I’ve been having a lot of success with steaming lately. Both the salted fish chicken and the stuffed squid were delicious dishes that met with the approval of the whole family. Thus, I decided to go about trying yet more dishes from this latest cookbook I bought which was all about steaming.
The recipe I decided to try next looked a little bit more complicated but actually turned out to be quite easy and yet filled with yummy flavors. Also, Nate thought it had shades of Khau Yoke flavors without the crazy amount of work that Khau Yoke actually takes. And as for the presentation, it’s a dish with the "wow" factor. When presented tableside, it really looks like something that could have come out of a fancy Chinese restaurant.
This sweet-savory and simple chicken dish is “die die must try!”
Marmite is one of those things that make people either wax lyrical or shudder in horror. This spread which is made from a concentrated yeast paste has a really strong smell and flavor. The Brits eat it with toast or bread. I have never eaten Marmite in that way. As a matter of fact, even though I’ve heard of Marmite and Bovril (another similar product) all my life, I have never eaten it until more recently.
And the only reason I’ve discovered it in the past few years is that it has become a common ingredient in Malaysian cooking. I remember having Marmite chicken the last time we were home in Malaysia about 4 years ago and then just recently, we ordered it again here in Kuching at a Chinese restaurant. Both times, the Marmite flavors were tempered with honey and other flavors to balance out the yeasty flavors. Somehow, the combination works in highlighting the chicken in a “cannot get enough of this” kind of way.
Stuck in a rut, and looking for something new and tasty to do with chicken?
It was Sunday, and I was tossing ideas in my head of what I should cook. I had taken out some chicken drumettes from the freezer the night before with some idea that I would cook it tonight for dinner. The whole morning, I tossed some ideas around in my head. What could I do with those drumettes?
Take a boring chicken and maximize the flavor with tons of aromatics and umami flavors…plus some delicious brandy.
I was at a friend’s house in Kuching a month ago and she served us a lovely chicken dish flavored with lots of lemongrass. It was cooked in homemade Chinese red wine, she explained, and she had added dark soy and shiitake mushrooms. It was delicious.
I decided that I would have to try to make it myself when I got a chance. However, I didn’t have any home-made red wine to use. What I did have was a bottle of really good cognac that had been left by the previous owner of our rental home. We don’t really drink too much liquor but I’ve always been able to use them in my cooking. Maybe this was a waste of really good cognac but let me tell you, this dish was the BOMB!
