Sweet Honey Chicken Drumstick.

Hi there,

Today, 29th Nov. 2013, mummy decided to cook "Sweet Honey Chicken Drumstick" for me. So it will give me an opportunity to record the ingredients and the methods for cooking this dish. This will enable all of you to cook this dish even when mummy is not around. I will write in as much details as I can, so that with this recipe, anybody can cook this dish.  By the way, no honey is used. Beside chicken drumstick meat, other types of meat can also be used. The trick is to cut the meat into thin slices, so that a larger surface can be created to be coated with the caramel and the various sauces.

This morning, I went to the wet market to buy 8 drum sticks and I asked the lady to de-bone two drum sticks for me. She did it in front of me in 5 minutes flat, both drumsticks! I saw how she did it and I think I can do it too. Anybody who is interested in learning how to debone a chicken drumstick, I am willing to teach him or her. Unfortunately, I can't film and cut the drumstick all by myself. Somebody got to film while I debone the drumstick.

After the drumstick has been deboned, it must be cut into thin strips of about half an inch thick. The thin strips will enable the meat to be cooked quickly.

Picture 1. The chicken drum stick that has been deboned by the market lady. The meat is easier to eat.

Picture 2. The meat is cut into strips of half an inch thick. Mummy was not very happy with the pieces of meat that I have cut. She said the slices are too thick and too long. Here a sharp knife will be an assets.

Then the following ingredients are added to marinate the meat:
(1)  Half a teaspoonful of pepper, or more if you like it to be a bit spicy.
(2)  One tablespoonful of good soya sauce, no more. (For one drumstick meat)
(3)  3 tablespoonful of white sugar -- heaps, or 4 tablespoonfuls.
(4)  One tablespoonful of tomato sauce.

Picture 3. Pepper is freshly ground onto the meat. This method would be quite difficult to measure the actual amount of pepper used. Just trust your gut feelings regarding the amount of pepper that you need to grind.

Picture 4. One tablespoonful of good soya sauce should be enough. More meat means more soya sauce. 

Picture 5. Put in 3 to 4 tablespoonful of white sugar. Mummy said that you can put in 4 tablespoonful of sugar for any amount of meat, as long as the caramel can coat all the meat.

Picture 6. Finally add in a tablespoonful of tomato sauce.

Picture 7. Mix the whole thing with two spoons until all the meat is coated with the ingredients. Store in the fridge to marinate.

Picture 8. Use 4 cloves of garlic, skin them and  them mince them.

Picture 9. The garlic is minced before cooking. Only garlic is used in this dish.

Mix everything thoroughly with two spoons and let it marinate in the fridge for half an hour. Mummy said that you can start frying after mixing the ingredients into the meat.  No need to marinate for long.

Picture 10. You start cooking by pouring about 3 to 4 tablespoonful of oil into the wok. heat it and then add the garlic.

Picture 11. Minced garlic is added after the oil is hot enough. Make sure the garlic is not burnt, because it will cause the dish to become bitter.

Picture 12. The meat is then added when the garlic is aromatic. Make sure the sauces from the plate are completely poured into the wok.Stir and fry the meat constantly, searing the meat.

Cut up four cloves of garlic into small pieces and fry this for a while first before you pour in the meat and all the sauce that were on the plate. Don't burnt the garlic. then the dish will become bitter.
Fry the meat for a while. At this point control the flame.

Picture 13. Fry the meat, searing every piece and do not allow the meat to stick to the wok. Notice the empty plate.

Picture 14. After searing the meat, add in a cup of water to cook the meat. Stir and fry the meat. If a lot of meat, put in a bit more water to cook the meat longer. At this point you can let it simmer for a while.

Picture 15. After adding the water and stirring it, let it simmers for a while to cook the meat. Control the flame.

Picture 16. The meat is almost done. The sauce is almost changed to oil only. Note the burnt wok. When stirring do not stir to high up the wok. This is the result. Stay focus on frying the meat. To clean the burnt wok, pour in some water and let it boil. Stir and the burnt parts of the wok will come out quite easily. So don't worry about the burnt wok.

Picture 17. The finished product! Sweet Honey Chicken Drumstick. It's yummy and delicious. Try it.

 After searing the meat properly, add a cup of water to the whole thing and let it cook until the meat is done. Slowly increase the flame. You must continue to fry all the time. If the ingredients are correct, the whole thing will change to BBQ meat when the water is evaporated. One of the possible source of errors is the amount of sugar. If you did not put in enough sugar it will fail.  The safest thing to do is, put in 4 tablespoonful of sugar for any amount of meat, according to mummy.

Source of errors:
(1) My meat was too thick. And too long. Should be thinner and in smaller pieces. Larger surface areas.
(2) The sugar was not enough. You cannot correct your mistake half way through the cooking. You cannot put in additional sugar half way through your cooking. You have to perfect the amount of ingredients by trial and error. Use the same amount of meat each time and measure the ingredients correctly and note it down. You should be able to perfect it by the second or third trial.
(3) Mummy said the stainless steel wok was not working for her. I suggested the cast iron old fashion wok used by my grandmother and my mother.  She kept quiet. She doesn't have one. She has every kind of wok except the cast iron one.  DO NOT USE THE NON STICK WOK/PAN. You want the meat to be a bit burnt. Then it will be very aromatic.

Because mummy was cooking this dish, it turned out edible and I polished it off. I would say it was quite good. Try it.

Pa.

   

Sambai Hay Bee (Sambal Dry Prawns - Taiping Lang Style.)

Hi there,

This recipes has been a long time coming and is finally here. Today, 10th Nov. 2013, mummy has prepared to cook the dish which has become one of Nic's favourite dishes.  Andrew introduced this dish to Nic when he was about 10 years old, I think, and he has come to enjoy it. Anyway, this time round, I was able to photograph the various ingredients and some of the steps of cooking this dish. Hopeful I would be able to write a comprehensive account of how to cook this delicious and delightful dish.  Now everybody can follow the steps and cook this same dish and enjoy it.

The Ingredients:  You will need the following:

(1)  Half a kilogram of GOOD dry prawns. Make sure the dry prawns are the good, expensive ones.
(2)  Half a kilogram of GOOD small onions (shallots). There are many types in the market. Ask the         shop-keeper for the GOOD type, with an aromatic taste.
(3)  About 12 to 14 sticks of lemon grass.
(4)  About 2 inches of fresh yellow ginger.  Fresh yellow ginger taste better than the powder type.
(5)  A bundle of special lime leaves. Tai Ko Kum Huio  (Daun limau perut)  
(6)  A handful of dry chilli, not the hot spicy ones. Ask the shop-keeper for the NOT spicy ones.

Picture1.  These are some of the main ingredients that you need. Half kilo of small onions and dry prawns, 12 to 14 sticks of lemon grass, about 2 inches of fresh yellow ginger.

Picture 2. Buy a bundle of "Tai Ko Kum Huio" from the wet market. If you have some land, plant a lime tree. You can also plant it in a pot. Then you can choose the most succulent leaves from your own plant.

Picture 3. Pick the best leaves, roll them up and cut the leaves into thin slices.

Picture 4. The dry chilli are boil and let soak in the hot water to soften them for easy blending.

Picture 5. The dry chilli has been soak in hot water and is now ready to be blended.

Picture 6. The small onions are peeled, washed and ready to be blended.

Picture 7. The dry prawns are checked for dry shells and any matters that should not be there before they are washed.

Picture 8. The dry prawns are washed and now drip-dry in a big sieve, ready to be blended into fine fibers.

Picture 9. The lemon grass are peeled, cleaned and ready to be cut into slices.

picture 10. The lemon grass are cut into thin slices. The yellow ginger beside the chopping block is sufficient.

Picture 11.  The lemon grass and the fresh yellow ginger have been cut and ready to be blended.

Methods:

Preparation:
You have to get ALL the ingredients ready before you can start cooking. If you have some helpers, then you can delegate the work to some of them. One helper can peel the small onions (Shallots). Another can wash and drip-dry the dry prawns, and after a few minutes, blend the dry prawns into fine fibers. Another helper can trim and wash the lemon grass and then cut into thin slices... cross wise.  Ask another helper to boil the dry chilli for about ten minutes and then leave them to soak for another ten minutes to make them soft. Wash and peel the fresh yellow ginger and cut into smaller pieces. If you can multitask then you can do all the work by yourself.  So while the dry chilli is boiling, you can wash and drip-dry the dry prawns. After that you can peel and wash the small onions . . . .

Blending:
(1) Blend the dry prawns first until fine. Put it aside.
(2) Blend the lemon grass with the cut yellow ginger until fine. Put it aside.
(3) Blend the dry chilli by itself until fine. Put it in a container and put it in the fridge.
(4) Blend the small onions. This doesn't have to be fine.
(5) Row the lime leaves and cut into thin slices. Put them aside. Use the medium aged leaves.  They taste better then the old ones. The old ones are tougher and harder to chew.

Picture 12.  The blended dry prawns is cooked separately in a hot wok without any oil. At this stage, controlling the fire is the most important factor here.

Picture 13. The dry prawns cooked and scooped up ready to be added when the spices are cooking

Cooking:
(1) Fry the blended dry prawns WITHOUT using any cooking oil until aromatic.  This is where the control of the fire will determine the success or failure of this dish! Too low a fire, you will take a long time to finish cooking the dish. Too high a fire you will burn the prawns.  So the trick is to alternate high and low fire to have a constant high heat without burning the dry prawns.  Then  scoop out the cooked dry prawns into a clean container and put it aside.  This stage of pre-cooked dry prawns is very important to have a flavourful  dish without a fishy smell! Some people didn't carry out this step and the dish tasted fishy.

Picture 14. With a clean wok, half a cup of oil is heated up before the spices ingredients are added in, one at a time.

Picture 15. Fry the spices until aromatic. Control the fire and stir fry constantly to avoid burning the ingredients. This is a very crucial stage in the cooking process.

(2) Pour half a cup of cooking oil into the wok, heat it up. Then add in the blended lemon grass together with the fresh yellow ginger, the blended small onions, blended dry chilli and stir fry until completely cooked and aromatic.
(3) Now put in the pre-cooked dry prawns and stir fry again, mixing everything well.

Picture 16.  After the spices are cooked and aromatic, the dry prawns are added to it  and then stir fry and thoroughly mix the whole wok. Salt and sugar are added. For half a kilo of the main ingredients, one and a half teaspoon of salt is added and six tablespoons of white sugar or slightly more depending on your taste.

Picture 17. The lime leaves cut into thin slices are added and stir fry again to give the dish the typical aroma.

(4) Finally, before you scoop it up, put in the cut lime leaves and stir fry again. At this time, you will smell the typical familiar aroma of  "Sambai Hay Bee".

Picture 18. The dish is ready to be served with sliced Japanese cucumbers and organic cabbage leaves. 

Picture 19.  The excess is kept in plastic containers and deep freeze. When you want to eat it again, you can re-heat in a microwave oven. Just microwave the amount that you want to eat and put the rest back in the freezer. The amount that you re-heat can have a dash of lime juice to enhance the taste. You cannot add lime into the whole container as the content will spoil.

I hope that you will try out this dish. It involves a lot of work, but in the end, it is worth it. I suggest that you try out this recipes with half a kilo of dry prawns and small onions. If you use more than this, it would involve too much work. The amounts in this recipes are just right for you.

Pa.