Butter Chicken 奶油雞咖哩

Speaking of curry, I always eat or cook Japanese one as Japanese curry is what I used to have since I grew up, therefore I used curry cubes quite often at cooking rather than curry powder. However when Bang Curry kindly sent me their two 100% natural spice kits, I was very excited to try it out as I never ever thought about using curry powder like this before. After searching a couple of recipes, I decided to go for Butter Chicken with their Naga Bang spice. The result was great, it’s full of aromatic spices and flavour. Noted this chilli spice is vegan but also works quite well with meat for sure. Adapted from Masa's recipe, here’s how I made this Butter Chicken:

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐞

-2 boneless skin-on chicken thighs, chop into bite-sized pieces.

-100g natural yogurt.

-1 tbsp Naga Bang spice. (Gifted product from Bang Curry)

Mix above together in a medium bowl, cover and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

𝐈𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐲

-25g unsalted butter.

-1 tbsp minced ginger.

-1 tbsp minced garlic.

-2 tbsp Naga Bang spice.

-2 tbsp sun-dried tomato tapenade.

-1 cup water.

-1 tsp soy sauce.

-A handful of coriander, finely chopped.

𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝

-Heat butter in a pan, add ginger and garlic, stir fry over medium low heat for 3 minutes.

-Add curry spice, stir fry until fragrant.

-Add tomato tapenade and water, stir well and cook for 5 minutes.

-Add marinated chicken (including any remaining marinade sauce in the bowl), let it cook for 5 minutes and simmer in low heat for a further 10 minutes.

-Add soy sauce to give it an umami taste.

-Sprinkle coriander and serve with rice.

前陣子收到Bang Curry寄來的兩份咖哩粉包，平常都是用慣日式咖哩塊的我，因為從沒用過咖哩粉所以還特別上網找相關食譜(但其實包裝上就有簡易的調理說明，直接粉加水就可以了)，最後是參考了MASA老師的食譜做了奶油雞肉咖哩，我使用的是帶有辣味的Naga Bang粉包，最後煮出來的風味相當濃郁，加上料理過程中加了優格跟蕃茄泥，所以呈現出的咖哩是很溫和的辣度；從沒嘗試過印度料理的我，現在也算收了一道印度咖哩食譜了。

Taiwanese Three Cup Whelk Meat 三杯炒螺肉

‘San Bei’ (三杯), or ‘Three Cup’ is a very classic Taiwanese cuisine recipe which refers to the equal parts of three key ingredients : Soy sauce, rice cooking wine, and sesame oil. Most of you might have heard about ‘San Bei Ji’ (三杯雞) aka ‘Three Cup Chicken’, but San Bei, or Three Cup sauce, could be cooked with prawns, tofu, mushrooms…and other ingredients as well. Earlier on I made San Bei with whelk meat (三杯炒螺肉), a common dish that you can see at hot stir-fries restaurants in Taiwan. Whelk meat is chewy at bite size so Three Cup Whelk is recognized as one of the most popular stir-fry cuisines in Taiwan to go with beers. Having this dish also brought me back to Taiwanese stir-fries restaurant, it’s loud, cheap, fast-paced and delicious, a spirit of Taiwanese food culture I really miss. Do you also know any other San Bei/Three Cup dishes?

 

Here is how I made my 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐩 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐤 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐭:

 

𝐈𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬
-Whelk meat, 150g. (I bought from Treestone Butchers)
-Bird’s eye chili, sliced lengthwise. (if you don’t want it too spicy, soak sliced chilies into cold water to get most the seeds off)
-Minced ginger, 1 tsp.
-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced.

-Small handful of coriander.

𝐓𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐩 𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐜𝐞
-Rice cooking wine or Shaoxing cooking wine, 4 tbsp.
-Soy sauce, 4 tbsp.
-Sesame oil, 4 tbsp.
-Sugar, 1 tbsp.
-Mix above thoroughly until sugar is dissolved.

𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝
-Cook whelk meat in boiling salted water for about 3 minutes and then set aside. Do not overcook otherwise the meat would taste rubbery.

-Heat the oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat, add ginger and garlic to cook until fragrant and slightly brown.
-Pour Three Cup sauce mixture and reduce the heat to a low simmer for about 3 minutes.
-Turn up the heat again, add whelk meat, chilies, and coriander, stir around about 3 minutes.
-Turn off the heat and serve immediately with rice.

台式三杯醬汁除了可以拿來煮常見的三杯雞，也可以料理其他食材，前陣子就煮了三杯螺肉，有瞬間回到台灣熱炒店的感覺。你們覺得還可以用三杯做甚麼其他料理呢？

Congee Breakfast for New Year's Day

‘𝐘𝐮𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐧’ 元旦 is the phrase in Mandarin Chinese to call the first day of New Year. Considering the first day of the year, I always like to have myself a proper breakfast or brunch to greet the start of New Year. And ‘𝐗𝐢 𝐅𝐚𝐧’ 稀飯, or Congee in English, is a comfy food to have when sickness but also could be served for breakfast, particularly when you need handover cure the morning after New Year’s eve celebration.

 

In Taiwan, we usually have plain congee with a couple of side dishes. The ratio of rice and liquid could be altered depending on your desired consistency. Here is how I made my congee breakfast:

 

𝐈𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: (Serving 2-3)

-Short grain rice 150g.

-Water 900g.

My ratio of rice and water is 1:6, congee becomes neither too watery nor too thick. You can also adjust the amount of water to suit your preference.

 

𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝:

-Rinse rice 2-3 times and drain, then add 900g water at once and cook in a large pot over medium high heat. (no need to soak rice before cooking, also stir occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.)

-Bring to a nearly boil and reduce the heat to a low simmer, cook for 20 minutes.

-Turn off the heat and leave it for a further 10 minutes.

-Serve in a smaller ceramic pot or a bowl, enjoy with side dishes and toppings.

 

𝐌𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬:

-Soft boiled egg (egg from Clarence Court)

-‘You Tiao’油條/ Fried dough sticks.

-Taiwanese pickled bamboo shoots.

-Pollock floss.

-Takana / Pickled mustard leaves from Yutaka.

-Chopped spring onions and fried onions to garnish.

-Soy sauce and sesame oil to season.