Steamed Herbal Chicken

I've been cooking domestically for more than a decade and it's come to a point where I ask myself on a weekly basis that golden question: What shall I cook for the following week? 

Cooking gets a little mundane when you're short on both ingredients and equipments. It gets even more tiresome when you're on a budget, especially in a country like Singapore where things are really so costly. 

So I'm always looking for new recipes but having to ditch them because, well, my kitchen ain't stocked with what's required. Nevertheless, I keep looking and sometimes, I do succeed in finding just the right one. 

So tonight, I tried my hands on steamed herbal chicken. Those who know me well know that I use quite a fair bit of Chinese herbs in a bid to build up the boys' body constitution. But they, along with the hubs, don't really like the strong medicinal taste of Chinese herbs. So I twitched the recipe a little, going stronger on the marinade and reducing the amount of herbs required. 

I marinated the chicken for 3 hours (overnight would be more ideal) with soy sauce, tsao tsing wine, sesame oil, and oyster sauce. Before covering it up and shoving it into the fridge, I coated the chicken with grated ginger. Don't ask me for measurements. Cooking should be experimental and individualized. What works for me may be too bland for another. So, explore! 

You'll need shiitake mushrooms (sliced), dang gui, wolfberries, garlic (sliced), dang shen and red dates. The original recipe calls for pao shen as well. I omitted this because it's costly and I know the herbs will most likely go to waste as I can't finish them by myself (too heaty) and the boys and man sure ain't gonna be much help. 

Before we steam the bird, pour some of the marinade on the foil and arrange part of the herbs as shown before placing the bird on top and covering it with the remaining ingredients. 

I also placed some of the ingredients in the cavity of the chicken and "stitched" it up with a toothpick. 

Then the chicken gets wrapped up and goes into the steamer. 45 minutes later, you get delicious and aromatic herbal chicken! I recommend drinking the sauce because that's where the essences of the chicken and all that herbs are collected. People buy essence of chicken (and it's not cheap) and here we have it fresh, unprocessed! It's a healthy "by-the-way" addition to the chicken (in the process of steaming, the chicken will release moisture and form sauce without us adding any water). The cooking time will vary according to the size of the chicken. A bigger chicken will naturally take longer to cook. Be very careful not to overcook it. Otherwise, it'll because tough and dry. 

So, my first attempt went well and I think I'll get a bigger chicken and prepare this again as a one pot dinner in future. 

Burst That Bubble!

The bro and family came back for a visit and initially my nephew was rather vulnerable, not being able to stand up for himself. As he's starting school soon, my bro was a little worried that he might get bullied. So he started teaching him to retaliate and at dinner, the nephew did just that! Good on him! 

I think it's really appropriate to equip our kids with the necessary skills for survival instead of bubble-wrapping them. We cannot keep them in a controlled environment forever and we certainly cannot restrict the environment. To keep a child away from a "hostile" environment is, to me, unrealistic and doing him more harm than good. Many parents herd their children away when things get a little rowdy, in a bid to protect them. But wouldn't it be better to let them remain in that environment (within reasonable limits, of course) and learn to fight back or defend themselves? If we always keep them in a safe environment where there's no mischief, how are they to build up their "immunity"? Many parents then argue that they don't want their little angels (yeah right! Kids will be kids!) to pick up the BAD stuff. But isn't it our duty, as parents, to teach them how to differentiate between right and wrong? We instill in them the values and they make their own choices, no? Even God gave us the freedom to choose, didn't He? 

To let a child remain in a peaceful and "correct" environment all the time is lying to that child. The world today is not as such, and we have to prepare them. Otherwise, who is to say they won't end up in a mental institution somewhere because they cannot manage the society.

So I say, burst that bubble and let them face the real challenge!  

Dallen Turns 5

In the blink of an eye, Dallen is now 5 years old. As an elder child, I put on his little shoulders certain responsibilities in hope of keeping him grounded. But sometimes, I forget that he's still only a young child and that I shouldn't expect the same results as if the efforts were from an adult. 

I thank God that Dallen has turned out to be a sensible child, albeit with his own temperaments and moments. I can only pray that he continues to do what is right and learns to travel through life with Christ always in his sight.