Sticky Asian Chicken Drumlets

There's something about chicken wings or drumlets that make such great finger food. And you really do have to use your fingers to tackle this meal. This particular dish is definitely a "finger licking" experience and after eating a drumlet you would want to lick all the sauces off each and every one of your fingers.

I can honestly say that I didn't follow any recipe. In fact I just grabbed whatever sauce I had either in my refrigerator or on my countertop to create this marinade. So if you are like me, just be creative, throw a few sauces together to experiment and who knows you may end up with a real winner of a recipe!



Sticky Asian Chicken Drumlets
Serves 3 - 4

Ingredients:

20 pieces chicken drumlets
4 Tbsp terriyaki sauce
3 Tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp sweet Thai chilli sauce
1/2 tsp 5 spice powder (or use mixed spice)
1/2 tsp white pepper (or you could use black pepper)

Method:

1) Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the chicken drumlets which you would have cleaned earlier and patted dry. Marinate the drumlets for at least 2 hours or better still overnight in the refrigerator.

2) Once marinated, remove from refrigerator and leave to near room temperature. Heat oven to 190C. Line a baking sheet with foil and spread the drumlets on the sheet. Brush the drumlets with the marinate sauce and set the remaining sauce aside.

3) Place drumlets in oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked. Turn the pieces mid way to baking and brush again with the marinate sauce. Return to oven. Begin to check after about 15 minutes, making sure they are browned. Just 5 minutes before the drumlets are thoroughly cooked, you can pour the remaining marinate on top of the drumlets, turn them around to coat with the sauce and place it back in the oven for a final browning.

Beef Rendang (Spicy Coconut Beef Stew)

I've been eyeing this particular beef rendang recipe from Rasa Malaysia simply because I love rendang and trying to cook it from scratch has always been somewhat daunting to me. Some of the recipes which I've come across called for a thousand and one ingredients, also not forgetting the long cooking process! Maybe it's about time to give this a try!

Back home in Malaysia, beef rendang is closely associated with Hari Raya which is the Muslim new year or Malay wedding ceremonies, called kenduri. When I was young, I would follow my parents during Hari Raya to visit their Muslim friends "open house". Open house is pretty much a tradition for all Malaysians (irrespective of race or religion) during each of own new year festivals, and there are so many ..... Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali (the Indian new year) and Christmas. "Open house" literally means opening your doors to all friends who will drop by and say hello, also not forgetting having a bite or two in-between visitations.

Rendang is a dish which originated from the Minangkabau people of Indonesia. It is one of the characteristic foods of the Minangkabau culture, and it is served at ceremonial occasions and to honor guests. Being also popular in Malaysia and Singapore, rendang is traditionally prepared by the Malay community during festive occasions. Though rendang is sometimes described as being like a curry, and the name is sometimes applied to curried meat dishes in Malaysia, authentic rendang is nothing like a curry and doesn't contain curry powder.

Rendang is made from beef (or occasionally chicken, mutton, water buffalo meat or vegetables like jackfruit or cassava) slowly cooked in coconut milk and spices for several hours until almost all the liquid is gone, leaving the meat coated in the spicy condiments. The cooking process transitions from boiling to frying as the liquid is evaporated. The spices may include ginger, galangal, turmeric leaf, lemon grass and chillies. The slow cooking process allows the meat to absorb all the spices and to become tender.

There are two kinds of rendang: dried and wet. Dried rendang can be kept for 3–4 months, and it is for ceremonial occasions or to honor guests. Wet rendang, also known as kalio, can be found in Minangkabau restaurants and without refrigeration it should be consumed within a month. Rendang is often served with rice in Indonesia but in Malaysia it is served with ketupat (a compressed rice cake) and lemang (glutinous rice barbecued in bamboo tubes).

If you've never had rendang before and love spicy food, I truly recommend that you try this recipe. And don't be put off by the long simmering. After trying it out, I find that it's really not that difficult and is in fact easier than some recipes I've come across.


Beef Rendang (Spicy Coconut Beef Stew)
(Recipe courtesy from rasamalaysia.com)

Ingredients:

600g beef chunk or boneless short-rib beef (cut into 1 1/2" cubes)
5 Tbsp cooking oil
1 cinnamon stick (about 2" long)
3 cloves
3 star anise
3 cardamom pods
1 lemongrass (cut into 4-inch length and pounded)
1 cup thick coconut milk
1 cup water
2 tsp tamarind pulp (soaked in some warm water for the juice and discard the seeds )
6 kaffir lime leaves (very finely sliced)
6 Tbsp kerisik (toasted coconut)
1 Tbsp sugar/palm sugar or to taste
Salt to taste

Spice Paste to Grind:

5 shallots
1" galangal
3 lemongrass (white part only)
5 cloves garlic
1" ginger
10-12 dried chilies (soaked in warm water and de-seeded)

Method:

1) Chop the spice paste ingredients and then blend it in a food processor until fine.

2) Heat the oil in a stew pot, add the spice paste, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and cardamom and stir-fry them until aromatic.

3) Add the beef and the pounded lemongrass and stir for 1 minute.

4) Add the coconut milk, tamarind juice and simmer on medium heat, stirring frequently until the meat is almost cooked.

5) Add the kaffir lime leaves, kerisik (toasted coconut), sugar/palm sugar, stirring to blend well with the meat.

6) Lower the heat to low, cover the lid, and simmer for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is really tender and the gravy has dried up (I personally prefer to have some gravy left so that it'll go well with rice). Stir every so often to ensure that the gravy is not burnt.

7) Add salt to taste. If not sweet enough, add more sugar to taste.

8) Serve immediately with steamed rice and save some for overnight.

Note:

To prepare the kerisik or toasted coconut, just add the grated coconut to a dry wok and stir continuosly until they turn golden brown. After that using a mortar and pestel, pound the toasted coconut until oil develops.

Beef Rendang served with briyani rice and acar (pickled spicy vegetable)

Chicken Briyani Rice with Vegetable Pickles

It was 10 pm on a Saturday night right after an early dinner and coffee with friends that my husband decided to take me to Mustafa. I am embarrassed to say that this is would be my 2nd trip to Mustafa even though I've stayed in Singapore for more than 15 years now.

For those who are not familiar with Mustafa, it is a 24-hour shopping mart located in a part of town called “Little India”. Why is this part of town called “Little India” you may ask. Well, Singapore first and foremost is a multi-racial and multi-cultural. Because of this, shops and eateries of different cultures will tend to predominantly operate at certain locations eg. Eu Tong Sen/Outram area is known as Chinatown, Kampung Glam/Arab Street is the Malay Muslim community and Serangoon is where you’ll find the Indian eateries and shops, thus the name “Little India”.

We also have a large number of non-professional migrant workers who come from third world countries hoping to earn a decent living here in order to support their families back home. A large percentage of these migrant workers would work in the building & construction sectors. On Sundays, which is their off day, they would congregate with their friends and fellow countrymen at various locations in Singapore, depending on the country they come from. The Indian nationale will gather at “Little India”, the Thais will hang out at Golden Mile Complex (the locals call this place “Little Thailand”) and the Burmese can be seen at Peninsular Plaza (“Little Burma”). It’s a sight to behold on weekends and usually we stay clear of these places on Sundays as it gets pretty crowded.


Shopping at Mustafa can be somewhat of a challenge especially on weekends, even more so if at night. The traffic around the area is bad and there are lots of people on the streets and inside the shopping mart. This six storey shopping space offers everything one could possibly need, from electronics and souvenirs, to clothes and fragrances. There is also a large supermarket on the second level that carries a range of food products that could rival any good supermarket, but at much cheaper prices! Mustafa attracts not only the locals but tourists as well. In fact it’s listed in some of the tourist guides which one can pick up at the airport upon arrival.

The aisles at Mustafa are narrow and because of the number of shoppers there, we had to squeeze our way around. This is certainly not a place for anyone who has a phobia of crowds or cramped areas! My mission that evening was to get some spices as I’d wanted to try my hand at cooking Briyani Chicken Rice. The recipe called for cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardoman pods, tumeric, garam masala and chilli powder. I also had to get among other items Basmati rice. We were stumped with the variety of Basmati rice being sold – I easily counted 15 types if not more. I didn’t know what to choose so my husband made the choice. His logic was the least brand of rice remaining in each rack means it’s the most popular. And it was true – we found that out when we checked out our groceries at the payment counter. Well being a man that he is, he had a smirk on his face upon hearing this.


We then headed to the spice area and I was totally blown away by the variety of spices and sauces. This is certainly spice heaven! I ended up with not only the spices I needed but other premix and sauces as well. With our shopping basket almost ¾ full, we headed towards the supermarket section. The frozen sections had 3 long open freezers for pratas, naan and leavened bread. They had so many varieties of pratas that I cannot even remember – plain prata, flaky prata, onion prata, prata filled with potato, spinach, peas, minced chicken, cheese, corn ….. We ended up loading the remaining empty space in our shopping basket with frozen pratas. By the time we finished and we only covered 2 floors it was already past 12.30am. I couldn’t believe that we had spent about 3 hours at Mustafa.

Here's the recipe for the chicken briyani rice with vegetable pickles. The recipe looks complicated but I can assure that it's really easy to prepare. I can attest to this as it's my 1st time attempting this dish.

Chicken Briyani Rice with Vegetable Pickles

Ingredients for the chicken:

1 chicken weighing about 1.5kg - cut into 4 pieces, wash and drain
4 slices ginger - 1 cm each (grind to smooth paste)
4 clovers garlic (grind to smooth paste)
1 red chillie and 1 green chillie -slit halfway
4 small tomatoes, cut into cubes
3 tbsp, slightly heaped meat curry powder
2 small bundles coriander leaves - chopped coarsely
Small bunch of mint leaves
4 tbsp plain yoghurt
1 tsp pepper
Salt to taste
1 1/2 cups water
10 tbsp ghee
1 big onion - sliced thinly
1 stick cinnamon - 4 cm (ingredient for frying)
4 cloves (ingredient for frying)
4 cardoman pods (ingredient for frying)
6 almonds - scald and remove skin (grind finely)
6 cashew nuts (grind finely)
1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
2 medium sized onions - sliced thinly and fry until golden brown
2 tbsp briyani spices (can be bought in supermarket and places that sell spices)
1 bunch of small coriander leaves for garnishing

Ingredients for rice:

600 Basmati rice
1 small tin evaporated milk
2 tsp yellow food colouring
3 tsp rose water (I couldn't find this so I omitted this in my preparation)

Method of preparing chicken:

1) Combine chicken with garlic-ginger paste, chillies, tomatoes, meat curry powder, chopped coriander leves, mint leaves, yoghurt, pepper, salt and 1/2 cup water.

2) Heat ghee in a pot then add ingredients for frying. Fry until golden brown. Add chicken and fry for a little while, turning it over a few times. Add 1 cup water and bring to a boil.

3) When boiling, lower heat, add ground almond and cashew nuts. tomato paste, fried onion slices and briani spices. Turn over chicken pieces, then leave to simmer until almost dry.

4) Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. Skim the oil from the chicken curry into a bowl and leave to cool. This pot will be used for cooking the rice.

Method of preparing rice:

1) Bring 3/4 of a large saucepan of slightly salted water to boil. Wash and drain rice. When water is boiling, put in the rice and boil till it is almost cooked.

2) When rice is almost cooked, remove from heat and drain off water. Mix evaporated milk with the oil skimmed from the chicken curry.

3) Into the pot used to cook chicken, put a layer of rice then a layer of chicken. Repeat till chicken and rice are used up, making sure that rice forms the last layer. Pour the oil-milk mixture over the rice.

4) Mix rose water with yellow food colouring and sprinkle over rice. Scatter a few mint leaves over rice.

5) Cook over low heat making sure the pot is well covered till steam emits from pot. Do not uncover pot while rice is cooking. To prevent rice from burning you may raise the pot higher. Alternatively this last method of cooking the rice can also be done in a rice cooker.

6) When serving, garnish rice with fried cashew nuts, raisins and chopped coriander.

Vegetable Pickles (or Acar)

Ingredients:

300g cucumbers
100 g carrots
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
4 slices ginger
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp vinegar

Method:

1) Cut cucumber in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Cut flesh into 3.5 cm juliennes.

2) Mix 1 tsp salt with cucumbers, and let sit for 15 minutes to draw out the extra moisture.

3) Cut the carrot into pieces the same size as the cucumber.

4) Heat oil in a wok and add ginger and mustard seeds, cooking until mustard seeds pop. Stir in the turmeric and chili powder, then add the vegetables, sugar, and salt and saute for 2 minutes (do not overcook, the vegetables should stay crunchy).

5) Remove from heat and mix well with vinegar. Allow the vegetables to cool in the pan, then place in a jar. Refrigerate overnight before serving.

Udang Nenas Masak Lemak (Pineapple & Prawns in Coconut Milk)

As if our recent Malacca trip was not enough, I had to have a craving for udang nenas masak lemak (or pineapple and prawns cooked in coconut milk). This is a very typical nyonya dish.

Now what is nyonya food?

Nyonya food is also known as the Straits Chinese food which is an interesting amalgamation of Chinese and Malay dishes thought to have originated from the Peranakan (Straits Chinese) of Malacca. Besides Malacca, Nyonya food is also native to Penang and Singapore. However, over the years, distinct differences have evolved in the Nyonya recipes found in Penang than that in Malacca and Singapore due to the proximity of Malacca and Singapore to Indonesia and Penang to Thailand.

Influences aside, Nyonya recipes are complicated affairs, often requiring many hours of preparation and is about the blending of spices, using pungent roots like galangal, tumeric and ginger; aromatic leaves like pandan leaf and fragrant lime leaf together with other ingredients like candlenuts, shallots, shrimps paste and chilies. Lemon, tamarind, carambola and green mangoes are used to add a tangy taste to many dishes. For dessert, fruits are seldom served but instead colorful cakes are served. Nyonya cakes are rich and varied, often made from ingredients like sweet potato, glutinous rice, palm sugar and coconut milk.

Here's a simple recipe to introduce you to nyonya food and it doesn't require hours of preparation and stirring the pot. Serve with white rice.

Udang Nenas Masak Lemak

Ingredients:

16 big tiger prawns or 20-24 small prawns
1 cup thick coconut milk
1 cup thin coconut milk
2 rice bowls of water
1 whole small pineapple,cubed

Grind into a Paste:

1 piece of belachan (2x2inch)
4 candlenuts
fresh tumeric root (2x2inch)
fresh galangal root (2x2inch)
15 shallots
2 garlic cloves

Method:

1) Heat a pot, kuali or wok. Add 1 cup thick coconut milk to dry paste and cook on medium heat until fragrant.

2) Add water and turn heat to high until mixture reaches a rolling boil.

3) Turn back down to medium heat and add pineapple. After mixture heats up to near boil again, add the 1 cup of thin coconut milk.

4) Add prawns. When prawns are pink and float to the top they are ready to serve.

Vietnamese Lemon Grass Grilled Chicken and Rice Noodle Salad

I had lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant near to my office a week ago. Instead of the usual Pho' noodle, I ordered a rice noodle salad instead. I've not tried this before so it would be something new. The dish came with lots of fresh herbs which is what I like ... the smell of freshly chopped basil and mint was so refreshing. A chillie sauce accompanied the noodle - a supposedly Asian salad dressing equivalent!

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and told myself that I'll whiff up something similar for dinner.

I found a similar recipe and asked my husband to buy the herbs on his way home. The recipe required very little cooking, rather more chopping and slicing insteand ad.

I was extremely pleased with the end result and my husband thoroughly enjoyed his dinner. He even had two bowls of the noodle salad.

Vietnamese Lemon Grass Grilled Chicken and Rice Noodle Salad

Ingredients:

2 golden shallots, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 stalks lemon grass, finely chopped
80 ml (1/3 cup) fish sauce
450 gm chicken breast
2 small red chillies, finely chopped
55 gm (¼ cup) white sugar
70 ml lime juice
60 ml (¼ cup) rice vinegar
250 gm fresh rice sheet noodles
1 iceberg lettuce, cut into thin wedges
2 Lebanese cucumbers, cut into julienne
1 carrot, cut into julienne
50 gm bean sprouts
1½ cups (loosely packed) coriander leaves
1½ cups (loosely packed) Vietnamese mint leaves

To serve:
Roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Method:

1) Combine shallot, 3 cloves of garlic and lemongrass in a mortar and, using a pestle, pound to a coarse paste. Add 1 tbsp fish sauce, season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and pound to combine. Place chicken and lemongrass paste in a non-reactive bowl, toss to coat, cover with plastic wrap and marinate for 1 hour.

2) Combine remaining garlic and fish sauce, chilli, sugar, lime juice and vinegar and stir until sugar dissolves. Set dressing aside.

3) Place rice noodles in a heat-proof bowl, pour over boiling water and stir using chopsticks to separate noodles. Drain, refresh in cold water, then drain again.

4) Heat a chargrill pan over medium heat. Grill chicken breast until lightly brown and cooked through. Remove from pan and slice thinly.

5) Combine noodles, lettuce, cucumber, carrot, bean sprouts and herbs in a large bowl. Add sliced chicken breast to the noodle salad, drizzle with dressing and toss to combine, divide among bowls, scatter with peanuts and serve immediately.

Fried Beehoon

Beehoon is a local Singapore term for rice vermicilli. It's a common and favourite dish which can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even supper. It's also a favourite of my husband's.

Whenever I can't think of what to make for dinner, I'll do a fried beehoon and he'll finish off a huge plate of this. I would usually keep the ingredients simple, nothing fanciful but with lots of veggies.

Ingredients:

1 packet Bee Hoon (I used the "Two Red Chilli" brand)
1 packet dried taupok (fried beancurd puffs)
1/2 cup of shelled shrimps

1 cupful of beansprouts

1 handful of chye-sim
1 medium sized Beijing cabbage (you could substitute this with Chinese cabbage)
3 Pcs Fish cake sliced (optional)
Garlic chopped
Soya sauce to taste

1 cube of Knorr's chicken cube
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
4 table spoon of oil

Instructions:

1) Soak one packet of Bee hoon in container with tap water for 25 minutes. Then drain away the water and put beehoon aside.

2) Wash & drain cabbage - sliced into 1/2" strips.

3) Deshell the prawns.

4) Add oil to wok. Fry sliced garlic in low heat till fragant and lightly golden.

5) Add in the cabbage, prawns and taupok. Add in Knorr's chicken cube, a bit of salt, soya sauce and pepper. Add 1/3 cup of water and stir fry for 3 minutes.

6) Add bee hoon and stir fry for another ten minutes. Then add in the sliced fish cake (optional), beansprouts and chye-sim and fry for 5 minutes.

7) Taste, add more soya sauce and pepper if needed.

8) Garnish with cilantro and fried sliced shallots. Serve with sliced red chillies.

Black Vinegar Trotter

This is certainly one of the classic confinement food on a Chinese menu for new mums!

Chinese believe Black Vinegar purifies the blood, Old Ginger drives out wind, and Brown Sugar puts a check on "dampness". Pigs' Trotters are said to provide collagen and is good for strengthening joints & lumbar. Sesame Seed Oil is also to promote blood circulation and the eggs to nourish the body.

But for most of us, we just LOVE to eat this dish - whether confinement or not! This is also a dish popularly offered to relatives & neighbours who visit.

Ingredients:

2 Pig's Trotters
1 kg Old Ginger, skinned & smashed lightly
4 Tbsp Sesame Seed Oil
1 bottle (~4cups) Black Vinegar
600g Brown Sugar
4 Hard Boiled Eggs, shelled
9 cups water

Method:

1) Clean & pluck off the hair from the pig's trotters. Cut into Big serving pieces.

2) Heat Sesame Seed Oil. Fry Old ginger until golden brown & fragrant.

3) Put fried ginger into a BIG claypot. Add vinegar, water, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil and leave to simmer for 1/2 an hour until ginger becomes soft.

4) Add pig's trotters and continue to simmer until soft & tender (approx. 2hrs)

5) Add shelled hard-boiled eggs 1/2 and hour before serving. (Confinement nannies usually puts in the eggs with the shells still intact. This way, the vinegar will dissolve the shells and provide more calcium for the mother in confinement! )