Deep-fried Chicken Boxing coated with Nestum

Chicken Boxing is my family's favourite!  As time is needed to prepare the drumettes,  I will normally buy the chicken wings and get them ready before hand and leave them in the freezer. The night before cooking I will bring out the drumettes from the freezer and leave it in the fridge.  On the day itself, after the drumettes have defrosted I will marinate and let it sit until the time for cooking. 

If you prefer your Chicken Boxing to be crunchy on the outside and without any coated sauce, this is one yummy recipe which I would recommend.  I can assure you that your family would love them too...

Ingredients: (Serves 2)
8 drummets (with a sharp knife scrape the meat from the joint area downwards to form a ball)
Nestum for coating
Enough cooking oil for deep-frying)

Marinade:
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp chicken stock granules
1/2 tsp grounded white pepper
1 small egg
1 1/2 tbsp cornflour
1 1/2 tbsp plain flour

Methods:

1. Marinate the chicken drumettes with the marinade ingredients and leave to sit for few hours, or until cooking)
2. In a deep heated wok add enough cooking oil.
3. In a plate add few tablespoons of nestum.  Coat the drumettes with nestum and deep-fry in the medium heated oil, turning in between frying until golden brown.
4. Dish and drain on kitchen paper.  
5. Serve!

Notes:  Deep-fried Chicken Boxing also makes good Finger Food in a party or home gathering. Though having it immediately when hot is the best, but I have it half an hour later and I still get the crunch!

Pork and Shrimp Siu Mai

Personally for me, the first delicacy I think of Dim Sum is the Siu Mai. This pork and shrimp Siu Mai makes great finger food in a home gathering or party.  We can prepare them a day ahead, store them in an air tight container in the fridge and reheat again the next day.  This recipe is adapted from Carmen Chan Cooks with slight amendments to suit my family's preference, and here's to share.

Ingredients:
400g minced pork
1/2 cup prawns (shelled and roughly chopped)
1 clove garlic (minced)
1/2" knob ginger (finely minced)
4 stalks spring onion (chopped)
1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
Splash Shaoxing Wine
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp fried shallots oil
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cornflour
1/2 tsp grounded white pepper
Dash of salt
Wanton skin (for wrapping)

Dipping Sauce:
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 cloves garlic (cut into matchsticks)
1/2" ginger (cut into matchsticks)
1 stalks spring onion (chopped)
2 chili padi (chopped)
Few drops Sesame Oil
Few drops fried shallots oil
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp water

Methods:

1. In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together until well combined.
2. Wrap with wanton skin.
3. Arrange the wrapped siu mai in a steamer tray lined with baking paper.
4. Steam using high heat for 10 minutes or siu mai is slightly firm to touch and the wanton skins have turned soft.
5. Add all the dipping sauce ingredients into a bowl and mix well.
6. Serve hot or warm with the dipping sauce.

ready for steaming

Let's taste...

Come up with just anything.....

Personally for me, there are times when I don't feel like going marketing, especially during mid-week! What will I cook then??

What I normally do is, take a look at what ingredients is left in the fridge, activate my thinking cap, from there I keep myself busy and this is what I come up with.  I recall my son Aaron enjoying this meal with a 'smile!'  

(1) Chicken Cordon Bleu 

Ingredients:

2 pieces skinless chicken breast meat

2 slices ham

2 slices cheese

1/2 cup flour

1 egg, beaten

1 cup bread crumbs

Seasoning:

Salt

Pepper

Methods:

1. Wash the chicken breast meat and pat dry with kitchen towel.
2. Use a sharp knife to cut into the center of the meat to create a pocket.  
3. Rub with salt and pepper, set aside for at least 15 minutes.
4. Stuff ham into the pocket, followed by cheese slice, then use toothpicks to secure the opening.
5. Heat up enough oil in a pot for deep frying.
6. Dust chicken with flour, dredge with beaten egg, then coat with bread crumbs.
7. Put the chicken into the oil of medium-low heat for frying.
8. To obtain a nice crunch, just as the meat is cooked, dish up, turn up the heat, put the chicken back into the oil for a minute fry and remove from heat. Drain on kitchen paper.

Note: Frying this chicken needs proper control of the oil as the coated bread crumbs on the outside can be easily burnt!

(2) Hard boiled eggs topped with ham and mayonnaise

This recipe has the same technique as 'Stuffed Eggs' in my previous article "My creation of Finger Food", except that I use chopped, lightly pan-fried ham and mayonnaise for the topping.

(3) Potato Wedges

Just with one potato left in my fridge, I decided to make  simple deep-fried potato wedges. It's just few simple steps : peel the potato, cut into wedges, deep-fried in hot oil, drain, sprinkle some salt over and ready to serve!

My creation of Finger Food!

I enjoyed creating them using some simple ingredients, cut,cooked and put them together - cucumbers, tomatoes, spring onions, prawns, eggs, chicken breast meat, tomato puree, mayonnaise and arranged them on a platter to be served as Finger Food! It's "Simple yet yummylicious" and a satisfying effort!

(1) Egg in tomato shell

To make the tomato shell:

1. Cut a small 'x' at the bottom of a tomato.  Bring a small pot of water to boil.  As soon as the water boils place the tomato in for roughly 20 seconds, remove and put it into a bowl of cold water for another 20 seconds. Remove, drain, and peel off the skin.
2. Cut off the top part to make an opening. Scoop out the pulp and seeds and put them aside together with the top part to make the sauce.
3. Sprinkle the inside of the tomato shells with some salt and pepper.  Set aside.

To make the sauce:

1. Cut the leftover top part of the tomato into smaller pieces.
2. Peel half an onion and finely chopped.
3. some chopped spring onions.
4. In a small pan, heat oil over medium fire, fry onion until soft, add the tomato pieces, pulp, seeds and chopped spring onions, give it a quick stir.
5. Add in a tablespoon of tomato puree, dash of salt and pepper, to taste.  If the sauce is too thick, drizzle a bit of water, stir to mix well. 
6. Once the sauce has thickened, remove from heat and set aside to cool.

To assemble:

1. Get ready a hard boiled egg.
2. Place the tomato shell on a serving dish, stuff either a hard boiled egg or half, depending on the size of the tomato into the shell and let it chill  in the refrigerator.
3. Add 1 tbsp. of mayonnaise to the cooked sauce, stir to mix well and refrigerate to chill.
4. Spoon sauce over egg just before serving.

(2) Stuffed Eggs

What to do:

1. Get ready a hard boiled egg, cut it into half. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each half to get a flat surface for the egg to sit on.
2. Remove yolk, mash it in a bowl and leave aside.
3. Boil water in a small pot with a dash of salt, put in the chicken breast and let it boil till cooked. Drain.
4. Once the chicken is slightly cool, cut into small cubes and put aside.
5. Chop some spring onions.
6. Once every ingredients are ready, put them all in a bowl - egg yolk, chicken cubes, and chopped spring onions.
7. Add a tablespoon of mayonnaise into the ingredients with a dash of salt and pepper and mix well.
8. Spoon mixture onto the egg white to fill up the shallow well where the yolk is before we scoop it out and serve chilled on Chinese Spoon.

(3) Fresh Prawns served on cucumbers

What to do:

1. Shelled some fresh prawns, deveined and leave tail intake.
2. Bring a small pot of water to a boil, put in prawns, once it turn pink drain and put aside to cool.
3. Prepare some sliced cucumbers and spring onions.
4. To assemble, put a piece of cucumbers on a plate, spoon some mayonnaise on the center, place a prawn on top of the mayonnaise sitting on it's back and garnish with a stick of spring onion over the prawn.
5. Serve chilled.

Prawn Bread Rolls

Ingredients:
9 large prawns
3 pieces square white bread
Beaten egg (to seal the edges of the bread)
2 sprigs of spring onion (chopped)

Seasoning:
Pinch of salt, pepper and sugar
Dash of sesame oil and Chinese Wine (Shao Hsing Hua Thiao Chiew)

Methods:

1. Peel prawns, rinse, drain and pat dry with paper towel. Cut into cubes, add seasoning, chopped spring onion, mix well and marinate for 20 minutes.
2. Trim away the edges of the white bread and roll flat with a rolling pin.
3. Spoon a portion of the marinated prawns onto the side of the bread, brush with beaten eggs at the edges and roll up. Repeat until all is done.
4. Heat up oil and deep fry using medium heat as the bread will turn brown easily. Turn the rolls over to ensure the prawns are properly cooked inside. 
5. Remove from heat once it turn golden, drain on paper towel and cut slating into half.
6. Serve immediately to enjoy the crispiness of the bread which combine well with the sweetness of the prawns.