So, I don’t know how many people know this, but I am actually a pretty decent cook. Recently we had a party where people claimed I made the “best grilled cheese ever” and I’m pretty sure they were being sincere. I know grilled cheese isn’t hard, but I think people could taste the love. LOL. Now that the house is clean, I hope to have some small dinner parties at some point. Plus it will be incentive for me to keep the dining room table clean.Last night I made some Japanese chicken. It’s one of my go-to recipes that I use quite a bit because it’s just so darn easy. Last night when I was making it, it was seriously almost perfect. The chicken was browning so perfect that it looked like I belonged on Top Chef or something.Anyway, next time I make it, I’m going to try and take my camera in the kitchen, because I never think of doing that until I am unable to walk away without risking burning the food.Anyway, I also had another little epiphany while cooking dinner last night. I need to just ditch my spatula/turner things. I probably only need like two of those for pancakes and eggs. Tongs are just so much easier and more sensible. It’s so easy to turn pieces of chicken over or stir fry or whatever. I really don’t know how I went so long without discovering the joy of silicone-tipped tongs. I need to get one more set, if not two, of tongs like this pair I already have (but I am on the lookout for a fun pair like the kids tongs at Williams-Sonoma):
Anyway, here’s the chicken recipe. I cook some rice in the rice cooker and then we heat up some vegetables (last night they were thai style soy ginger carrots from Trader Joe’s) and it’s a great meal that’s tasty and good for you. It’s pretty spicy, so if you don’t want so much spice, just scale back the red pepper flakes. Enjoy! Oh, and make extra rice so the following morning you can make hot cereal with rice, milk, cinnamon, and honey. Yum yum!Chicken nanban recipe
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 lb chicken thigh or breasts if you prefer
- 1 onion It’s surprisingly tasty with the onion, but if you don’t have one on hand, you can still make the recipe and it doesn’t suffer. It’s kind of optional.
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- 4 tbsps sugar
- 4 tbsps soy sauce
- 1 tsp chopped red pepper
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil I use a little blend of canola, flax, and olive oil that I make to maximize the good fatty acids.
- *katakuriko starch or corn starch for dusting I use corn starch.
PREPARATION:
Thinly slice onion and soak in cold water. Mix soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, and red pepper in a pan and heat on low heat. When the sugar dissolves in, stop the heat. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Dust chicken with katakuriko starch or corn starch.
Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry chicken pieces in the pan until brown. Pour the spicy and sour sauce over the chicken and stop the heat. Drain onion slices well and serve on plates. Place chicken pieces on top of the onion. Pour the spicy and sour sauce over the onion and fried chicken.
*Makes 4 servings
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