scrambled Egg White with Crab Meat & Dried Scallops

Recipe to follow!

Fried Garlic Chives with Chinese Sausage and Tofu

Ham, Abalone & Kailan Jade Chicken (火腿鲍鱼玉兰鸡)

Easy Roast Pork with Crackling

(served with spicy Hoisin sauce)

This recipe is a WINNER too. Recipe: here

To end the night, my cousin made me this Dark Chocolate & Orange Entremet Cake as well as an early celebration for my birthday. So, so sweet of her...

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Mum's Ham, Abalone & Kailan Jade Chicken

(an original recipe by Mum)

Click here to print the recipe

Ingredients:

Poached chicken:

1 large chicken (best quality you can find)

Pot of water

1 large knob ginger (sliced)

8 cloves of garlic (crushed)

2 tbsp salt

Oil rub:

4 tbsp sesame oil

2 tsp salt

Other:

1 can abalone

1/4 tsp grated ginger

1/4 tsp sugar

1 tsp corn flour + 1/4 cup water

5 large slices ham

1 large bunch kailan (poached, to serve)

Coriander (to garnish)

*Note: You can omit the abalone altogether if you wish and just make the sauce out of the chicken stock

Method:

1. Using a kitchen string, tie the chicken around the wing and through the cavity with a loop at the end so you can lift the chicken easily.

2. For the poached chicken, fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil.  Add in the ginger, garlic and salt and allow to boil for 10 minutes.

3. Lifting the chicken with the string, dip the whole chicken in the pot and allow to boil for 3 minutes.

4. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside on a plate. Bring the pot of water to a boil again before placing the chicken back in the pot for another 3 minutes. Repeat this step one more time. You should have boiled the chicken in water for 3 minutes a total of 3 times.

5. Turn off the heat immediately and leave the chicken in the pot for an hour, covered. Note: If you find later on that the chicken is still undercooked (mine wasn't) when cutting it up, just place it back in the pot for a little while to boil.

6. Mix the oil rub in a bowl. Remove the chicken from the pot after an hour and rub the oil rub all over the chicken. You can reserve the chicken stock for other use.

7. Bring all the contents of the canned abalone in a pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove the abalone pieces for use later. Add in the grated ginger, sugar, corn flour and water and bring to a boil. Once the sauce is thickened, switch off the stove and set aside for later.

8. Slice the thigh and breast meat off the chicken into 1cm thick pieces. Slice the abalone thinly as well as the ham to match the sizes of the sliced chicken meat. 

9. To serve, arrange the sliced chicken, abalone and ham meat on a plate. Arrange the poached kailan around the plate and pour the abalone sauce over the entire plate. Garnish with coriander. Serve immediately with rice.

Dad's Grilled Chicken Wings (with Chinese Rose Wine & Five Spice Powder)

I live alone in Melbourne so I actually do think about my family a lot, especially when I'm cooking for some reason. I often think, "Oooh, I think Mum & Dad would enjoy this" or "Oh man, what's that dish that Mum used to make and how do I make it again?"

Most people would already know that I would choose ANY homecooked meal (even if it's as simple as having a simple onion omelette with rice) over eating at a restaurant any day. I do honestly think my love for homecooked meals is stemmed from how I was raised. Almost every single day (even up until the time I finished high school), we would wake up to a nice, hot, cooked breakfast waiting for us in the kitchen. Our breakfast would often be accompanied by freshly made juices or soya bean milk every morning. Yes, soya bean milk from scratch. 

Then, we would have a small container of food to bring to eat at recess in the morning. After that, we also had freshly cooked food from home delivered to us during lunchtime. And finally, we would also come home to another great homecooked dinner at the end of the day. Dinner every night was always deliciously well balanced. There would always be at least one meat, one fish, one veg, one carb (rice, duh) and also a soup. 

To cope with all of this, we had helpers growing up. Mum has always been a great cook but she also had a very busy career so only cooked on special occasions and relied on the helpers we had to run the daily chores. She normally teaches our helpers how to cook the food and then leaves it up to them to do it.

I have always felt very fortunate about my childhood. But I definitely am not spoilt. I don't take for granted any of their hard work and appreciate it very much. It is also because of this that I too have been so inspired to have well balanced homecooked meals as much as I can (often even after a long day). And I too, want my kids to have the same upbringing as I did. Also, I really do enjoy cooking for others as well because I want to bless others with the same blessing I received growing up.

Whenever we're in Malaysia, Mum definitely looks after the cooking. On the other hand, Dad takes charge when he's in Melbourne. Mum and Dad absolutely loves going to the market every single morning to buy fresh food to cook for dinner that night. Dad gets so excited by all the sights (and prices) of the food at the market and cannot help but feel so inspired to cook. He never plans what he's making and it's different almost every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We only eat out on weekends whenever Mum and Dad are in town. Dad really does love cooking so much when he's in here that he can be in there for hours and I've caught him humming to himself while he does it. It's really cute.

Now you see why I really do take after my parents in many ways including their love for food (and nutrition) and also their enthusiasm towards homecooking.

Okay, enough about my life story. Dad created this dish one evening when he was in Melbourne when he was just being adventurous with things he could find in my pantry. It was so delicious that I requested for him to make it for me and my friends several times after that.

After my parents left Melbourne, I still couldn't help but crave these chicky wings that Dad made. It was such an interesting mix of flavours, like nothing I've ever tasted before but it was SO delicious. The key ingredient is the Chinese Rose Wine (玫瑰露酒), which I bought when I made Char Siu or Chinese BBQ Roast Pork from scratch for the Chinese New Year Dinner I prepared earlier this year (see the blog post: here!). 

I love Dad's recipe so much that I've started making it a lot whenever I have friends over for dinner.

This Chinese Rose Wine can be found at a well stocked Asian Grocery and is mainly used in Pork and Chicken dishes -- delicious!! 

This was taken when Bryan, Jo, Luke and I would have our occasional simple potluck catchup dinners. This was taken when it was my turn to host our potluck =)

2 months ago, I also decided to cook for my neighbours who all had exams every night for a week. This was one of the dinners I prepared. 

We had Dad's chicky wings, Chinese beetroot soup, steamed egg custard topped with pork mince, steamed pomfret, fried iceberg lettuce. 

Just over the weekend, I had a #chickenpotluck with my dear friends I-Hua and Aaron (who were the generous hosts!), Shellie, Bryan and Jo. It was a very fun night of food and laughs

As you can see, I really do love cooking Dad's chicky wings. It's very different, which makes it fun to share but still utterly delicious. I remember my Dad every time I make this and often can't help but share a little story about Dad to the people I'm making this for.

Besides that, it's seriously easy to make. Quick to cook and close to no effort required. I often make this as part of the meal when I am busy preparing other dishes when having people over for dinner.

Hope you give this a go too!

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Dad's Grilled Chicken Wings (with Chinese Rose Wine and Five Spice Powder)

Ingredients:
1kg chicken wings
1/2 tbsp five spice powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp Chinese rose wine *
1/2 tsp salt

* May be substituted with Chinese rice wine

Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl or tray. Cover with cling wrap and leave it to marinate in the fridge overnight. 

2. Take it out from the fridge a few hours before cooking to turn the chicken wings before placing it back into the fridge until ready to use.

3. Preheat oven to 200°C. Remove the chicken wings from the fridge and place on a wire rack on a tray. 

4. Bake skin side up for 12 minutes. Turn the chicken wings. Bake for another 10 minutes. Leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving. 

Soya Chicken and Potato Stew Recipe

Hello!

Just a quick one today. Am currently in the midst of having my FINALS for my Masters (and quite possibly my final exam ever, yay!) so I've really been studying hard for the past week. But now, it's the end of the day and my brain's pretty fried so I think it's time for me to take a break by doing a quickie post.

I haven't been posting as many Recipes as I'd like because a big part of me wants to retake the photographs for most of the recipes in my drafts folder. They're not bad, but a lot of them were taken at night, which isn't ideal. Which means, I've got to plan my meals, cook the food, take the photos and hope that the light is good for me to do them... Oh boy. But, good thing is that it gives me more chances to refine the flavours further until I'm 100% happy with them, like this one. 

This Soya Chicken and Potato Stew Recipe (phew, what a mouthful!) is one that is SO common in many, many Chinese Malaysian households...seriously. It's a dish that so many of us have grown up with. Tasty, saucy, and just incredibly delicious with rice... Downright comfort food. 

For me, this is one dish that I cook fairly often, especially on days when I just crave something that tastes like home. Though to be honest, I wasn't even sure what this dish was called but when I described it to many of my friends, they knew exactly what I was talking about. "You know, the chicken and potato one with the brown sauce" LOL. Actually made our mouths water just thinking about it too. 

As for the recipe, it varies slightly from household to household and it's not very common for people to add the carrots, but I absolutely love the taste of it in this dish. Though, the hero is still the chicken and potatoes, but I must say it complements it really well.

Anyway, very glad to be sharing another recipe that really reflects who I am, where I come from and what I love. Hope you give this one a go, you won't regret it! 


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Chinese Soya Chicken and Potato Stew
(adapted from recipe by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover)

Ingredients:

3 tbsp cooking oil

5 cloves of garlic (sliced)

800g chicken drumsticks (chopped to bite-sized pieces) *
3 medium or 2 large potatoes (chopped to approx 2cm cubes)

2 medium carrots (chopped roughly)

3 tbsp light soy

400ml water

1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce

3/4 tsp salt (or to taste)

1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp sesame oil

* Alternatively, use chicken wings

Method:

1. Heat cooking oil in a wok and saute the garlic until golden brown.

2. Add in chicken pieces and stir fry until meat turns white.

3. Add in carrot, potatoes and stir fry until well combined.

4. Pour in light soy sauce and stir fry until well combined.

5. Add in water, dark soy sauce and stir briefly to combine.

6. Cover with lid and simmer for 30 minutes.

7. Add the salt, sugar and sesame oil. Stir until well combined.

8. Dish out the stew and serve hot with steamed rice. ENJOY =)

As with most Chinese homecooked dishes, looks terrible on the plate but tastes absolutely FANTASTIC

Oh oh and another thing: 

I'll be leaving tomorrow to Adelaide for the weekend to attend the 2012 Eat Drink Blog Conference and I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about it!! The timing is bad because I'm having my Finals, but I'm totally making up for it by studying super hard now so I can enjoy the weekend later. I keep pinching myself when I am reminded that I'll be going to a FOOD BLOGGING CONFERENCE. How much fun can this get? Can't wait to blog about it when I get back... Woo-hoo!

Chicken Parma Casserole Recipe

Chicken Parma Casserole -- A new twist on a classic Aussie favourite!

My group of uni friends and I sorta (unintentionally) started a tradition every time it came round to the exam season. We would meet together at my place every day to study the day away, and come dinner time, some would help me in the kitchen to prepare dinner for every one that night, while others would wash up after and we'd all chip in for dinner. Good system. Dinner would always be in front of the TV in the living room over an episode of either The Office, Modern Family and more recently, 30 Rock. (FUN!) Then, we'd continue all the way till almost midnight and the cycle repeats itself the following day. Normally, we'd do this for almost a month.

A tradition that we upheld for the last 2 years of our undergrad. It was seriously awesome. That's why, ironically, exam season is actually my highlight of every semester! These guys are so fantastic that they even make studying fun. Maybe it's cause we're not actually studying half the time ahem ;p. I kid, I kid... We strike a good balance between fun and work time and happy to say that all of us graduated with Honours. Yayeee... Happy days...

And coming up with what to cook 6 BIG ASS eaters each night proved to be slightly challenging, but fun. Whatever it was, it had to be quick, healthy and FILLING. One night, I actually stumbled upon this youtube video while I was meant to be, uh... Studying lol. One thing led to another and I spent the whole night watching recipe and cooking videos on the Internet. Well done, Wince. Well done...

Oh, great. Now every one knows that I obviously take most of my photos on my carpet floor lol. Can't remember the last time I used a store-bought pasta sauce (prefer making my own) but the flavours intrigued me

SO glad I did because this recipe totally caught my attention and I couldn't stop thinking about it ever since! Everything made so much sense and it deconstructed my all-time favourite pub food, The Chicken Parma, in a way that it's so much simpler to prepare at home. All it took was a little creativity and improvisation.

First, this recipe is baked, not fried. Also, the crumbed coating is cleverly substituted by using some croutons. Everything else is just assembled straight out of the bottle/packet and NO prep is required at all. TOO EASY! Also, don't forget that chicken parma is actually MEANT to have PARMesan cheese, not just Mozzarella! (A misconception that most restaurants still make today). That's why it's called Chicken PARMa, no duhhh... The only thing I meant to do was really PILE on the Mozz but I sorta ran out that day. Oh wellzzz...

Anyway, I recommend that you give this dish a go. It is so fun, different and interesting because it's a Chicken Parma CASSEROLE. We enjoyed it. Plus, it's so simple like you wouldn't believe and I guarantee that ANYONE can make this! Took less than 10 minutes (tops) to put together before whacking it in the oven -- DONE. Perfect for Exam dinners when time is of the essence for cooking!! From one student to another... Definitely going in the books under "Simple Meal Ideas". Also, this recipe has a lot of "sprinkling" and "spreading" involved so you can easily adjust amounts to preferred taste and size of tray.

I personally love this and can't wait to make it again. Enjoy!! =)

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Chicken Parma Casserole

(serves 6 big eaters)

Ingredients:

6 cloves garlic (pressed)

2 tbsp olive oil

chilli flakes to sprinkle

4 chicken breasts

dried herbs to sprinkle

cracked black pepper

1 bottle pasta sauce (approx 350g)

2 1/2 cups Mozzarella cheese

1 cup Parmesan cheese

1 bag croutons (approx 80g) *

* Couldn't find croutons so used mini toast chips instead

Method:

Preheat oven to 200degC. Press the garlics into the tray and add the olive oil. Sprinkle desired amount of chilli flakes and mix all around with a fork.

Place the chicken breasts on the tray (make sure no gaps). Sprinkle dried herbs and crack some black pepper all around. Pour pasta sauce onto chicken and spread evenly.

Sprinkle half the Mozz, then half the Parmesan. Spread the croutons or mini toasts evenly.

Sprinkle remaining Mozz followed by the Parmesan. Finish off with more dried herbs.

Whack it in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Rest for 5 minutes before serving (if you can wait that long). Serve with some mash and veg and ENJOY! =D

"Before & After", clearly not enough Mozz but still yum. The smell of cheese, herbs and garlic through the air was amazing =)

Chicken Parma Casserole + Simple Mash with Truffle Oil + Blanched Veg for dins

The good stuff...

Great thing about this is how moist and juicy the chicken was. Lots and lots of sauce too, YUMMO =D