Adapted from early Chinese immigrants from Hainan province in Southern China, Hainanese Chicken Rice is a popular street food in Singapore and Malaysia. There are many different cooking methods and the dipping sauces seem to be a personal choice. I chose to follow Rosemary Brissenden’s recipe from her book South East Asian Food. The chicken is steeped…… Continue reading hainanese chicken rice
Category: poultry
minced chicken salad
Loosely based on Thai Larb, this minced chicken salad makes a tasty summer meal. To cook the chicken you will need some Thai chilli paste in soya oil. Add 3 tablespoons of the paste and some of the oil to a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Add 450g (1 lb) of minced chicken thigh meat and cook,…… Continue reading minced chicken salad
red-cooked duck legs
Red cooking is a Chinese method of slow braising. Popular throughout most of northern, eastern, and southeastern China, the name is derived from the dark red-brown colour of the cooked items and their sauce. Here is a version using duck legs. First place your duck legs into a cold pan and turn the heat to medium.…… Continue reading red-cooked duck legs
chicken with cardamom rice + spinach salad with dates
Two fragrant dishes from JERUSALEM by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. This one-pot chicken and rice dish is wonderfully spiced, rich with caramelised onions, tangy with barberries and fresh with herbs. First put 2-3 tablespoons of sugar into a small saucepan with an equal amount of water and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat, add…… Continue reading chicken with cardamom rice + spinach salad with dates
duck red curry with lychees
This classic Thai curry, often made with Chinese style roast duck, is a popular restaurant dish. I used fresh pan-roasted duck breasts in this version, although I cheated with a bought curry paste. To make the curry, fry 2 tablespoons of red curry paste in some coconut oil until it’s fragrant. Add 1 – 2 cans of coconut…… Continue reading duck red curry with lychees
quail and chick pea stew + bulgur and zucchini pilaf
This fragrant dish of quail with chick peas, saffron and herbs is from Saraban – A chef’s journey through Persia by Grey and Lucy Malouf. Heat some olive oil over low heat in a large heavy-based pot with a lid. Gently fry 2 finely sliced red onions and 4 finely sliced cloves of garlic until soft and translucent. Meanwhile soak…… Continue reading quail and chick pea stew + bulgur and zucchini pilaf
duck salad
A perfect summer meal or even a Christmas Day appetiser, this dish of crispy duck breast over a salad of buckwheat noodles and fresh vegetables has a variety of Asian influences. Rub some Hoisin (Chinese bbq) sauce onto the flesh of the duck breasts. Lay them on a plate flesh side down and score the…… Continue reading duck salad
turmeric assam chicken
This Nonya style Malaysian dish is wonderfully complex and fragrant. In a small food processor or mortar and pestle make a paste of 1 tablespoon of grated fresh turmeric, 1 tablespoon of grated fresh galangal, 3-4 stalks of finely sliced lemongrass (the white part only) and a 2cm (¾”) piece of belacan (shrimp paste) and add 1 tablespoon of tamarind…… Continue reading turmeric assam chicken
jerk chicken + coconut rice and beans
I haven’t tried much Jamaican food but a newly found appreciation of all things cooked over coal led to this delicious meal. Jerk is a style of cooking in which meat is dry-rubbed or wet marinated with a very hot spice mixture which always includes allspice (pimento in Jamaica) and Scotch bonnet chillies. We used Tasting Tables’s…… Continue reading jerk chicken + coconut rice and beans
duck breast with sour cherry sauce
This simple recipe uses only one pan and is a quick and easy way to impress. First dry the duck breasts with a paper towel and season them with salt and pepper. Place them skin-side down in a cold pan then turn the heat to medium and cook for 6-8 minutes until golden brown, pouring off any excess…… Continue reading duck breast with sour cherry sauce
michelle picker cooks 