Tag Archives: chicken

Stir Fry Spaghetti with Roasted Pumpkin and Chicken

27 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by in Gastronomy, Home Cook Food

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This is actually the 3rd quarter of the whole pumpkin. The 2nd quarter was use to make the same dish as the 1st quarter. (It was such a success the first round, I thought I replicate it for the second time)

Since I did Chinese for the first 2 quarter, I thought of doing something western for the 3rd. I was pretty tired this week, so, the recipe needs to be something really simple and what could be simpler than good ol’ pasta dish.

Ingredients (for 3 portions)
  • 200gm mince chicken
  • ¼ Pumpkin diced to small cube
  • 5 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
  • 3 cloves garlic (Sliced)
  • 3 portion of spaghetti
  • 1 tsp tomato paste
Marinate for the chicken (5 minutes),
  • 1 tsp Oyster sauce
  • ½ tsp Soya sauce
  • Dash of Oregano, Rosemary and Basil (dry herbs)
  • Sprinkle over some Salt and pepper

Boil the spaghetti. Remember to salt your water and drizzle with oil. Cook till slightly less than al dente. (We will need to stir fry it again later)

Spread the diced pumpkin evenly. Drizzle with olive oil and mix in the sliced garlic. Roast in oven for about 15-20 minutes (depending on how soft you want you pumpkin to get).

While waiting for these 2 things above to be done, I manage to throw in our laundry for washing. Yay !!!

Once the spag is ready, drained and let it cool.

In the same pot, I add olive oil and the chopped garlic. Throw in the tomato paste and mince chicken. Fry till cook. Throw in the roasted pumpkin. Add half cup of water. Give it a good stir and then simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the Spag in and stir well. Off the fire and allow the pasta to sit in the hot pot for about 5-10 minutes before serving. (I find that this allows the mild sweetness of the pumpkin to soak into the spag)

Serve with some greens and heaps of parmesan shavings. Viola … Simple light and delicious meal in a bowl !!!

Food Crawl – Stop 6 : Restaurant Lou Wong Tauge Ayam Kuetiau, Ipoh

06 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by in Gastronomy, Local (Malaysia), Local Restaurants, Travel

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After breakfast, we begin to make our journey out from Penang. Made several stops to load on stocks of Tau Sa Peah and also sesame oil at Ghee Hiang. Made a stop for final cendol at Jalan Penang again (one of our friend tapau assam laksa).

We reached Ipoh (Perak) around 2pm and made a stop for the famous Ipoh bean sprouts chicken at the Restaurant Lou Wong along Jalan Yau Tet Shin.  Hoping that since it is not peak hour it will be easier to find a place to seat. No such luck. It is ALWAYS crowded in this restaurant. I’ve been here many times and is almost always at different time, but, it is still pack with people. There’s a few similar restaurant nearby but they never manage to steal the crowd away.

We ordered Ipoh Tauge (Bean Sprouts). For some reason, the Ipoh’s tauge is always shorter, plumber and crunchier compare to the normal bean sprouts. Because of the freshness, the tauge is just lightly blanched served with soya sauce, sesame oil and pepper.

Even after the heavy breakfast, all of us dive in for the tauge and started mixing it the lou sang way. (Lou Sang – typical Malaysian Chinese custom during Chinese New Year for mixing a special dish).

The smooth juicy chicken is very similar to the Hainanese chicken style. It is boiled and then soaked in ice water to stop the cooking and jellified the fats in between the skin and meat. When you take a bite of the chicken, the meat is so slippery that it slide in with a slurped. Love it…

 

All of us happily pile back to the car to head for our next food stop. Where should we go next? hmm….

Coq-au-Vin with my Staub

21 Thursday Apr 2011

Posted by in Gastronomy, Home Cook Food, Kitchen wares

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I am so excited about my first cooking post.

Please bear in mind that I have no official cooking training. Everything I learn is from my mum or my aunty. (both whom whips out amazing delicious dishes – in my opinion) Hence, everything is very flexible / mood-base. Those of you who have professional training might find my method horrifying. Hehhee.. But, I cook for me and my family to eat. So, as long as they love it.. it’s all that matters. :p

  • Warm up my pot. It is not good to fire away and heat it up fast. (unlike Chinese wok). Warning – too hot too fast might damage your cast-iron pot.
  • Updated 2012 : Pan fry bacon first to get the bacon oil. Then, scoop out the bacon bits and put aside.
  • Using the bacon fat, stir in the finely chopped garlic (about 6-7 cloves) and onion (1 whole) until brown.
  • Throw in my chopped carrots (2 stick) and cubed onions (5 whole). Stir it a bit. Throw in 4-5 pcs of Bay leaves. Close it with the lid and let it simmer for about 10 mins.

Note :

Marinated 8 pcs of chicken thigh / drumsticks with salt, pepper, oyster sauce and a dash of sesame oil (it’s the Chinese in me), 2 cup of Merlot (red wine) and ½ cup of brandy for about 30 minutes before hand. My mom loves herbs. So, I throw in some rosemary and thymes just for her. ** Taste turns out quite good actually**

  • Pan-seared the chicken (skin side up) with a pan until all sides are nicely brown.
  • Arrange chicken and bacon bits into pot. Leftover marinate pour inside also.
  • Fill up the pot with some chicken stock (I just dilute one chicken stock cube into warm water)
  • Add another 3 cups of Merlot (I love the strong alcohol taste. So, you might not want to put in as much if you don’t)
  • Allow everything to simmer for 2 hours until chicken is soft and you can tear out the meat with just a fork.

  • Eat with Rice / Bread. We love it with butter-toasted baguette.

Yumm…