To Cook
In a stock pot, fill sufficient water to be able to cover all chicken breasts, bring to a boil. Add chicken and boil for 15 mins, then lower heat to simmer for another 10 mins until meat is tender. Remove from stock pot and set aside to cool for 15 mins.
Tear the chicken into 2-3cm thick strips. Mix in garlic and chilli powder, and add salt and pepper to taste.
Heat cooking oil in a wok and deep-fry chicken strips until they are golden brown. Remove and set aside.
In a clean wok, heat 1 tbsp cooking oil on medium high. Add all the Sauce ingredients and stir well for 1 min.
Add the chicken and Thai basil leaves, toss for 5 mins, allowing the basil leaves to turn slightly crisp and aromatic. Remove from heat and serve.
Chicken
Salt and Pepper Chicken Ribs
To Cook
Marinate chicken ribs with salt and pepper. Set aside to marinade for 1 hour or overnight for better taste.
Just before frying, carefully coat each chicken piece with egg and cornstarch. Mix well.
In a wok, heat up 3-4 cm of oil until it’s hot. Deep-fry the chicken in small batches. Then, remove from wok, drain and set aside to rest for 10-15 mins while you fry up the rest of the chicken.
Once rested, return the chicken to the wok and deep-fry for a second time. The chicken will be crispier after the second round of frying.
In a separate pan, heat up 1 tbsp of oil. Add garlic and chilli and fry until aromatic. Sprinkle some salt and pepper. Remove from heat, add chicken to the pan and toss well.
Garnish with spring onion and serve immediately.
Stew Chicken Balls with Egg
To Prep
Place mixture ingredients in a large bowl and mix ingredients in a circular motion until well-combined.
Place 2 tbsp of plain flour in a bag and add quail eggs to coat.
Flatten 1 tbsp of the mixture onto the palm of your hand and place one quail egg in the middle of the mixture. Form the mixture into a ball around the quail egg. Repeat this step until all ingredients are used up.
To Cook
Heat cooking oil and shallow-fry the chicken balls until golden brown. Remove from pan and drain most of the oil.
Sauté sliced shallots and garlic until fragrant. Add pepper, water and sweet soy sauce and bring to the boil.
Condense liquid to half, add the chicken balls, coat and simmer until sauce is further reduced. Remove from heat and serve.
Black Pepper Chicken Wing Stew
To Cook
Rub salt into chicken wing pieces and set aside for 15 mins. The, shallow fry until light golden brown or half done. Remove from frying pan.
Saute onion and garlic until fragrant. Add sweet soy sauce and water. Bring to boil.
Add chicken wings, mushrooms and bamboo shoots and cook until sauce is condensed and thick. Add salt to taste. Add black pepper and sesame oil.
Stir to combine and remove from heat. Serve.
Fragrant Chicken Malbi
To Cook
Rub chicken with salt and tamarind water. Let stand for 15 mins. Pan fry in half the cooking oil until golden brown or half done.
In a mortar, coarsely pound the last 6 ingredients.
Saute the last 6 ingredients. Add the cinnamon, curry leaves and stir through. Add desiccated coconut and ABC Sweet Soy Sauce and bring to boil.
Add fried chicken and simmer until the sauce is condensed and thickened. Remove from heat and serve.
Country Style Barbecue Chicken (Gai Yang)
To Prep
Cut open whole chicken breast and spread out.
Crush lemongrass, garlic, salt, and pepper together, adding fish sauce, mix well. Marinade chicken with paste mixture for 2 hrs prior, or overnight in refrigerator.
For Mild Sweet Chilli Sauce
Pound red chilli and pickled garlic until become fine paste. Add sugar, salt, pickled garlic juice, vinegar, mix well until smooth. Place over low heat until slightly boils. Remove from heat and set aside.
For Spicy Chilli Sauce
Mix all ingredients together and set aside.
To Cook
Insert the skewer through the chicken crosswise to spread out the chicken and place over charcoal grill with low heat until well cooked and brown both sides.
Cut the barbecued chicken into large segments for serving with the 2 sauces with salads and/or steamed rice or sticky rice.
Note: can be served with Mae Ploy Sweet Chilli Sauce
Sweet and Spicy Satay
To Prep
Cut the meat into even-shaped cubes (2cm) and place in a bowl. Combine the garlic, sweet soy sauce, sambal oelek, lemon juice, salt, pepper and diced meat in a mixing bowl and allow to marinate for more than 1 hr in the fridge.
Soak the bamboo skewers in water. Mix all the ingredients to make the dipping sauce, set aside.
To Cook
Thread the diced meat onto the skewers and grill or barbeque, turning often and basting with leftover marinade for 15 mins or until cooked (to taste).
Tip: Beware! Sambal oelek is spicy. It is used by Indonesians for the sole reason of giving a dish some extra heat. Thus, it has no ingredients other than fresh chilli so as to avoide affecting the complex combination of existing flavours already used in the dish.
Salmon Sushi Cones (Temaki)
To Prep
Prepare sushi rice.
Cut nori sheets in half. Place sushi rice and desired fillings onto one side of nori.
Fold the nearest corner of the nori over the filling and start to shape.
The finished hand roll should be shaped conically to prevent any rice from falling out from the bottom.
Serve with wasabi dissolved in soy sauce.
Drunken Chicken Cold Dish
To Cook
Debone the chicken leg quarters, keep the skin on. Keep the bones to make the homemade stock.
Add chicken bones, water and ginger in a small pot. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for at least 1 hour.
Rinse the de-boned chicken and pat thoroughly dry with a paper towel.
Sprinkle the chicken with ¼ teaspoon salt. Roll up the chicken lengthwise, and then wrap with cling wrap, twisting both sides to form a candy-like bundle.
Steam the chicken in the wrap over high heat for 20 mins. Turn off the heat and let the chicken sit in the steamer for another 5 mins with the lid tightly closed.
Transfer the wrapped chicken into an ice bath and wait for 10-15 mins until the chicken is completely cool.
Meanwhile, in a non-reactive container, add the chicken broth, Shaoxing wine, sugar, salt and wolfberries to make the brine.
Unwrap the chicken and place in the brine. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Slice and serve cold or at room temperature.
Shortcut Singapore Noodles
To Make Egg Sheets
Heat oil in a pan and pour in ½ of the beaten eggs.
Pan-fry until done. Remove and set aside. Repeat.
Once cool, cut into long thin slices.
To Cook
Heat oil in a wok. Pan fry firm tofu until browned, set aside.
Heat some oil again in the wok and stir-fry chicken until cooked. Add roasted barbeque pork, carrot, capsicum and stir-fry for 2 mins. Add in the prawns and stir-fry for 1-2 mins. Add in fried tofu back into the wok.
Add rice noodles and the ready sauce for Singapore noodles. Stir well and heat through.
Sprinkle with shredded egg on top when ready to serve.
Ipoh Kuey Teow Soup (Kai Si Hor Fun)
To Cook
Heat up 4 L of water in a large pot and bring to a boil over a high heat before adding the prawns and cooking for 2 mins. Remove the prawns from the pot and set aside.
In the same pot, add in the carcasses, pork bones, drumsticks and the white peppercorns. Return to a boil before reducing to a simmer and cooking for 2 hrs.
While the broth simmers, remove the heads from the prawns and cook the prawn heads in a pan with vegetable oil over a medium-high heat.
Continue to cook until the shell has become crispy and the oil has taken the colour of the prawn before removing from the heat and filtering the oil to use. Set aside.
When the drumsticks have become tender, remove them from the pot and remove the meat from the bone and set aside.
In a pot of water, blanch the chives until the begin to wilt before settings aside. Add the noodles in to the pot to cook as per the instruction before also removing from the pot and setting aside.
Add the salt in to the broth and mix until dissolved. Add more if necessary before removing from the heat to plate.
To Serve
In a serving bowl, add the noodles, chives, chicken drumstick meat and prawns and ladle the soup stock over it.
Finish by garnishing with fried shallots, sliced coriander and drizzle with the prawn oil.
Serve with a small bowl of the dipping sauce by combining the dipping sauce ingredients together and mixing.
Nyonya Style Chicken
To Cook
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 3-5 mins or until soft. Add 2 cloves garlic and ginger and cook for another minute. Add curry paste and cook for a further 5 mins, stirring. Add coconut milk, cook for 5 mins.
Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in large frying pan over medium heat. Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook uncovered for 8 mins or until golden and crisp. Turnover and cook for a further 8 mins or until cooked through. Transfer to a plate, cover loosely with foil and set aside for 5 mins.
Cook the Brussels sprouts in a large saucepan of boiling water for 5 mins or until just tender. Drain well.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan and add 2 cloves crushed garlic and chilli flakes. Cook for 1 min, stirring until mixture is aromatic. Add the Brussels sprouts and stir to coat sprouts. Add lemon juice, stir to combine.
Serve chicken with sauce and Brussels sprouts.