Easy Recipe: Orange Chicken

I didn't know how to cook before Sweetie and I tied the knot and I learned how to cook by watching videos on YouTube (thanks for the tip Dominic Ochoa!). My first real dish (because it's not fried eggs/hotdog/ham etc.) was adobo and I perfected it by watching several videos (see Komikero's adobo video).

Today I have a collection of recipes I pull out whenever I have time to cook. They've become staple food, but I still lookout for new recipes to try and last Friday Google Philippines posted this recipe by "The Fat Kid Inside" Erwan Heussaff -

It's a very simple recipe so I decided to try it out last weekend. I skipped the coriander though since I couldn't find any in the supermarket (we noticed also there's a chicken supply problem!). And here's what I came up with -

Yum-yum!

Simple Kani Salad Recipe

We've been ordering kani salad from the neighborhood Japanese restaurant, so I thought I should finally learn how to make it myself. After hoarding cucumber from the Baguio public market I worked on gathering the other ingredients. I didn't expect though that I'd have to hunt for it (just like the tempura stuff). Anyway, I managed to find all the ingredients thanks to my online friends!

Ingredients

2-3 cucumber (next time I'll try the Japanese cucumber, but I got my stock from Baguio)
kani (got it from SM Hypermarket)
mango (got it in a gas station at NLEX)
Japanese mayonnaise (found it in Rustan's Supermarket)
3 leaves lettuce (optional)
Fish roe (I skipped this)

How to

(1) Peel the cucumber. Cut julienne style using a peeler. Don't use the part with seeds. Let the juice drain using a strainer before you mix with other ingredients.

(2) Cut up the mango in cubes. Eat the middle part (bone). (Cooks privilege!).

(3) Divide kani into strips.

(4) Place lettuce on the bottom of a bowl. Layer on cucumber, then add mayonnaise and arrange kani and mango on top.

(5) Take a photo. Mix. Then eat!

Kani and Vegetable Tempura

Bagets made a special request to cook tempura at home and after sampling tempura from a popular local fast food I told myself I could do much better (my palate has strangely been rejecting oily food lately). It was a bit hard though to assemble the ingredients. I consulted several online recipes and this is what worked for me with the limited supply available locally.

12-15 pieces kani (you can also use shrimp if you like)
10-15 pieces vegetable (squash + radish or whatever you want)

Tempura sauce

1/2 cup kikkoman
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon dashi powder + 1.5 cup water (or use 1 beef cube)
2 tablespoons mirin or rice wine
1/2 cup grated radish

(1) I couldn't find any dashi powder so I dissolved one beef cube in 1.5 cups of water in a saucepan. Stir until it dissolves.
(2) Add kikkoman and white sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
(3) Add grated radish. Just keep the mixture warm, don't let it boil.
(4) Remove from fire. Let it cool a bit before adding the mirin.
(5) Set aside but don't remove from saucepan. Just warm it a little before serving.

Batter

1 cup cake flour (APF is fine too)
1/2 cup cake flour (or APF) for dredging
2 cups cornstarch
2 egg yolks
1 cup cold water with ice

I know it looks a little odd, I was trying not to burn it (haha). 

Don't fry the kani too long though coz it'll start breaking out. 

(1) Mix cake flour (or APF) with cornstarch.
(2) Add 2 egg yolks (make sure they just came from the ref)
(3) Add water until the batter is light (not thick). Add ice if it gets watery/add water if it's too thick. Make sure that the batter is cold until you finish cooking.
(4) Dredge kani/veggies in flour and coat with batter (not too thick, you don't want it to be chewy).
(5) Deep fry in vegetable oil.

Serve with tempura sauce. Grated ginger and radish on the side (optional).

It took me about an hour and a half to go through the recipe (including research on techniques and washing dishes), but I think I'll finish faster next time.

Verdict:

Sweetie and Bagets loved it. We all ate too much!