The Food Site

Beware: This post contains pictures of fried chicken that are definitely NOT healthy nor oil-free nor low-fat so be prepared for some artery-clogging but worth-every-bite sorta recipe!

I love fried chicken. There’s no two ways about it. If you follow this blog, I am sure you’ve probably read my ravings of Uncle Bob’s Fried Chicken. Heck, I even posted my own version of crunchy fried chicken quite a while back.

And now, I’ve found another fried chicken recipe and promptly gave it a try - a la Foong style. Yep, instead of following the full recipe to a T, I did some modifications. I can’t help it, it’s a genetic fault within me somewhere. And anyway, it’s not easy to get most of the ingredients from the original recipe so what am I gonna do? I improvise, of course!

Foong-style Spicy Fried Chicken

Heheh…I know, it started out as Spicy Southern Fried Chicken but hey, this is cooking we are talking about. It is all about creativity (and what we have in our kitchen to concoct these masterpieces) so I believe I am allowed some creative license to change it about.

Alright, alright. I’m getting to the recipe already. Do note that I, once again, failed to record and measure the exact amount of ingredients so the amounts listed here are mostly ‘guesstimated’.Do tweak it to suit your portion of chicken.

Here is my:

Spicy Fried Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 chicken, chopped

2 cups vegetable shortening (or more)

For marinade:

1 1/2 cups milk

1 lemon

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp paprika chili flakes

To coat the chicken:

2 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 cup oat bran (yes, I know…I am obsessed with using oat bran to cook chicken!)

A dash of pepper

A dash of salt

Instructions

1. Clean and dry the chicken. Remove the skin if you are health conscious (although it doesn’t really matter either way since this is deep fried and not exactly a health food).

2.Rub chilli flakes all over the chicken pieces

3. Place the chicken in a plastic bag.

3. Pour in the marinade and shake the chicken around to make sure it is well mixed

Note: For the marinade, it was supposed to be buttermilk but sadly, we don’t have that easily available here. So, I improvised. I read somewhere that to make buttermilk, we just need to add lemon and milk together so that’s what I did! I pour in the milk and then squeeze in the lemon juice.

4. Let it marinade for several hours or it is even better to leave it in the fridge overnight, which is what I did.

5. The next day, get your marinated chicken out of the fridge

6. In a separate plate, mix up the dry ingredients that will be used to coat the chicken

7. Coat the chicken pieces with the dry flour mix

8. Heat up your pan and pour in the vegetable shortening. Wait for it to melt and thoroughly heat up.

9. Gently slide your coated chicken pieces into the hot vegetable shortening

10.Fry the chicken till it is golden brown

Note: if you use a deep-fryer, it will be easier and you don’t have to turn the chicken all the time to make sure it is completely cooked. Since I don’t use a deep fryer and I don’t like putting a lot of oil / vegetable shortening to really deep fry the chicken,  I have to turn the chicken every now and then. I also kept the heat at medium to make sure it doesn’t burn the chicken.

11. The chicken is cooked when it is really golden brown, so remove from the oil and drain on a wire rack

A closer look at the fabulously crunchy fragrant fried chicken!

However, to test whether it is completely cooked, you could poke the flesh with a skewer and if it comes away easily showing white flesh, then it is cooked. Just like the picture below…

Spicy fried chicken ready to serve!

Now, if you prefer it to be more spicy, you could follow the original spicy southern fried chicken recipe or add a few tablespoons of paprika chili flakes.

I find that if you marinade the chicken overnight, it leaves the flesh extremely tender and juicy on the inside. The homemade buttermilk managed to soften it and at the same time give it a crunchiness that I simply love!

Hah, KFC, eat your heart out! I think my chicken is way better than the miserable tiny bite-size fried chicken that fastfood has been serving in recent times.

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When I cook, I usually cook small portions that are just enough for three of us and sometimes, I’d have a bit more just in case either of the two men at home wants to eat more. It is not easy trying to figure out what to cook even when I only cook twice a week, during the weekends. Usually, I’d go for something simple and easy so as to be able to get lunch ready within an hour or so.

For a simple and yet nutritious lunch, these are what I cooked recently:

Stir Fried Minced Chicken

Simple stir-fried Toh Miau

These go very well with rice for a simple and easy lunch. Here are the recipes:

Stir-fried Minced Chicken

Ingredients

1 pc of chicken breast meat (about the size of your palm), minced or about 200gm

2 celery stalks, chopped into small pieces

1 small carrot, cubed

5 small fresh shiitake mushrooms

3 tbsp soya sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp dark soya sauce

half clove garlic, peeled and chopped

Instructions

1. Season the chicken with the sauces and a dash of pepper for about 30 minutes or so.

2. In a wok, heat up some cooking oil and sautee the garlic till fragrant.

3. Add the minced chicken and sautee for till it is almost cooked through.

4. Add the carrots, celery and mushrooms.

5. Stir fry over medium heat till the chicken is cooked through and remove from heat. Add about 2 tbsp of water if it’s too dry. Let it boil first before removing from heat.

6. Best to serve warm.

Simple stir-fried Vegetables (Toh Miau)

Simple stir-fried Toh Miau

Ingredients

100gm vegetables (toh miau), or any green leafy vegetables of your choice

half clove garlic, peeled and chopped

3 - 4 tbsp oyster sauce

Instructions

1. Heat up cooking oil in a wok and sautee the garlic till fragrant.

2. Add the vegetables. Stir fry for a few seconds over medium heat.

3. Add the sauce and about 3 tbsp of water. Stir fry for several more minutes.

4. Once the vegetables are cooked through, remove from heat. Be careful not to overcook the vegetables or else all its nutritions will be lost.

The portions above are great for two to three people to be served with rice. Preparation time is quite minimal and the food could be ready in under an hour. These dishes are quite healthy too since it is stir fried and cooked with minimal oil.

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