Chickpea Salad

Who hates chickpea?

Oh boy you missed out a lot!

Chickpea is one of my favourite legume to work with. The locals here call them “kacang kuda”. Malaysia Indians refer it as “kacang subhese”. It has different common names like garbanzo, chana and etc. All refers to the same beloved legume that gives out sweet, nutty and creamy buttery flavor.

A treasured staple food in India, chickpea is high in protein and fibre. Keeps you full longer and promotes healthy digestive. Some published studies show chickpeas promotes the growth of good bacteria in your guts. Great for keeping that weight in check!

Studies also show that it helps in regulating blood sugar and the folate and magnesium found in chickpea helps in promoting healthy heart. The catch – you have to take it almost daily to enjoy such benefits.

Our local supermarkets sell the dried beige coloured chickpea and canned cooked chickpea. I have seen chickpeas in shades of black and brownish red during my US visit. Unfortunately, I didn’t get them as I was too occupied with the fruit section that time. How stupid right?

Before cooking, it’s best to soak chickpea for at least four hours or overnight. Pre-soaking shorten the cooking time and activates the enzymes. Steam or cook in lightly salted boiling water for 30-45 minutes to soften it and add into your stew, dhal, curries, paste like spread like hummus, cold salad or deliciously by itself. You can skip the soaking and cooking by using canned chickpea but you get that typical can smell.

Here’s my take on a simple chickpea salad

Chickpea Salad

Portion: 4-6 pax

Prep Time: one hour

500g dried chickpea (soak and cook per the above instruction)

1 small red onion

2 ribs/stalk of celery

1 Japanese cucumber

1 red/yellow capsicum

1 tomato

1 clove of garlic – grated into paste

1 bunch of fresh mint

1 bunch of fresh coriander

1 lemon (juice and zest)

1 tbsp raw cane sugar

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and freshly grinded black pepper to taste

The flow

1. Add cooked chickpea, diced red onion, diced celery, diced cucumber, diced capsicum, diced tomato, chopped mint and coriander in a big bowl

2. Grated garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, sugar and extra virgin olive oil in another bowl and combine until sugar is fully dissolved

3. Pour the dressing into the chickpea mix

4. Season with sea salt and black pepper

5. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Toss em'!

Slow Braised Chicken In Spiced Soy Sauce and Mushroom

“A good braised chicken pulls rice” -that’s what my dad always say. Braising is not a hard but it’s time consuming. The longer you braise the meat, the tastier it gets and the sauce becomes richer. It’s advisable to use good ingredients for braising. 

So over the weekend, I decided to braise a whole chicken after passing the soy sauce isle at my favorite supermarket. For my braised chicken, I use Lee Kum Kee light soy sauce as it has light sweetness and not overly salty.

Slow Braised Chicken In Spiced Soy Sauce and Mushroom

Portion: 6-8

Prep Time: 3 hours

0.8 - 1.2kg whole chicken

4 star anises

6 cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

1 thumb size rock sugar

2 tbsp. oyster sauce

1 tbsp. dark soy sauce

100ml light soy sauce

3 inch old ginger - crushed

1 garlic bulb

5-6 pieces of white pepper – lightly crushed

3 cups of water

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

One handful medium sized dried mushroom – soaked

4 hard boiled eggs * optional

½ tsp five spice powder

The flow

1. Rub five spice powder mix on chicken. Leave for at least 3 hours or overnight

2. Lightly fry chicken until skin is golden brown. Dab away oil

3. In a deep pot, heat oil

4. Sauté ginger, star anise, cloves and cinnamon stick until fragrant

5. Reduce to medium heat, add in soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce and rock sugar and cook until sugar is fully dissolved.

6. Add in whole garlic bulb, crushed white pepper and water and bring mixture to a full boil

7. Submerge whole chicken, dried mushroom and hard boiled eggs in the sauce

8. Cook using low heat for 2 hours, turning the chicken occasionally. (once sauce reduced, it may not cover the whole chicken. You will need to turn the chicken)

9. After braising for two hours, add shaoxing wine and cook for another 5 minutes.

10. Lift chicken from the pot and strain liquid. Cut according to preference.

11.   Serve with braised mushroom, eggs and of course, the sauce.

Basic Chicken Stock

Confession. I have a lot of lazy bones in my body. I still have them and they take control of my mind once in a while. I used to use stock granules and bouillons in my early cooking days. Pop one bouillon in the soup or sprinkle granule in your stir fried dish and you will have fuss free, easy and flavorful meals. As I grow older and wiser, I began to realize kitchen cheats won’t take a dish far. Tear those convenience and flavors apart, commercial stocks are just compressed dehydrated vegetable and meat pumped with enhancer and artificial flavoring. Besides, having to see family members and guest downing water after every meal is not a pleasant sight!

Making your own chicken stock is easy and save cost too! I always buy whole chicken and portion them accordingly. I will keep the legs, ribs, neck frozen and once I gather enough, I will make them into wholesome stocks. Alternatively, you can get chicken ribs from the morning wet market for a good price. If you have a sweet mouth, you might get them cheaper or extra from the poultry man. 

Basic Chicken Stock

Yield:  1.5litre of stock

Prep Time:  3 hours

1.5 -2kg Chicken carcasses

2 medium sized carrot

1 onion - quartered

2 rib/stalk celery  - cut into 2 inches length

1 stalk of leek – cut into 2 inches length

3 cloves of garlic - bruised

8 - 10 pieces of whole black pepper – lightly crushed

3 litres of water

The work flow

1. Roast chicken carcasses in oven at 250C for 30 – 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Note: This step is for a fuller rich stock. For a milder version, you can skip this step.

2. Bring 3 litres of water to a boil

3. Add in roasted chicken carcasses, carrot, onion, celery, leek, garlic and black pepper.

4. You will find brown bits of dried chicken essences on the roasting pan. Don’t discard unless they are burnt. Add water to the pan and put it on your stove. The bits will dissolve and add them to the boiling stock.   

5. Close lid and reduce to medium heat. Let it boil for 2 hours.

6.  Let the stock cool before straining and portioning. To maximize the yield, squeeze the vegetables for those "hidden" liquid.

Here are some of the storage options.
1. Portion stock using ice cube tray. Once set in freezer, pop them out and store them in zip lock bags

2. Portion stock base on 200ml in zip lock bags. Freeze and store away for further use.

The Super Quinoa

I got to know about quinoa when I was in my former company. We were the first to bring in organic quinoa into Malaysia back in 2005 from Bolivia. We had a great time developing and marketing these protein rich grains.

Quinoa is actually seed but often referred as grain. The Incas call them “Chisaya Mama” which translates to “Mother of All Grains”. Quinoa has complete protein profile, containing all nine amino acid, magnesium, iron, copper and other essential minerals. Gluten free too

Once puffed, it is soft and light, and carries a nutty tone. Comes in hue of white, black and red. I personally prefer the black and red variety as it has slightly thicker hull which give that great “crunch” in every bite.

The more I cook the deeper my love for quinoa. The versatility is incredible. I have made multigrain rice/porridge, various salad, quinoa and corn pudding and breakfast bar. My husband got hooked to it and didn’t mind having them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Here’s my first quinoa recipe

Tuna and Quinoa Salad

Portion      : 4 - 6

Prep Time : 30 minutes

500g organic quinoa

750ml water

2  canned tuna (in water)

300g cherry tomato – small diced

100g mint leaves - chopped

50g onion – small diced

50g celery – small diced

30g red chili – small diced

Juice from one lemon

Lemon Zest

6 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil

Salt and black pepper to taste

The work flow

1. Using a large sieve, rinse quinoa under running water. Drain well

2. In a bowl, add rinsed quinoa and 750ml water

3. Steam for 20 - 25 minutes

4. Remove from steamer and let it cool

5. Drain liquid from canned tuna.
6. Pour content in a bowl and lightly separate the chunk with a fork
7. Add in diced cherry tomato, celery, onion, red chili, chopped mint and lemon zest
8. Squeeze juice from one lemon
9. Add in quinoa and mix well.
10. Drizzle in olive oil, salt and pepper and give it a final toss. 
11. Serve immediately

  

Note: Can store up to two days in chiller.

Eggs Ben

While we were in visiting my grandma in Australia, she bought us a lot of bacon and free range eggs for breakfast. We stuffed ourselves silly every morning with browned bacon and sunny side ups. One morning, with my messy unbrushed hair, I decided to assemble a sophisticated egg and bacon combination.

Eggs Ben

Portion: 6

Prep Time : 30 minutes

Hollandaise Sauce

125g butter - melted

4 free range egg yolks

Juice from half lemon

1 pinch of paprika

Salt to taste

Eggs Ben

3 English muffins 

6 slices of streaky bacon / ham

1 tablespoon of white vinegar

6 free range eggs

Black pepper

The work flow: 

Part 1

1.      Add egg yolks and lemon juice on a stainless steel bowl

2.      Whisk until mixture turns pale

3.       Place bowl over saucepan with simmering water  

4.       Continue to whisk and slowly add in melted butter.

5.       Whisk until mixture thickens

6.       Remove bowl from sauce pan

7.       Add in paprika and salt and mix well. If you are using salted butter, you may want to skip the salt.

8.       Set aside on a warm place.

Part 2

1.       On a pan, brown the bacon. Don’t add oil. Let the fat from the bacon melts!

2.        Toast English muffin on a grill pan.

3.       Fill half saucepan with water and bring to boil. Once boil, lower the heat to simmer

4.       Add in white vinegar to the boiled water

5.       Swirl water to form a vortex

6.       Gently break egg (one at a time) and cook about 3 minutes

7.       Remove egg with slotted spoon and drain off the water

The Construction

1.       Lay one bacon on toasted muffin

2.       Top with poached egg.

3.       Scoop a spoonful off hollandaise sauce on top of the poached egg

4.       Grind some black pepper on top

5.       Serve immediately

The result - extra gooey caramel points from the hubs. You can add rocket leaves for the fresh peppery kick.