Bite On It!

When I was back in KL 2 months ago, my mom showed me how to do home made Char Siew (BBQ Pork) with the Lee Kum Kee Char Siew sauce. It was pretty delicious so I thought I’ll try to make some when I’m back in Penang.

However, I did not have the Lee Kum Kee Char Siew sauce but I have some really nice pork belly sitting in my freezer so I thought, ‘Why don’t I concoct the Char Siew sauce myself?’ It was pretty easy and only require a few ingredients.

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Ingredients:

• 300g Pork belly (get those that are not too lean or too fat)
• Black soy sauce (enough to cover the entire piece of pork belly)
• Light soy sauce (based on your own taste bud)
• 3tbsp Brown sugar
• A few dash of Fish sauce
• Sprinkle some pepper

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Methods

1. Marinade the pork belly with all the ingredients and leave it for about half a day or over night (if over night please put in the fridge)
2. Heat up the oven to about 200 degree Celsius  or you can you can heat up your frying pan with some oil and fry it on small fire till it is cook. For grilling, grill for about and hour, turning it every 20 or 30 minutes.
3. The sugar and black sauce will caramelize so do turn it every now and then so it won’t stick to the frying pan and get burnt.
4. Cut them into slices. For added taste, I did some sauce of brown sugar, light soy sauce, black sauce sauce and a little corn starch which I cook them until sticky and glaze the Char Siew.

I bought some whole chicken thighs during one of the week and have wanted to cook some curry chicken but I forgot to buy the chili mix and coconut milk! I don’t normally like to use premix curry powder as PiggyBeng said it is very heaty for him so I will avoid using unless it is absolute necessary…

The chicken thighs have been sitting in the fridge for almost a week and I forgotten about them totally until one day I was rummaging through my freezer. And since I have nothing much to cook, these chicken thighs come in real handy. The problem is, I don’t have any ideas or a particular recipe in mind. So, what I do next?

Again I rummaged through my food cabinets trying to find any spices that I can make do with. The thing is, other than my Fried Nestum Chicken, I hardly cook chicken dishes as they may need ingredients that I do not have on hand. Therefore, it can be tough to think of any chicken recipes in a flash.

As I hardly use my oven, I decided to grill these chicken thighs. The outcome: YUMMY! I find them less oily and juicier… so it’s healthier too! I even stir-fried some celery with garlic to go along with the rice too. The other good thing, it’s little hassle and the kitchen is grease free!

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Ingredients

(Serves 2)

• 2 whole Chicken thighs (cut some diagonal lines so heat can penetrate)
• Turmeric and Cheyenne pepper - Enough to marinade both thighs
• Salt to taste
• A few squeeze of lemon juice
• Some basting oil (Olive oil + light soy sauce + sugar + lemon juice) - Optional

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Method

1. Marinade the thighs with enough turmeric (fresh or powder), lemon juice and salt for at least 1-2 hours prior to baking. Best if it’s over night.
2. Line baking tray with grease proof paper or silver foil. Place the thighs on the tray and bake at 200 degree Celsius, flipping occassionally.
3. Glaze with basting oil if you want the thighs to be more fragrant.
4. Grill for at least 40 minutes or till thoroughly cooked (when no more blood oozing out).

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