Lazy Chicken Rice

Featuring one of my home cook dishes. Why I called it lazy chicken rice is because this dish is very easy to make. Another one of my easy shortcut version. Of course you can serve it with fresh slices of cucumber and a bowl of clear chicken soup.

Ingredients for the Chicken Rice:

~Rice
~Chopped garlic
~Chopped ginger
~Chopped shallot
~Canned Swanson chicken broth

Sauce for the cooked rice:
Soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and chopped scallion.

Main Ingredient:
Chicken breasts, cut and marinate in soy sauce, dark soy sauce, garlic powder and cornstarch.

Method:

1. Wash the rice & drain. Heat up the wok with a little oil, add in the chopped ingredients and stir-fry until fragrant. Add in the rice and stir well to mix til dry up. Transfer to the rice cooker and add in the canned chicken broth, give it a little stir. Cook as normal.

2. Heat soy sauce and sugar in microwave safe bowl for about 30 minutes. Stir until sugar dissolved. Add in some sesame oil and chopped scallion. This sauce is to be pour on top of the cooked chicken rice before serving.

3. Heat up wok with a little oil and stir-fry the marinated chicken pieces until cooked.

4. To serve: Place a ball of chicken rice in the center of the plate, top with chicken pieces and then pour the sauce on top of the chicken. Garnish with cilantro on top and slices of cucumber on the side. Serve with garlic-ginger chillies sauce.


Click for Garlic-Ginger Chillies Sauce recipe:

Sweet Bread (Pai-Pau)

I used Jerseymom's recipe from KC. What prompted me to try this bread was the great reviews given by those who had tried it and posted their pictures. It looked really soft and easy to make.

I encountered minor problem in the beginning because I forgot to add an additional milk to replace the water used for her yeast. I was using instant yeast and it doesn't require that step. Thus, my dough was not wet enough so I just improvised by adding more melted butter and oil to make it pliable. *I only remembered about the liquid after I done kneading the dough* One more obstacle I encountered was it was a cold day and my dough just won't proof or double in size. I tried the warm water in the microwave trick, managed to proof a little, and that's about it. So, I just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.




Was I glad that it turned out alright after all. Got to taste one when it was still warm from the oven and it sure soft to the bite. I brushed the top with maple syrup and it added to the sweet taste of the bread. A yummy sweet bread indeed and a recipe to keep. Thanks Jerseymom! :o)

The real challenge comes tomorrow since this is the first time I made bread without any bread improver, hope that it will still remain soft.

Verdict: It harden the next day but a quick pop in the Microwave solved the problem (10 seconds for one).

Evy's First Halloween

I'm determined to get myself some candies tonight!


Oh wow, look at the candies I got!


Yum..Yum... Mommy I can't talk, I got a mouth fulled.

We decided to take Evy for her first trick-a-treat this Halloween. What else to dress her in but the traditional Chinese costume and made her the China Doll for the night. Does she looks like a China Doll? :) For added effect, I painted her cheeks with some red lipstick. She looked so adorable walking by her daddy side, holding hands and went trick-a-treating door to door. She even held her own candy bag and waved and said bye-bye to those that gave her the candies. She certainly seem enjoying the whole experience. We went to about 20 houses and looked at the candies she got!

Green Tea Melting Moments

I have been wanting to make this cookie ever since I saw how easy the recipe was early this year. However, I was just not motivated enough to really make it. What did it for me was the picture of Connie's melting moments at KC. She reminded me of this melt-in-the-mouth cookie again and thus the result of this afternoon labor. Sometimes all it took was a picture to snap me into action. Okay, now who wants to help me finish all the cookies? ;o)

Coconut Melting Moments

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 1/3 cup + 1 Tbp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Method:

The method is the same as green tea melting moments, except for this I used vanilla extract instead of green tea powder.

Shape the dough into 1- inch ball and packed it with coconut flakes and baked in preheated 325'F oven for 15-17 minutes. Remove to cool on wire rack. When cooled, placed the cookies in small paper cups (for decoration only, can be omitted).

Verdict: Taste better the day it was baked.


Sparkle Sugar Sequins Melting Moments
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As for this, shape into balls, flatten it with a fork and sprinkle sugar sequins on top. A favorite for kids!

Soy Braised Whole Chicken

I posted the recipe under Soy Braised Cornish Hen, for the whole chicken, just double the recipe. I slow boiled it covered for 30 minutes on each side and then I uncovered it and simmer it further for about 10-15 minutes on each side, depending on the size of the chicken. Dish out the chicken and let cool. Thicken the sauce by simmering it down or add some cornstarch mixture to it. Later use the thicken sauce to pour on top of the cut out chicken to serve.