Yesterday I went down to one of the Asian supermarkets I have around my place. Nguyen Phat Farmer Jacks in Girrawheen. There I found 'Old Chicken Thighs (Boneless) for $1.99/kilo. As the normal thighs retail for $8.99/kilo I thought 'why not?'.
I assumed that the reason for this would be that they are as tough as old boot leather and after cooking a sample on the stove I was not wrong. Having said that, the taste of said boot leather was really, really nice - much more 'chickeny' (is that a word?) than the bland crap we're served up over here nowadays.
I was also pleasantly surprised to find a massive boneless, skinless chicken breast amongst my old chicken thighs (^.^) ooh naughty thoughts.
Anyway - so I decided to tenderise the chicken by marinating it overnight with my personal favourite Japanese marinade. A 1:1:0.5 mix of Mirin, Sake and Soy Sauce, I also added in a 7g sachet of Dashi stock granules, which adds a real depth to the flavour.
First I whacked 'em with the spiky end of the meat mallet as this helps the marinade to infuse into the chicken, before putting them into the bowl with the marinade. I did this around 3pm and left them all the next day in the fridge. So they were in there about 15 hours or so.
The Sake and Mirin work together to tenderise the chewy bits and make them soft and yummy mmmmmmmmmmm. So then I cooked one up to try it out and see how it well it worked.
The black chunky-looking bits in the second photo is cracked black pepper in case you were wondering. Tasted good, I'm definitely using some tonight in a stir-fry.
So as I fancied something tasty yet simple tonight I decided on Water Spinach (Vietnamese) with chicken mince and rice. I tend to cook at home and rarely eat processed foods as I am allergic to preservatives and a lot of additives which make me break out in a rash and make me REALLY
itchy.
This tend to limit my choices with food so if I want something I usually have to make it myself as almost everything has additives these days. I like to cook though so its not too bad.
SO for tonight's meal I took 80g of the chicken thigh (marinated o/night) and minced it finely by first whacking it with the meat mallet to tenderise the tendons and then chopping it with the cleaver, until it was minced.
like so
I took some water spinach and roughly chopped it into thirds keeping the leaves to one side as these take the least time to cook and go in at the end with the herbs. I used about a third of the bunch. If you don't have this particular green any of the myriad of Chinese vegetables will do. Just separate the leaves from the stems.
Water Spinach whole,
and chopped into thirds
Then I got the herbs ready. I used a good handful of Garlic Chives (left) and a light handful of Thai basil.
Don't have em? Use anything you like.
Also about 1-2Tbs Oyster sauce I don't like too much as I find it pretty salty.
So the main trick to the stir-fry, for you cooking virgins is to have all your stuff ready to go, Go, GO.
Next I heated around 2 Tbs or so of olive oil in the wok. I vary the oils I use so you can really use any oil here I've used peanut, coconut, vegetable and safflower oil with no discernible difference in taste.
As soon as it starts to smoke I throw in the chicken.
Mmmmm Chicken.....
So stir fry it over a high heat, ( my wok goes up to 15 and I had it on 11) stirring constantly and breaking it up with the spatula until it's nicely brown and starting to smell good. Don't stop stirring or that sucker'll turn to charcoal in a heartbeat. ;(
SMOKIN'...
So when it reaches this stage I throw in the stems of the greens.
then add about a 1/4 cup (= good splash) of water, give it a quick stir and allow it to steam for 30 seconds.
STEAMY...
Stir fry for 1-2 minutes and then throw in the herbs and the leafy part of the greens and stir fry for a few seconds then throw in the oyster sauce and stir fry for for another 30 seconds or so.
Then it's done!
Tasty.
I had mine with a rice side .
Simple, quick, easy.
I assumed that the reason for this would be that they are as tough as old boot leather and after cooking a sample on the stove I was not wrong. Having said that, the taste of said boot leather was really, really nice - much more 'chickeny' (is that a word?) than the bland crap we're served up over here nowadays.
I was also pleasantly surprised to find a massive boneless, skinless chicken breast amongst my old chicken thighs (^.^) ooh naughty thoughts.
First I whacked 'em with the spiky end of the meat mallet as this helps the marinade to infuse into the chicken, before putting them into the bowl with the marinade. I did this around 3pm and left them all the next day in the fridge. So they were in there about 15 hours or so.
The Sake and Mirin work together to tenderise the chewy bits and make them soft and yummy mmmmmmmmmmm. So then I cooked one up to try it out and see how it well it worked.
So as I fancied something tasty yet simple tonight I decided on Water Spinach (Vietnamese) with chicken mince and rice. I tend to cook at home and rarely eat processed foods as I am allergic to preservatives and a lot of additives which make me break out in a rash and make me REALLY
itchy.
This tend to limit my choices with food so if I want something I usually have to make it myself as almost everything has additives these days. I like to cook though so its not too bad.
SO for tonight's meal I took 80g of the chicken thigh (marinated o/night) and minced it finely by first whacking it with the meat mallet to tenderise the tendons and then chopping it with the cleaver, until it was minced.
I took some water spinach and roughly chopped it into thirds keeping the leaves to one side as these take the least time to cook and go in at the end with the herbs. I used about a third of the bunch. If you don't have this particular green any of the myriad of Chinese vegetables will do. Just separate the leaves from the stems.
Then I got the herbs ready. I used a good handful of Garlic Chives (left) and a light handful of Thai basil.
Also about 1-2Tbs Oyster sauce I don't like too much as I find it pretty salty.
So the main trick to the stir-fry, for you cooking virgins is to have all your stuff ready to go, Go, GO.
Next I heated around 2 Tbs or so of olive oil in the wok. I vary the oils I use so you can really use any oil here I've used peanut, coconut, vegetable and safflower oil with no discernible difference in taste.
As soon as it starts to smoke I throw in the chicken.
So stir fry it over a high heat, ( my wok goes up to 15 and I had it on 11) stirring constantly and breaking it up with the spatula until it's nicely brown and starting to smell good. Don't stop stirring or that sucker'll turn to charcoal in a heartbeat. ;(
So when it reaches this stage I throw in the stems of the greens.
then add about a 1/4 cup (= good splash) of water, give it a quick stir and allow it to steam for 30 seconds.
Stir fry for 1-2 minutes and then throw in the herbs and the leafy part of the greens and stir fry for a few seconds then throw in the oyster sauce and stir fry for for another 30 seconds or so.
I had mine with a rice side .
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