Impromptu Al Pastor Style Broiled Chicken

Chicken thigh marinating with cumin, coriander, new mexico green chile red and green powder, onion, pineapple, citrus juice, oregano, salt & pepper and cilantro.

Spread out on sheet for broiler.

Served with refried beans and shredded cheese.

State of the Union Dinner: Frisee Chicken Salad and Roasted Sunchokes

Frisee poached chicken salad with dried anchovy and garnished with fried shallot chips and dressed with a fish sauce vinaigrette.

Goose fat roasted sunchokes and shishito peppers garnished with cilantro.

Sunchokes and shishito peppers pan roasted in goose fat.

Comforting Dinner: Mien Ga or Chicken Soup with Rice Vermicelli

Rice vermicelli (bun tau) in homemade chicken broth with shredded poached chicken garnished with green onion and cilantro.

Building the bowl: shredded poached chicken on bed of rice vermicelli before broth is added.

The trick to getting al dente rice vermicelli is to soak the dried vermicelli first then cook in medium boil until cooked. Vermicelli is drained then rinsed with cold water to stop the cooking.

Fast Dinner: Roast Chicken Thighs and Okra in Black Bean Sauce

Plated with cilantro and green onion.

Thighs were roasted on bed of onion to keep them out of the fat and retain crispy skin.

Stir fried okra with shallots and garlic in black bean sauce garnished with cilantro and green onion.

Shallots caramelizing as okra begins to cook in black bean sauce.

Korean Stir Fried Noodles with Chicken and Kimchi

This was a quick dinner. I had leftover cold Korean sweet potato starch noodles from the other night so I quickly marinated some dark chicken meat in gochujang, red miso, sesame oil and salt that was stir fried along with some crimini mushrooms, onion, then the noodles. The noodles had been dressed with soy sauce, gochujang and sesame oil previously so it only needed to be stir fried enough to be warmed. The garnishes were scallions, cilantro and Korean radish kimchi.

How This is a Ten Minute Quick Brunch: Chicken Rice Vermicelli Noodle Soup with Greens

Better than oatmeal.

The trick:

Chicken broth is leftover from liquid I poached chicken for last night's dinner. I added five spice, ginger, onion powder, star anise, bay, chile de arbol, fresh garlic, fish sauce, mirin, cider vinegar, checked seasoning and I had a basic soup broth.

Leftover shredded chicken from last night.

Lettuce, scallions, cilantro already chopped and in plastic container in fridge.

Shredded pickled carrot is always a regular item in fridge for banh mi sandwiches and other dishes.

Fried shallot chips made by microwaving with a bit of oil for 30 seconds.

Hoisin sauce, sriracha and lemon juice for topping.

Way better than oatmeal.

Chicken and Cheese Stuffed Anaheim Chiles

Fresh salsa and cilantro added and ready to serve.

Just out of the oven

Topped with sharp cheddar and pepper jack cheeses.

Blanching the Anaheim chiles.

Braising chicken in stock seasoned with Mexican oregano, garlic, chile powders, cumin, coriander.

Iron Skillet Roasted Half Chicken Under a Brick

Brined, rubbed with rosemary, thyme and salt for a crispy skin then roasted on a bed of onion greens and garlic cloves.

I placed the green tops of some onions on the pan to keep the chicken off of its fat. For the first 25 minutes, I weighed down the chicken with a preheated foil wrapped brick. For the last 10 minutes I removed the brick and cranked the oven to broil to finish off the skin to get it crispy and gold.

Tuesday dinner

It was kind of a busy day when I really expected a mellow day so I threw something together quickly for dinner. It was appropriate on a warm day such as today was also with the cucumber cooling off the slight heat of the Indian spices in the wings.

Appetizer: Sesame & fennel seed cucumber salad with rice wine vinegar & sesame oil dressing.

Main course: Yogurt, lime & Indian spices marinated roasted wings garnished with fresh mint.

Vietnamese Red Cabbage Chicken Salad with Prawn Crackers

Vietnamese red cabbage and chicken salad.

Salad served with fried prawn crackers. 

Dressed salad in mixing bowl.

*Note: for vegetarian version, replace chicken with poached shiitake, oyster or king oyster mushroom. For vegetarian version, you could use soy sauce or try this recipe from The Chubby Vegetarian blog. (I have not tried it myself but it sounds very tasty).

Ingredients:

(This recipe portion will serve four people)

3 Chicken thighs, gently poached with half an onion, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 4 cloves, bay leaves, 2 star anise pods. Poach for about 20 minutes, remove and let cool then shred into small bite sized pieces. The cooking liquid could be reduced and other ingredients added to make a stock. I don't waste any of it. Try adding things like mushrooms, carrots, celery and you will have a pretty classic chicken stock.

Half a small red cabbage, finely shredded with mandoline or sliced with knife. Do not grate as the texture will change.

Small piece of ginger, finely minced.

Two jalapenos or chile of your choice, thinly slice with seeds intact.

One small red onion, thinly sliced then quick pickled in vinegar for about 15 minutes.

Two small carrots (or one large), shredded or julienned.

Bunch of Vietnamese coriander, roughly chopped.

Bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped.

Lime or lemon juice, to taste.

Prawn crackers, fried. (They can be bought at most Asian markets and come in a small box. They can also be microwaved as a hack but won't be as light and crisp as frying in oil).

Fish sauce dressing:

Fish sauce, 1 part

Water, 3 parts

Rice wine vinegar, 1 part

Sugar to taste

Lime or lemon juice to taste

Crushed garlic

Crushed ginger

Crushed chile

Assemble ingredients in large bowl, dress, mix well and keep in fridge until ready to serve.

Chicken and Crispy Prawns Hong Kong Style Chow Mein with Mushroom Oyster Sauce

Served!

Crispy fried prawns

Velveted chicken, baby bok choy and king oyster mushroom on bed of crispy fried chow mein.

Pan charring chicken thigh meat.

Mise en place.

Chicken Pad Thai with Purple Cabbage

Served!

Ingredients:

Tapioca or glass noodles, soaked in very hot water or microwaved for about 1 - 2 minutes then dress liberally with cooking oil or sesame oil. (You could find them in Asian markets as Pad Thai noodles or Vietnamese hu tieu noodles. It has tapioca flour in it which gives it a chewy bite and slightly translucent look.)

Chicken thighs, deboned and cut into equal sized strips about 1 cm wide. Don't you dare use chicken breast! Soak in mixture of 1 cup of water and 1 Tbsp of baking soda for 15 minutes then drain and rinse before cooking to preserve tenderness of meat. (Technique can be used with pork and beef too. I've never tried with it with shrimp).

Purple cabbage, thinly sliced
Bean sprouts

Shiitake mushroom, sliced

Shallots, sliced

Garlic, crushed and sliced
Fresh jalapeno, serrano or Thai chile, sliced
Egg
Crushed peanuts (optional. My wife doesn't like nuts in cooked foods so I don't add them)
Green onion for garnish
Cilantro for garnish

For sauce:

Corn starch
Tamarind paste
Fish sauce
Soy sauce
Rice wine vinegar
Palm sugar or brown sugar (in this case, I used piloncillo which is Mexican sugar and it gave a nice twist)
Lime juice

Tips:

Cook ingredients in batches using nonstick skillet or wok then move to large bowl: I did cabbage and mushrooms first, shallot, bean sprouts, chiles and garlic second, noodles third (get good char on noodles and don't be shy with oil), chicken (get char again) after that and egg scrambled into pan with chicken last. Assemble with noodles on bottom, veggies next, chicken and egg on top then pour remaining sauce over all and garnish.

Base of sauce is water and tamarind paste. Add other ingredients in small amounts until you get a flavor you like. Sprinkle a bit of the sauce as you saute or stir fry each ingredients and reserve a good amount for the last batch and pour over dish.