Honey and Ginger Roast Chicken

This is one of my favourite dish for dinner. Easy enough for a regular family dinner and sophisticated enough for a dinner party. Have a good weekend!

Honey and Ginger Roast Chicken

Honey and Ginger Roast Chicken (Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 10 cm piece fresh ginger (50 g), sliced thinly
• 1 medium lemon (140 g)
• 1/4 firmly (55 g)packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (120 g) honey
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) water
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 fresh large green chili, chopped, optional
• 4 x 350 g chicken Marylands (or 4 x drumsticks + 4 x chicken thigh cutlets)
• 3 green onions, sliced thinly

Method

1. Cut ginger slices into thin strips. Remove rind thinly for lemon using a zester, or peel rind with a vegetable peeler, avoiding the white pith; cut rind into thin strips.
2. Stir sugar, honey and the water in medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved; bring to the boil. Add ginger; simmer, stirring, 5 minutes or until ginger is tender. Transfer to large heatproof bowl; stir in garlic, chili and rind.
3. Cut deep slashes through the thick part of the chicken flesh at 2 cm intervals; combine with honey ginger mixture. Cover; refrigerate 3 hours or overnight, turning chicken occasionally.
4. Preheat oven to 180C. Place chicken mixture, in single layer, in medium baking dish. Roast, uncovered, about 40 minutes or until chicken is browned and cooked through.
5. Top chicken with green onions and serve with steamed rice, if desired.

Grilled Sambal Fish with Banana Leaf (Ikan Bakar)

You haven't fully appreciated the beauty of Malaysian cuisine if you haven't tasted sambal. Sambal can be a condiment, an ingredient or a dish which will always contain a large amount of chilis. Sambals are popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the southern Philippines and Sri Lanka, as well as in the Netherlands and in Suriname through Indonesian influence. It is typically made from a variety of peppers, although chili peppers are the most common. Sambal is used as a condiment and as an ingredient for a variety of dishes. It is sometimes a substitute for fresh chilis. It can be extremely spicy for the uninitiated. Some ready-made sambals are available at exotic food markets or gourmet departments in supermarkets in many countries. A sambal can also be a pungent dish of its own in which a large amount of chili peppers is used. Dishes called a sambal include sambal sotong (with cuttlefish), sambal udang kering (with dried prawns) and sambal lengkong (with ikan parang/wolf herring).

This recipe is without a doubt the best grilled sambal fish I have tasted so far. This is the 3rd time I have made it during a luncheon I have hosted with some of the Sydney food bloggers. You can read more about the party here: 1) Here Comes The Food - Almost Bourdain Blogwarming, 2) Hungry.Digital.Elf - Malaysian & Dutch luncheon at Almost Bourdain, and 3) Raspberri Cupcakes - Almost Bourdain's Malaysian and Dutch Feast.

Grilled Sambal Fish with Banana Leaf (Ikan Bakar)

Grilled Sambal Fish (Ikan Bakar) with Banana Leaf Recipe

(Adapted from Rasa Malaysia)

Ingredients

• 1 x 800 g / 1.8 lb red snapper (cleaned and scales removed)
• A few sheets of banana leaf (rinsed with water thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels)

Sambal Paste:

• 6 oz. / 170 g fresh red chilies (seeded and cut into small pieces)
• 1 tablespoon toasted belacan (Malaysian shrimp paste)
• 4 oz. / 113 g shallots
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar (or to taste)
• 1/2 lime (extract juice)
• 2 lemongrass (cut into thin slices)
• 4 tablespoons oil

Method

1. Prepare the sambal by grinding chilies, shallots, belacan and lemongrass in a food processor. Make sure the sambal paste is well blended and smooth.
2. Heat up a wok and stir-fry the sambal paste until aromatic or when the oil separates from the sambal paste. Add the seasonings: salt, sugar, line juice and fish sauce and do a quick stir, dish out and set aside.
3. Grease a flat pan (I use our barbie) and then lay a few sheets of banana leaves in the pan. Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil on top of the banana leaves and spread the oil evenly. Lay the fish on top of the banana leaves and add half of the sambal paste on top of the fish.
4. Heat up the pan on your stove top over medium heat and cover it with a lid.
5. Wait for 8 minutes or so and flip the fish over to the other side. Add the other half of the sambal paste on the other side. Cook for another 8 minutes or so. By then, you can smell the sweet aroma of burnt banana leaves and grilled fish.
6. Dish out and serve immediately.

Note: Special thanks to Lorraine for sharing these beautifully taken pictures (Picture 1, 2 and 5).

Thai-Marinated Roast Chicken

I love roast chicken for dinner. It's very easy to prepare. Find a good marinate recipe and in the oven. No messy cooktop and very little effort needed.

This is one of the marinate that I love for my roast chicken. I have cooked it many times and always a popular dish on our dinner table.

Thai-Marinated Roast Chicken

Thai-Marinated Roast Chicken Recipe (Serves 4-6)

Ingredients

• 1 large (1.8 kg) chicken, butterflied (ask your butcher to do this)
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 lemongrass stems, outside leaves discarded, centres finely chopped
• 4 cm piece ginger, peeled, chopped
• 2 red chillies, deseeded, finely chopped
• 3 coriander roots (or stems), chopped
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• Juice of 1 lemon

Method

1. Using a pestle and mortar, grind garlic, lemongrass, ginger and chilli together with 1 tbs salt to make a rough paste. Add chopped coriander and 1 tbsp pepper. Continue to pound to a semi-smooth paste. Stir in honey, fish sauce and lime.
2. Place chicken on a roasting pan. Rub chicken well with paste. Marinate in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
3. Heat the oven to 180C and roast for 45-55 minutes or until it's golden brown and cooked.

Asian Style Guinness Baby Back Pork Ribs

Gosh, I love the baby back ribs from Tony Roma's! My first encounter with Tony Roma's baby back ribs was in Anaheim back in 1998. We went to the restaurant without knowing it was an 'Eat-All-You-Can-Ribs' evening. While we were busy attacking our very first slab, we were distracted by the bones piling up on the other tables around us! We chatted with the patron of the table next to us and he told us that he was on to his 7th slab!!!

Guinness braised pork ribs is a popular dish in Malaysia. The ribs are usually cut into individual bones, floured, deep-fried and braised in a thick sauce infused with Guinness stout.

The recipe I have here is not the traditional Malaysian version. The ribs are marinated overnight and grilled / oven baked with an Asian style glaze. The marinade laced with Guinness tenderizes and adds wonderful flavor to ribs.

Yes, you can taste the distinctive malty flavor of Guinness but the bitterness of the stout has already been mellowed down by the brown sugar in the marinade. The ribs are amazingly tender and moist and I hope you will give this recipe a try on your next barbecue or your next grill feast!

Asian Style Guinness Baby Back Pork Ribs Recipe (Serves 4)

Ingredient

• 8 racks Baby Back Pork Ribs

Marinade:

• 725 ml Guinness
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 125 ml salt-reduced soy sauce (I use Kikoman brand)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 60 ml sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic

Glaze:

• 250 ml fluid ounces honey
• 60 ml salt-reduced soy sauce (I used Kikoman brand)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground pepper
• 2 tsp sesame seeds

Method

1. To prepare the ribs: In a large bowl, whisk together the Guinness, onion, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and minced garlic. Place the ribs in a glass baking dish and pour the marinade over them. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. To Prepare The Glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together the honey, soy sauce, coriander, minced garlic, and pepper.
3. To Grill: Remove the ribs from the marinade and place them on the grill. Grill until cooked through, turning occasionally, about 10-15 minutes. Brush with the glaze and cook 1 minute per side. Remove from grill and place on serving plate. Pour over the remaining glaze.
4. To Oven Bake: Preheat oven to 160C. Line two baking dishes with baking paper or foil; place oiled wire rack in each dish. Drain pork from marinade. Place pork, in single layer, on racks in dishes. Bake, uncovered, 45 minutes turning halfway and brushing with glaze until well browned and cooked through. Remove from oven and place on serving plate. Pour over the remaining glaze.