Asian

….well, that’s my opinion anyway.

I am addicted to soy chicken. It’s my Friday night ‘naughty’ meal. Served with plump white rice, pickled cucumber and green sauce it is just the most comforting, yummy thing you can ever think of eating.

It’s REALLY easy to make.

This recipe we have been using for years. My husband found it actually and we basically follow it word for word as it’s perfect just the way it is.

The green ginger sauce I have adapted from various recipes and made it my own.

When we used to order soya chicken at Chinese restaurants I would order 3 or 4 extra containers of ‘the green stuff’ as I just love it so much. I tried so many recipes and they never quite tasted the same. UNTIL NOW. I have totally nailed it and wonder if sometimes if the chicken is secondary and really I’m only cooking it so it can sit under a pile of ‘green stuff’.

This is often the case with me. Condiments are primary not secondary foods 🙂

SOYA CHICKEN
Recipe by: This person on the internet

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (medium)
1/2 cup dark soya sauce (I used gluten free soy, but the dark gives it a great colour)
1/2 cup Shaoxing wine (Chinese cooking wine)
1/2 cup white sugar (I use honey when I’m in my Paleo mood)
1 cup water
4 slices ginger, sliced thick
3 pieces star anise
3 chinese peppercorns
2 stalks spring onions

Method

In a pot large enough to hold the chicken, put in dark soya sauce, Chinese cooking wine, white sugar, ginger slices, star anise, Chinese peppercorns, water and spring onions.

Keep pot lidded and boil till it bubbles (about 10 minutes). Place chicken in the bubbling pot & keep lid on. Boil for 20 minutes

Turn chicken over (be careful not to pierce the skin!) and boil for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let chicken rest for 5 minutes.

Remove from pot and cut into appropriate size for serving.

Strain leftover sauce from pot and simmer for 10 mins to reduce and use as additional gravy. Serve with fluffy steam rice*

*If you love Asian food as much as I do you MUST buy a rice cooker. It may seem like just another thing that will take up room in your kitchen, but it really is so useful and makes the best rice. Details on the love I have for mine in a post to come…….

THE ‘GREEN STUFF’

Recipe by: Me

Ingredients

1 large green onion, chopped finely

2 tablespoon ginger paste (or grate your own finely)

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon chicken buillon powder (bought from Asian grocer)

Method

Mix it all together and serve in a cute little bowl

This recipe is in my recipe folder and is used so frequently the page has crab splatters all over it. Kind of gross, yes, but also evidence of how often I cook it and how totally awesome it is. Afraid I don’t know where it originally came from, but it is the very best (and most authentic) version I have ever made. I once made it for 13 people, which almost killed me. Much easier to make it for 4.

SINGAPORE CHILLI CRAB

Ingredients

2 (600g) mud crabs
1/3 cup peanut oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped or grated
2 teaspoons grated ginger
2 red chillis, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped

for sauce
¼ cup tomato sauce (yes, the sweet one in the bottle!)
¼ cup chilli sauce (the smooth red one you can now get in supermarkets as well as Asian grocers)
1 tablespoon white sugar (or honey)
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ cup chicken stock
2 eggs beaten, optional*
3 spring onions, sliced

Method

Pull back the “apron” of the crab and remove the feathery gills. Cut the crab into quarters and crack the larger claws.

Heat oil in a wok until very hot. Fry crabs until their colour changes to orange. Remove and set aside.

Add garlic, ginger and chillis to oil. Fry for 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and cook a further two minutes.

Combine sauce ingredients and add to wok. Simmer for a couple of minutes and return crab. Toss to combine. Cover with a lid and cook for a minute. Add egg and shallots and toss to combine.

Serve immediately with rice (or sweet white buns as they do in Singapore)

*The eggs will thicken the mixture.

the best soya chicken in the history of the land

singapore chilli crab