Teriyaki Roast Chicken with Corn

After checking with my previous entry, I realised that I've actually posted this recipe before, but it was a more simple version and it was more asian style, served with mushroom rice.

We didn't feel like eating rice today, so we opted for a western style of dining...

1. Place the boneless chicken thighs into a ziplock bag and add in the marinate:
2 cloves of garlic - roughly chopped
1 teaspoon of ground ginger *TIP*
a good splash of teriyaki sauce
Then I just throw the zipped up bag into the fridge and let it marinate for 20-30mins.


2. About 30mins before we are ready to dine, preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 10mins

3. Marinate the corn with a little of the chicken marinate, oil & a pinch of salt.


4. Place everything onto your baking tray and pop them into the oven for 20mins!


5. After dishing out the meat, you can make some sauce! To make the sauce, pour the drippings from the baking tray onto a frying pan. Add some liquids (wine, stock or water) and heat it up a little. Add some cornstarch water to thicken the sauce.


6. Serve with a nice green garden salad!


*TIP*

I saw this on TV! Next time you buy fresh ginger, keep some frozen ones in your freezer. It's a great idea because:
1. It keeps it fresh for longer
2. When you need ginger as a marinate, grind it into the food. The frozen ginger becomes something like a ginger powder - perfect for marinates.

Hairy Gourd, Corn and Pork Rib Soup

Being Cantonese, having soup during dinner is very important. My Mommy taught me this recipie, but the original uses hairy gourd, carrots and pork ribs. My hubby loves corn, so I switched the carrots for the corn. Just as sweet!

For a soup that serves 2-3,

1 small hairy gourd (毛瓜)
1 corn
6 pieces of pork ribs
4 pcs of dried dates
4-5 pcs of dried mussels/scallops (optional)

Preparation!

For the gourd:
1. Use the back of your knife and scrape away the hairy skin of the gourd, revealing a light green gourd.
2. Cut and discard both the tail ends of the gourd and cut the rest into equal sized sections.

Corn: Just cut into equal sized sections.



Cooking Time!

1. Put half a pot of water over the fire to boil

2. Before putting the dates into the water, pinch it to crack it open.



3. When the water boils, put in your pork ribs

4. When the water bubbles, add in the corn

5. When the water bubbles, add in the gourd. If available, add in the dried mussels or scallops for extra flavour.

6. Let the soup boil over medium heat until the gourd becomes translucent. Watch the water level of the pot, make sure it doesn't dry out. (If it does - just add water)

7. The longer the soup boils, the tastier it gets!

8. When the gourd becomes translucent and the soup becomes a light brownish/yellowish, add salt (and a pinch of msg - if you like) to taste.



Goes very well with cut chilli padi and soya sauce!

CoCo's Fool-Proof Sardines

This is a super simple dish and Cobby absoulutely loves this! Highly recommended for all you people who needed to whip up something real quick!

All you need is:
Canned Sardines (I love Ayam Brand)
Onion - sliced
Chilli padi - sliced
Lime or calamasi juice
Ketchup
Salt & Sugar

Note that I didn't state how much! Cause it's all up to you! SO FLEXIBLE RIGHT! You like onions? Slice 2 or more. You like it hot and spicy? Cut 2 chillis. Don't like? Cut 1 only lor... Haha...

I know... the canned sardines is already soak in tomato sauce! Why do we still need to add ketchup?? You see, the sardine tomato sauce is quite bland and tasteles, so the sauce would be even more fabulous and rich when you add in some ketchup!



**In case you're wondering what's that 2 yellow lumps on the little dish, they are frozen calamasi juice. I juice the whole packet of calamasi and freeze it so that I can store it and use only when I need it. I learnt it from a friend's mommy!**

Anyway:
1. Fry the onions in oil and a pinch of salt till it's nice and soft.



2. Add in the whole can of sardines (I like to half it 1st), chilli, ketchup and a little water and let it bubble for awhile.

3. Add a little sugar and salt to taste.

4. Just before turning off the heat, stir in the calamasi juice

5. SERVE~!



Goes fabulously with a steaming bowl of rice!

Sri Bistari - Famous Nasi Ayam Penyet (Changi)

Ever since I saw Makansutra recommend Nasi Ayam Penyet on TV, I've been hooked. I thought the one that Seetoh recommended was Nuramin at Changi village but it turned out to be the wrong stall, so, not very good. Then, upon recommendation by Mao, I went to try out The Ayam Penyet House at Beach Road. It's good, but not exactly to my liking. Then one fine day I was inspired to find the original recommendation by Makansutra and... I FOUND IT!



Apparently the store is located at the more obsure and quiet wet market side of the Changi Village Hawker Center. No wonder cannot find it! Good things are really harder to find huh!

This is the second time I've visited the store. I love how the skin of the chicken is super crispy with a slight spice fragrance to it. But amazingly, the flesh is still very tender and moist! So, crispy on the outside, moist on the inside! Best!



The chilli paste is not the super spicy type, but has a slight sweetness in it. But somehow it goes very well with the chicken, and I love to mix it with the rice like when having nasi lemak.

Unlike the Ayam Penyet House with the fancy side dishes, this store only gives a cherry tomato, some cucumber slices and a lettuce as a side. But I like it this way as the raw vegetables provides a nice refreshing contrast to the crispy fried chicken.

My only complain is that the chicken is TOO SMALL! Leaving you with a half full feeling, but allowing you more space for other yummy delights you can find at Changi Village's hawker center. On our 2nd visit we ordered 2 sets and an additional plate of chicken ($3.50) to share - just nice... :D



The chicken comes with a plate of fragrant chicken rice and a bowl of soup, total cost - $4.00

Definitely will go back again!

Sri Bistari - Famous Nasi Ayam Penyet (Changi)
Blk 3 Changi Village Road
#01-40/41 Singapore 500003
Time: 1000 - 0200
For other outlets, click here

Yi Bao (怡宝) Shredded Chicken Hor Fun

What used to be called Yee Cheong Yuen Noodle Restaurant in a coffeeshop, is now air-conditioned and renamed as Yi Bao. Cobby and I always pass by this place on the way to other eateries as we were heading go to Holland Village for dinner. Not until I saw a recommendation by another food blogger did I actually gave the place a try. Verdict? I'm so glad we did!

An affordable menu

Highly recommended: Shredded chicken hor fun

The hor fun is nice and silky, the gravy is full of flavour and the chicken is very tender! Excellent!

Alternative: Braised beef hor fun

For beef lovers, the braised beef is very tender and flavourful.

Fried baby sotong

Try out their wide variety of side dishes, like this fried baby sotong. Nice and crispy...

31 Lorong Liput
Singapore 277742

CoCo's Tempura Vegetables

We had vegetable tempura recently at a Japanese restaurant, so today I was suddenly inspired to make some myself for lunch!

This is a great and simple dish for parties and also great when you want to clear out the left over vegetables in your fridge. Besides, it's easy to make and delicious even by itself!!! Whoo Hoo!

All you need is:
vegetables - Shredded
plain flour
an egg
very cold water

You can choose what type of vegetables you want. I used sweet potato, carrots, golden mushrooms, capsicum, onions and bak choy.



For the batter, I mix an egg with a cup of very cold water. Then I mix in the flour until the batter is nice and thick - like a pancake batter.
*It's ok to have lumps in your batter - they are nice and crispy!

All that's left to do is to fry them! Coat a small mixture of vegetables in the batter and fry them in a small pot of hot oil till they are nice and golden brown.



While they were hot, sprinkle A LITTLE salt on the vege cakes and serve!The vege cakes are delicious by itself, but we happened to have some soba sauce in the fridge and it goes perfectly well with it too!

Enjoy!