Japanese Pan-fried Chicken
Why is it that the picture in cookbooks always always look so much more attractive then the real thing that you cook in your kitchen? Hubby says it is all in the touching up of the pictures. Well, sometimes, I wonder.
The picture of the Japanese Pan-fried Chicken look so good and crispy that I just had to try and make it. Yep, this is another recipe in "The Quick and Easy Japanese Cookbook" by Katsuyo Kobayashi. This time I will be using sake that we had just bought. The ingredients list the items I used and if you would like to know the original then you should just check out the cookbook.
Hmmm ....
Ingredients:
2 boneless chicken thighs
2 tbsp sake + 1 1/4 tsp sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
broccoli
carrot
1. For the sauce, combine sake, sugar and soy sauce. Set aside.
2. Heat up the pan. Place the chicken skin-side down and fry over medium-high heat til crisp and golden brown. Turn the other side and do the same.
3. Add broccoli and carrots.
4. When meat is just cooked, add sauce. Turn chicken and vegetables repeatedly to develop the flavour.
5. When the sauce thickens, remove chicken and cut into bite-size pieces.
* The broccoli and carrots were my addition. Katsuyo Kobayashi's recipe had fresh shiitake mushrooms and shishito green peppers (or small bell peppers). She also listed optional seasonings which are Japanese sansho pepper and shichimi togarashi red pepper or chili flakes.
Limey Baked chicken
I had run out of ideas for what to do for chicken and decided to browse Ptitchef for any chicken recipe, namely those involving broiling. I found this one which looked rather inviting. There wasn't much of a measurement so you have to wing it. The recipe gave the ingredients as fresh lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Then bake it at 350 degrees for about 40 - 50 minutes. I didn't have any lemons around so I went with lime juice. I felt it was too limey so I added in some sugar instead and it worked fine for me. I baked it for about 45 mins and finished it up with broiling. Hubby absolutely loved it and because there was a lot of gravy, he had a field day!
Yummy Pineapple Rolls, Juicy Chicken Wings and all that jazz…
Yummy... wifey made some pineapple rolls today. 
Each one exquisitely and meticulously crafted. Not one piece is the same. In fact, I have been so taken in with each piece I started giving them funky names depending on my mood - energy rolls, happy rolls, lucky rolls, sexy rolls, blah blah blah. Wifey thinks I am being ridiculous. Bah! Well, methinks better "ridiculous" than just referring to them by their OBVIOUS name - pineapple roll. *sigh* Aren't you suppose to enjoy your food?!?!?!
See that juicy image on the box? I can swear the wings, once we had 'em roasted in the oven, looked almost exactly like that!
And no, I have yet to forget about them tasty, delicious, *JUICY* BBQ Chicken Wings 2 days back! Two 700g boxes on promotional offer from Save-On sometime back. Olymel, oh Olymel... where hast thou been all these years?!?!?! Wifey put them in the conventional oven and had 'em roasted, and boy did they come out juicy and tasty. Yummm... (Sorry P90X, I couldn't resist!). We have tried chicken wings from Western Family and Schneiders over the years, and let me tell ya... NOT EVEN CLOSE!!! Looks like we have a pretty serious contender out there, so look out Western Family and Schneiders. You have been warned! 
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Wifey writes:
Where's the picture of the rolls you took??? Did you eat it up as well??!!
