a Japanese cooking technique in which various foods — most often meat, and specifically chicken — are deep fried in oil. Small pieces of the food are marinated in a mix of soy sauce, garlic, and/or ginger, then lightly coated with a seasoned wheat flour or potato starch mix, and fried in a light oil — similar to the preparation of tempura.

One lazy evening and out of fresh ideas for a quick dinner, I turned to my free box of coating mix. The box had 2 packages of coating mix and as soon as I opened one, I got a good whiff of ginger. I took it as a good sign.

Preparing this dinner was a no-brainer. Other than the coating mix, I only needed cut-up chicken pieces to complete my list of ingredients, and of course, oil for frying. Dinner took under 30 minutes to prepare including the time it took me to coat the chicken pieces with the mix by giving them a good shake in a resealable quart bag. ;)

Not bad for a boxed coating mix! I sprinkled some lemon juice on the cooked chicken. For dipping sauce, my daughter requested a ketchup and mayo mixture, which she believes is a special concoction her dad came up with. Hee hee.

Do not make the mistake of expecting a Japanese restaurant quality karaage! If I may be honest, hubby prefers my karaage from scratch (spoiled husband!). When one is short on time and wants home-cooked dish without the usual home-cooked trouble, this will get decent tasting food on the dinner table.

Hurrah for life’s little shortcuts!

Cheers and mabuhay! :)

These are the mildly hot baked wings…

These are the barbecue flavored ones…

I used the same recipe that I previously posted HERE.  I am reposting the recipe just the same because I did a tiny bit of tweaking.

INGREDIENTS:

20 -25 pcs. wingettes and/or drumettes
3/4 C whole wheat flour
1/2 t cayenne pepper1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t sea salt
1 C melted butter, divided: 1/2 C for barbecue wings, 1/2 C for the hot wings
1/2 C hot sauce  (for the hot wings - I used Schlotzsky’s Louisiana Hot Sauce)
1/2 C barbecue sauce (for the barbecue wings)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and lightly brush with oil or butter. Alternatively, you can lightly grease it with cooking spray.  In a resealable plastic bag, put the flour, cayenne pepper, garlic power and sea salt.  Seal, then shake to mix.  Add the drumettes (or wings, whichever you’re using).  Reseal and shake the bag until the chicken parts are coated well with the flour mixture.  Transfer the drumettes onto the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate for at least an hour.

2.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

3.   Brush the wingettes/drumettes with melted butter and bake until they are crispy on the outside and no longer pink in the center.  This should take about 45 minutes.  Turn the drumettes over halfway during cooking for even cooking and brush again with melted butter.

4.  In 2 shallow dishes, mix the melted butter and hot sauce in one and the melted butter and barbecue sauce in the other.

5.  Transfer half of the baked wings in a bowl and pour the butter/hot sauce mixture over the wings.  Toss until all the wings are well-covered in sauce.   Do the same with the other half of the wings, this time, using the butter/barbecue sauce mixture. Transfer to a serving platter and serve with your choice of dip.

In the old recipe, I dipped the wings in the butter/hot sauce mixture and then baked them.  This time, I tossed the wings in butter/hot sauce mixture AFTER baking.  Why? Because I saw in one food show that that’s how they do it in some, if not all, wings joints. ;)

I spent $5.36 on the wings.  I have a ton of butter in the fridge because I do a ton of baking. The hot sauce, I got for free during the Schlotzsky’s Bun Run last month.  I was practically forced to take home about 6 bottles of the good stuff!  The barbecue sauce, I also got for free at Target (KC Masterpiece brand), which was on sale for $0.99 cents and I  just so happen to have a $1 off coupon. Hee hee. :D  How’s that for huge savings? *wink*  If you can snag some apple store coupons at dropdowndeals, you can surely do the same with food.

I understand that home-cooking might not be everyone’s cup of tea. So if you think ordering the wings is more practical for you…go ahead…my feelings won’t be hurt. Promise!

Have a great week ahead, y’all!  Mabuhay!

Looking at those cirspy orange-y things just makes me want to make some again, pronto!  I must make sure  wings and drumettes are in my weekend grocery list.  I should have saved some of the wings for this hot & spicy goodness, then I could have called them Hot and Spicy Wengs.  I don’t expect all of you to get that last bit.  Hee hee.  :P

Here’s the recipe…

INGREDIENTS:

20 drumettes or wings
3/4 C whole wheat flour
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t sea salt
1/2 C melted butter
1/2 C hot sauce (I used Schlotzsky’s Louisiana Hot Sauce)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and lightly brush with oil or butter.  Alternatively, you can lightly grease it with cooking spray.  In a resealable plastic bag, put the flour, cayenne pepper, garlic power and sea salt.  Seal, then shake to mix.  Add the drumettes (or wings, whichever you’re using).  Reseal and shake the bag until the chicken parts are coated well with the flour mixture.  Transfer the drumettes onto the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate for at least an hour.

2.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

3.  In a shallow dish, mix the melted butter and hot sauce.  Dip the drumettes into the mixture and replace on the baking sheet.  Bake until the drumettes are crispy on the outside and no longer pink in the center.  This should take about 45 minutes.  Turn the drumettes over halfway during cooking for even cooking.  You can test for doneness by inserting a skewer/toothpick in the thickest part of the drumettes.  If the juice comes out clear, then they’re done!

For spicier wings, add more hot sauce and cayenne pepper.  For milder wings, use less of the red stuff. :)  These are really quite mild.  But don’t take my word for it.  The level of spiciness of a dish is subjective.

On some cooking shows on tv, I’ve seen some chefs toss the baked wings in the butter and hot sauce mixture AFTER the wings have been baked.  That’s another option worth trying.

We dipped the drumettes in light and creamy ranch dressing.  Oohlala!  This was another one of those moments where I’m practically kicking myself for waiting so long before I thought of making my own hot wings.  Better late than later…I mean, never.  Hee hee.

Football season has begun!  These would make for great game time chow!  Which nfl t shirts will you be proudly wearing?

Here’s to the hot stuff!  Cheers! :)

I was surprised at how quick and easy it was to make!  So quick and easy one can probably do it in spite of joint pain.  Well, maybe not.  Anyway, I was practically kicking myself for not having tried making it sooner.  I just made some minor substitutions.  Instead of shiitake mushrooms, I used big bella mushrooms.  For the mitsuba garnish, I used parsley.  Mitsuba, after all, is from the parsley family. ;)

INGREDIENTS:

10 1/2 oz (300 g) skinned and boned chicken breast
4 eggs
4 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 onion

Simmering Sauce

1/4 C water
4 T soy sauce
3 T mirin
1 T sugar

5 C cooked rice
Mitsuba (trefoil) as garnish, optional (may be substituted with parsley)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Cut the chicken breast diagonally into thin slices.  Soak dried shiitake mushrooms in lukewarm water until soft. Cut off and halve hard stems.  Thinly slice the onions and cut the mitsuba into lengths of 1 1/2″.

2.  In a 10 in skillet, mix all simmering sauce ingredients and bring to a boil.  Add chicken, mushrooms and onion and cook over moderate heat for 2-3 minutes or until the chicken is done and onion is tender.

3.  Beat eggs in a small bowl then pour over the chicken and cover with a lid.  Cook untilthe egg is set.  Sprinkle mitsuba on top.

4.  To serve, put about 1 1/4 cups of cooked rice in a large deep bowl and gently lay 1/4 portion of chicken and egg on top of the rice.  Pour simmering sauce over.  Serve immediately or cover with lid.

This home version of my restaurant favorite got my husband’s and my daughter’s seal of approval.  Hee hee.  For sure, the Oyakodon will make repeat appearances at the dinner table.  Hurray for home cooking! :)

I just love my grill pan!  It’s one of my tools for healthy cooking.  ;)  The chicken turned out great.  I had to tweak the marinade a little as the recipe book version was a little too salty for my taste.

INGREDIENTS:

2-3 lb cut up chicken

Teriyaki Sauce

1 T grated fresh ginger root
1 clove garlic, crushed
2/3 C soy sauce
1 T sake
1/2 C mirin
5 T sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Wash and clean the chicken pieces, then towel dry. (Note:  Make sure you wash your hands with soap after handling chicken before touching anything else!)

2.  Make teriyaki sauce.  Marinate chicken pieces for several hour or overnight in the refrigerator.

3.  Coat the grill pan with cooking spray.  Lay the chicken pieces on the pan skin side down and cook as you would on a charcoal/gas grill.  Turn the chicken several times for even cooking and brush with the marinade every so often.

Chicken teriyaki may be served hot or cold but we prefer hot with hot rice.  The sauce/marinade can also be used with other meats and fish.

We all loved how the chicken turned out, specially my daughter.  She kept asking how many pieces I cooked as she was worried there won’t be enough for seconds…or thirds. :)

If you keep cooking the healthy way and do regular exercise, you won’t have to worry about using cheap health insurance anytime soon.  Hee hee. :)

Thank God it’s Friday! Weeeee! :)

I cooked these in a pan coated with cooking spray.  I did not use any extra oil.

I still get giddy whenever the longanisa logs start to caramelize and turn into nice and sticky brown logs just screaming to be, uhm, rolled and practically rubbed on steamed rice.  Hubby and 5-year old daughter started to get impatient when the aroma of cooking longanisa filled the air. Hmmmm. *inhales*

I served the longanisa on a bed of sliced cucumbers, my daughter’s favorite.  Hubby and I had sliced fresh tomatoes to go with our longanisa, while my daughter preferred to have vinegar with a sprinkling of sea salt for her dipping sauce.

The recipe I used is exactly the same as the one I previously posted HERE except that I used ground turkey this time.  I will be using ground turkey or chicken to make longanisa from hereon.  Here’s the recipe…

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs ground turkey
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp fresh cracked peppercorn
4 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
2 Tbsp liquid (Knorr) seasoning

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix everything  in a large bowl.
2. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes and allow the flavors to blend. Form into logs or patties.
3. Cook in a non-stick frying pan that has been coated with cooking spray.
4. Serve with garlic fried rice or steamed rice or hot buns.

If you want spicy longanisa, add a tablespoon of hot sauce to your ground turkey mixture.  This recipe will yield approximately 20 longanisa logs, each made with 2 tablespoons of ground meat.  Be forewarned, too, that the logs will most probably shrink to a smaller size during cooking. :)

A few people have already tried this recipe, most of whom were successful in their longanisa venture, while 2 complained that their longanisa were salty.  Please take note that I used sea salt. I haven’t used iodized salt in over two years.  If you’re using iodized salt, you might want to use less salt in your mixture, just to be sure.

Have a great weekend, y’all!  TGIF!

PS.  The photos were taken with an I-Phone. :)

Grilled Chicken Tenders

I grilled about a pound of chicken tenders.  To give it some flavor, I depended solely on Emeril’s All Natural Chicken Rub.  I patted the chicken tenders dry, and then brushed some olive oil on them.  Then, I rubbed each piece with the chicken rub.  You only need 1 teaspoon per pound of chicken.  I let the chicken tenders marinate in the oil and chicken rub for at least 30 minutes before I proceeded to grilling them.  And this was the result…

The chicken tenders came out surprisingly flavorful!  It complimented the salad I prepared that day.  Some of you might want to have a dipping sauce to go with it.  My family used the salad dressing, a homemade vinaigrette, as dipping sauce.  Hee hee.

Grilled Tilapia Fillet(s)

For the Grilled Tilapia Fillets, I gave the Emeril Original Essence a try and used it the same way I used the chicken rub.  I prepared the fillets as I did the chicken tenders.  And this was the result…

The fish did come out a little bland.  I guess the original essence, unlike the chicken rub, can’t really stand on it’s own.  Maybe it’s really meant to be a flavor enhancer.  So next time, I’m thinking I should sprinkle some salt on the fish (or whatever meat I’m using) first and maybe add some lemon as well.

We’ve all been loading up on our leafy greens, if you noticed. :)  That should have been the case all this time.  Nevertheless, we feel good that we’ve taken small steps to healthier eating.  I hope you do, too…to help prevent and fight sickness  (yes, even prevent hair loss and other health concerns!).

Have a good week ahead, y’all!  Cheers!

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 to 2 lbs chicken, cut up

MARINADE:

4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp sake
1 tsp ginger juice
cornstarch for coating
oil for deep frying

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Mix all marinade sauce ingredients.  Wash and pat dry cut-up chicken.  Marinate chicken for 30 minutes or longer.
2.  Drain off excess liquid.  Dust chicken with cornstarch.
3.  Shake off excess cornstarch.  Heat deep frying oil to 325F-350F (165C-175C).  Fry the chicken pieces a few at a time until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels.

You can serve these with lemon wedges, soy sauce and salt and pepper on the side.  If you plan on eating these with chopsticks, make sure you cut the chicken into bite-size pieces.  And for a guaranteed crispy chicken, do not overcrowd the pieces when you fry them and keep the oil at the required temperature.

Have a great weekend, y’all!  It’s going to be a long one for us.  Yey! :)

My first pick from Japanese Cuisine for Everyone is a simple appetizer…Glazed Chicken Livers and Giblets.  This is another one of those dishes that brings me back to my childhood.  My Dad always ordered skewered chicken wings and skewered chicken livers whenever we ate at a Japanese restaurant.

Here’s how my Glazed Chicken Livers and Giblets turned out…

I was very pleased pleased with the results, and so was the rest of my family. ;)

The recipe is as follows…

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz chicken livers
8 oz. chicken giblets

Glaze

4 T soy sauce
4 T mirin
1 T sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Wash livers and giblets thoroughly; cut into bite size pieces.
2.  Boil the livers and giblets in salted water for 5 minutes (or until desired tenderness); drain on a tray.  Skewer 3 pieces of liver of giblet per skewer.
3.  Mix soy sauce, mirin and sugar.  Boil; then remove from heat.
4.  Brush glaze over skewered livers and giblets several times while grilling.  Grill for about 10 minutes.

To prevent the skewers from burning while grilling, soak them in water first before you skewer the livers and giblets.  I cooked these on a stove-top grill by the way.  You can use the glaze with pretty much everything. ;)

Expect more Japanese dishes in future entries! :D

So what’s up with this accidental chicken curry dish?  It’s accidental because the dish I originally set out to cook was Chicken Afritada.  At first glance, it does look a wee bit similar to chicken afritada, but that’s not exactly how the dish turned out in the end.

Afritada is a tomato (sauce) based dish and I kinda overdid it with the tomato sauce.  *blushes* I added two small cans of tomato sauce to the dish  when one would have been enough.  Imagine my horror when I tasted the sauce and realized it was way too sour!

Instead of merely adding water to the pot of simmering chicken to rid it of the “extra” sour taste, I decided to experiment a little.  So off I went to the fridge and  found a half-filled opened can of coconut milk. Coconut milk suddenly became part of the ingredients.  Still, the sauce tasted a little too sour.  Back I went to the fridge and  found a half-filled small carton of heavy whipping cream among my baking ingredients.  I emptied the carton of whipping cream and poured it all into the pot.  Finally, I added some curry to the dish.

My little experiment resulted to a new chicken dish, which had a Thai feel to it.  And I have to say, it wasn’t bad at all.  It was a hit with my family and my friends who tasted the beef version during a beach vacation seemed to genuinely like it, too!  I served this with crushed red pepper on the side.  The dish tasted even better spicy!

I’m not so big on experimentation, that much I’m willing to admit.  I’ve always been dependent on measurements and recipes, perhaps due to  my architecture background.  Haha!   Lately, however, I find myself being less and less dependent on my measuring cups and spoons, except, of course,  when I’m baking.  Maybe in the two years I’ve been cooking for my family, I’ve gained enough confidence to venture a little outside of my cooking comfort zone.

Should you want to replicate this accidental curry dish in your own kitchen, maybe because you’re fond of curry or anything with coconut milk or whipped cream, here’s the recipe…

INGREDIENTS:

4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, quartered
2 lbs. or so of chicken parts (It was a lot of chicken that’s why I thought 2 cans of tomato sauce should do fine. :D)
3 small potatoes, quartered
1 green pepper, sliced
1/2 cup sliced carrots
2 small cans or 1 big can of tomato sauce
1/2 to 1 can coconut milk
1/2 to 1 carton (small) heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon (or more!) curry powder

DIRECTIONS:

1. Fry the potatoes until half-way cooked.  Set aside.

1. In a separate pot/pan, saute the onions and garlic in olive oil until the onions turn translucent.

2.  Add the chicken parts and saute until they turn a little brown.  Season with salt and pepper.

3.  Add the tomato sauce, coconut milk and heavy cream and curry powder.  When the sauce comes to a boil, turn the heat to low and simmer until the chicken becomes fully cooked.

4.  Add the green pepper, carrots and potatoes and simmer for another 5 minutes or until the potatoes are fully cooked.

Optional:  To give your curry dish some heat, add some crushed red pepper.

Serve with steamed rice.