Baked Sweet And Sour Chicken

I'm not a very big fan of chicken. I only like them when they are "dry," like when fried or roasted. I also don't consciously eat the thigh and leg part. I'm sure I got "tricked" into eating them when the dish served used fillet bits, but I steer clear of these parts when I am able to.

It's a weird story actually. When we were kids, my brother and I used to fight over chicken parts. He loved the leg part so much, and I think he usually ended up getting it. That's probably why I associate chicken legs with a "negative" experience. Thanks, bro.

So anyway, we are doing sweet and sour chicken today. While it's not exactly a "dry" chicken dish, it's more preferable to dishes like "tinola." To give it a little twist, I decided to bake it for before serving.

Here are the things that you need:

Fried Chicken:
3-4 boneless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper 
1 1/2 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup cooking oil

Sweet and Sour Sauce:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup white vinegar
3 tablespoon soy sauce
salt and pepper



Here's what you have to do:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  If you don't know how to do this, just turn on your oven and set the fire in between medium and high. 
2. Prepare your fried chicken. Cut the chicken  breasts into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper.  
3. Have your cornstarch and beaten eggs in two separate bowls.  Dip each chicken piece into the cornstarch then coat in egg mixture.  
4. Fry until golden brown.
5. Place the fried chicken in a greased baking dish.  I
6. Next, you need to prepare your sauce. In a pot, whisk together sugar, ketchup, vinegar, and soy sauce. Cook for a few minutes until you get a good consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Pour sauce over chicken and bake for one hour.

The end product kinda looks like fried Korean chicken, the ones sold in Bon Chon. It obviously tastes different (we used sweet and sour sauce, after all). Enjoy!

Dampa Style Prawns

Prawns are probably my favorite of all seafoods, and it helps that they are so easy to cook! The trick? Don't leave them on the pan for too long. Overcooking them would ruin the flavor as well as the texture. Just give them enough time to turn a nice, bright orange and you should be all set. You should also take into consideration that your food continues to "cook" for a few more minutes after getting it away from fire.

My friends and I love going to dampa. Any dampa, but preferably the one in Ortigas (the one in the south is way too far for us). As you may have guessed, the butter garlic prawns dish is one of our staples. I just had to replicate it so I can enjoy the dish at home anytime I want.

Here are the ingredients:

1/2 kg Prawns (or shrimps)

lots of garlic

500 ml Royal Tru Orange (orange soda)

3/4 cup butter (you can use margarine for a more "authentic" taste)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

salt and pepper

baking soda

And here's what you need to do:

1. Marinate your prawns in orange soda (Royal Tru Orange) for about 30 minutes to an hour.

2. In a pan, melt your butter. Saute the garlic. Use a generous amount, depending on your personal taste.

3. Add your prawns as well as the soda you used in marinating.

4. Season with oyster sauce.

5. Add enough baking soda to improve the sauce consistency.

6. Season with salt and pepper.

You can adjust the amount of soda and butter depending on how much sauce you want. Some people also prefer to have the prawns shelled, so you can do this prior to cooking.

Baked Stuffed Zucchini (Or Eggplant)

Once in a while I like to experiment with new ingredients, or at least items that I have never used before. The zucchini has always been an enigma to me, and I just figured it was a more expensive version of the eggplant. It sort of is, but I discovered that there are things that I can do with the zucchini that I couldn't do with a regular eggplant.

Veggies are so much better with meat, so I decided to cook a zucchini dish that had a meaty filling and cheesy toppings. It made a lot of sense to use the vegetable as a base and the meat as topping, and to bake it to perfection. 

Feel free to use eggplants if you have trouble finding zucchinis.

Here's what you need:

Base:
3 zucchinis (or eggplants), sliced in half

Filling:

1 tbsp cooking oil
1/4 kg ground beef (like Sirloin)
1 onion (small, diced)
garlic
black pepper
salt
1/2 cup fresh tomatoes (diced, seeds removed)
1/2 cup dill pickles (diced) (optional)

Sauce:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup cheese 

Topping:
green onions (snipped with kitchen shears, for serving)
1/4 cup cheese




Here's what you need to do:

1. Using a spoon or knife, take out the seeds and middle part of the sliced zucchinis. The idea is to make a base that looks like a boat.
2. On a pan, saute your onions and garlic. Add the ground beef and cook for a few minutes. Add in the tomatoes and pickles (only if you like pickles).
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. On a sauce pan, prepare your roux by combining melted butter and flour. Add in milk, mustard and cheese.
5. Pour sauce on the meat mixture and cook for about 10 minutes.
6. Using a spoon or spatula, line up your zucchinis with the meat filling. Be sure to use a generous amount. Top with cheese and green onions.
7. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until done.

I got really good reviews from friends when I served this dish. It's also a great way to introduce veggies into the diet of your kids. I used to hate eggplants and zucchinis, but I would have loved them had I tasted a dish like this when I was younger.

Simplified Lechon Paksiw

I love lechon, especially the ones that come from Cebu. I can eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Even for snacks. That's precisely why I am ecstatic every time a family friend sends over an entire roasted pig via courier. We throw a house party when this happens because our fridge is not big enough for too much leftovers.

Speaking of leftover lechon, the best way to store it would be freezing it. Just thaw a small portion whenever you want to eat it, place on a baking tray, and heat in an oven until it's ready to serve. Don't try to microwave it, you will just end up ruining the meat (especially the skin part). If you don't have an oven, you can use a toaster or even a frying pan (no need to put cooking oil).

Another way of enjoying leftover lechon is to turn it into another Filipino staple: Lechon Paksiw! Typically, lechon sauce is used in its preparation, but I somehow prefer the old fashioned way of cooking it: with vinegar, soy sauce and sugar.



Here's what you need:

1/2 Kg Leftover Lechon
1 cup White Vinegar
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
Garlic
Onions
Cooking Oil
Laurel Leaves
Black Pepper



And here's what you need to do:

1. Saute garlic and onions.
2. Add leftover lechon and mix for a minute.
3. Pour in vinegar and soy sauce. Mix. Add sugar, black pepper and laurel leaves.
4. Simmer on slow fire for about 1 hour. Add water on occasion so the dish won't dry up.
5. Season with salt or sugar depending on your personal preference.

I'm not a huge fan of liver so this method of cooking lechon paksiw is preferable to me. Plus, lechon sauce is not exactly something that I ordinarily store in the pantry. I would rather not drive to the supermarket just to get a bottle of Mang Tomas if I can do away with it.

Super yummy! You should definitely try this recipe the next time you find yourself with extra lechon!