One-pot steamed Chinese chicken mushroom rice

A classic Chinese comfort food is steamed chicken with winter/shiitake mushrooms (冬菇蒸雞飯). There are variations with dried lily flowers but I like the ones with mushrooms best. In Chinese cooking, shiitake/winter mushrooms are more commonly used dried than fresh. The dried ones have a stronger, more umami flavor to them that the fresh ones don't, and the best dried winter mushrooms can be quite expensive!

I adapted my recipe from this one I found online.

The only specialized equipment you will need is a rice cooker (found throughout Asia). Rice cookers are amazing things - see this blog post by Roger Ebert (yes, the film critic) if you need to be convinced of its usefulness.

Notes:

• Rehydrated winter mushrooms (or you can use any fresh ones that you prefer. A "meatier" mushroom would probably work better here.
• I used boneless chicken thigh, cut into small pieces, because my boyfriend doesn't like bones. In cheaper restaurants in Hong Kong, the chicken in this dish can have a lot of bone splinters :(
• Didn't have spring onion so I substituted coriander/cilantro - not strictly traditional but I feel that you have a lot more flexibility for savory dishes than with baked desserts.
• Rice + about 2/3 of the normal amount of water you would normally use in your cooker because the soy sauce marinade for the chicken will make up the remaining liquid.
• If you don't have Shaoxing wine you can use cooking sake/mirin/pale dry sherry/gin. Not quite the same but close enough.
  
• It's OK if your rice gets a slightly burnt and crispy crust - that's the BEST part!
• The main point is, don't worry about following the recipe too strictly, play around with it depending on what ingredients you have on hand and ENJOY. It will be yummy.

Chicken pot pie

Step 1: Make the filling. I used chopped pea shoots, carrots, potatoes, chicken breast, and onion in a bechamel sauce. I lightly cooked the vegetables in a saucepan until soft before adding to the filling.



Step 2: Make the shortcrust pastry ahead of time (you need to chill it before use) and place on top of the filling. Brush with beaten egg.



Step 3: Bake at 200°C for 50 - 60 minutes until golden brown.



Step 4: Serve hot and enjoy. It keeps for a couple of days in the fridge (just reheat in the oven or microwave before serving).

Shredded chicken, bok choi and Korean vermicelli in chicken broth

雞絲白菜韓國粉絲（金華火腿瘦肉清雞湯）
Shredded chicken, bok choi with Korean potato vermicelli in a clear broth made from two whole chickens, lean pork, and salty Jinhua ham.

The fat is skimmed off the top of the soup so this dish is almost fat-free but still very flavorful. The soup is a simpler, homemade free-style adaptation of Chinese "superior stock" (上湯). This dish is all about the soup. Soup is important in Chinese culture - it's comfort, medicine, culture and history in one steaming pot.

While I don't cook traditional Chinese food often, sometimes I like to experiment. This noodle soup turned out very well: it's my own customized mix of Shanghai vegetable noodles and Cantonese/Hainan chicken soup. The great thing about this recipe is that you can add whatever toppings or accompaniments that you like. The only drawback is that making the soup requires time and patience, but you can make ahead and put it in the fridge or freezer.

Soup recipe:
1 x chicken carcass (old chicken)
1 x old chicken (for soup)
chunk of lean pork (about 200 g)
a few thick slices of Jinhua ham (more if you're splurging)
several sprigs of spring onions
3 to 4 inch-long chunk of fresh peeled ginger
sea salt or other good quality salt
shiitake mushrooms or oyster mushrooms (optional)

1. Rub in a good amount of salt into the chicken and pork (pretend you're exfoliating /giving it a facial). Rinse chicken and pork under running water briefly to get rid of any dirt and "frozen" flavor (you should be using fresh chicken too if possible but I am too cheap and lazy to get fresh sometimes and it works out ok, but if using formerly frozen then make sure you thoroughly rinse the meat so you don't get the "freezer chill" taste).
   NB: For the chicken, you can remove the skin and most of the fat in advance (leave a few bits of fat to give the soup flavor). If possible, keep the (thoroughly cleaned) chicken feet and head/neck: the collagen/gelatin gives the soup more umami flavor and that lip-smacking unctuousness. I usually remove the skin and fat from the neck and the butt area, deskin most of the chicken torso, but leave the harder-to-remove skin on the wings and drumstick areas.
2. Chop chicken into bits so that both birds can comfortably fit into your pot. I get the butcher to do this; otherwise if you have whole birds, you can put one bird in at first, then put the other bird in at step 4. Using whole birds makes the removal process easier later.
   
3. Clean and slice spring onions in half. Remove any withered parts. You can remove the roots if it's easier than cleaning the bottom.
   
4. Put meat, ham, spring onions and ginger into pot. Salt generously, depending on how much of the salty Jinhua ham you put in. Bring to a boil, then turn to low heat and simmer until the meat and bones are almost falling apart. Skim off fat, scum and other stuff floating on the top at regular intervals.
   
5. When soup is done, remove as much of the bones and meat as you can with tongs/spoon and then pour through a large strainer into a large bowl or container.
   
6. This soup will freeze well or keep in fridge for a week or two. Once chilled and solidified, it's easier to remove the top layer of chicken fat. It should be a clear jelly once chilled due to the gelatin/collagen.
   

Chicken and bok choi noodle soup recipe
Shredded chicken meat
Fresh mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, shimeiji, etc.)
Bok choi or other vegetables (Napa cabbage, choi sum, spinach, etc. would be nice)
Chicken stock (see above recipe)
Korean vermicelli (or rice noodles, mung bean vermicelli, pho noodles....)
dash of salt/soy sauce/rice vinegar/lime juice

1. Put chicken stock in saucepan. I tend to stretch the use of the chicken stock by using a 50:50 chicken stock and water combo (in this case, add enough salt to make up the taste).
2. Add your chosen noodle and toppings. I used mushrooms and the leftover soup chicken meat, which was a bit tough but I didn't want to see it go to waste, together with bok choi. I used Korean potato vermicelli because I like its texture and taste but feel free to experiment.
   
3. If the soup is lacking a little je ne sais quoi, add the following to taste: salt, soy sauce, vinegar, lime juice. (I think the slight sourness of vinegar or citrus juice really helps this soup, though).
   
4. When toppings are cooked through, serve this dish in large bowl, piping hot.
   

Chicken marsala dinner with rosemary potatoes and Parmesan peas

We stayed in last night for dinner. It was cold outside, and we didn't feel like moving much. I had bought a bottle of Marsala wine yesterday on an impulse, as I had seen it on a supermarket shelf, which is something I'd never seen before - Marsala seems to be quite hard to find here in Hong Kong. Anyway, I love the rich umami flavour that Marsala adds to meats, and I had some frozen boneless chicken thighs in the freezer, plus a few leftover mushrooms and shallots, so voila, chicken Marsala dinner. For the sides, we had leftover white rice, plus roasted potatoes and peas - i.e., the ingredients I had on hand in the kitchen!



Chicken Marsala recipe: I followed the Smitten Kitchen recipe but modified it. I didn't measure the ingredients exactly (just going by instinct instead) except for the Marsala as I didn't want it to end up too winey or too weak. Here's my shorthand instructions:

1. Defrost chicken in a bowl or Tupperware container, dump some salt and black pepper on and flip them until seasoning is coated. I used metal tongs (as in picture).
2. Melt butter to coat the bottom of your dish (I used the glass Pyrex dish for cooking and serving)
3. Brown chicken (don't cook all the way through, you will add the chicken back in later) and take back out. Set aside.
4. In the same pan, using the melted butter/chicken juices, fry sliced mushrooms (white or brown button is fine) and thinly sliced shallots (I used this instead of the onion called for in the SK recipe as I wanted to use up my shallots) until soft.
5. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup (or more depending on preference) of Marsala wine, stir into the onion-mushroom-butter sauce, and wait til it evaporates. Add back chicken and turn down heat slightly. Flip chicken occasionally until done, making sure it doesn't stick to bottom of the dish and burn.
6. Taste, adding more butter/salt/pepper as needed, and then serve immediately.

This is a rich and flavourful dish so best to serve it with some plain carbs to soak up the sauce. I used white rice, but crusty bread or plain pasta would go with this too.


Sides:

Potatoes
I diced one baking potato, skin-on, (we had a lot of chicken and also rice, so only one for 2 people, otherwise I would do one potato per person), and blanched the cubes in some boiling water for a couple of minutes to remove some of the starch. Then I put the cubes in the roasting pan and added extra virgin olive oil, rosemary, and teaspoon of salt. I tossed the mixture so that the potatoes were thoroughly coated, and then baked until golden crispy brown in a 220 Celcius oven.

Peas
I adapted this from a Jamie Oliver recipe. Basically I used frozen peas, heated until soft, tossed in good extra virgin olive oil, a little fresh mint, and then added shaved Parmesan and shredded Mozarella to the mixture. Before serving, sprinkle with some grated/cracked black pepper.

Honey roasted chicken with tomato, potato and onion

I am sorry that I am continuing this photo-less streak but I was so hungry I ate a huge chunk of the chicken and Tupperwared the rest already by the time I remembered! Even with no photo, I wanted to record the recipe so I can file it away for future use. :)

During high school, there was a lot of absolutely scrumptious food in the school dining hall. It's funny to think that school food could be good, but my friends and I ate like elephants during those years in England. Bread and butter pudding, chicken and mushroom pie, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, chicken fricasée with rice, ratatouille with baked potato, smoked mackerel and salad – we ate it all. The dining hall cooks loved us, because we always went up for seconds.Now, over 10 years later, we just reminisce nostalgically about all the good food we used to eat back then.

I had a sudden urge to recreate a particular dish that I hadn't had in years, ever since I left Malvern. It was served back then as chicken legs roasted in a tray with a chunky tomato sauce that was chock-ful of tomatoes and onions. The chicken was always sweet and crispy with the taste of honey and butter, so when I recreated it last weekend, I used a healthy amount of honey to rub over the chicken and also mixed in the tomato sauce mix. It turned out amazing. I also added potatoes (not in the school version) and that was great too; however it is fine without potato and served with penne or rice.

The only thing you have to watch out for is for the chicken to blacken too soon due to the honey rub - but the crispy chicken skin (even when black) is pretty amazing stuff!

The great thing about this roast chicken is that it can serve 2 people nicely, or else you can reserve the chicken breasts and sauce to go with pasta the next day, and the leftovers (bones, neck, feet, any leftover tomatoes) will make a nice tomato chicken soup as well. It's pretty economical and efficient.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (or legs, drumsticks, wings, etc.)
• 1 small can tomato paste
• A large handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half (or else a couple of diced large tomatoes would work too)
• 1 large onion
• 4-5 cloves garlic (or more!)
  
• 3-4 (or more) par-boiled new potatoes, baking potatoes or any potatoes you have left over
  
• Herbs and spices that you want (I put 2 bay leaves, a bit of oregano, rosemary, cumin, black pepper, sea salt)
• Real butter or olive oil
  
• Honey (cheap honey such as for BBQ is fine)

1. Preheat oven to about 220 Celcius (425 F).
   
2. Rinse and pat dry chicken. Rub all over with sea salt. Place a couple pats of butter inside skin underneath the chicken breast (this is optional if you have a good organic/free range chicken). Drizzle a light coating of honey over the chicken, rub in to make sure it evenly coats the chicken. Place in a roasting pan (make sure there's room to put all the other stuff) and set aside.
   
3. Chop up tomatoes, potatoes, onion, garlic (no need to peel garlic completely if you're lazy, the final silver layer of skin is fine to be kept on). In a large bowl, mix all these with the can of tomato paste (may need to add a bit of water), herbs, and at least 1/3 cup honey, if not more.
   
4. Spoon the tomato sauce mixture into the roasting pan around the chicken (or underneath the chicken if there's not enough room). Feel free to add an additional bay leaf inside the cavity of the chicken. Also, put a couple dabs of butter (or generous squirt of olive oil) on top of the tomato sauce mixture if you want.
5. Place the roasting pan into the oven, cook for about an hour, but check it every so often to see if it's done. Usually I find that the chicken is done in just over an hour depending on the size of the bird. (Use a meat thermometer or just poke it in the thigh to see if it's still red. I normally cook chicken for me and my boyfriend only, so presentation is not that important. I just cut open the chicken at the thigh joint to see if it's done there. If it is all white, then it's ready!)
   

Roast chicken

I was home sick today with the flu, so I decided to cook a nice lunch to cheer myself up. This is the first time I've roasted a whole chicken, and it turned out very well. I'm quite proud of myself :). It's so simple, I don't know why I was so intimidated by it before...

Organic local chicken rubbed with olive oil, salt, black pepper, dried rosemary (didn't have fresh on hand), and stuffed with half a lemon and several garlic cloves. Roasted in the oven at 190 Celcius for 50-60 minutes.

Served with honey roast parsnips and sage & onion stuffing (instant Paxo stuffing from the UK, just like I remember from boarding school! Yum!) & Bisto chicken gravy. This is really a nostalgia-inducing dish for me, as it is quite British.

Family Dinner (Dec 23)

Steamed white eel (Cantonese home-style)

Stir-fried pea shoots with garlic; cucumbers with sesame oil & soy sauce; poached white chicken