Taiwanese Rice Wine Chicken-台灣燒酒雞

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

3 bottle of rice wine.

1pkt. Of mixed herbs ( I bought it at T&T Supermarket)

Method:

1.      Rinse Chicken (Before cooking them, you can chop it into small pieces if you want. I didn’t want to make a mess, so I cook the whole chicken instead.)

2.      Take the herbs out of the package and rinse with cold water.

3.      Put the chicken, herbs and rice wine in a pot. Cook with high heat. When it starts to bubble, turn to low heat and cook for 2 hrs.

4. Serve (If the rice wine you buy is salted, then you don't have to add salt at the end. You might have to add some water to balance out the flavour. So it's not too salty. If the rice wine you buy is not salted, then you can add some salt at the end.)

(If you want to drink them low fat, you can wait until they cool down and put them in the refrigerator overnight. The next day you can see the fat on the top layer, just scope them out and heat the soup)

Below is the list of the mixed herbs. (it is recommended if you want to make this dish, to get the package from the herb store. They will know what’s the right amount to put)

當歸Angelica sinensis, commonly known as "dong quai"

枸杞Wolfberry, commercially called goji berry,

川芎Ligusticum chuanxiong

黨參Codonopsis pilosula

甘草Glycyrrhiza uralensis

Benefit of this herbal soup:

Improve cold hands and feet during the winter time. (Women during the menstruation, can’t drink this soup.)

Stir Fry Chicken Shrimp Snow Pea

Ingredients:

Chicken breast-1

Shrimp -12

Snow Pea-1 box

Garlic-1

Marinating sauce:

Soy sauce- 2 teaspoons

Mirin-2 teaspoons

Cooking wine-1 tea spoon

Method:

1.      Wash chicken breasts and dry with paper towel.

2.      Chop Chicken breasts into small pieces

3.      Take off shells of the shrimps and wash them with cold water

4.      Marinate chicken and shrimps with Marinating sauce for 30mins

5.      Remove the roots of the Snow Peas. (As the pics show)

6.      Heat the pan, add 1 tea spoon of extra virgin olive oil. Cook garlic until you can smell it. And then cook chicken and shrimp with high heat. When they are 90%done, add Snow Peas.

7.      When the Snow Pea turns bright green color, taste the flavor to see if it’s salty enough.

8.      If not, you can add a pinch of salt.

9.      Serve

Processing Garlic

When we buy garlic, they usually make us to buy 2 for $1. The problem is we can never finish them in time before they turn black! We end up throwing them away.  Here is a tip of what I usually do to make sure we don't have to dump them. You can do this with ginger or green onions.

Cut the root off.

Peel the skin off

Done peeling!

Put them in the food processor

Blend them!

Put them in a sandwich bag. Make sure to make them flat. Put them in the frezzer. When you need to use garlic, just break a small piece. (this is why you have to make sure to put them in a thin layer in a sandwtch bag)

Bitter Melon With Pork Ribs

Ingredients:

Pork Ribs-900g

Bitter Melon-2

Method:

1.      Marinate ribs with 4tbsp sauce for 2 hrs.

2.      Clean the seeds of the bitter melon with a spoon. Make sure the white parts inside are  cleaned. So it won’t be as bitter. Chop them into small pieces.

3.      Heat the pan and add 1 tea spoon of extra virgin olive oil, fry the ribs until the both sides turn gold color.

4.       Add bitter melon into the pan and continue to stir fry them together. Add water into the pan ( make sure the water covers the rib and bitter melon) Cook with high heat. When it’s bubbling, turn them to low heat. Cook until the sauces are almost gone.

5.       Take them out and serve.

Bitter Melon Health Benefits

• Bitter melon is also found to be effective in treating skin diseases or skin infections, eczema, and even skin sores.
• Bitter melon has anti-viral properties and can be used for treating herpes virus.
• One of the other important bitter melon extract benefits is that it can also be used for treating psoriasis.
• It is also used as an purgative and anthelmintic if a person is suffering from jaundice, piles or indigestion. It is widely used for its anti-inflammatory properties.
• Bitter melon is most effective for its detoxifying and cleansing properties.
• Bitter melon helps in lowering blood pressure, blood sugar and also body temperature.
• It is believed that bitter melon extract can be used for treating HIV, although the theory is not proved yet. But it is found that bitter melon works against the negative reactions of HIV medications.
• It is even believed that bitter melon extract can be used against cancer, as it helps in improving cell function of people suffering from cancer.

BBQ Chicken Legs-蜜汁雞排

Ingredients:

Chicken legs---6

Lettuce-1

Sauce Ingredients:

BBQ sauce蜜汁烤肉醬-2 big teaspoons

Soy sauce- ½ small teaspoons

Mirin—1big teaspoon

Vinegar -1/2 small teaspoon

Sugar-a little

Lemon juice-1big teaspoon

Marinating sauce:

Garlic-5

Cooking wine-1small teaspoon

Salt-1/3 small teaspoon

White pepper- ¼ teaspoon

Method

1. Remove the bones from the chicken and also remove the white tendons.

2.  Marinate Chicken legs with marinating sauce. Mix them all together. Let it sit for 30 mins.

3.  Mix all the sauce ingredients

4.  Heat the pan, cook the chicken legs until both side turn gold color.

5.  Add the mixed sauce ingredients. Continue to cook until the sauce is absorbed. Then, take them out.

6.  Chop lettuce and place them on a plate

7.  Place chicken legs on the lettuce.

Tips:

1.  If you are marinating the chicken overnight, no need to add salt. Otherwise, it will be too salty.

2.  When you fry the chicken legs, try to cook the skin side which can extract the fat. It’s healthier and tastier.

3.  If no BBQ sauce, you can replace by “sweet soy sauce”

Spicy BBQ Chicken‏ Wings

Ingredients:

Chicken wings---6pieces

Marinating sauce---

Chilli powder--- 1 tea spoon

Soy Sauce---1 tea spoon

Sugar---half of teaspoon

White pepper powder---1 teaspoon

Chilli sauce---1 teaspoon

Wine---1 teaspoon

  
Method:

1.   Mix all the marinating sauce ingredients together.

2.   Marinate chicken wings with marinating sauce  for 30 mins

3.   Pre-heat the oven to 170 Degree Celsius

4.   Bake the chicken for 15 mins or until the surface turns gold color and cook thoroughly

Cucumber & Lettuce Salad

Ingredients

1 cucumber, thinly sliced (You can peel the skin off if you want)

Lettuce, 3 layers, thinly sliced

1 small purple onion, thinly sliced

1 cup white vinegar

Lemon Juice-1teaspoon

3/4 cup white sugar

Directions

1. Toss together the cucumbers, lettuce and onion in a large bowl. Mix with white vinegar, lemon Juice and white sugar.
2. Serve

American Ginseng Winter Melon Soup-西洋參冬瓜湯

American Ginseng Winter Melon Soup

Ingredients:

Winter melon-250g

Pork bone or  Pork ribs-200g

American Ginseng-10g

Sweet date 蜜棗-1

Method:

1.       Boil a pot of water and cook pork bones. When it’s done, take them out and rinse with water.

(Cleaning process)

2.       Prepare a pot, add all the ingredients into the pot, including the pork bones. Add 1200cc of water. Cook them with high heat first. When it starts to bubble, turn to low heat and cook them for 2hrs or until the bones are soft.

Benefit of this soup:

Benefits: Winter melon is a good source of Vitamin B1, B2 and vitamin C, rich in beta carotene, calcium and so on. Helps clear the heat and toxin, promotes urination, reduce water retention, expels phlegm, stop cough, improves metabolism, reduce fats and etc.

American ginseng contains ginsenosides, which are thought to fight fatigue and stress by supporting the adrenal glands and the use of oxygen by exercising muscles.

If you are the type that get tired and have diarrhea easily, you can add Chinese Peral Barley 20g and Semen Lablab Beans 30g.

You can also add Coix Seed or Chinese pearl barley or Job's Tears (生薏仁) 20g.

THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS  of Chinese pearl barley :
Promote diuresis and invigorate the spleen; relieve dampness obstruction and eliminate phlegm; clear away heat and drain the pus; anti-rheumatic. Suitable for scanty urine; swelling and pain in joints and sinews; rheumatism; lung infections; cough with blood in sputum and dry scaly skin.

You can also add SEMEN LABLAB Beans(白扁豆) 30g

Benefit of Semen Lablab beans- The white hyacinth bean is traditionally used in Chinese medicine to invigorate the spleen and remove damp. It is especially beneficial during the summer months to alleviate “summer damp”.

*Women during menstruation, shouldn’t drink this soup.

Spicy Chicken Noodles-香辣雞醬拌麵

Ingredients:

Chinese Thin Noodles-2 people portion

Ground Chicken-100g

Chinese dried shrimp 蝦米-20g

Purple onions (chopped)-20g

Grinded Garlic-20g

Thick chili pepper powder-1small teaspoon

Water-2 big teaspoons

Extra virgin olive oil-1.5 teaspoon

Green onion (chopped)-1

Sauce Ingredient:

Oyster sauce -1.5 small teaspoons

Sugar-1/2 small teaspoon

Method:

1.      Wash dried shrimps and chop them into small pieces

2.      Heat the pan and add extra virgin olive oil. Cook garlic, onions with low heat until they turn golden color. Add method 1 and chili pepper powder, continue to cook them for 2 mins. Then, add ingredient sauce and water. Stir them evenly. Turn off the stove.

3.      Prepare a pot and boil water. When it’s bubbling, add the noodles and cook with medium low heat for 2.5 mins or until they are soften. Take them out and place them in a big bowl. Add method 2 and mix them all together.

4.      Add green onions and serve.

Oxtail Stew in Re Wine-紅酒燴牛尾

Ingredients:
Oxtail-1
Carrot-1 (chopped)

Potato-1 (chopped

Tomato-2 (remove the skin and cut them into small chunks. You can try at the bottom of the tomato, use a knife to cut a cross shape. Put them into a boiled hot pot. You will see the skin will be peel off by itself)

Onion-(chopped)
Red wine-2 cups

Cooking wine-2 teaspoonsBrown sugar-2 teaspoons

Garlic-4 (cut them into slices)

Ginger-2slices

Red wine-2cups

Chicken Stock-1

Method:

1.  Boil a pot of water, add ginger.  Then, cook oxtail. When they are cooked, take them out and wash with cold water.  (cleaning process)

2.  Heat the pan and add 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil. Cook garlic until you can smell them. Add oxtail and add 2 tea spoon of cooking wine.  Quickly stir them together.

3.  Prepare a pot, add method 2 with carrot, onion, potato and tomato.. Add wine and chicken stock. ( make sure they cover the oxtail) add brown sugar.

4.  Boil them with high heat. When it’s bubbling, turn it to low heat. Cook until oxtail is soft. ( It took me about 2 hrs) Add parsley, bay leaf  and salt

5.  Serve

(If you want to drink them low fat, you can wait until they cool down and put them in the refrigerator overnight. The next day you can see the fat on the top layer, just scope them out and heat the soup) If you like more alcohol taste, you can remove the chicken stock and add more red wine. (I used 2/3 of a bottle. Make sure you don't drive, after you drink the soup...hehehe)