Green Risotto - Hong Kong Style

Meals of more vegetables and less meat are highly recommended nowadays. If you’ve been following my blog, you may know that I’m a health conscious individual who eats generally one meal a day. Green Risotto is how I blend in lots of vegetable and little meat into a very delicious dish. Let me share with you my Hong Kong Chinese style Green Risotto.

If you have the experience cooking risotto, I won’t repeat here. Unlike traditional Italian risotto, I used water instead of stock. I then chopped some green vegetables and Chinese Kam Wah Ham. Kam Wah Ham is a famous produce from Yunnan, China and is widely available in Hong Kong. You may use any other ham or bacon as you wish. As Kam Wah Ham is very rich in taste, I don’t have to use any other seasoning at all.

When you add the last round of water to the risotto, add the chopped ham and keep stirring. When the risotto is cooked, cover for 3 minutes before serving. Now, make use of these 3 minutes, get ready a hot saucepan and heat a little bit of EVO. Stir fry the sliced green vegetables. No need to add salt as the risotto is going to be very tasteful with the Kam Wah Ham. Add the green vegetables to the risotto, mix well and dish up.

Green Risotto

Chopped Vegetables

Chopped Kam Wah Ham

Message from Anna

Warning: Do NOT Use These Cooking Oils

Hong Kong Food Blog - Green Risotto

Green Risotto - Hong Kong Style

Meals of more vegetables and less meat are highly recommended nowadays. If you’ve been following my blog, you may know that I’m a health conscious individual who eats generally one meal a day. Green Risotto is how I blend in lots of vegetable and little meat into a very delicious dish. Let me share with you my Hong Kong Chinese style Green Risotto.

If you have the experience cooking risotto, I won’t repeat here. Unlike traditional Italian risotto, I used water instead of stock. I then chopped some green vegetables and Chinese Kam Wah Ham. Kam Wah Ham is a famous produce from Yunnan, China and is widely available in Hong Kong. You may use any other ham or bacon as you wish. As Kam Wah Ham is very rich in taste, I don’t have to use any other seasoning at all.

When you add the last round of water to the risotto, add the chopped ham and keep stirring. When the risotto is cooked, cover for 3 minutes before serving. Now, make use of these 3 minutes, get ready a hot saucepan and heat a little bit of EVO. Stir fry the sliced green vegetables. No need to add salt as the risotto is going to be very tasteful with the Kam Wah Ham. Add the green vegetables to the risotto, mix well and dish up.

Green Risotto

Chopped Vegetables

Chopped Kam Wah Ham

Message from Anna

Warning: Do NOT Use These Cooking Oils

Hong Kong Food Blog - Green Risotto

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Altamura

LAST DAY TO ENTER THE SHANNON MCKENNA ROMANTIC THRILLER GIVEAWAY

(Read here for details on how to win!)

Altamura is an interesting little city located 45 kilometers inland in the province of Bari. It has various claims to fame. 

These include Altamura Man, the perfectly preserved 400,000 year old skeleton of a pre-Neanderthalian hominid discovered in a limestone cave near the town. 

No less important, however, is its renowned bread (click here for the recipe). According to the Latin poet Horace, "...for water is sold here, though the worst in the world; but their bread is exceeding fine, inasmuch that the weary traveler is used to carry it willingly on his shoulders." You may not often be obliged to carry your bread on your shoulders, but in Altamura the bread is made in round forms of various sizes, small, medium, large and extra-large . . . like as large as the wheel of a car!

Let's take a walk through the historic center of town . . .

The gateway into the walled old town

A loggia tucked away in the courtyard of 15th century Palazzo Viti

The entry to the Cathedral, built in 1232, another of the city's bragging points.

What the lion and I saw across the piazza from the Cathedral

Detail of the Puglian-Romanesque style cathedral's intricately carved portal

The cathedral's golden interior

Angels are watching over you!

Detail of the cathedral flooring - kind of Escher-like!

Caffè Ronchi

Don't forget to stop in at Caffè Ronchi, located right next to the cathedral, not only for an espresso, but to try their famous Padre Peppe walnut liqueur. It's made by distilling walnuts in pure alcohol for 3 years, then filtering them and leaving them to age for another 2 years. It's worth the wait, though, quite delicious!

roar on tea

morning tea has a become ritual for me. i like a thick porcelain or stoneware mug, heavy in the hand and without handle - god no! i need to wrap four fingers and thumb right around, palm too. on a cold winter day i'll even use two, one overlapping the other.



a perfect brew is both soothing and exhilarating, like a shot of fresh air but deeper. my favorite is a proper english breakfast or a sultry assam. on ambitious mornings, i'll do an earl grey darleeling blend. when i get the proportions just right the darjeeling gathers enough strength to lift the fat scent of bergamot, landing it smoothly on the back of the throat. the tease is intoxicating.



i like mine with milk, room temperature is best. never heated if i can help it as the taste of cooked dairy adds nothing to the cup. of course, if i sip a little too slowly and the tea teeters on the edge of lukewarm, threatening to take the plunge, i'll give it a 15 second zap. because once hot tea going cold sucks. my sweetener like an afterthought, essential, but not sorely missed if skipped altogether. a drop of amber honey - about a half teaspoon, drizzled and stirred, will do me just fine.



earl grey darjeeling blend
for a pot of 4 eight ounce servings

1 & 1/2 teaspoons loose leaf earl grey
2 & 1/2 teaspoons loose leaf darjeeling

1. warm the tea pot up by running the hottest tap water you can through it.
2. place tea leaves in tea strainer or ball and place in tea pot.
3. in a kettle, saucepan or electric kettle bring water barely to the boil.
4. pour boiled water over tea and into tea pot.
5. let steep for 5 minutes - remove tea strainer or ball.
6. add room temperature milk and sweetener as desired.

enjoy.

Top 5 Puglian Recipes

Italian cuisine is famous around the world for simple, fresh ingredients and lovingly prepared home-cooked meals. But did you know that what you consider "Italian" food might only be one version, eaten in only one particular area of the country? Regional variety is what makes the Italian take on the Mediterranean diet even more exciting. While you can get pizza from the tip to the toe of the peninsula, the local definition of "pizza" may vary from place to place.

Wondering what we eat down here in the heel of the boot? In an article for Charming Italy I choose the 5 recipes I think most clearly identify Puglian cooking and give you the recipes!

Orecchiette con le cime di rape (Orecchiette Pasta with Rabe Broccoli)

• 
• 
  
• Patate, riso e cozze (Potatoes, Rice and Mussels)
• 
• 
  
• Braciole (Meat Rolls in Tomato Sauce)
• 
• 
  
• Fave e cicorie (Fava Bean Puree and Chicory Greens)
• 
• 
  
• Bari Focaccia (Pizza Bread)
• 
Follow this link to discover all  the recipes in my article! 

With the brush we merely tint, while the imagination alone produces colour.

I am feeling like James Bond today. Hahaha! So proud of my time management skills.

Plan to cook Butter Chicken with Nutty in the evening. I should remember to pick up cream.

I am wearing sea green beads with my green kurta. I picked up the most colourful beads from Either Or in Pune this time but somehow cannot find something to wear it with. Think I shall buy something just to match it with the pretty beads.

I wanna finish writing something I have been sitting around with for two whole days though I am so apprehensive about it. I am not confident of my writing skills right now. Hmmmmphhhh!

I spent a rainy rainy Sunday with Megha that included a scrumptious Chinese lunch, book shopping and ended it with coffee at her place while we happily FB stalked people we know in common or even those we don't know in common. How I enjoy FB stalking people with Shivi and Megha. Hehehe!

*phew*

I'm still alive! Feels like alot of things have happened since my last post~ ♥

1. Went to a few places. I think we were in Singapore at one time last month... And Johor the month before that..
2. CNY came and went! Surprisingly, it was a rather quiet one this year.
3. Our annual CNY party was.... wet XD Felt like we were in a typhoon taking shelter under flimsy tents hahaha. Everyone got wet, I think! About 300+ people turned up despite the weather...
4. I got to see Liss!! We met up once in January and another time at my CNY party :) Absolutely great to catch up!! Especially since she won't be home for another 18 months :/ *sighs* Time to plan a trip to visit her, I think XD XD
5. Our new maid ran away! Just a few days before CNY too :/ No big issue has come out of it other than the police reports, and since she was here for less than 3 months the agency is getting us a new maid. The family has been spending alot of time cleaning the house. One more month...
6. Finally cleaned up my room!! Now I have the time (and inclination XD) to dress up, do outfit snaps, take pics of the clothes I want to sell... My mannequin is really coming in handy here :)

I feel like dressing up in one of my new kimono~~♥ I've already put together an outfit! Now's just a matter of finding the time to dress up ♥ But it's been getting busier at work, and looks like it won't ease up till Invest Malaysia is over (that's in mid-April lol!), so I'll most probably stone alot at home till then XD;

Hmmm sleep sounds like a good thing right now....

Picnic on the Murgia

Italian Music Festival

Every year around this time, all the TV sets in Italy are tuned to the same channel watching the Sanremo Italian Music Festival. It's an annual competition to choose the best of current Italian pop music. Both new and established artists can enter, but they must present a brand new song that has not been performed anywhere previously.

I'm not a big fan of the festival personally, although expressing this minority opinion publicly usually gets me a lot of grief from my Italian friends. How could I not love the Festival? I guess just because I'm not a big fan of shows where famous people make fatuous fusses over other celebrities. I hate the fake smiles, the forced hilarity of these programs. And this festival goes on and on for days...it always seems to me like it's never going to end! Just change the channel, you say? I can't because my family is hooked and they want me to watch with them and comment on all the songs and personalities...an annual form of torture for me!

So, after that negative build up, do you want to know who won?

First prize went to Roberto Vecchioni, a 68 year old Renaissance man. He is not only a singer-songwriter, but also a university professor of music and poetry. He is the author of several books ranging from poetry, fables, to tales of the lives of historical figures. And he is a photographer... I like his song because it speaks of the difficult times we are living in and calls for a return to love, poetry and the more positive aspects of life.

Second prize went to a young singer who is new on the Italian music scene, Emma Marrone, accompanied by the group Modà. Emma has a more upbeat, rock and roll style which blended nicely with the pop rock sound of Modà. Their song is about the hope for a better future after a love story gone wrong.

Third place was awarded to Albano Carrisi, another 68 year old singer, born in Puglia...yeah! He sings in a classic Italian melodic style, with a big and powerful voice. His song tells the story of the short, tragic life of a young prostitute.

Mighty Aphrodite

I've got far too much time on my hands these days, as it seems I've got pneumonia and haven't even got the energy to get up out of bed much. Luckily, I have my portable pc as a faithful companion here in the bed with me. It brings the world to my fingertips. I can check out blogs, visit my favorite fashion sites, do imaginary shopping where I fill up my wishlist in my favorite on-line stores...knowing that I'll never buy any of it! I've been catching up on years and years of old Desperate Housewives episodes. It's no fun being stuck in bed, but at least I have company!

My favorite image of Aphrodite

A friend called to check in on me today and chatting about this and that she mentioned her goddess archtype. Her what? was my first reaction. She said, yeah, that each of us is represented in some way by one of the ancient Greek goddesses. Kind of like your zodiac sign, but just for us girls, get it?

Perhaps the most famous image of Aphrodite in Raphael's painting Primavera

Well, I'm a sucker for a quiz or a personality test, so I started poking around on-line. I found a Find Your Goddess Archetype site that has this to say about the concept:

Understanding goddess types offers a woman very specific means of increased self-awareness of herself, her relationship to her lover, partner, her way of parenting her children, her inner urges in her self-expression and creativity. New ways of understanding feminine psychology have been emerging in the past twenty years--from a feminine perspective. In a society that has trivialized the Goddess concept, learning of the significance of Goddess qualities/energy can be instructive for women and men. We are aware that women's and men's behaviors, attitudes, likes and dislikes do appear to conform to particular typologies.

A rare image of our gal with her shirt on

Hmmm...ok. Of course I had to take the quiz. Of the various ones I have tried on-line, this site has the most exhaustive quiz, but on all of them my result was exactly the same. I'm a mighty Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty! Here's some of what that is supposed to mean:

Aphrodite - possesses an extroverted temperament and focuses on relationship/love - her primary concerns/interests are mature, adult relationships, romance, sexuality, beauty and the arts. Her domain embraced all of nature: vegetable, animal as well as human. Among her powers were fertility and growth/harvesting of crops, war, descent to the underworld, birth/life/love/death and fate. Although an independent figure in her own right, this independence does not preclude emotional involvement with others.

Love the way Aphrodite's about to hit Pan over the head
with an old shoe sole to protect herself

Who knew? I can tell you that right now I feel anything but mighty or goddes-like, but as soon as I get better, I'm going to have to start living up to my archetype! ;-)

Which Goddess are you?

The Sun and The City

Once upon a time there was a city that always lived in darkness, named 'Mad Night'. They lived without any light for over than hundred years. An old man said that long years ago, a wicked witch was curse this city and hide the sun somewhere in the city, but no one knew where it is, no one can find it so people in the city lived with no warm and light.
One day, there lived an orphan girl named Chi, she lived alone and always bullied by other kids near her. Little Chi was crying aloud that day, a group of boys were taking a lollipop candy from her hand and burried it in the soil, after that, they leave Chi alone in the ground. Poor Chi...She was dig the soil while crying for her one and only lollipop candy. After digged for a long time, she still couldn't find it. But suddenly when she digged in one hole, came out a round yellow warm thing...Chi was suprised, it's the sun ! Chi was schocked a while because her eyes never saw a light brighter than it before, and her body felt veeeery warm. "Hi," said the Sun while smiling.
Since that day, The Sun became Chi's bestfriend, The Sun always follow everhwhere Chi go. Some citizen who knew about that became envy and angry. They talked to The King so The King can take the Sun away from Chi.
One day, Chi was surrounded with a lot of mad citizen. They shouted to Chi to give the Sun back to them. Chi was crying and scared. But finally The wise King came, and talk softly to Chi. "But if that so, I would be alone again..I have no friend but the Sun." The King was confuesed a while, but suddenly he got a brilliant idea. "Aha ! Chi, if want to let The Sun go, I want to be your friend." "Really?" "Yes, Chi." The King shaked Chi's hand.
After that, Chi, The King, and The Sun walked together to the top of the highest mountain in the City. Up there, they placed The Sun on its place, at the sky. In a second, the City was lighten with The Sun's light. They finally can see a light for the first time. The light of the Sun made people happy somehow.
Since that day, Chi became The King's friend, she lived in the Palace. Now, name of the city 'Mad Night' was changed into 'Happy Sun.'

Sent from BlackBerry® on 3

The Sun and The City

Once upon a time there was a city that always lived in darkness, named 'Mad Night'. They lived without any light for over than hundred years. An old man said that long years ago, a wicked witch was curse this city and hide the sun somewhere in the city, but no one knew where it is, no one can find it so people in the city lived with no warm and light.
One day, there lived an orphan girl named Chi, she lived alone and always bullied by other kids near her. Little Chi was crying aloud that day, a group of boys were taking a lollipop candy from her hand and burried it in the soil, after that, they leave Chi alone in the ground. Poor Chi...She was dig the soil while crying for her one and only lollipop candy. After digged for a long time, she still couldn't find it. But suddenly when she digged in one hole, came out a round yellow warm thing...Chi was suprised, it's the sun ! Chi was schocked a while because her eyes never saw a light brighter than it before, and her body felt veeeery warm. "Hi," said the Sun while smiling.
Since that day, The Sun became Chi's bestfriend, The Sun always follow everhwhere Chi go. Some citizen who knew about that became envy and angry. They talked to The King so The King can take the Sun away from Chi.
One day, Chi was surrounded with a lot of mad citizen. They shouted to Chi to give the Sun back to them. Chi was crying and scared. But finally The wise King came, and talk softly to Chi. "But if that so, I would be alone again..I have no friend but the Sun." The King was confuesed a while, but suddenly he got a brilliant idea. "Aha ! Chi, if want to let The Sun go, I want to be your friend." "Really?" "Yes, Chi." The King shaked Chi's hand.
After that, Chi, The King, and The Sun walked together to the top of the highest mountain in the City. Up there, they placed The Sun on its place, at the sky. In a second, the City was lighten with The Sun's light. They finally can see a light for the first time. The light of the Sun made people happy somehow.
Since that day, Chi became The King's friend, she lived in the Palace. Now, name of the city 'Mad Night' was changed into 'Happy Sun.'

Sent from BlackBerry® on 3

Chiacchiere - A Carnival Treat

One of the things I love about Italy is how every holiday has its traditional sweet. I have a real sweet tooth and love to eat any kind of cake, cookies, candies, you name it! That's gotten a lot harder since I discovered that I'm intolerant to both gluten and lactose. There are some commercial products available without those ingredients, but for the most part I think they're pretty blah, taste-wise. So, if I want something sweet, I pretty much have to make it myself.

Luckily there are lots of sites on the Internet offering recipes for people with dietary limitations (see my sidebar for some I love). But, it's not always easy to reproduce my Italian holiday favs. As it's Carnival season I've been craving the light, crispy, sugar-coated delights called "Chiacchere." Well, they're called chiacchiere down here in the heel of the boot, in other areas they have all kinds of different names. 

I got lucky and found a great gluten and lactose-free chiacchiere recipe and thought I'd share it with you.

First of all, for any of you who don't know what "Chiacchiere" are, take a look at these yummy creations . . .

Photo from Flickr

Ingredients:

• 300 gr gluten-free flour 
• 60 gr sugar
• 2 large eggs 
• 25 gr vegetable margarine
• 1/2 glass of liqueur (for example: Martini bianco) 
• Oil for frying

Directions:

1. Sift the flour and add the sugar, eggs, softened margarine, and liqueur.

2. Blend well until the dough is smooth and compact. Add more flour if necessary.

3. Wrap in a soft cloth (a clean, dry dish towel will do fine) and set aside to rise for about 30 minutes.

4. Roll a section of the dough out to a thin layer, then use a pastry wheel to cut it into the shapes you desire. (I found my dough to be a bit sticky. It helped to roll it out on floured waxed paper.)

5. Fry the pieces of dough in plentiful hot oil. Be careful not to let the oil get too hot, or the chiacchiere will darken too quickly.

6. When golden, lift the chiacchiere out of the oil with a slotted spoon and lay them on blotting paper to absorb the excess oil.

7. Finally arrange them on a serving dish and sprinkle with powered sugar.

8. Enjoy!

For more info on chiacchiere read my article at Charming Italy.

By the way, besides being the name for these delicious sweets, "chiacchiere" means "chit-chat" or "small talk" in Italian!

Photo from Flickr

tigress has a brand new facebook page! (plus bribes!)

let me start this off by saying that this is rather embarrassing. some of you may remember about a year ago, when i changed my facebook page the first time.

but i figure we've known each other long enough,

i can be vulnerable.

look, i luv facebook as much as the next cat. (maybe even more, i've watched the social network 3 times!) but i've had a few issues with it - or it with me.

first, it seems that tigress is a 4 letter word - or was. whenever i tried to use it on its own facebook would say - NOT. which is why i had to come up with a couple of weird acronyms over the last year and a half.

that part is all better now - i don't know why, but i ain't asking any questions. but, unlike twitter, you can't just change the name of your page, you have to re-invite everyone to LIKE you.

ahem.

now you may ask yourself why, since my page is going strong - a nice little hang out for those of like mind and taste - would i go through all this trouble?

to that, i give you this:



as some of you may have noticed over the past few months i've changed my twitter handle to @hungry_tigress, along with my email to hungrytigress(at)me(dot)com. all of this in anticipation of a big move to WordPress and the redesigns of tigress in a jam and tigress in a pickle, both of which will be housed within the URL www.hungrytigress.com (coming soon).

so as you can imagine not having my facebook page in line with all that, well...

it's killing me.

(i promise, i'm working on it).

lo and behold, just when i thought i might have to give up and live with this thorn in my paw, the mighty facebook bestowed upon me a page with the name of hungry tigress (with caps, but i'll take it, son!)

wait, there's more!

to make up for the fact that i'm asking you to LIKE me here, and forgettabout the old one, i've got two amazing books i'm gonna give away:



















the first, home dairy with ashley english is a gem of a book in a gem of a series. if you've ever thought about dabbling in dairy, do it with ashley. i love her entire homemade living series because they are perfect for beginner and seasoned preserver, alike.

the second, DIY delicious has been my go to book for weeks now. it's full of from-scratch recipes, that make you feel like a pilgrim without the pilgrim hours, get it? lots of good and delicious food in this book!

so here's the winning deal: as of this writing i have 550 'likes' on my old facebook page. once i get 550 likes on my new facebook page, hungry tigress. i will use that trusty random number generator to choose two lucky winners out of the 550 likes.

shameless, i know.

now giddy up over here and click LIKE for a chance to win!

:)

How To Cook Shoyu Chicken

I receive some enquiries recently asking me how to cook Shoyu Chicken. As I love shoyo chicken and I haven’t cooked it for some time, I’ve decided to raise this post to answer my readers enquiries as well as pleasing myself and my beloved on Valentine's Day.

My shoyu chicken is of course Hong Kong Cantonese style. We usually call it Soy Sauce Chicken. It is extremely easy to cook and very delicious. Here we go.

Since cooking a whole chicken is quite demanding, I’ll leave it to professional chefs. For home cooking, I’m going to work on chicken thighs only, which are good for kids as well as parties.

How To Cook Shoyu Chicken

Ingredients
4 boneless chicken thighs. These are all we need. To reduce the intake of fat and cholesterol, I usually remove the chicken skins. However it is your choice to keep it or not.

Shoyu Chicken Seasoning Sauce

• 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of Huadiao wine (Shaoxing cooking wine)
• 1 tablespoon of water
• Some grinded black pepper
• Pinch of sugar
  
  Get all these into a bowl and mix well for a minute or so to make sure the sugar is melted. Marinate the chicken thighs with the seasoning solution. Turn the meat up side down at least once through out the seasoning period to ensure both sides of the meat absorb the equal amount of seasoning sauce.

Seasoning Tips

The secret to making delicious Shoyu Chicken is the seasoning sauce and the seasoning period. Allow several hours for seasoning to ensure the best taste. I usually season it in the morning if I want to cook for dinner. If I want to cook for lunch, I’ll start seasoning the night before. If you are running short of time, you should allow at least 30 minutes of seasoning before cooking.

Cooking Directions

1. Heat a pan, add 1 tablespoon of EVO.
2. Lay all chicken thighs flat into the pan to ensure they all receive even heat. (**DO NOT throw away the remaining seasoning sauce, we'll use it later on**)
3. Turn to medium heat, cover with a lid.
4. Cook for 4 minutes.
5. Turn meat up side down. You’ll see the beautifully brown colored chicken. Remember you have some leftover seasoning sauce in the plate? It’s time to add this residue solution to the pan. Cover again and cook for 2 minutes. Check if the sauce is getting too thick. If so, add a little bit of water and continue cooking for another 2 minutes with the lid on.
6. Dishing up and serve hot. Best to go with plain rice.

NOTE: The total cooking time should be between 8 and 10 minutes. This will avoid under- or over-cooking and ensure the maximum tenderness of the chicken.

Warning: Do NOT Use These Cooking Oils

Do you find cooking Shoyu Chicken simple and easy? I really love it because it is so delicious. Next time when you have friends asking you how to cook Shoyu Chicken, you may direct them to this blog post.

Shoyu Chicken (Soy Sauce Chicken)

YOUR VALENTINE BONUS: Actually Chinese has a lot of chicken cooking methods and Shoyu Chicken is just one of them. Others like Drunken Chicken, Hainanese Chicken Rice and many others are also very delicious. If you want to learn more about the Chinese way of chicken cooking, you may want to take a look at my friend Nicholas Zhou’s cookbook: Healthy Chinese Cooking. If you buy through this link and send me your ClickBank receipt, I’ll email you my Hong Kong Chinese Food Close Up eBook for FREE. Send your receipt to hkchinesefood(at)yahoo(dot)com(dot)hk Enjoy Cooking and Happy Valentine ! Anna February 14, 2011

Hong Kong Food Blog - How To Cook Shoyu Chicken

Warning: Do NOT Use These Cooking Oils

How To Cook Shoyu Chicken

I receive some enquiries recently asking me how to cook Shoyu Chicken. As I love shoyo chicken and I haven’t cooked it for some time, I’ve decided to raise this post to answer my readers enquiries as well as pleasing myself and my beloved on Valentine's Day.

My shoyu chicken is of course Hong Kong Cantonese style. We usually call it Soy Sauce Chicken. It is extremely easy to cook and very delicious. Here we go.

Since cooking a whole chicken is quite demanding, I’ll leave it to professional chefs. For home cooking, I’m going to work on chicken thighs only, which are good for kids as well as parties.

How To Cook Shoyu Chicken

Ingredients
4 boneless chicken thighs. These are all we need. To reduce the intake of fat and cholesterol, I usually remove the chicken skins. However it is your choice to keep it or not.

Shoyu Chicken Seasoning Sauce

• 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of Huadiao wine (Shaoxing cooking wine)
• 1 tablespoon of water
• Some grinded black pepper
• Pinch of sugar
  
  Get all these into a bowl and mix well for a minute or so to make sure the sugar is melted. Marinate the chicken thighs with the seasoning solution. Turn the meat up side down at least once through out the seasoning period to ensure both sides of the meat absorb the equal amount of seasoning sauce.

Seasoning Tips

The secret to making delicious Shoyu Chicken is the seasoning sauce and the seasoning period. Allow several hours for seasoning to ensure the best taste. I usually season it in the morning if I want to cook for dinner. If I want to cook for lunch, I’ll start seasoning the night before. If you are running short of time, you should allow at least 30 minutes of seasoning before cooking.

Cooking Directions

1. Heat a pan, add 1 tablespoon of EVO.
2. Lay all chicken thighs flat into the pan to ensure they all receive even heat. (**DO NOT throw away the remaining seasoning sauce, we'll use it later on**)
3. Turn to medium heat, cover with a lid.
4. Cook for 4 minutes.
5. Turn meat up side down. You’ll see the beautifully brown colored chicken. Remember you have some leftover seasoning sauce in the plate? It’s time to add this residue solution to the pan. Cover again and cook for 2 minutes. Check if the sauce is getting too thick. If so, add a little bit of water and continue cooking for another 2 minutes with the lid on.
6. Dishing up and serve hot. Best to go with plain rice.

NOTE: The total cooking time should be between 8 and 10 minutes. This will avoid under- or over-cooking and ensure the maximum tenderness of the chicken.

Warning: Do NOT Use These Cooking Oils

Do you find cooking Shoyu Chicken simple and easy? I really love it because it is so delicious. Next time when you have friends asking you how to cook Shoyu Chicken, you may direct them to this blog post.

Shoyu Chicken (Soy Sauce Chicken)

YOUR VALENTINE BONUS: Actually Chinese has a lot of chicken cooking methods and Shoyu Chicken is just one of them. Others like Drunken Chicken, Hainanese Chicken Rice and many others are also very delicious. If you want to learn more about the Chinese way of chicken cooking, you may want to take a look at my friend Nicholas Zhou’s cookbook: Healthy Chinese Cooking. If you buy through this link and send me your ClickBank receipt, I’ll email you my Hong Kong Chinese Food Close Up eBook for FREE. Send your receipt to hkchinesefood(at)yahoo(dot)com(dot)hk Enjoy Cooking and Happy Valentine ! Anna February 14, 2011

Hong Kong Food Blog - How To Cook Shoyu Chicken

Warning: Do NOT Use These Cooking Oils