Herbal Chicken Rice Bento

It's turning out to be thermal week for Takoyaki, who enjoys having some hot soupy or saucy meal (she's really very afraid of cold, unlike me) when she has a long recess period at school. Seems the queues are super long on combined recess days, so she's glad to be able to just sit down and start wolfing food down while her friends are queueing up to buy food d:P

This Herbal Chicken is not Chicken Soup, which comes with lots of... soup. This is a chicken double-boiled or steamed with only the chicken's juices and some Shaoxing wine so it's really thick and flavourful.

When I first started cooking Herbal Chicken, I bought a packet of spices usually called Emperor Chicken Spices 帝皇鸡. But these packets of spices (across the brands) all contain MSG, and I always felt rather guilty using them for my family. After all, it's home-cooked food so there really should be as few additives as possible, right?

Then one day my Chinese cuisine sifu (master) served up her own version of Herbal Chicken and told me that that delicious dish was NOT made with those spice packets. Instead, she used commonly found herb packets for herbal chicken soup, except instead of following the instructions and using enough water to cover the chicken, she only added a little bit of water and wine to achieve the same result as the double-boiled dish. And to my conundrum, there the solution was.

Recipe for Herbal Chicken 药材鸡

Ingredients:

One whole chicken about 1.3-1.5kg (I always buy Sakura)

Two packets of 炖鸡汤料 dun ji tang liao (Stewed Herbal Chicken Soup), whichever brand you like

Extra goji berries (optional)

Half to one cup of Shaoxing wine

Half cup water

Half teaspoon salt

Method:

Wash the chicken well, pat dry if you wish (I don't) and rub all over with salt.

Place chicken feet and neck (if you like them) in bottom of Dutch oven big enough to hold chicken with some extra space.

Place chicken on top of feet and neck. The makeshift "rack" made up of feet and neck help prevent the chicken from sticking to the pot and potentially burning.

Rinse all the herbs (it says so on the packet - Wash before using), drain well and scatter all over the chook. Stuff a few inside the cavity. Add extra goji berries if you have them and like them.

Pour water and wine over, put the lid on and cook on low heat. 

Set timer for one hour.

After one hour, remove the lid and gently poke the chicken meat with a fork. It should be almost falling off the bone or at least, shred very easily. If not, replace lid and cook an extra 15 min.

Serve hot with rice.

Macaroni Alla Marinara and Mushroom Cheese Omelette Bento

RM is down with flu, so I got to focus on whipping up one of Takoyaki's favourite meals - tomato sauce pasta. As I fell asleep too early, I woke up in the middle of the night (3am) and went to cook the sauce.

I'd accidentally bought lots of macaroni pasta (long story), so was just trying to find a way to start using them. The macaroni was topped with some sauteed spinach and a mushroom and cheese omelette. It's a one-egg omelette, although it doesn't look like it.

Recipe for One-Person Mushroom and Cheese Omelette

Ingredients:

One white button mushroom (sliced thinly)

One large egg (about 60g)

Pinch of salt

Half a slice of processed cheese

Method:

Heat up a small frying pan or tamagoyaki pan over medium-low heat and add 2 tsp of oil.

Once oil is hot but not smoking, add shroom slices and saute till brown.

Meanwhile, add a pinch of salt to the egg and beat it lightly.

Spread shrooms out evenly in pan and pour beaten egg over mushrooms. Tilt pan to achieve an even shape.

Quickly tear the cheese up into little pieces and spread them out on half the egg, keeping cheese bits away from the edge.

Fold the cheese-less half of the omelette over the cheesy side. 

Flip after 30secs. Give the other side another 30 secs and remove from heat to cool.

Plan-Over Tuesday - Roast Chicken Don or Sandwich

Takoyaki's with bread

RM's with rice

Recipe for Oven-Fried Chicken Thighs

4 boneless skin-on chicken thighs total weight 1kg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp mixed dried herbs eg. rosemary, thyme, oregano

1 tsp garlic powder (minced garlic is good too)

Dash olive oil

Mix all ingredients together, rubbing the seasonings gently all over the chicken thighs. Let sit on counter for about 15 min. Preheat oven to 180C. 

Lightly grease a a baking dish big enough to spread the thighs out so that they are not touching each other. Lay the thighs on the dish, skin side up.

Bake about 15-20 minutes and remove immediately from oven. Let baking dish sit on counter top for at least 10-15 min before slicing and serving.

My Entry for the Bento&Co contest 2013 + Pesto Recipe

I almost didn't make it *gulp* because I forgot until last evening that the deadline is today 1059am Singapore time. Hence, I spent the whole night having nightmares that I couldn't complete it and the day was overcast (bad photos). Argh.

Here's the final product, which I started on immediately after sending the kids to school.

Featuring Fusili with homemade pesto, topped with arctic surf clams and grilled prawns. In the tier on the right, there are some beancurd wrapped chicken, charred capsicum and edamame. The fruits section consists of some strawberries and grape bunnies.

After I sent the email off, I heaved a HUGE sigh of relief d:)

Recipe for Cheeseless Pesto

Ingredients:
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (or walnuts)
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
3 cups packed basil leaves
1/2 cup parsley leaves (optional, helps retain green colour)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (or more if necessary)

Method:
Throw everything into the bowl of a food processor and run it till the contents reach a paste consistency. Transfer to a clean, dry glass jar, making sure there is a layer of oil on the top to prevent browning.

Note: I didn't add any traditional grated Parmesan cheese, partly to prolong the shelf life of the pesto in the fridge, but mainly because my #3 is allergic to most dairy, including cheese. With this recipe, he can eat it, and the salt content has been increased for better flavour. I sometimes have some Parmesan on the side for the others to sprinkle on if they want.

And here's Roast Meat's simple bento for today - a bakery bun he chose for himself yesterday, some grapes and chocolate fingers.

Leftover Roast Chicken and Spud

Planned leftovers are such a heaven-sent bento solution. Here's another chopchop prepacked bento-style that was easily completed last night after dinner: Our favourite roast chicken, roast potatoes and more of the spinach tamagoyaki.

Takoyaki's

Roast Meat's

Recipe for Lulu's Roast Chicken

Ingredients:

1 chicken (1.5kg), neck, bottom and feet chopped off (keep for boiling soup another time)

(You can substitute with dry herbs, use one pinch of each or any combination you prefer)

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 sprig fresh oregano

1 sprig fresh basil

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1 pinch ground black pepper

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Rub all the ingredients onto the chicken and roast in a 150C oven for 1h 15min. Let sit at least 15min before carving.

Spinach Tamagoyaki Recipe

I saw this recipe last week on Just Bento and love it because it covers veg and protein all-in-one so I don't have to bother about other meats if I don't want to. It's featured in Roast Meat's bento today. The bread looks rather mangled though; it was tough packing it in.

Recipe for Spinach Tamagoyaki in a Tamagoyaki pan (serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 packet fresh spinach

1/2 a medium onion

2 cloves garlic

salt and pepper to taste

3 medium eggs

1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp light soy sauce

Method:

Wash and trim the spinach. Bring a pot of water to boil and blanch the spinach for about 30 secs, in batches if your saucepan is small, like mine. Rinse and cool the spinach immediately under tap water. Squeeze all the water out with your hands and cut into small pieces with a pair of scissors, draining again after that.

Mince the onion and garlic.

Heat the tamagoyaki pan on medium-low heat and add a tsp of oil. Saute the onion and garlic for about a min, then add it to the spinach in a bowl and add salt and pepper to taste. Mix as well as you can.

Add another tsp of oil to the pan.

Beat the eggs, mirin and soy sauce in another bowl and pour about half the mixture into the pan. Immediately turn the heat to LOW and spread the spinach mixture evenly over the egg. If your pan has a curved further edge, like mine, flip the edge of the egg on the curved side over onto the spinach to form a lip. Pour the rest of the egg mixture gently over the spinach, gently poking the spinach to let the egg mix in. Cook about 2-3min. 

Flip the whole thing and cook another 2-3min over medium-low heat till the egg is completely set.
Remove from heat and cook before cutting into bite-size squares.

Noritama Recipe - my standard fallback

I make it a point to always have eggs in the refrigerator, because it takes only a few minutes to make tamagoyaki when I'm out of protein stash. Noritama is a variation that has small bits of nori (seaweed laver) in it.

Recipe for Noritama (using a 6" X 4" tamagoyaki pan)

Ingredients:

3 eggs (55-60g each)

2 tbsps mirin

1 pinch salt

Nori, torn into small bits about 2-3cm wide (here's a great chance to use up those leftover nori cutouts)

Method:

Beat all ingredients, except nori, well in a small mixing bowl.

Put the tamagoyaki pan on medium-low heat and lightly oil it.

Spread the oil all over, either with a paper towel or a turner.

Turn the fire down to low and drip one drop of egg mixture into the pan. The egg should start sizzling immediately, if it doesn't, turn the heat up a little, but not too high because the layers should not be burnt or even brown.

Pour enough egg mixture into the pan to form only a very thin layer, tilting to spread out.

Quickly drop a few pieces of the nori in a single layer over the egg, making sure to leave lots of egg exposed.

When the top of the egg sheet is almost set (but not yet!) quickly use the turner to flip and roll the further end towards you to form a tight log. Push the log back to the further end.

Repeat pouring, adding nori and rolling till all the egg mixture is used up, adding a few drops of oil into the pan after every 2 layers. With 3 eggs I got about 4-5 sheets, all stuck and rolled up into a log.

After the final layer is done, turn off the heat and let the log sit on the pan for 30 secs on each side before removing and slicing into the desired thickness. 

Here's the noritama in today's bentos. Roast Meat has his with some little cakes, cucumber strips, fruits and a chocolate.

Takoyaki has hers with a kaya pocket sandwich (what RM had yesterday), fruits, cucumber and also the chocolate.

Teriyaki Salmon Udon Bento

It may seem surprising since I cook Japanese meals so much of the time, but I've never made Teriyaki Salmon before, although the chicken version appears every now and then. I finally decided to try it out today, by using my teriyaki sauce recipe on some lovely, fresh salmon steaks from a whole fish I bought a few days ago.

This was Roast Meat's lunch - panfried salmon teriyaki with udon, cuke sticks and grapes. The udon was tossed in some leftover fish marinade which I boiled and simmered for about 5 mins to boil off the alcohol content. The tot and I had a few leftover udon noodles, and gosh, was it yummy!

Recipe for Salmon Teriyaki

500g salmon steaks

2 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp sugar

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl, cover with clingwrap and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour to allow the marinade to penetrate the fish. Remove from fridge let sit on counter for at least 10 min before cooking.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat and brush the surface with a little oil.

Place salmon skin side down, cover and cook about 3 min. Flip steaks and continue cooking another minute or two. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 min. 

Meanwhile, bring the rest of the marinade to a boil, reduce to simmer for about 5 min. Pour over fish or toss with udon.

This hodge-podge bento was RM's recess and is here purely for my reference.

Panini Bentos

I made some loaves for panini yesterday, and this is what the kids brought to school.

 The fillings were: ham slice, cheese slice, romaine lettuce and sauerkraut. I was tempted to spread a very thin layer of Vegemite on the butter but decided against it.

Click here for the panini loaves recipe.

Cabbage soup

We had this soup for dinner last night, thanks to my dear friend Yee Fun who shared her recipe on our Facebook Bento group. Takoyaki's hot lunch will be pork rib cabbage soup over rice, and fruits. I added a couple of cherry tomatoes as an afterthought.

Cabbage Tomato Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

500gm pork ribs

1 clove of garlic

1 handful silver fish or ikan bilis

1 large tomato, chopped into large chunks

half a head of cabbage, chopped into large pieces

salt to taste

Method:

Bring a big pot of water (about 3 litres) to boil. Add silver fish (place into a stock bag if desired).

Once water boils, add pork ribs, garlic, tomato and immediately turn fire to low. Set timer for 1 hour.

After 30 mins of simmering, add cabbage.

At the end of cooking, add salt to taste, stir and serve hot.

Beef stew bento

I was very pleased to prepare and deliver this to Takoyaki (who had supp class) at lunchtime today, when I went to pick RM up. Thankful I didn't have to pack it early in the morning, phew!

 

Beef stew, macaroni, mango and grapes. I came up with my own recipe for this stew, because I was in a hurry and didn't want to bother with using the computer. I used fresh herbs from my container garden.

Lulu's Beef Stew (revised)

1 kg beef muscle, cut into bite-sized pieces
5 tbsps plain flour
1 large onion, finely chopped or sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sprig fresh rosemary (or pinch of dried)
1 sprig fresh oregano (or pinch of dried)
1 sprig fresh thyme (or pinch of dried)
1 bay leaf
1 litre beef stock
2 large carrots, chopped into large chunks
1/2 cup red wine
dash pepper

Method:
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat for about 1 min. Toss beef in flour and dump into pot. Try to brown all sides of beef, about 3 min.
Add onion, garlic, herbs (including bay leaf) and continue frying for about 2 min.
Add all the rest of the ingredients, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Lower to gentle simmer, simmer at least 2 hours, or till beef is tender and tendons have turned into "jelly". Taste and adjust seasoning.
Remove herbs and serve hot.

Mini Hambaagaa or Beef patties Recipe

I just made a batch of these for bentos this week (but they will probably be obliterated by Tuesday). I have previously featured these patties in this post and this one too.

Ingredients:

500g ground beef

1.5 1 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 a medium onion, finely diced

1 tsp parsley (fresh or dried, up to you)

1 tsp salt

ground black pepper to taste

2 shakes of paprika

1 medium to large egg

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix really well with clean hands.

Shape into equal sized patties about 2 inches across and 1/3 inch thick.

Gently press the centre of each patty in (makes them cook more evenly) and lay patties in a single layer on a large flat plate or tray.

Heat a frying pan on medium heat and add 1 tbsp oil.

Once oil is hot, reduce heat to low and fry patties about 1min on the first side.

Flip patties and cover pan, leave to cook about 3-4min.

Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.

Let cool before storing in an airtight container in the fridge.

Cold Udon

It's already mid October but the weather is still really hot in Singapore. I remember it used to be rather much cooler this time last year. Think there were more showers and strong breezes.

This is the first time I've thought of using this set of containers for cold noodles. Everything fits pretty well, actually. In fact, if she had more time (say, on a Monday when she has to wait 2hrs for netball practice), I'd even use up the last box in the set to give her some treats or more fruits. But for a short 25min recess, I'm hoping she'll remember to eat quickly and not chat too much.

I froze the dipping sauce overnight in the container so it will have nicely defrosted but still be cold by Takoyaki's recess time. Packing the frozen sauce box right on top of the other two will also help to keep the food cold (important so the cuke stays crisp and the kiwi doesn't turn mushy).

The cucumber was sliced very thinly using a mandoline and I just sliced the ham up into thin sticks - will be easier for her to mix and eat with her noodles. Forgot to include the nori strips! Again!

Recipe for Cold Udon/Soba dipping sauce

(adapted from Just Hungry)

1/2 cup mirin

1/2 cup white sugar

1 piece konbu seaweed (about 5cm long)

a handful of bonito flakes

2 cups soy sauce

Combine mirin and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Simmer for about 5 min to evaporate the alcohol. Add konbu and bonito flakes and stir about a min. Add soy sauce and bring to a simmer again. Simmer for about 10-15min (volume will have reduced). Remove from heat and let cool before bottling and refrigerating or freezing.

For mentsuyu (dipping sauce), dilute approximately 1:10 or to taste. I also use this mixture for sukiyaki, hot noodles soup, and beef/pork done Yoshinoya style.

Completed under time restriction

What a long day! I've been on my toes the whole day and only just found the chance to sit down and type up this post.

Mr Roast Meat requested for garlic herb toast (recipe for the garlic spread is at my Natural Parenting blog). I managed to stuff in some cucumber shurikens, clementine wedges, pork floss rolls and a cheese wedge before he rushed off to wait for the school bus.

Takoyaki's hot lunch in school was pork slices on fresh udon, cuke and tomato on the side, and a kiwifruit. The food jar carried the soup for the noodles.

I'm going to rest for a few minutes before heading to the kitchen to prepare Takoyaki's bento for tomorrow. More cooking! When all I want to do is hit the sack!

Sleep in Sunday

Both Mr RM and Takoyaki have to go out early tomorrow morning, and I don't have anything that they can prepare or eat on their own for breakfast. So these are for them, then they won't have to wake me up to ask what's for breakfast. I hate having to answer that question!

Onigiris with edamame and onigiris with homemade green tea furikake (recipe from Just Bento), which the kids love with their rice. Cherry tomatoes and BCH pork floss rolls on the side.

I WANT TO SLEEP IN TOMORROW MORNING WITH THE TOT!

Friday aka run out of steam

Takoyaki didn't want a bento today but agreed to bring some fruits since we have so many (most of them her favourites) and also so that she can spend her pocket money on other foods instead of fruits (yeah, she's like that). Featured are some rose apples (jambu) and longans.

Mr Roast Meat brought one of his favs too - scallion tamagoyaki (recipe below). Matched with some quadrattini and watermelon, which didn't make it into Takoyaki's box because it wasn't cut in time, heh!

Recipe for Scallion Tamagoyaki (makes enough for 2)

Ingredients:

2 eggs (55-60g)

1 tbsp mirin / sake / Chinese rice wine (白米酒)

1 pinch salt

One Chinese scallion (the thick kind, or the equivalent of in Malaysian/Thai spring onions), very finely chopped

Method:

Beat all ingredients well in a small mixing bowl, adding the scallions last.

Heat on low to medium heat, and lightly oil the lower pan of a HappyCall Pan (I've a Deep Ochre).

Spread the oil all over, either with a paper towel or a turner.

Turn the fire down to low and pour the egg mixture into the pan, tilting to spread out. Use a turner to spread the scallions evenly.

When the top of the egg sheet is almost set (but not yet!) quickly use the turner to flip and fold up one of the shorter ends, and roll up the sheet into a flattened log. Let cook on very low heat for about 30secs more on each side. Remove from heat, let cool for 5 min before slicing into desired thickness.

Honey Master

My friend JC once posted on her FaceBook about how the girl standing in line in front of her at Subway wanted "Honey Master" with her sub. And that's how I will always regard Honey Mustard Chicken (recipe below).

Takoyaki brought some honey mustard chicken to school for recess. The boneless, skin-on chicken legs were cooked in bulk for dinner last night. She's also got cute little sandwiches (cut by another new toy of mine) filled with either cream cheese or jam. And grapes.

Mr Roast Meat is bringing the same chicken over mixed multigrain rice, with stirfried leek and dried shrimps, cherry tomatoes and grapes on the side.

That's my new Magewappa box! I gave him strict instructions NOT to go and play at the basketball court after eating today, but to stay with his bento at the table, since he's coughing anyway. I warned him I would kill him if he cracked or lost my box.

Recipe for Honey Mustard Chicken

2kg boneless skin-on chicken legs

1/2 cup honey

3 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp garlic powder OR 2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp dried parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl or pot, using your hands to rub the mixture all over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Lightly oil a grill pan or frying pan and set it on medium heat. Grill/fry each leg on each side for about 5min, till both sides are a lovely brown. Set aside to rest for at least 10 min before serving.

Alternatively, line a big roasting pan with foil for easy cleanup and bake these yummies at 180C for about 30-35min.

Korean vegetable pancake aka Yachaejeon Recipe

Mr Roast Meat loves this! Recipe from Maangchi, with the only difference being that I chopped the veggies smaller, and added some cubed pumpkin that I need to get rid of.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup plain flour
pinch salt
1 egg

2/3 cup water
1/2 cup coarsely chopped spring onions
1/2 cup coarsely chopped Chinese chives or jiucai (韭菜)
1/2 cup diced pumpkin
8 medium sized prawns, shells removed (optional), cut into small pieces or left whole

Method:

Combine flour, egg, salt and water in a medium bowl. Stir well, batter will be lumpy.

Heat a nonstick frying pan on medium heat and add abt 1 tbsp veg oil / olive oil. I use coconut oil.

Saute the prawns for about 2 min.

Add all the veggies to the batter and stir well. Pour evenly onto the pan and spread gently with a spoon or spatula.

After about 1 min, gently shake the pancake around on the pan in a circular motion - you should be able to hear a scratchy, scraping sound. This means the bottom of the pancake is ready. (Or you can check with your turner that it's golden brown on the underside d:P )

Flip the pancake (woohoo!) and return pan to the fire (medium heat).

Drizzle some oil around the sides of the pan so it flows underneath the pancake.

After another min, check for doneness (sound or turner).

Serve hot or warm. Or cool completely before packing into bento.

Char siew rice 叉烧饭

Here's another planned leftover bento. I decided to cook Chinese style grilled pork for dinner last night (aka char siew fan or 叉烧饭) so from marketing to marinating to cooking, it was a double batch. Roast Meat was pleased indeed to hear that he'd be bringing this to school today for recess!

I added cuke sticks and longans to complete the meal. He tells me that these days, he and his friends just sit at the table after eating and chat, so there's no excuse for a "discount". He's always famished when he gets home after school!

My char siew is based on a YouTube video uploaded by mamabliss, except I eyeball it and make some substitutions based on whatever I have at hand and whatever is more economical for me. Here's the vid:

My changes:
pork shoulder/collar, cut into long strips
shaoxing wine or huatiaojiu 花雕酒
omit black soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar (unless I'm in the mood or remember to add)

I used my Happycall pan, just because it's the right size and shape for my pork, and I don't flip the pan, but I flip my pork after every 5 min. Hubby says it reminds him of the char siew his mum used to buy for him from somewhere near his childhood home. I do prefer this recipe over my mum's (from maternal grandfather who used to sell this and BBQ pork 烧肉 at the market).

Yin yang

A last minute decision to prepare rice for Takoyaki's lunch today (prepared last night). Half the rice is mixed with Korean style myulchi (sweet stirfried dried anchovies) and the other half is mixed with pork floss. The seasoned seaweed is wakame or 裙带菜 mixed with garlic, spring onions, sushi vinegar, soy sauce and sesame seeds. I make it in a big batch and keep in boxes in the fridge to have with meals, ditto for myulchi, which the kids like a lot.

I learnt how to make the myulchi from Maangchi.

Roast Meat will be just be having some leftover cold udon with salmon flakes and grapes. The noodle sauce is packed in a separate bottle.