Bite On It!

I have not been doing a lot of creative cooking of late as Darrius is eating the same food as we are so I only cook dishes that are suitable for him to consume… less spicy and fried stuff on the table. The other thing to consider when cooking with toddlers in mind is, to have lot of sauces if there is no soup accompanying that particular meal. Sauce will helps to soften the rice so it is easier on the kids to chew and swallow.

Here is another very easy to cook dish that suits the kids since sweet potatoes are full of vitamins and nutrients. What I like about this dish is, the sweetness from the sweet potatoes penetrate into the chicken as well as the sauce making it so appetizing!

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Ingredients

• 1 Sweet potato (medium to large size - chunk)
• 6 Chicken wings (cut the drumplets and wings into 2 parts)
• 3 cloves Garlic (minced)
• Snowpeas/Snap peas (a few pieces - optional)
• 2 tbsp Light soy sauce (or according to preferred taste)
• 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce (or according to preferred tone)
• 1.5 cups Water
• Dash of pepper
• Corn flour solution (to thicken sauce)

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Method

1. Heat up wok with a little oil and gently pan fried the sweet potato chunks. Lift them up.
2. Add some more oil and pan fried the chicken wings till they turned brownish. Lift them up.
3. In the same wok, saute the minced garlic till fragrant and toss in the chicken wings, stir, add dark soy sauce and light soy sauce, stir and add in water. Covered and turn on low fire for and simmer for10 minutes stirring occasionally.
4. Toss in the sweet potato chunks, stir and continue to simmer on low fire for another 10 minutes.
5. When you are about to turn off the fire, toss in the sweetpeas/snap peas, stir, add in corn flour solution and stir till well mix. Cover and switched off the fire.

Ever since I started doing Bento, I have to find some easy to prepare dishes so I can put up my Bento in a jiffy. Then again, I have to consider whether my boy will like what I prepared for him… so sometimes it can be brain draining just to think!

It was a relief that my boy is not that fussy with food and would gladly gobble down what I packed for him… well, certain standards must apply lar! *grin*

This dish is one simple ones which I used to do back in my uni days when food are expensive when you are living on a budget. I was lucky I stayed with my aunt back then, and though she will prepare meals for me most of the time but I do not want to be such a free loader all the time so I will cook when ever I can… with stuff I bought myself.

And in Down Under, BBQ is a very common occasion so this dish is that flexible… can be pan fried as well as grill or roast!

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Ingredients

• 3 Chicken drumsticks (cut lines so heat can penetrate)
• Light soy sauce (enough to cover when marinade)
• 1-1.5tbsp Dark soy sauce (or enough to cover all the chciken)
• Dash of pepper

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Methods

1. Clean all the chicken drumsticks and cut lines on the thick area so heat can penetrate into the meat while you pan fried especially if you are using frozen chicken.
2. Marinade the chicken drumsticks with all the ingredients and let them sit for at least an hour before frying.
3. If you are using frozen chicken, after you are done frying, put them in the microwave for 1 minute high just to make sure the drumsticks are thoroughly cooked inside (you will see some blood oozing out).
4. There will be some sauce left after you fried the chicken which you can cook them after you lift up the chicken from the wok and glaze them after you boiled them on the wok till they thicken up.

This is another of my favorite dish which I have modified from the more ‘difficult’ version. A relative taught me how to make the Emperor Chicken which uses plastic and foil to wrap up before sending it to steam.

I find the usage of plastic (the glass paper used for craft) is not a healthy choice as we are not sure if they are considered as food grade. Hence, I omitted it. Steaming the chicken the way I’m doing it now does not compromise the taste that much and it is a more healthy alternative.

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Ingredients

• 1/2 Kampung chicken (farm run chicken) - cut into small pieces
• A few slices of Dang Gui (Angelica sinensis)
• A few slices of Yuk Chok (dried polygonatum)
• 1tbsp Wolfberries (Goji berries)
• Salt
• Water

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Methods

1. Wash, clean and rub some salt to the chicken and place in a deep set plate.
2. Place all the herbal ingredients all over the plate and add in enough water to cover the chicken pieces.
3. Steam for 15-20 minutes until chicken are thoroughly cooked. Serve.

Here is another easy and yummy chicken dish. I’ve always like braised chicken dishes as they are just so simple to cook and great for toddlers. Previously I’d put up a similar recipe but instead of chicken I used pork.

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Ingredients

• 3pcs Chicken drumsticks (cut into smaller pieces)
• 4-5pcs Chinese Mushrooms (soak and cut into half)
• 4-5 pips Garlic (coarsely chopped)
• 1×1″ Old Ginger (sliced)
• Dark soy sauce
• Light soy sauce
• Oyster sauce
• Water

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Methods

1. Heat up wok with oil (2-3 tbsp) and saute the ginger slices and chopped garlic till fragrant.
2. Put in the chicken pieces and stir fry for 2 minutes then add in mushroom and dark soy sauce. Continue to stir before adding in water (around 1 -1.5 cup), stir and cover and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Add in light soy sauce and oyster sauce (depending on your taste) and continue to stir.
4. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes or so before serving.

Since Darrius has started taking rice, I tried cooking more dishes that has abundance of sauce or gravy. This is so he can have those gravy to help soften the rice.

During my younger days, my mom used to prepare this particular dish for us too. It is easy and very appetizing especially for kids.

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Ingredients

• 3 Chicken drumsticks with thighs (cut to smaller pieces)
• 2 Potatoes (medium size cut into big chunks)
• 1 Onion (sliced)
• 3 cloves Garlic (smashed/chopped)
• 1/2″ Old ginger (sliced)
• 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp Black soy sauce
• Water (depends on how much gravy you wanted)
• Light soy sauce for taste

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Method

1. Heat up wok with some oil and saute the ginger and garlic then the onion slices. When they  turned soft, add in the chicken pieces and stir vigorously.
2. Pour in the black soy sauce and continue to stir so the sauce covers all the chicken pieces. Next add in the potatoes chunks. Stir to get them well mixed.
3. Add in oyster sauce and water and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
4. If you added too much water and the gravy is too watery, you can add a small amount of corn flour solution to thicken it.

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