Drunken Chicken Roll

Chicken meat can be prepared in many ways.  We can roast, stew, stir fry or poach them but today I am going to share with you another way to prepare chicken meat.  I remembered I did a cold version of drunken wings some years back . And it was a hit with the family.

To make a simplified version, I pressure cooked ginseng chicken soup for the family and took out a bowl to make drunken chicken roll.  I used two chicken leg, deboned them , season with salt and pepper , then rolled them up and tie with string to hold the shape.  Steamed the chicken rolls till cooked.  Add 1/3 cup of chinese cooking wine to the prepared ginseng soup and pour over the cooked rolls and soaked overnight in the fridge. Serve them chilled as appetiser or as a main dish.  A very delicious dish to serve the family or when you have guests to dinner :)

steam them for 20 mins till cooked

I skip the step of resting them in cold water to lock up the

juices....you can do that if you want but I let it cool down 

before pouring the ginseng wine soup over them

soak over night so that the ginseng wine flavored soup

get infused into the chicken rolls

my microwave tupperware comes in handy for this dish

when serving , remove the string and cut them into 1/4 inch thick slices

to make it look more appetising, I make a spicy cucumber

salad to go with it.  Yummz!

Drunken Chicken Roll

ginseng soup - one free range chicken , two ginseng roots, red goji , water enough to cover the chicken.  Pressure cook soup . Add salt to taste. Take out soup enough to cover the chicken rolls. The rest of the soup to be served as soup for the family.

2 chicken legs - deboned, keep skin intact

salt and pepper for seasoning the deboned legs

string for tying

1/3 cup chinese cooking wine - add to the prepared ginseng soup

To make spicy cucumber salad

2 japanese cucumber - slice thinly

2 tsp of chilli flakes

1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

1 tsp of sugar

Mix all the ingredients together and chill in the fridge.  Serve with the drunken chicken rolls

Method:-

1. Deboned the chicken legs, keep skin intact.  Season with salt and pepper. Roll the deboned legs with skin facing down. Tie with string on both ends and middle of the rolls.  Place the rolled up chicken legs on a place and steam for 20 mins till cooked.  Take out and let it cool down. ( you can rest in cold water for 10 mins to lock in the juices but I skipped this step ) 

2.  Place the chicken rolls in a container and pour the prepared ginseng soup ( added with chinese wine) onto the chicken rolls. Let the rolls sit in the ginseng soup overnight in the fridge.  When serving, remove the string and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices. Arrange neatly on plate and serve chilled.  Serve with spicy cucumber salad as an appetiser or even as a main dish if you desire.

Minty , Tangy Eggplant Appetizer

Eggplant can be cooked in many ways.  I prefer simple one like this...easy to prepare and doesn't take much time to prepare.  Homegrown eggplants are the best as they are not only organic but near at hand too...just pluck them when they are in season :p  Okay, back to making this simple yet delicious appetizer dish.  Minty, tangy and some heat from the bird's eye chillies made this dish so good that I have put in my to-make-again list :)

I learned from a cooking book that give tips on how to cook eggplant so that the inside wont turn dark color.  First ,lightly cook the eggplant as a whole in hot oil. Take it out, then boil in hot boiling water till cook.  I guess it worked as you can see the inside doesn't change color, making the eggplants looks refreshing. The eggplants,  mint leaves and calamansi are from my lil garden space . I whipped out a simple appetizer using homegrown stuffs :)   Hope you like this recipe too :)

first fry the eggplant in hot oil, then boil in hot water

so that the inside will not turn darker color, it works as you can see

the inside is refreshing and maintain its color :)

 

Add lightly sauteed chopped garlic to the eggplant

the minty, tangy plus the sauteed garlic really give

flavors to the bland eggplant and the chillies gives heat to the dish

what can I say, the flavors just explode in the mouth ...mmmm

excellent appetizer dish!

Minty , Tangy  Eggplant Appetizer

ingredients:

5 eggplants -wash and wipe dry

oil enough to fry the eggplant

3 cloves of garlic- chopped

3 tbsp of chopped mint leaves

2 bird's eye chillies - sliced

2 calamansi - cut into halves and squeeze juice

1 tsp of rice bran oil

1 drop of sesame oil

salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a wok and fry the eggplant till skin is lightly brown.  Dish out and put the fried eggplant in boiling water and cook till soft.   Dish out and let it cool down before removing the skin.  Cut into 1.5 inch length wise strips.  Place the cut eggplant in a bowl.

Lightly saute chopped garlic till lightly brown and crisps.  Dish out and leave aside.  Chop mint leaves and slice chillies . Cut calamansi into halves and squeeze juice into a small bowl.

Add the mint leaves, chillies, a drop sesame oil and 1 tsp of rie bran oil to the cut eggplants.  Mix well together and add in salt and calamansi juice to taste. Add in the sauteed garlic as garnishing last.  Serve this appetizer cold  or warm