Filipino BBQ Chicken

Southeast Asia is well-known for having some of the most delicious dishes due to the region’s diverse cultural influences as well as its broad array of tropical fruits and vegetables and fragrant spices. But up until recently Filipino cuisine was ignored, despite the fact that Filipino-Americans are America’s second largest Asian ethnic group behind Chinese. Filipinos, who are sometimes called the Latinos of Asia, have a rich culinary history influenced by Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Spanish and American cuisine. I was first introduced to Filipino food while living in Taipei. Every Sunday afternoon my husband and I would head down to a little neighborhood known as “Little Manila” to hang out with our Filipino migrant worker friends in the park behind the Catholic church. Most of the men were factory workers, while the women were usually maids, nannies and caregivers. Many of them worked long hours under difficult working conditions, but they would really let loose on their one day off a week.

Even though they didn’t have much money, our Filipino friends always brought a huge amount of food and drinks to share, which I’ve often tried to make myself. Many Filipino dishes are made with a few simple ingredients but are packed full of flavors.

Summer is the perfect time to share with you this oh-so-simple Filipino-style barbecue chicken.
 

You will need:

(serves 4 to 5 people)

Ingredients:

8 to 10 chicken thighs, with bone and skin

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 scallions, chopped

the juice of 1 lime

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

¹⁄₂ tsp. black pepper

¹⁄₄ tsp. white pepper

1¹⁄₂ cup Sprite

¹⁄₂ cup soy sauce

¹⁄₂ cup ketchup

chopped scallions and lime wedges for garnish 

 

Directions:

Start by cleaning the chicken thighs and then butterfly them, leaving the bone and skin on. This will help ensure that the meat cooks evenly. You may use the boneless chicken thighs that are already butterflied, but I do think the bone and skin give it more flavor.

Mix everything in a Tupperware container or ziplock bag along with the chicken thighs. Then add the Sprite to the marinade. Although it may seem like a weird ingredient, the Sprite not only sweetens the bbq but, most importantly, it helps to break down the protein in the meat and tenderizes it while making the meat extra juicy when it’s cooked. Let the meat marinate for 8 hours to overnight in the refrigerator.

Once the meat has been marinated, it’s ready to go on the grill. Grill the chicken thighs on high heat with skin side down for five to six minutes. Then turn it over and let it cook for another five minutes until both sides are golden brown. Note: time may vary depending on the size of the meat.

Sprinkle some chopped scallions and lime juice over the cooked barbecue chicken.

Share this easy and delicious meal with your family and friends

Check out Korean BBQ recipe at http://thewayriceshouldbe.blogspot.com/2015/10/bulgogi-korean-bbq.html

Zhong Zhi ( Celebrating The Dragon Boat Festival)

Growing up in South Africa and being the only Asian kid in class wasn’t always easy, particularly when it came to meal time. My Korean mom always lovingly packed a little tin box with her delicious Korean and Chinese lunches, but I always dreaded opening it because inevitably one of the kids would lean over my shoulder, peer at whatever exotic item I had and ask snidely, “What are you eating?!” 

The most embarrassing food she packed was zhongzi, a savory rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves. Although it’s delicious, it also probably looked pretty bizarre to the other students. I so envied the white kids with their little sandwiches with the crusts cut off. And one year, to avoid being made fun of, I actually told my mom that I wasn’t hungry and didn’t want lunch. 
Surprisingly, she agreed to stop packing me a lunch, but when lunchtime came I could feel my stomach growling and began to think about my zhongzi at home. Then one day, a little girl named Abigail noticed I was hungry and started sharing her Vegimite sandwich with me for lunch. Then one day my older brother caught me eating the sandwich and accused me of lying to my mom. After he told on me, my mom called me over and said, “That’s so nice of Abigail, why don’t you bring her a zhongzi tomorrow for lunch?” 


The Dragon Boat Festival, which fell on June 9 this year, is one of the biggest holidays in the Chinese diaspora. The festival commemorates the death of the poet and government minister Qu Yuan, who lived from 340 to 278 BC during the Warring State period of the Zhou Dynasty. According to conventional history, when the Zhou king allied with the Qin state, Qu was banished to exile for opposing the alliance. Out of deep sorrow, the patriotic poet drowned himself in the Milou River. 

It was said that the people of Zhou raced out on the river in boats to find Qu's body, thus the tradition of dragon boast race was born. When they couldn't find Qu's body, they wanted him to rest in peace so the villages came together and made rice dumplings wrapped inside bamboo leaves to feed the fish in the river in order to prevent the fish to eat Qu's body. which is where the tradition of eating Zhong Zi came from. Other tales tells the Qu killed himself after his love was rejected by the the king. Whatever the real story was, The tradition of racing dragon boat and eating zhongzi are still practiced till this day and makes the Drago Boat Festival the Third biggest Chinese holiday in Asia.

Zhongzi come in different varieties but are traditionally made with glutinous rice, dried shrimp, five spice, pork belly, peanuts and cured egg yolks. There’s also a dessert version which is either made with sweet glutinous rice or tapioca with bean or fruit filling. Most people don’t make their own zhongzi anymore as it’s more convenient to buy them freshly made at the wet market. 

However, my mother has always made her own zhongzi and while it’s not the most traditional kind, it’s the most delicious zhongzi in my opinion. So this week I’d like to share with you my mother’s zhongzi recipe to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.

Ingredients:
Directions:
You may also skip this step and just mix the pork, eggs and mushrooms in the rice. Although it would not be considered a zhongzi, it is just as delicious this way. But I do highly recommend wrapping it up in the bamboo leaves because the leaves give the rice a unique fragrance after it’s steamed. Zhongzi are often served with hot sauce. You can keep them in the refrigerator for two weeks or in the freezer up to three months. They heat up nicely in the microwave. 

(Makes 8 to 10 zhongzi)

For the braised pork:

¹⁄₂ lb. pork shoulder

³⁄₄ cup dark soy sauce

3 cups water

8 to 10 shiitake mushrooms

1 Tbsp. raw sugar

3 star anise

¹⁄₄ tsp. five spice

1 tsp. olive oil

4 to 5 hard-boiled eggs

For the rice:

2¹⁄₂ cups short-grain white rice

¹⁄₃ cup olive oil

1 cup shallots

5¹⁄₂ cup water

20 bamboo leaves (available at Asian grocery stores)

Start by cutting up the pork into one- to two-inch chunks and soak the mushrooms in warm water for five minutes. In a non-stick skillet on high heat sear the pork with olive oil for two minutes until it’s golden brown. Mix in the soy sauce and sugar and cook for another 30 seconds.

Now transfer the pork into a deep pot. Add in the mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs, star anise, five spice and water. Bring it to a boil and then turn it down to low heat. Let it cook for two hours. 

For the rice, cut shallots into small dices. Then on medium high heat, stir-fry them in ¹⁄₃ cup olive oil for two minutes until they are golden brown. 

Stir in the rice and let it cook for 1 minute.Then add in 5¹⁄₂ cups water, turn heat down to medium low, keep stirring until most of the water is reduced. This will take 10 to 12 minutes. Then turn the heat down to low, cover it up and let it cook for another 10 minutes. Once the rice is cooked, set it aside until the braised pork is ready.  

After two hours, the pork should be very tender. Ladle ²⁄₃ cup of the braised juice into the rice and mix to combine. 

Now for the assembling. Wash and soak the bamboo leaves for at least ten minutes. Stack two bamboo leaves on top of each other, fold the two ends together to create a cone, then stuff the rice, egg, pork and mushrooms into the leaves. Cover the rice up with the excess leaf, then tie up the zhongzi with butcher twine. Steam the zhongzi for ten minutes on high heat.

Enjoy!

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Coconuct and Mango Mochi Rice Cakes

People who know me personally know that there’s nothing I love more than making desserts. As much as I love baking pies and pastries, I often forget how fun it is to make Asian desserts. One of the most popular Asian desserts is the mochi rice cake, also known as sticky rice cakes. Although it is often thought of as a Japanese dessert, sticky rice is one of the most common desserts in East and South East Asia. Each country has its own version of sticky rice cakes made with unique fillings of local ingredients. Sticky rice is also eaten as a savory meal in Asia. As much as I love the humble Taiwanese traditional mochi cakes coated in sweet peanut powder, the famous Hong Kong coconut mango mochi cakes are my favorite. Not only are they very refreshing with the fresh fruit filling, they’re also really fun and easy to make. (Makes 16 bite-size rice cakes)

Ingredients:

For the batter:

1 cup sticky rice flour

4 Tbsp. cornstarch

³⁄₄ cup confectioner’s sugar

¹⁄₂ cup coconut milk (canned)

¹⁄₃ cup whole milk

4 tsp. melted coconut oil or melted butter

For the filling:

1 to 2 mangos (depending on size)

2 Tbsp. granulated sugar 

For the coating:

¹⁄₃ cup desiccated coconut

¹⁄₄ cup confectioner’s sugar 

Direction:

Start by sifting together the sticky rice flour, cornstarch, and confectioner’s sugar. Sticky rice flour is also called sweet rice flour or glutenous rice flour. You can find these at local specialty food stores and obviously at the Asian grocery store if there’s one near you.

Whisk in coconut milk and whole milk. Mix until there are no more lumps. Try to go for the full fat for both kinds of milk, which will give your mochi a much richer taste. I also find that the light coconut milk tends to have a bitter taste. Then mix in the melted coconut oil.

Transfer the batter into a shallow bowl so it will cook evenly. On high heat, steam the batter for 20 minutes.

Use a chopstick or a spatula to stir the cooked batter for one to two minutes. The batter will become stickier as you stir it. Let it cool for 20 minutes so it will be easier to handle.

While you’re waiting for the batter to cool down, cut the mango into bite-size cubes. Toss the cubes in the granulated sugar. You can also swap out the mango with kiwi, strawberries and pretty much any fruit you like. If the fruit is sweet enough, you can also cut the amount of granulated sugar if you like.

Divide the mochi batter into even pieces. The mochi will be very sticky, make sure you work with wet hands. 

Flatten the mochi in your palm and fill the mango cube in the center. Wrap it up tightly and toss it in the desiccated coconut and confectioner’s sugar mixture.

Chill it in the refrigerator for an hour before serving, which allows the flavors to infuse. These are best served the day when you make them, but they can keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about three days.

Strawberry filling mochi rice cake.

More Asian desserts: Coconut Moon Cake