How to make Spicy chicken (Korean style)

Firstly, hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! :D I love cooking so today I decide to share another 1 of my simple recipes!


Bun always loved Korean food, and especially chilli food. So I decided to make a simple homemade version of Korean spicy chicken, served with rice and a bottle of beer for Bun to enjoy.


Ingredients:
600g chicken thigh
Milk (an amount that covers the chicken thigh)
Potato starch (enough for the chicken thigh)

For marination:
Soy sauce..........1 tablespoon
White/cooking wine..........1 tablespoon
Grated garlic..........1 teaspoon

For the sauce:
Chopped garlic..........1 teaspoon
Chopped onion..........1 tablespoon
Tomato sauce..........2 tablespoon
Korean spicy sauce (BekSul)..........2 tablespoon (or more if you prefer more chilli)
Soy sauce..........1 teaspoon
Sugar..........1 tablespoon
Sesame oil..........1 teaspoon
Water..........60ml

(The Korean spicy sauce and potato starch can be found in Asian grocery stores.)

(Chopped onion and garlic and the sauce in separate bowls)

Serving:
1-2 people


Level:
Easy

1. Wash the chicken thigh and soak it with milk for about 20 minutes, this helps to get rid of any smell from frozen chicken and makes the meat tenderer.

2. Wash the chicken again, drain the water and chop into desirable sizes. Then marinate them for at least 30 minutes.

3. Roll each of the marinated chicken onto the potato starch evenly, and then leave them aside for about 3-5 minutes.

4. Start deep frying the chicken in the oil pan (set on 180 degrees) until golden, then leave aside to drain the excessive oil.

 

5. Get a large pan and stir fry the chopped onions and garlic until aromatic. Then put in the sauce and chicken and stir them to ensure the sauce is evenly distributed over the chicken.

TA-DA! It's ready to be served with rice!

You can probably try to add in pieces of pineapples or sprinkle some white sesame over the top, as these will make the chicken tastier!


I am still a beginner (total noob actually ^^") and seeking for many ways to improve on my dishes, so feel free to drop me any comments on suggestions :D Have fun cooking and eating!!!

PappaRich Australia (Chatswood)

PappaRich Group was first established at Malaysia in 2005, and not long ago the group opened its first outlet at Chatswood in Sydney. Bun and I headed there with a few dishes in our minds, and we mainly wanted to see how different it was to Mamak.





When we got into the restaurant, the waitress explained to us on how to order. So pretty much you just write the codes corresponding to the dishes you wanted on this piece of paper, and also letting them know whether to have the dessert at same time or after meal. There's always a button on the table to call the staffs when you are ready to order or need any assistances.

Rebena Melon

First thing of the menu (as always) was the drink, and this particular drink has immediately caught my attention. I was totally drawn by the colour of the drink, and the floating fruits that came in very round shapes. Although it didn't really say what was included in this drink from the menu, but I could taste watermelon and perhaps Longan? There were few jelly-like things at the bottom of the drink, and surprisingly they tasted like Jasmine tea. The overall drink was very refreshing with loads of different flavours and textures, and I liked it very much as it also helped to cool down the burning lips after the spicy foods.

Coffee + Milo, Pappa special Nasi Goreng with fried chicken

So these were what Bun ordered, as he always adores the crispy skin chicken. The rice actually tasted really flavoursome, and they were quite moist unlike some of the really dry fried rice that we've tasted before. There was also an egg and a pappadum, the egg was well-cooked and the pappadum was extra thin and crispy like those prawn crackers. I have to mention that the Sambai (sauce) is way spicier than what we imagined, but gosh that felt so good afterwards with all the sweats!




Roti Canai with Curry chicken

How can I walk out of a Malaysian restaurant without a piece of Roti? This one looked way tempting that any others I've seen, maybe because it comes with the additional Curry chicken (both are my favourites)! The Roti had a crunchy edge and a slightly crispy surface, it was quite different with Mamak's one whereas the Roti there was completely soft. The chicken was as juicy as expected, but I prefer it to be dipped in the Sambai as I found the curry sauce itself was a bit light. Mmm...what type of Roti I preferred? I guess I still liked the ones from Mamak a little more as I prefer them soft and easily stretched apart.

Banana fritters with Ice cream

Everything went so well up until the dessert stage, and I still didn't understand what really happened. But the story was, we've ordered this dish and it literally took about 1 hour to arrive at our table. Also, in between all this time, we have checked TWICE on this dish with the staffs! At first we really thought that it was fried food, so obviously it would've take longer to make. But unfortunately this idea was eliminated after another half hour went by and everyone else around us got their desserts already. So when it finally arrived at our table, we didn't even feel like eating it anymore. We found the banana was very bland, and the skin was already soggy and it was funny how we liked the Ice cream better than the Banana. Sadly, this killed the mood and it didn't finish the meal as the way we wanted. I guess if we ever visit them again, we'll just have to order a simpler dessert, like...pudding or something.


Despite of the lateness of the dessert, we could still say that all the other dishes were delicious. I would still recommend this to all the fans of Malaysian cuisine, and we also found PappaRich actually had a lot more varieties to choose from.


Address:
1/63A, Archer Street, Chatswood NSW

Phone number:
02 9411 3207

Opening time:
Sun to Thu 11am - 9pm
Fri and Sat 11am - 10pm


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Holy Basil - Canley Heights

We have always loved Thai food, and we wanted to go inside Holy Basil since AGES AGO. Finally on this particular evening, we could get there early to avoid the queue. It was right at opening time and we were totally exhausted, hungry, but ofcourse, excited! We wanted to come here because of the Fried Ice cream (100% of the people who ate them have given positive feedbacks) and we were also curious about the main dishes too.



The interior looked very traditional, with all the golden statues and Thai decorations, and then you get the benches instead of chairs for seating. One side was completely open to fresh air, and we picked our seats there to enjoy the bit of evening breeze.

Coconut juice  $4.50

We both picked Coconut juice, as it was just something simple and refreshing to drink. Although I found the one from Holy Basil had a richer and smoother coconut flavour which was very pleasant, and it also included more coconut pieces than the ones we have tried at other restaurants.

Mixed Appetizers - Fish Cake, spring roll, chicken wing, and curry puff (4 pieces)  $9.90

Who can get away a Thai meal without some Appetizers? I know I can't!! The little pieces were just too irresistible! I loved how flavoursome the chicken wing was, how crispy the curry puff and spring roll were, and how well the fish cake combined with the sweet chilli sauce.




Crab Meat Fried Rice - Stir fried rice with crab meat, onion, tomato, garlic, Chinese Broccoli, shallots, lime, and shrimp paste  $14.90

This was one of the very few times where we have picked fried rice in a Thai restaurant, and we absolutely loved it! You could spot several chunks of actual crab meats, and the overall mixture of ingredients was just so fulfilling. I loved how the salt and other flavours balanced perfectly and the inclusion of cucumbers and tomato to add a bit more refreshing tastes.




Green Curry - Available with meat, vegetables or seafood (we picked chicken) $12.90

When we picked this dish, the waiter asked us what level of chilli we preferred. We weren't sure how hot they were like so we picked medium, and it turned out not as spicy as we thought...Phewww. It was a great main dish to have with rice, and the base was really creamy with a tiny bit of sweetness. We selected Chicken as it had a relatively lighter taste, hence we felt that they would balance with the strong curry flavour really well.

 

Holy Basil Fried Ice cream  $13.90

After trying so hard to save that last bit of room in the stomach, the legendary dessert has finally arrived! I thought the appearance was more like a thick toast or something, you couldn't really tell what was really inside by the look of it. But after that very first bite, OH MY GOD. The pastry was so crispy, along with that sweet wave of ice cream melting into your mouth, oh I could now flew to heaven. Also I wanted to mention the caramel sauce and the crunchy coconut pieces on the side, as they have all added that extra bonus to this dessert. I gave it 2 thumbs and 2 toes up, it was lovely :P



Sticky coconut rice pudding + Mango  $13.90

This was the other dessert that Bun picked, after my epic fail to persuade him in getting a fried ice cream too >.< But it turned out he totally loved it! I thought the sticky rice had a really unique flavour, it was better than the white sticky rice that we have tried elsewhere. The Mango was fresh and the temperature didn't have too much contrast, we found it as a good aspect as too much difference has caused me toothaches before.


In the end we completely fell in love with Holy Basil and no doubt it was one of the best Thai restaurants we have tried so far. Now we can understand why there is always a long line waiting at the door around lunch and dinner times, it certainly deserves the popularity. They have a chain in Shark Hotel, and we'd love to eat there sometimes too. Next time, I am definitely going to try their Pad Thai!



Address:
233A Canley Vale Rd, Canley Heights NSW

Phone number:
02 9727 7585

Opening time:
Lunch:
12-3pm
Dinner:
Sun - Wed  5-10pm
Thu - Sat  5-11pm


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Tan Viet Noodle House

Famous for its Crispy Chicken, it seems Tan Viet Noodle House in Cabramatta never ceased to have long waiting lines outside. When we got there just a little earlier than lunch time, the line was relatively shorter. It was a very hot day, but the people waiting there had such enthusiastic faces!



The interior was simple with blue walls, and the space was a bit bigger than I imagined. This place was full of people when we got in, although it wasn't too crammed due to its relatively bigger space (2 levels).

3 colours sweet $4.00

I ordered this drink just as I have always done in all other Vietnamese restaurants, simply because I can't get over the layers of different textures. It was icy and absolutely refreshing on such a hot day.



Crispy chicken served with Tomato rice $12.00

Here it comes! Both me and Bun ordered the legendary crispy chicken with tomato rice! We don't think we have ever tasted any chicken skin as this crispy before, every crunch made that delightful sound that's almost like the sound of swinging wind chime after a soft breeze. The meat was moist, extremely tender, and the portion was fair. We found the tomato rice was quite nice too, as it soaked evenly into the light tomato flavour and served at the perfect temperature.

We were both very full at 3/4 way of the dish, but the temptation to keep eating was too strong. So...it ended up with Bun having a very satisfied face just like in that picture. You can eat the crispy chicken with noodles too, it seemed just as delicious...too bad we were bloated, maybe next time.

Honestly, this place should really open after 7pm as well, I'm sure alot of the local people would love a quick supper there!


Address:
100 John St, Cabramatta NSW

Phone number:
02 9727 6853

Opening time:
Daily 9am - 7pm


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