Cucumber is another ingredient not normally used in cooking. They are either eaten raw in salads, in Japanese sushi, as garnishing or as one of the ingredient in salad. One notable use of cucumber as major ingredient in a dish is the cold cucumber soup. There is one Chinese recipe that calls for zucchini with chicken. However, in my place I seldom find zucchini but there are really plenty of cucumbers. I thought of substituting cucumber for my chicken recipe that calls for zucchini and the result is just nice. You have to modify the cooking style a little though to accommodate for the tender cucumber.
Ingredients:
½ kg Chicken thigh fillet (halved)
1 pc. Cucumber (large, cut into strips, remove seeds if they are too large, you may peel the cucumber if desired.)
1 pc. Egg (medium, beaten)
1 tbsp. Cornstarch
1/8 tsp. Black pepper (freshly ground)
¼ tsp. Iodized salt
2 tbsp. Premium dark soy sauce
1 tbsp. Oyster sauce
1 tsp. Sesame oil
2 tbsp. Safflower oil (for frying chicken fillets)
1 tbsp. Safflower oil (for sautéing onion and garlic)
4 cloves Garlic (minced)
1 pc. Onion (medium, thinly sliced)
1 pc. Green bell pepper (cut into large cubes)
1/8 tsp. Ginger powder
1 cup Water
Cooking Instruction:
In a suitable bowl, mix together the chicken fillets, starch, egg, black pepper, salt. Heat oil in a Teflon pan and fry both sides of the chicken fillets until golden brown. Set aside fried fillets on a colander lined with paper towels to remove excess fat.
Add more oil to the Teflon pan and sauté the garlic and onion until the garlic is golden brown and the onion starts to caramelize. Toss in the chicken and add the water, oyster sauce, soy sauce, ginger powder. Boil and simmer with cover until the liquid is about ½ cup. Add extra black pepper to taste. Toss in the bell pepper and continue simmering for another 2 minutes. Add the cucumber and mix well. Cover and simmer for another 2 minutes. Add the sesame oil and mix well. Serve. Enjoy as topping on steamed rice or with plain steamed buns.
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