Moomy and the Confused Chicken Dish

I can hardly believe that it has been 9 months since we made The Big Move to the good ol’ US of A.

In those 9 months, we have moved from a vacation (house) rental to a 2-bedroom apartment and back to a proper house again, bounced from Oregon to the capital of Washington State and then back to Oregon again.

And it took that same amount of time to change my status from a visitor to a legal permanent resident of this beautiful country.

But you know how that old saying goes: its only when you’re living abroad that you begin to appreciate the dishes found back home.

Dishes that are so unique to Singapore/Asia that you can’t quite replicate that same taste once you’re overseas.

If you visit Singapore, you must not leave
without stopping by Zam Zam Restaurant
at Arab Street for its famous murtabak!

One of those dishes
Singapore is famous for is Chilli Crabs!!

Chilli crabs, Zam Zam's murtabak, good ol’ satay by the beach at East Coast, Old Chang Kee curry puffs & sotong balls. The list goes on as my drool pools into a wee puddle hehehe

And let’s not get started on good ol’ cooked-with-love meals, the kind my dear mum & late grandmother always made at home.

I learnt to cook Sweet & Sour Chicken recently … almost a year ago really. I have never liked sweet-and-sour dishes before because my take on it was that it’s a bloody confused dish! Whenever my mum cooked it for dinner, I would have groaned and asked if there was another dish besides that because I just did not fancy such a confused chicken.

Anyhoo, my dislike for the confused dish changed a year ago when I had to prepare lunch for my best friends. They were coming to our flat in Singapore and I wanted to cook something homey, something yummy.

And somehow, Sweet & Sour Chicken sounded good on the menu that day and this was how I made mine:

The Meat:

3 pieces of chicken breast, skinless & boneless: cut into bite-sized chunks

Sprinkle 1 generous teaspoon of turmeric powder & a good sprinkle of salt over these chunks. Mix it thoroughly and let the meat sit on the counter while you heat up the frying pan with a tablespoon of vegetable oil. 

This time round, I had left
the chicken chunks pretty … chunky!

I don't know about you,
my dear reader, but I
lurveeeee the smell of turmeric!

Once the oil is heated up, fry these chunks enough that the chicken turned light & golden brown, cooked inside but not too crunchy on the outside. Set these chicken chunks aside.

The Sauce Components:
In a bowl, mix these together and set aside:

4 tablespoons chili sauce (here in the States, I use Sriracha but I find it a tad spicy so use a tablespoon first and add more if you want more kick to your sauce)

3 tablespoons tomato sauce

3 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoons lemon juice (usually from 1 lemon)

3 tablespoons sweet soya sauce (you can get this from any Asian supermarket)

1/2 a teaspoon of sesame seed oil (not too much because this oil can be quite overpowering)

Now, I always eye-ball the color of the sauce. Sweet & Sour sauce should be reddish and not black-ish; taste the sauce too as you go. Stop when you feel that the sauce is to your liking. 

I usually add the soya sauce and oyster sauce 1 tablespoon at a time; you are in control of the color/taste of the sauce. 

The Aromatics:

2 shallots

2 garlic cloves

1 onion

1-2 inch of fresh ginger

Blend the above items in a blender (add a touch of water into the mix to help the blending process); I find that when you blend these aromatics, it helps to thicken up the sauce and create more gravy for your dish.

And don't sweat it if you don't have shallots in your pantry/kitchen. Just use an additional onion :D

The Side Components:

2 bell peppers (any color will do though I prefer to use green, yellow or orange ones because that way, the colors will pop up from the reddish sauce): I cut these into 1-inch squares

1-2 potatoes: peeled & cut into 1-inch cubes. Rinse, dry the potato cubes and then fry them till the potatoes are golden brown. Set these aside.

1 small can of pineapple chunks - if the chunks are huge, cut them into half so they will be of the same size as the peppers and potatoes.

A handful of cherry tomatoes, cut into halves. (I usually prefer to work with these instead of those usual tomatoes. Whichever works best for you, OK?)

A cup of water

Those cute lil tomatoes came from our garden!! :D

Optional:

A handful of fresh cilantro, chopped finely.

Assembling the Dish:

1. Prep your chicken first and set it aside (i.e. prepare it accordingly as described in the above under "The Meat").

2. Heat up your pan over medium-high heat. Saute The Aromatics; once it's become fragrant, add the bell peppers. Stir for about 2-3 minutes and then add the sauce mixture. Stir again.

3. Mixture will be pretty thick so add a bit of water at a time until you're happy with the consistency. Not too thick, not too thin, OK? 

4. Add your variety of chunks: cooked chicken, fried potatoes, canned pineapple and cherry tomatoes. Stir together to combine. Taste; season it with salt if necessary. And sprinkle the finely chopped cilantro as your garnish. 
Your Sweet & Sour Chicken is ready! :D

The not-so-confused Sweet & Sour Chicken

The Sweet & Sour Chicken is best served with hot, steamed Jasmine rice. It is now one of my favorite dishes to cook and my darling hubby loves the fried potatoes in it. I also love that it has chunks of pineapple and tomatoes. 

Our dinner of Sweet & Sour Chicken and

a green side of Stir-fried Broccoli & Carrots in Oyster Sauce

I'm not a professional chef/cook but I learnt through trial and error that with Asian cooking, it's best to prep everything and have them ready before you turn on the stove. Asian cooking/stir-frying happens so quickly; by prepping all your ingredients before hand, all you need to do is reach out and grab that bowl of prepared sauce and dunk it into the hot pan and stir!

And you know what's nice about the above recipe ... it made such a generous meal for our family of 4 (2 adults and 2 toddler boys) that we have enough leftovers for another night :D

Leftover Sweet & Sour Chicken on another night, 

paired up with a different veg - Stir-fried Cabbage & Carrots!

I hope I've laid it out simple enough for you to want to give it a go - please try it! I have shared the above recipe with a couple of my fave people - you know who you are :D:D:D - and they enjoyed it :D:D:D 

Sharing is caring, y'all and as Ms Paula Deen always say it in her cooking shows "Love and Best Dishes from my kitchen to yours!" :D:D:D