Braised Chicken with Ginger and Mushrooms
The car's in the workshop (again!), so we've been cooped up at home. Mealtimes are dealt with by ordering home delivery from Foodpanda (I love that Chili's is on their stable of restaurants!) or cooking up a storm in my brand spanking new kitchen. Yeah we're THAT lazy to walk down to town to get food, heh.
And because it's just me and the Hubs, homecooked meals are, as a matter of preference, quick-as-a-snap and fuss-free to prepare. (Unlike dinner parties in which dinner prep begins the day before!) I'm gonna share with you some of my quick-and-easy-peasy recipes that even noob cooks with little time on their hands would find a breeze to pick up! Prep takes about 5-7 minutes, and cooking takes about 20 minutes (inclusive of simmering time).
Ingredients (serves 2 big eaters, or 4 girls)
1 whole fresh chicken, pre-cut into chunks (if you're at the butcher's, ask them to chop into 1.5" chunks for you, it's a real time and effort saver!)
1 can champignon mushrooms, sliced or quartered
Oyster Sauce
Light soy
Dark soy (for colouring)
1 small ginger, cut into thick strips (adjust according to how "heaty" you like this dish to be)
1 clove garlic, minced (put it through a garlic press to save time)
1 tbsp Hua Tiao Wine
1 tbsp sesame oil as an accent to 2 tbsp frying oil, i.e. 1 part sesame oil to 2 parts frying oil
Directions:
1) Add garlic in sesame oil-frying oil combination in pre-heated wok, and fry until fragrant.
2) Just when the garlic turns slightly golden, add in the ginger and continue frying until fragrant (it'll turn slightly translucent then).
3) Add mushrooms, and a tbsp of light soy to season the mushrooms (I like to layer the flavours of the ingredients as I go along), and fry for another 1 minute.
4) Add chicken, 2.5 tbsp oyster sauce and 1 tbsp light soy, and fry at high heat until sides of chicken are seared browned.
5) Add a cup of water, or enough water to cover the chicken, 1tbsp wine and 1.5 tbsp dark soy (for an aesthetically pleasing dark brown look, so you can reduce accordingly if you prefer this to look more caramel than brown) and simmer on low heat (for a fall-off-the-bone, plastic-fork-tender texture, leave it be at high heat for 15 minutes). Cover the wok but leave a small gap to let the steam out.
6) Leave it be for 15 minutes, and you can take the time to wash up so you don't have a ton of dishes in the sink. Once chicken is cooked through, taste the sauce, and adjust with dashes of light soy and/or oyster sauce accordingly to preference.
7) Ladle and serve. This makes for a full meal with just steamed white rice.
Happy cooking!
And because it's just me and the Hubs, homecooked meals are, as a matter of preference, quick-as-a-snap and fuss-free to prepare. (Unlike dinner parties in which dinner prep begins the day before!) I'm gonna share with you some of my quick-and-easy-peasy recipes that even noob cooks with little time on their hands would find a breeze to pick up! Prep takes about 5-7 minutes, and cooking takes about 20 minutes (inclusive of simmering time).
Ingredients (serves 2 big eaters, or 4 girls)
1 whole fresh chicken, pre-cut into chunks (if you're at the butcher's, ask them to chop into 1.5" chunks for you, it's a real time and effort saver!)
1 can champignon mushrooms, sliced or quartered
Oyster Sauce
Light soy
Dark soy (for colouring)
1 small ginger, cut into thick strips (adjust according to how "heaty" you like this dish to be)
1 clove garlic, minced (put it through a garlic press to save time)
1 tbsp Hua Tiao Wine
1 tbsp sesame oil as an accent to 2 tbsp frying oil, i.e. 1 part sesame oil to 2 parts frying oil
Directions:
1) Add garlic in sesame oil-frying oil combination in pre-heated wok, and fry until fragrant.
2) Just when the garlic turns slightly golden, add in the ginger and continue frying until fragrant (it'll turn slightly translucent then).
3) Add mushrooms, and a tbsp of light soy to season the mushrooms (I like to layer the flavours of the ingredients as I go along), and fry for another 1 minute.
4) Add chicken, 2.5 tbsp oyster sauce and 1 tbsp light soy, and fry at high heat until sides of chicken are seared browned.
5) Add a cup of water, or enough water to cover the chicken, 1tbsp wine and 1.5 tbsp dark soy (for an aesthetically pleasing dark brown look, so you can reduce accordingly if you prefer this to look more caramel than brown) and simmer on low heat (for a fall-off-the-bone, plastic-fork-tender texture, leave it be at high heat for 15 minutes). Cover the wok but leave a small gap to let the steam out.
6) Leave it be for 15 minutes, and you can take the time to wash up so you don't have a ton of dishes in the sink. Once chicken is cooked through, taste the sauce, and adjust with dashes of light soy and/or oyster sauce accordingly to preference.
7) Ladle and serve. This makes for a full meal with just steamed white rice.
Happy cooking!
Comments