Foodarrific

Everyone loves a grilled chicken. We certainly do. Here’s one of our family favorites which I made up on the fly and which, to be completely honest, is so easy it barely needs a recipe.

All you need are:

• chicken thighs, skin on
• your favorite meat rub

I usually use Cajun rub for that kick we love but feel free to use whatever seasoning or rub you fancy. To prep the chicken, simply marinate it for a few hours. When you’re ready, just grill it in the oven for between 35-45 minutes, and that’s it.

Of course you can go ahead and drizzle on some oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. But then it won’t be a 2-ingredient chicken then, would it ?

I don’t use any oil, salt or pepper because grilling with the skin on, the meat is kept wonderfully moist, and the Cajun rub provides all the flavoring we need. We eat it without the skin and it tastes as good as it looks.

Filed under: PoultryQuick & Easy CookingRecipesSpicy by Chili Queen - No Comments →

Although there’s a whole spread of eateries at the Midvalley walkway to the Gardens, there’s only one or two restaurants that we’re tried that appeal to us. One of them is Nyonya Colors which serves fairly decent nasi lemak (or coconut rice with condiments) but we’ve never tried their nyonya kuih (or cakes). There are certain prices I won’t just pay for certain food, period, especially if I know how easy and cheap they can be made at home.

This Nasi Lemak Pandan with Chicken Rendang is quite a decent portion of rice (the greenish color comes from the screwpine leaves used), fried anchovies and peanuts, half a hard-boiled egg, sliced cucumber and chicken rendang (dried curry sauce).

Another one of our favorites is Nasi Kunyit with Chicken Curry. The nasi kunyit, or turmeric rice, shaped like giant gold coins, may not look like a lot but eaten with the thick, coconuty chicken curry, this glutinous rice is very filling.

And if I’m not very hungry, I’ll order this basic, no-frills nasi lemak in a small portion that I can finish in a few scoops.

Filed under: AsianCurryPoultryReviewsSpicy by Chili Queen - 1 Comment →

This year, for our CNY reunion dinner, I decided to slave in the kitchen this year instead of subjecting ourselves to those rip-off festive restaurant prices. My dishes are very simple so it’s not too hard to whip up something pretty quickly.

Stirfried Kailan with Crispy Scallop Bits

Stir-fried Kai-lan (Chinese kale) is a common everyday dish. I merely funky-ed it up with a topping of crispy dried scallop bits. Surprisingly my say-no-to-veggie brood loved this .

Claypot Pork Ribs and Tofu

We’re big fans of Claypot Tofu (recipe here) and I cook this quite often for regular meals. Here I used pork ribs with carrot flowers and wolfberries and turned it into something special.

Spicy Thai-style Crispy Chicken

I topped my easy-peasy and very popular Thai-style Crispy Chicken (recipe here) with shredded carrots, cucumbers and onions.

Braised Mushrooms with Phoenix Claws

Don’t jump now. Phoenix claws are actually just plain old chicken feet.

Lotus Root Soup with Japanese Baby Scallops

This turned out so sweet and flavorful I surprised even myself .

You’ll agree there’s nothing very fattening here so no need for us to start reading phentermine reviews ! In fact, I cooked everything here with fresh ingredients and very little sodium, practically no sugar or added MSG.

Filed under: AsianMeatPoultrySeafoodSoupsSpecial OccasionsSpicyTofuVegetables by chili queen - No Comments →

On weekends, when everyone is home, I try to cook something that everyone likes. One of our favorite hawker food is fried kuay teow, or fried flat rice noodle, which is pretty easy to whip up at home. I fried this and couldn’t wait to gobble it up.

All you need are these fresh ingredients which you can adjust according to number of people you’re feeding:

• kuay teow, or flat rice noodle (I use 1 kg for two meals for 5 people)
• fresh medium or large shrimps, shelled and deveined
• nga choy, or bean sprouts
• gow choy, or chives, cut into 2″ lengths (discard the heads)
• cooking oil
• thick dark soy sauce
• light soy sauce
• chili paste
• eggs
• salt to taste

I first heat up my wok with a generous drizzle of cooking oil. I usually fry one portion (for one person) at a time. You need to keep your wok on high heat and you need to work fast. So don’t get distracted now .

First I throw in a handful of shrimps followed by a couple handfuls of noodles, or kuay teow, and drizzle over some dark soy sauce (just enough to give it some color) and add a splash of water. I’m frying, frying, keep that hand moving, woo-oo!

Then I throw in a handful of bean sprouts, chives and a spoonful (or however many) of chili paste and I keep right on frying as I crack an egg and drizzle some light soy sauce into the mix.

And we’re done. So simple. We like our fried kuay teow pretty basic without clams, Chinese sausages or fish paste slices but you can go ahead and add those if you like.

Homemade hawker-style fried kuay teow is just as tasty and much cleaner and healthier. If you’re eat this a lot outside, don’t forget to some colon cleanse reviews as the hawker fried kuay teow is usually fried with lard .

Filed under: AsianHealthy EatingOne-dish MealsRecipesRice & NoodlesSpicyStreet Food by chili queen - 2 Comments →

Every weekend, without fail, we would go to the neighborhood mall. My kids go to a music school there so that’s where I’m at every weekend. After class, we would usually hang out there, do a little shopping and then have dinner.

Thing is we’re there so often, we’ve run through the mall’s directory list and tried practically every restaurant there. Now we’re down to eating nasi lemak which is the thing with a zing that everyone loves, so no arguments.

It’s our all-time favorite rice in coconut milk with chicken curry, fried anchovies and peanuts, half a hard-boiled egg, sliced cucumbers, sambal or chili paste topped off with a crispy papadam or Indian corn cracker.

Absolutely yummy! There’s nothing like it eaten piping hot and spicy. Sometimes my kids order the less spicy combination that comes with fried chicken instead of chicken curry. Sometimes I cook this at home. I’ll have to post the recipe sometime.

Filed under: AsianFoodlish TalkRice & NoodlesSpicy by chili queen - 2 Comments →