A scientist in the kitchen

Want to know the recipe of my Chicken Paella I have posted before. Well, here’s the digital recipe card:

Isn’t it neat organizing the recipe this way. Tabs allow you to see the image, recipe and the author. Printout is a breeze too. And this makes it easy to share with friends! Want your own Digital recipe cards? You can also have your recipes converted into digital cards by signing up at Key Ingredient.

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I got the idea for this recipe from The Amateur Gourmet (he used duck) and Chez Pim (she made her own five spice powder) and used our very own native chicken raised in the backyard. We have several native chickens at home that supply our eggs (how about freshly laid eggs still warm from the hen for breakfast?). Occasionally we slaughter them whenever we have a particular dish to cook.

Chicken, five spice and more…

1 whole chicken, cut up into serving pieces
1 lemongrass stalk, chopped
2 tbsp five spice powder
1 tsp crushed pepper
3 tbsp soy sauce

Mix all ingredients in a pan. Add 2 cups of water, cover pan and then bring to a boil. Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour until chicken is cooked. Add more water if necessary to cook the chicken. Once chicken is cooked, remove chicken from the pan and thicken the sauce. Bring back the chicken to pan, coat with sauce and serve. Best with steamed rice.

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I’ve been using lemongrass for a long time. In fact, this herb was my first entry to Weekend Herb Blogging. We usually use it for cooking by tying it into a knot and added to soups. Exposure to people from other Southeast Asian countries however have expanded my repertoire in using lemongrass for cooking. For them, the stalks are used rather than the whole plant. I’ve have it as appetizer, stalks cut crosswise and thinly and served with peanuts and chili. For roasting chicken, I use several stalks to fill the chicken cavity to give flavor. Recently, I joined Taste and Create and chose to cook lemongrass pork barbecue. The recipe called for making a paste out of lemongrass and chilis. It was really delicious! It brought out the flavor lemongrass really well. Encouraged by this success, I decided to roast chicken using this method. I made a paste out of lemongrass, ginger and chilis and marinated the chicken before roasting. Delicious!

–>Is cooking an art or a science?<–

I had a long conversation about this success with my Indonesian friend who is also into cooking. Let’s call her Ms. Indonesia (:)). I think making a paste really made the difference in blending and bringing out the flavors of the herbs. Tagalog cooking does not use lemongrass nor that much chilis. In Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand it is quite common to make a paste out of chilis. No wonder they have such distintive mortar and pestle. While ours are more of the Western type mortar and pestle that is similar to the mortar and pestle we use in the lab for grinding rice leaves. Ms. Indonesia says that in every meal, they have chili pastes to dip their food into. Probably our equivalent of the soy sauce and vinegar dipping sauces. It did lead us to think that the manner of cooking dishes will also characterize the kitchen. Like them making pastes, and they have this distinct mortar and pestle. In anycase, whenever I make lemongrass meat barbecues, I’ll be sure to make a paste.

Now, this post seems to have so many “paste” words, don’t you think? Anyway, this is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging this week, which yours truly is hosting. I look forward to your posts.

Lemongrass Roast chicken

Paste:
2 stalks of lemongrass
1 inch knob of ginger
1 tsp of crushed black pepper
1 pc bird’s eye chili (add more if you want)
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp of vegetable oil
1 tbsp of fish sauce

1 whole chicken
1 cup salt

2 tbsp soy sauce
juice of two kalamansi or lemon

1. Brine the chicken first. I usually submerge it in enough water then add the salt. Leave for an hour then drain the chicken well.
2. To make the paste, pound the lemongrass, ginger, black pepper and chili in a mortar and pestle (or a food processor). Add the rest of the ingredients and leave for a few minutes. Rub onto the chicken, inside the cavity and underneath the skin. Marinate for at least 30 minutes. Just before roasting, rub chicken skin with soy sauce then with kalamansi or lemon juice.
3. Roast the chicken at 400oF. I used a turbo broiler to do this and the chicken was cooked after an hour.

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Don’t forget, I am also hosting an event to celebrate farmers’ markets everywhere. I’ve postpone the deadline to May 31 so there is plenty of time for your spring/summer harvest.

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Fried chicken skin is one of the common street foods you can find in the Philippines. In almost every street corner you will find a vendor with his cart containing a deep-fryer, frying chicken skin, wrapping them in brown bag with an assortment of dips. You have a choice of spicy vinegar dip or just a plain one. Deep fried chicken skin, crisp and golden, dipped in spicy vinegar. It’s quite delicious once you get past thoughts of cholesterol Perfect as appetizers and with San Miguel Beer.

My own version of this street food is to add a mixture of herbs to the chicken skin. The herbs make the skin rather tasty and removes the oiliness. The skin I fried to chicharon crispness, much like the chicken skin streefood around the corner.

In a bowl, mix salt, herbs and spices (I had basil, rosemary, sage, oregano powder and crushed chili). Mix in chicken skin. Slightly dredge the skin in flour and deep fry until grown. Drain in paper towels and serve with vinegar.

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Ever wondered how food markets look like around the world? Check out To market, to market…, a blogging event featuring the marketplace where we source our food. Share yours, too.

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