Tuesday, January 14, 2014

braised chicken mid-joints in soy caramel

Monday. If there were to be a day when I loathe to cook, it has to be on a Monday.

Because I cook virtually everyday, I am usually exhausted when Monday comes round. Not exhausted because I have to cook. Afterall, I LOVE cooking. More because I am usually out of ideas as to WHAT to cook after the weekend.

For this reason, I tend to keep Monday menus simple. And simple to me means Chinese food. I can usually whip up a Chinese meal - one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and one 'other' dish - in 15 to 20 minutes.

Today, I decided to braise chicken in soy caramel.


Do you like chicken wings? I think chicken wings are my favourite part of the entire bird. I adore the wing tips. I remember we once had a helper who was from Indonesia. One evening, I asked her to clean the chicken wings so I could cook them at a later time. I specifically reminded her to leave the wing tips on the chicken. Misunderstanding what I had said, she snipped off ALL the wing tips and disposed of them. I think that night I could see my heart bleeding.

Anyway, enough yakking. Lets get on to how to make this dish. It really is a very simple dish to make. I started by slicing ginger and crushing some garlic. There is no need to remove the skin on either the garlic or the ginger if you do not wish to.



These were added to some hot vegetable oil, and cooked for a minute or so.


Then in went the chicken. You can also use chicken thighs or a whole chicken. Just cut them into smaller pieces.


I added the soy caramel, and stirred until all the chicken pieces had been coated.


I added light soy sauce and sesame oil.



And water. If you like more gravy, then add more water, but at least add enough water to almost cover the chicken.



Finally I added a little sugar, salt and white pepper. I gave everything a good stir, and covered the pan. The heat was lowered and the chicken was simmered for about 10 minutes after which I removed the cover and continued simmering the chicken for another 5 minutes.


Once the chicken was cooked through, and the sauce had thickened, the chicken was ready to be served.


There you go. A super simple dish to combat those Monday (cooking) blues.

RECIPE
Braised Chicken Mid-joints in Soy Caramel (Serves 4-6)

Ingredients:
1 kg chicken mid-joints, or drumlets, or any chicken parts
1 piece thumb-sized ginger, sliced
6-7 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons caramel soy (substitute with dark soy sauce if you can't find this)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon light soy
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste
2.5-3 cups water

Method:
1. Saute ginger and garlic in hot vegetable oil for 1-2 minutes.
2. Add chicken and caramel.
3. Stir to coat chicken.
4. Add light soy, sesame, water. sugar, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
5. Simmer on low heat, covered, for 10 minutes. Remove cover and simmer another 5 minutes.
6. Serve with rice.


4 comments:

  1. Hi,
    What is soy caramel? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha, here is the link: http://www.knightsmeats.com.au/product_images/x/636/Cheong_Chan_-_Thick_Caramel_Sauce__35198_zoom.jpg
      :)

      Delete
  2. Hi Diana, I've been trying to search for this soy caramel to make bak kwa... but to no avail. Could you tell me where it might be available? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi of course! i got mine from the guy who sells dried goods at the market i go to next to bedok post office. it is not always available though.

      Delete