chicken biryani 

i did a wonderful butter chicken using dancing chef paste on 24.8.2017. 

continuing with my experimenting of indian dishes. made chicken biryani on 27.8.2017. ^^

chicken biryani cooked in rice cooker 

& the chicken biryani was even better, so super tasty! 🙂

ready gravy chicken biryani masala 

i used a ready gravy chicken biryani masala packet, 300g gravy with all the spices & onions etc.

chicken biryani

chicken biryani 

1. i deboned a chicken thigh quarter.
2. cleaned, drained, and marinated with the ready gravy.
3. then i washed & soaked one cup basmati rcie in 2 cups of chicken stock (or water is fine too. i happened to have stock).
4. after 1/2 hr, i fried 1 chopped red onion in 1 tbsp lard. then i brwoend 2 chopped shallots & removed them for garnishing.
5. i added the marinated chicken & fried for few minutes, then removed the 1/2 cooked chicken & placed it in the rice cooker.
6. i boiled the soaked rice in a pot to 1/2 cook the rice, then drain & added to rice to the rice cooker. no liquid as the gravy already had lots of liquid.
7. stirred & mix, added stalks of coriander & mint. & cooked the rice.
8. garnished with browned shallots

chicken biryani cooked in rice cooker 

the chicken biryani was superb, the best!

very tasty, and the rice were individual grained & nicely done not overcooked, not mushy.

estimation is difficult here. so a lot of agaklogy if i were to cook 1.5cups or 2 cups rice for my friends next.

chicken biryani cooked in rice cooker

chicken biryani cooked in rice cooker

anyhow for this evening, the biryani was just super delicious, better than the butter chicken even. shiok!

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• quarter chicken (330g)
• ready gravy chicken biryani masala packet (300g)
• 1 red onion (chopped)
• 3 shallots (sliced)
• 1 stalk coriander
• 1 stalk mint
• 1tbsp lard (in place of ghee. can use oil otherwise)
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 cups water

Directions:

1. i deboned a chicken thigh quarter.
2. cleaned, drained, and marinated with the ready gravy.
3. then i washed & soaked one cup basmati rcie in 2 cups of chicken stock (or water is fine too. i happened to have stock).
4. after 1/2 hr, i fried 1 chopped red onion in 1 tbsp lard. then i brwoend 2 chopped shallots & removed them for garnishing.
5. i added the marinated chicken & fried for few minutes, then removed the 1/2 cooked chicken & placed it in the rice cooker.
6. i boiled the soaked rice in a pot to 1/2 cook the rice, then drain & added to rice to the rice cooker. no liquid as the gravy already had lots of liquid.
7. stirred & mix, added stalks of coriander & mint. & cooked the rice.
8. garnished with browned shallots

butter chicken 

had excellent indian food at chat masala recently with some RI friends on 10.7.2017.

thought of making some indian dishes myself for my friends.

a friend mentioned on whatsapp chat that she tried out with dancing chef butter chicken mix. so i decided to get a packet myself & tried out butter chicken this evening on 24.8.2017. ^^

butter chicken 

it was quite an excellent dish.

i don’t know butter chicken & the herbs enough yet to discern if how authentic it was & whether some herbs taste were missing. but as a dish, it was very good tasting. very unhealthy too, lots of ghee (i used lard) & butter.

dancing chef butter chicken mix 

i followed the dancing chef recipe at the back of the packet-

1. clean drain chicken (i used 1./2 deboned chicken so about 500g+)
2. then marinate chicken pieces for 30mins
3. fry 1 whole chopped onion in ghee (i used lard) till soften
4. add chicken & 2 tbsp butter (30g) & stirfry
5. add 1/2cup  water, bring to boil, cover, simmer & reduce for 5mins. take out the other chicken pieces & cook the wings for another 5mins.
6. add  back the chicken pieces & add 3tbsp yogurt, 2tbsp whipped cream & 1 tsp sugar.
7. reduce and taste. add coriander & serve.

butter chicken 

chicken was tender & sweet, curry was tasty & creamy & silky smooth.

butter chicken 

simply heavenly!

butter chicken 

and very sinful i guess….haha!

butter chicken 

using the premix, making this dish was quite a breeze.

while a recipe using the individual herbs & spices was also not difficult, it requires much more effort to get the herbs & spices (some of which i will hardly use) for a dish i seldom cook.

so the premix made a lot of sense when with 10% the effort, the dish nevertheless tasted wonderful.

now i have to find out if i can make chicken biryani, rogan josh & kerala fish curry by using some premix, then i can put together an indian dinner for my friends…

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• 1/2 chicken (deboned)
• 1 packet dancing chef butter chicken spice premix
• 1 large yellow onions (or 2 red onions)
• 1 tbsp ghee (or I use lard)
• 2tbsp butter
• 3tbsp plain yogurt
• 2tbsp whipping cream
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. clean drain chicken (i used 1./2 deboned chicken so about 500g+)
2. then marinate chicken pieces for 30mins
3. fry 1 whole chopped onion in ghee (i used lard) till soften
4. add chicken & 2 tbsp butter (30g) & stirfry
5. add 1/2cup  water, bring to boil, cover, simmer & reduce for 5mins. take out the other chicken pieces & cook the wings for another 5mins.
6. add  back the chicken pieces & add 3tbsp yogurt, 2tbsp whipped cream & 1 tsp sugar.
7. reduce and taste. add coriander & serve.

taujeon lime sauce song fish head 松鱼头

this taujeong lime sauce style of preparation for song fish head 松鱼头 was my own new creation. i tested it on tilapia fish on 21.8.2017. 

the sauce was very good.

basically i was trying to replicate the excellent dish of taujeon sharks cartilage at zai shun where my OPS friend bought 4pax lunch recently on 17.8.2017.

i chose  song fish head 松鱼头 because it has the most gelatinous texture, if it is possible to approximate the texture of gelatinous sharks cartilage. quite different i guess, haha!

larpok crispy lard

larpok crispy lard

i had some leftover pig fat in the freezer so i made some larpok crispy lard as topping for the song fish head 松鱼头. very easy to make & very nice too!

taujeon lime sauce song fish head 松鱼头

fish head was nice, all my OPS friend liked it.

one friend said maybe it was a bit sour. for myself i ok with this level of sourness.

how did it compare with my spicy black bean sauce song fish head 松鱼头? one friend thought it was equally good but a different style & so quite a nice variation.

for myself & another friend, we both thought the spicy black bean sauce song fish head 松鱼头 still best! 🙂

so black bean sauce song fish head 松鱼头 is what i will do the next time for this group. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• 1/2 song fish head 松鱼头
• 5tbsp tau jeon
• 1/2 a large lime juice
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 stalk chopped spring onions
• 1-2 cut chili padi
• 2cm juliened ginger
• 3 tsp chopped garlic

Directions:

1. clean fish head with salt & wash thoroughly, put on colander to dry
2. put 5tbsp tau jeon in large bowl, add 1/2 large lime juic, 1tbsp mirin & pound. add 3tbsp olive oil & mix. spread on fish head.
3. add chili padi, juliened ginger, chopped spring onions & chopped garlic on top of fish head.
4. steam fish head for 13 mins in steamer or steam oven.

dongporou 东坡肉

first time i attempted dongporou 东坡肉 on 23.8.2017. ^^

i did this for 7pax dinner for my OPS buddies. 

dongporou 东坡肉

bascially trying to replicate the dongporou 东坡肉 at zai shun where WT bought 4pax lunch recently on 17.8.2017. 🙂

i found & followed one web recipe here.

dongporou 东坡肉

tying the string for 9 cuts of belly pork kind of tedious.

i layered the claypot first with cabbage (my own improvisation), then spring onions, then sliced ginger. i had some leftover pig skin (from char siu 叉烧) i inserted to help hold up the pork belly pieces.

dongporou 东坡肉

then i added 2tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1tbsp brown sugar, 4tbsp shaoxing wine, and 1/2 cup water. added the belly pork, skin down.

then cooked low fire for 1.5hrs. added water as required, and turned over belly pork at 1hr.

then took out belly pork & placed in a small holder & steamed for 1.5hrs, so in total 3hrs.

dongporou 东坡肉

though my first time, the dongporou 东坡肉 was quite good standard. the gelatinous parts were excellent. flavour was pretty ok…

i think can have more wine taste, so i am going to increase to 6tbsp shaoxing wine. the pigskin & cabbage were excellent – collateral goodness, haha! ^^

all my OPS friends liked the dongporou 东坡肉. one rated it second after the egg bittergourd with salted egg. some lean parts still not tender enough after 3hrs lor…

not quite sure why need to cut the pork (& having to tie pork to hold it together) in the first place? to let the sauce & the steam reach the individual pieces?

i think i will instead experiment using low temperature braising to render the whole 400g pork belly tender, then open steaming to add moisture & further tenderise the pork, then cut into small pieces (currently the steam could not reach the lean parts of the pork in the small holder)…so i intend to experiment/improvise..

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• 400g fresh belly pork simmered in boiling water for few minutes (to remove scum & also easier to cut belly pork..i cut 9 pieces for 7pax & didn’t want to eat too much belly pork, but 4 pieces would be better)

to lace the claypot-

• 2-3 large cabbage leaves
• 2 stalks spring onions cut into 3 sections
• 3-4cm sliced ginger
• & i added 6 garlic cloves to flavour the meat

braising sauce-

• 2tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1tbsp brown sugar (or what i did – 2tsp brown sugar & add 1 small piece rock honey sugar)
• 4tbsp shaoxing wine1/2 cup water
• Directions:

1. simme in boiling water for few minutes to remove scum & also easier to cut belly pork.
2. cut pork to 4 pieces.
3. use string to tie the cut belly pork
4. layer claypot with cabbage, spring onions, sliced ginger. add 6 cloves peeled garlic
5. put in a fitting pot (i used leftover pig skin (from char siu 叉烧) to help hold up the pork belly pieces in a small claypot
6. add 2tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1tbsp brown sugar, 4tbsp shaoxing wine, and 1/2 cup water.
7. add belly pork, skin down. cook low fire for 1.5hrs. add water as required, and turn over belly pork at 1hr.
8. take out belly pork & place in a small holder & steam for 1.5hrs, so in total 3hrs.

roast duck

i started cooking & inviting friends for dinners in mar2012. ^^

one year later i started my blog & made my very first post “I am NO Chef!” on 5.3.2013. at first it was on my cooking & dining out. later i added a travelogue for my travels.

i started with western dishes for simple reason. it is so easy to get cheap & very good hawker, zi char & chinese restaurant dishes, so cooking a good steak, lamb, cod, pasta etc western style & later japanese & “fusion” make a lot more sense than making braised duck & chicken rice 白斩鸡.

it was only later that i evolved my own recipes of braised duck, chicken rice 白斩鸡, curry chicken, claypot rice that i find it worthwhile (because they are good & replicable & easy to make) to make these dishes. in fact lately i made mostly these dishes for my dinner invites.

for this reason, there are dishes which i attempted but still don’t cook like sio bak (roast pork), hokkien mee, & hawker stall roast chicken. whereas my steak, lamb, pasta, miso cod etc would better many cafes & maybe equal some restaurants (not the plating & sides & sauces), it is meaningless to do cheap hawker dishes if i cannot do at least as good. of course i am not talking about elaborate fine dining dishes, sauces, foams, sous vide, confit etc. those are outside my league…

today i still think it is much harder to cook good chinese & asian hawker & restaurant dishes than western dishes. these dishes combines many ingredients & so complicated preparation eg a bakchomee vs a pasta, that unless i can make them easily & well, they are not worth doing.

of course views will change when you acquire the technique or method.

AND of course chinese roast duck is one such dishes. i never did a roast duck, so this was my very first attempt.

recently, i had delicious roast duck & best char siew at meng meng roast duck 阿明帝皇鸭 during our 10pax RI bro sutera mall makan, massage & karaoke trip (10 travelogue posts here). 

so that motivated me to try out first my own char siew & now my first time roast duck!^^

roast duck

i debated doing a whole roast 1.8kg duck from giant or 1/2 a 2.2kg duck from sheng shiong to experiment.

decided not to experiment & to roast a full 2.2kg duck from sheng shiong for the  10pax dinner for my RI bros on 15.8.2017. 

roast duck

i picked from 2 youtube recipes – here  and  here!

roast duck

so i cleaned & washed the duck thoroughly with salt (exfoliate), pat dry with kitchen towel, make a marinade & rubbed the marinade on the inside of the cavity & “stitched”. i did not have the longer bamboo skewer so i used what i have (toothpicks & lots of them). and they did a good job holding the marinade inside.

then i made a honey, rock sugar, white vinegar bath & baste the duck (holding vertically by neck) like 20times.

the i placed the duck on a roasting rack & left in the fridge for 2days to dry the skin (one of the youtube recipe suggested 4days! but 2 is fine for me).

on the day of dinner, i let the duck come to room temperature, pat dry further, and placed the rack in a 200degC oven (with circulation mode) for 1hr. did not know what to expect, but managed to turn the duck w/o tearing skin at 35mins.

at 1 hr i wanted the duck a bit more charred so i roasted for another 10mins.

roast duck

the duck turned out to be very good.

all my friends actually preferred the duck to my char siew.  anyhow for char siew, Meng Meng Roast Duck restaurant 阿明帝皇鸭 bar is just too high, and i am never going to meet that, so i am quite happy with the char siew i made. 🙂

my friends (& later my wife & children – i kept a drumstick quarter for them to try) said the duck was very flavourful. when i deboned the duck, i already knew the meat was tender & juicy, especially the parts near the bones, so i knew texture was good. & the taste & flavour was good too! only that i did not have any tong guai or herb flavours or tea smoked flavours. & the skin roasted, tasty, not tough, but also not the crispy skin of hawker stalls & restaurants.

it was not comparable of course with the delicious roast duck & best char siew at meng meng roast duck 阿明帝皇鸭 la!

still a very successful chinese roast duck, first time or not first time, anyhow i not sure second time will be better also la! lol! 🙂

i also made a simple sauce similar to the excellent sauce we had with london’s four seasons roast duck. 

& it’s very easy to make – 3 tbsp top quality dark sauce, 1 tbsp top quality light soy sauce, 1-2tbsp water, 1 tbsp sugar & mixed.

simple yet so very tasty sauce for both chicken & duck! ^^

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• one 2.2kg fresh duck

marinade (dry)

• 1/2 onion (sliced)
• 3cm ginger (sliced)
• 4tsp chopped garlic
• white stems of 2 stalks spring onion (small cuts)
• 3 star anise
• 1-2 cinnamon stick
• 3 bay leaves

marinade sauce

• 2 tbsp hoi sin sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp five spice powder
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp honey

bath for basting duck

• 3tbsp white vinegar
• 3tbsp honey
• 1tbsp hoi sin sauce
• 2cups water

Directions:

1. clean duck, exfoliate with salt & wash thoroughly, pat dry
2. fry marinade (dry) to bring out the aroma, then add to marinade (sauce).
3. marinade rub the inside cavity of the duck & stitch
4. boil 2cups water & add white vinegar, honey hoi sin sauce. i use a wide wok pan for easy basting.
5. hold duck by the neck & baste like 20 times, making sure cover every part of the duck including under the wings & drumsticks.
6. place on roasting rack, cool & put in the fridge to dry the skin for 2 days.
7. let duck come to room temperature, further pat dry, cover the wing tips & drumstick tips with aluminium foil, & put in 250degC oven for 1hr. turn duck at 35mins (optional – don’t turn if tearing the skin).
8. let rest for 10mins. debone & serve.