Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Sesame Grilled Chicken with Veggie Rice - the Benefits of Cooking at Home


Some friends who did not understand my new found passion for experimenting in my kitchen (Yes, experiments. More failures than successes. :p) and writing about them in a blog always wonder why the heck I carry my camera at all times and take pictures of everything I eat like a scoop hungry paparazzi (the difference is, things I am after can't be considered a scoop)...and most of all, they were wondering why the heck I bother cooking at home??!!! Isn't that such a waste of my super valuable time??!! I live in HONG KONG, for freak's sake! Heaven of convenience as well as cheap and tasty food! The home of HK$10/bowl wonton noodles, served faster than I could finish saying "one wonton noodles, please" as well as 100001 other choices of yummy treats, local and international.

I asked myself the very question, and I concluded that
Cooking at home....
- is cost saving. I generally spend HK$40-50 to prepare 4 meals (HK$12.5/meal = US$1.6/meal) compared to HK$30-40/meal dining out. I don't count my man hour as I enjoy doing it hehe
- at least allows you to say "I cook" (add barely, badly or well as desired/required) with pride
- impresses your in-laws (or in-laws to be). Who doesn't like a homely girl who cooks? They don't really need to know that this girl/boy might party like an animal outside LOL...and the result of the "cooking" might be inedible most of the time LOL
- keeps your sous chef happy. It shows you care. Plus, outside, he/she can proudly say "my girl/man does this wayyyy better!". Yep, home cooking keep them home ^_*
- is the perfect activity for you and your sous chef. You guys can brain storm, throw ideas, annoy/seduce each other in the kitchen (handle with care, please. We don't wanna see any kitchen appliances related "accidents"), gaze into each others eyes admiringly at dinner table, sing sweet praises about each other's skills (or at least efforts), fight about who's the top chef in the house, use the results of "cooking" in other places such as bedroom, etc etc etc (I had to stop here before it goes beyond R-rated :p). Doesn't it sound like FUN? ^_*

Don't get me started on the benefits of food blogging...hehehe...

Anyways, here's my...
Sesame Grilled Chicken

Recipe
(serves 4)
- 3 chicken leg fillets, cut each fillet into 2, trim excess fat, keep skin on
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 3 cloves of shallot, finely chopped
- honey
- sesame paste
- white sesame seeds, toasted
- salt, pepper
- butter, olive oil

Boil chicken with some salt and pepper until just cooked, keep the stock. Preheat oven to 250C. Lay chicken pieces on an oven tray, add butter, olive oil, garlic and shallot pieces, salt and pepper, sesame paste, honey, mix and rub until all the chicken pieces are well covered, sprinkle sesame seeds, grill until chicken skin is golden brown and crisp. I cut each fillet into bite sized chunks (optional). To avoid cooking a separate veggie dish, serve it with...

Veggie Rice

Recipe
(serves 4)
- 1 head of Chinese lettuce, finely chopped
- 1.5 cups of rice
- a sprig of spring onions, finely chopped
- a bit of olive oil
- salt, pepper
- chicken stock (optional)
- fried garlic/shallot to garnish

Pour rice, add chicken stock according to the rice cooker (if you don't have a rice cooker, the liquid should be up to 1 cm above the rice - I like my rice a bit mushy, you can add less liquid for harder texture), add water if you don't have enough chicken stock (alternatively, you can use just water, without chicken stock). Add chopped spring onion, veggie, some olive oil, salt and pepper, mix well. Turn on your rice cooker, sprinkle fried garlic or shallots to garnish.

This meal is sooo going to score me major brownie points from my sous chef...pssst, I want a pressure cooker!

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

That looks really, really good. Me and my sous chef haven't worked up the courage to try any asian dishes at home (take out is so easy and cheap) but we love it and are really interested in trying. Who knows, maybe this will be our first dish!

A.G said...

claypot... duh pgn beli :( sini susyeh nyarinya
kl di Indo lg trend rice bowl, sama kyk gini ga ? aku taunya baca di NCC :D

tigerfish said...

Cooking at home is fun and cost-savings in general if time is on our side!

The grilled chicken and veggie (mushy) rice is such a good match :D

Little Corner of Mine said...

Love your dinner, look like a good combo. I cook on weekdays so on weekend I wanted a break! :P

Sharon said...

This dish looks simple yet delicious. It's funny being a food blogger paparazzi. Hubby's definitely gotten more patient when I tell him not to touch the food-- I need a picture! :)

Nisa-mom said...

waaah.. Rita aku jadi ngileeer..nasi hejo nya ooy..

SIG said...

Home-cooked food is the best. At least you know what nutrients you put into a dish and it's important when you have kids in the house. Outside food is unhealthy, too sweet, too oily, too salty. And you know you use clean oil. ;P

Love the chicken with the sesame seeds.

Unknown said...

wow.. rita.. these look so yummy that I am going to make it soon as one of my bento lunches.. can't wait to try it out, esply the chicken.. *salivating*

glamah16 said...

One day Im going to make it to Hong Kong. I have lurked around your blog and love your posts. Especialy when you travel and show all your great food finds.

Elsye said...

nasi nasian n iki bikin ngilerrr....pengen coba juga ahhh...sengkkiiyuu rit

daphne said...

I love a healthy dish like that.

And i get what u mean abt cooking at home seems to satisfy the other half better. =) Your sous chef is lucky and hope u get your pressure cooker soon! I want one of that too!

molen said...

u're pic nice....and the sesame grilled chicken with veggie rice...ughhhh laperrrrr

stickyfingers said...

Dining in HK is great - there's a lot of choice - but after a while when I go back for a visit, I'm just hanging out for a home cooked meal so go over to someone in the family's place to eat their food or hijack their kitchen. Food made at home has heart and soul and quite frankly afterwards you can just collapse in front of the TV and relax. Loved the yummy post Rita ))

Anonymous said...

looks delish and healthy! it's so true that having a food blog definitely stops your from eating out all the time! your city seems just as expensive as mine.

Anonymous said...

I love to cook too even though sometimes it's cheaper to eat out. Both dishes look healthy and yummy :)~

Jessy and her dog Winnie said...

Dangit i dont have a sous chef lol. Chicken looks great!

KC said...

The chicken looks great! Excellent combo with the veggie rice.

Foni said...

another idea i got from u. gue selalu bingung harus habiskan gimana cara dengan sesame paste.
nanti gue bakalan coba rit.
hasilnya jadi giamna sih manis2 gitukah krn ada madu?

test it comm said...

That chicken looks tasty. Since I started food blogging I haven't been eating out too often. There are just too many things that I want to try making at home.

Anonymous said...

That looks great and I love your reasons for cooking at home!

Anonymous said...

I cook for big bossman and as a reward i get to see him walking around the kitchen in Speedo swimsuit.. [sigh]

*_*

Cakelaw said...

Who'd wanna eat out with tasty dishes like this at your fingertips - and the satisfaction of knowing you made it yourself.