Gà Nướng Chao - Fermented Bean Curd BBQ Chicken

As I mentioned in the previous post (for the vegetarian mung bean noodle dish), one my sister's favourite dishes is Gà Nướng Chao, or fermented bean curd BBQ chicken. My mother uses the red bean curd, which leaves a nice red hue on the chicken. This recipe is quite simple as the bean curd is the main ingredient. The chicken is then grilled on charcoal.



Gà Nướng Chao - Fermented Bean Curd BBQ Chicken - Makes 12 drumsticks
Red Bean curd can be purchased at Asian grocery stores in jars. My mom likes making this recipe with drumsticks but any part of the chicken will work.

* 3 cubes of red fermented bean curd, and 1-2 spoonfuls of the liquid from the jar
* 1 Tbsp sugar
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 12 skinless drumsticks, sliced to the bone but not cut through

In a large bowl, add the red bean curd cubes, the liquid, sugar and garlic.
Mash the cubes with a fork and mix, creating a paste.
Add the chicken drumsticks into the bowl and slather the paste into every nook of the chicken drumsticks (that is why the drumsticks are sliced so there is more surface area for the marinade).
Marinate overnight (ideally) in the refrigerator or at least for 5-6 hours so the flavours seep into the chicken.
Take out the drumsticks 30 minutes before grilling so the drumsticks come up to room temperature.
Grill the drumsticks (not on too high heat, so on the periphery of your grill), about 5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
Serve with bún.
Tada!



(1) Red bean curd jar (2) Red bean curd marinade ingredients (3) Red bean curd paste (4) marinating the chicken.

Not only does the red bean curd leave the chicken drumsticks with a red colour, it also imparts a distinctly bean curd flavour: salty and fermented. As my sister really enjoys this, it usually is a BBQ staple of ours when grilling Vietnamese food!


It's really finger licking good and I love the char from charcoal!

I am submitting this to the July 2011 edition of Delicious Vietnam, a blogging event featuring Vietnamese food and created by A Food Lover's Journey and Ravenous Couple. It is hosted this month by Lan from Angry Asian creation. (For my other Delicious Vietnam recipes, click here).

For other Vietnamese BBQ recipes:
* BBQ Corn with Scallion Oil
* Bò Lá Lốt (Ground Beef stuffed Wild Betel Leaves).
* Bún Thịt Nướng (Grilled Meat with Rice Vermicelli)
* Gà Nướng Xả (Grilled Lemongrass Chicken)
* Nem Nướng (Pork Meatballs)
* Sườn Nướng Xả (Grilled Lemongrass Ribs)

Chicken Scallopini

In The Oprah Magazine Cookbook, I also spotted an intriguing recipe for chicken scallopini. I liked the idea of adding fresh basil and (whole pine) nuts in the crust. I made the recipe for my mom when she was over for Thanksgiving. I replaced the pine nuts with pecans. Unfortunately, I had problems with the chunks of pecans sticking to the crust so my mom suggested I process the mixture. I followed my mom's suggestion with great success!


I had the chicken with broccoli stir-fried with garlic.

Chicken Scallopini - Serves 2
Adapted from The Oprah Magazine Cookbook - I don't know which chef created this recipe since my laptop is dead and I had the information in there...
I split a chicken breast and got two portions out of it, but you can definitely serve one chicken breast per serving. You can also replace the chicken with turkey or veal. I would make the breadcrumb mixture coarser to have large pieces of pecan showing. Quantities are very approximate.

* 1 chicken breast, sliced into two lengthwise
* salt and pepper, to taste
* garlic powder
* 2-3 tbsp flour
* 1 egg, beaten
* 3-4 tbsp breadcrumbs - I used panko
* 4-5 fresh basil leaves
* 1 tbsp Parmesan
* 1 tsp lemon zest
* 4-5 pecans
* ground pepper
* oil

Pound the chicken breast with a mallet until very thin (1/2").
Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder on each side.
Place the flour in one dish.
Add the beaten egg in a second dish.
In a food processor, add the breadcrumbs, basil, parmesan, lemon zest, pecan and ground pepper.
Process slightly to obtain a coarse mixture.
Place the breadcrumb mixture in a third dish.
Heat oil in a pan.
Dredge the chicken breast in the flour first, then the egg and finally the breadcrumb mixture.
Cook in the oil, 2-3 minutes per side, until the chicken is cooked through (the cooking time depends on the thickness of your chicken breast).
Tada!


The breadcrumb mixture.


I like the bits of green from the fresh basil.

Turkey Meatballs

I was in the meat aisle, wondering what meat to eat when I saw ground turkey. I regularly have turkey sausages, but never buy ground turkey. I have bought ground chicken, but not often either. Interestingly, ground turkey is healthier than ground chicken because chicken skin is usually ground up with the meat (this, I learned on Oprah!). So I bought the lean turkey to make meatballs. It was really good and I think I might even prefer it than ground beef meatballs (not sure about ground pork though!)



Turkey Meatballs (about 12 small meatballs)

I used the ingredients from Marcus Samuelsson's Swedish Meatballs recipe, that I used for spaghetti & meatballs.

* oil

* ¼ onion, finely diced

* 2-3 tbsp breadcrumbs (I used panko because that's all I had)
* 1 tbsp honey

* salt and pepper, to taste

* 200 g (about ½ lb) ground turkey

Cook onion in oil, until softened and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs, cooked onions, honey, salt and pepper.

Stir with fork until smooth.

Add the ground turkey and mix.

Test the seasoning by frying one meatball and tasting it.

Adjust the seasoning as required.

Shape into small meatballs (about 12) and fry the remaining meatballs in a bit of oil - alternately, they can be baked.
Serve in tomato sauce with pasta.
Tada!


Panko breadcrumbs, cooked onion and honey go into the meatballs.

Satisfying meatballs.

For other pasta recipes:
Asparagus alla Carbonara
Baked Chicken Penne in a Rosé Sauce
Chicken and Mushroom Orzo
Eggplant Parmesan
Pasta with Pesto, Grilled Chicken and Vegetables
Penne with Sausage and Swiss Chard
Pumpkin Ravioli
Roasted Vegetable Lasagna Roll
Shrimp & Pesto Alfredo
Spaghetti & Meatballs
Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells

Chicken and Mushroom Orzo

After playing squash with friend MC, we hit the supermarket to buy food for dinner. I told her I was out of inspiration for meal ideas and she would have to figure out what we would be eating. She responded that she only needed to walk through a supermarket and get inspired. Perfect! When MC saw mushrooms, she immediately thought it should be our main ingredient. That's when I realized that you can divide people into two groups, those who LOVE mushrooms and those who HATE mushrooms. I've never met anyone who's neutral about mushrooms. MC remembered a Rachael Ray orzo recipe she had previously made and we bought all of the ingredients we needed.

Before dinner, I served some kielbasa and Monterey Jack with Garlic and Basil cheese that I bought in Wisconsin. I discovered kielbasa, a Polish sausage, in Hamilton when my sister introduced me to it. My sister used to work with a Polish colleague who brought her to a Polish deli. I should really write a post about it one day. I thought MC should experience kielbasa since I always buy some to bring back to Montréal (although I'm sure could find some there!). As for the cheese, though the basil flavour was great, I thought the cheese was rather mild. Nothing too exciting...!

Wisconsin cheese and kielbasa.

Chicken and Mushroom Orzo - Serves 2
Adapted from Rachael Ray's Chicken with Mushrooms and Balsamic Cream Sauce. I think sun-dried tomatoes make any pasta taste better and its addition to this dish proved I am right! One trick that MC thought very useful is that if you buy chicken broth and you do not use it all, freeze it into ice cubes and you use it for next time!

* ¼ lb orzo pasta, cooked and drained, saving some of the cooking water
* 1 boneless chicken breasts, grilled and sliced
* butter
* 1 large shallots, thinly sliced

* a good amount of mushrooms of your choice (we used portobello and oyster mushrooms. remember mushrooms shrink - we cooked a lot!)

* 1 garlic cloves, chopped
* fresh thyme leaves, chopped
* a glug of Marsala wine

* ¾ cup 1 L (4 cups) homemade chicken broth, or store-bought
* a glug balsamic vinegar
* 1-2 tbsp heavy cream or half-and-half

Add butter to a pan on medium/high heat.

Once the butter melts, add the shallot.

Once the shallot has softened, add the mushrooms and brown for about 4-5 minutes.

When the mushrooms are browned, season with salt and pepper then add the garlic and thyme.

Add the Marsala wine and let it reduce.

Add the stock, balsamic vinegar and the cream.

Turn the heat up to high and simmer for about 2 minutes or until thickened.

Add the pasta cooking water if needed.

Add the chicken back and sun-dried tomatoes, and let it warm up.

To serve, pile orzo on dinner plates and top with the mushroom and chicken mixture.

Tada!

Grilling chicken and cooking mushrooms.

I really liked the addition of sun-dried tomatoes!

Tajine au Poulet et aux Olives (Chicken and Olive Tajine)

MC is my oldest friend. Not old old (she's actually younger than me!) but I've known her since grade 2. She came for a visit from Montréal for a few days. I don't see her as often as I should but we have gone on vacation together a couple of times, the last one being in Morroco in 2007. Inspired by our trip, I thought of making a Morrocan tajine. I saw a quick chicken tajine recipe on Ricardo (Ricardo Larrivée's French cooking show on Radio-Canada) a while ago and saved it for a special occasion. This was the perfect occasion and also perfect on a cold and rainy day.

MC and I had a great trip in Morroco. It was just as I imagined, and a bit more. As women, we got more attention than we wanted. Otherwise, the food was great, simple and delicious. Everything is so colourful over there. I loved going into a souk, even though it's quite intense. We spent a few days in the city of Marrakesh then spent most of our days in a 4x4 driving through the Atlas mountain range. We spent our final days at the beach in Agadir.

Pictures from MC's and my 2007 trip to Morroco.

Tajine au Poulet et aux Olives (Chicken and Olive Tajine) - Serves 3-4
Adapted from Isabelle Brossard (Ricardo).

I really liked this recipe because it was very simple to make. The longest step is the cooking time to make sure you get maximum flavour. I sliced the lemon and browned them beause I thought that's what I saw on TV. However, the recipe does not call for it and I'm not sure if it's necessary. If you can find preserved lemon, I'm sure that's even better! I added potatoes per the recipe, but for a non-carb option, adding zucchini near the end would be a great addition (there always seemed to be zucchini in the dishes in Morroco!)

* olive oil
* butter

* 4 chicken thighs, skinless

* salt, to taste

* freshly ground pepper, to taste

* 1 small onion, diced small

* 1 garlic clove, minced

* ½ lemon, quartered

* ½ can of green olives, chopped

* 2 potatoes, sliced into thick matchsticks or cubed

* ½ L of chicken broth

* ½ L of water

* ½ tsp cumin

* ½ tsp nutmeg

* ¼ tsp cardamom

* ½ tsp dried chili flakes

* ½ bunch of fresh coriander, sliced thinly

* ½ bunch of fresh parsley, sliced thinly

In a large pot, on medium/high heat, brown your chicken thighs in some olive oil and butter.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Remove the chicken thighs and set aside.

In the remaining fat, add the onion, garlic and spices and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the chicken broth and the chicken thighs back.

Also add the olives, potatoes, lemon and water into the pot.

Bring to a boil.

Lower the heat and cook for 1.5 hours, with the lid on.

Taste and adjust seasoning (salt and pepper).

Garnish with coriander and parsley

Serve with couscous.

Tada!

Browned lemon slices and spice mixture.

Browned chicken thighs and the finished product.

I served it with some couscous and grilled asparagus.

Cháo Gà (Chicken Porridge)

With the leftover cooked chicken liver from miến gà (Vietnamese chicken bean thread noodle soup), my mom made cháo gà (chicken porridge). While the fish porridge recipe I have previously posted is a Chinese dish, this chicken porridge is Vietnamese. Just like chicken soup, it is a great comfort food and pretty easy. We like eating it with gỏi gà (Vietnamese chicken salad).



Cháo Gà (Chicken Porridge) - Serves 4-6

* oil
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 1 cup rice (preferably jasmine rice), rinsed and drained
* 3 L Vietnamese flavoured chicken broth
* 100 g cooked chicken livers with onion
* 1 cup cooked chicken, shredded
* salt and pepper, to taste
* green onion
* coriander

Sauté rice and garlic in oil in a big soup pot until the rice has dried up.
Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
Lower the heat and cook for 20-30 minutes, until the rice is cooked through.
Add the cooked liver and chicken until heated through.
Taste the soup and adjust to taste.
Garnish with green onion and coriander.
Tada!

Bún Gà Xả (Lemongrass Chicken Soup)

As I was trying to think of yet another soup recipe, I remembered that my mom used to make bún gà xả on the weekends. I gave her a call and asked for the recipe. This is not a traditional Vietnamese recipe but the use of lemongrass makes it Asian tasting. It's fairly easy and makes for a pretty light meal. My sister and I like dipping the chicken in a lime dipping sauce.

Bún Gà Xả (Lemongrass Chicken Soup)
My mom usually makes this soup with chicken drumsticks. Chicken parts with bones are the best to make a good broth. Alternately, you can use Vietnamese chicken broth. I added napa cabbage to have vegetables. My mom says she likes eating this with bean sprouts.

* 2 chicken legs - or drumsticks

* salt, to taste

* pepper, to taste

* oil

* water

* lemongrass, sliced into 3-4" sections and mashed to flavour the broth

* nappa cabbage, sliced thinly

* fish sauce, to taste

* bún (rice vermicelli), cooked and drained

* green onion, for garnish

* coriander, for garnish

Season the chicken to taste.

Brown the chicken parts in some oil in a pot - the chicken does not have to be fully cooked.

Place the chicken back into the pot.

Cover the chicken with water.

Add the lemongrass.

Bring the water to a boil and bring down to simmer.

Simmer for about 45 minutes.

Add the nappa cabbage - it should only take 2-3 minutes to cook.

Taste the broth and adjust with fish sauce or salt accordingly.

Serve with bún and top with green onion and coriander.

Two chicken legs cut in two and browned.

Lemongrass added to the broth.

Bún (rice vermicelli). You can buy it like this in square portions (on the left).

For the dipping sauce:

Mix lime juice with salt and pepper.
Dip the chicken in.

Tada!

Adding nappa cabbage and the lime dipping sauce.

Another good soup for the long winter months!

Vịt Tiềm Thuốc Bắc (Duck with Chinese Medicinal Stuffing) & Cơm Gà (Hainanese Chicken Rice)

I had asked my mom to make cơm gà (Hainanese chicken rice) during my stay. It is one of my favourites; I just love the flavourful rice and the ginger dipping sauce. My mom had something else in mind. After talking about vịt tiềm thuốc bắc (duck with Chinese medicinal stuffing) for Christmas dinner, my mom decided to make it on New Year's day instead. So I came home to see TWO birds being cooked, a duck and a chicken, for five people. Yes, that is crazy!

I came home rather late on New Year's and so missed all the food preparations. So there are no recipes per se, rather descriptions. If someone is interested, I am sure I could get the details from my mom...


Whole stuffed duck.

Vịt tiềm thuốc bắc includes so many ingredients and I am having a hard time translating many of them. This dish consists of a duck with a stuffing, including rice vermicelli, wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, sticky rice, mung beans, ground pork, chestnuts and a mixture of Chinese medicinal ingredients. The duck is then cooked in a broth that also contains Chinese medicinal ingredients and some dried clementine skins. Chinese medicinal ingredients can be purchased as a dry mixture and includes lotus seeds, Chinese dates, barley, goji berry, etc. Sorry, I should taken a look at the bag.




There are three main components when eating vịt tiềm thuốc bắc: the duck itself, the stuffing and finally the soup in which the duck was cooked in. If you have never had Chinese medicinal ingredients, there is a strong and unique odour to it. However, we all enjoyed the broth and it is supposed to be good for your health!

Cơm gà (Hainanese chicken rice) has much less ingredients. A whole chicken is cooked in water to make a broth. Since the chicken is the star ingredient, it is important to get a good chicken. My mom's husband's cousin lives on a farm and raises a few chicken for personal use. She was lucky to get one, so this is definitely an organic, free range chicken! The chicken is then chopped up and served with rice.


Whole chicken cooked to make a broth.

My favourite part is the rice. Rice is stir fried in oil and garlic to flavour the rice. Then my mom cooked in a rice cooker with the chicken broth. This rice smells and tastes SO good. Nothing like plain rice. I find it even has a different texture.


Chicken Rice.

The rice is then eaten with chicken, dipped in ginger nước mắm (fish sauce). I always knew this dish as cơm gà, literally translated to rice chicken. However, it was only when I started reading food blogs that I learned that this dish is popular in Singapore. I knew it came from Hainan because my mom told me that when she left Vietnam, she and my father were stranded on the island of Hainan when their boat broke down. There, she did notice their chickens were different than others she had seen. The Gastronomer also tried this dish in Vietnam and Wandering Chopsticks' family also makes this dish.

I wish I could have some now!

Fried Quails

I wasn't at my mom's when she made the quails for Christmas. However, she was accommodating and took a few "before" pictures. It sounds relatively easy to make although I can't say I know from experience!

We don't eat quails often because they are a bit of a pain to eat. You have the little bones to deal with. I do like them a lot. I think their small size helps absorbs the flavours better. I have been (embarrassingly) watching a Top Chef marathon on Food TV Canada and supposedly overcooked quails are not ideal. I have no idea if my mom was perfectly cooked but they tasted delicious!

Fried Quails

* ½ tbsp salt
* 2 tbsp sugar
* 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
* ¼ tsp five-spice powder
* 1 tbsp lemongrass (we use the frozen one)
* fresh ground black pepper
* 1 tbsp soy sauce
* 6 quails (about 800 g)

* oil

Cut the quails in half with scissors along the back.
Mix everything for the seasoning except the quails.

Marinate overnight (ideally).
Fry in about 1 cm of oil until golden on each side. (Alternately, you could also broil on high if you want to avoid using oil - coat the quails with a bit of oil to avoid them drying up).

Tada!

Whole quails: they kind of look cute, non?

Quails in the marinade.

Served on a bed of watercress tossed with a light vinaigrette.