oyster sauce

Stir Fry Chicken with Scallops, Celery and Cashews

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Stir Fry Chicken with Scallops, Celery and Cashews

It’s a mouthful I must admit, but there is just no two ways of naming this amazing dish. The Stir Fry Chicken with Japanese Scallops, Australian Celery and American Cashews is just as multinational as the number of ingredients in it.

Of course the chicken is 100% local. Or at least I think it is. Or maybe it is Malaysian. *shrugged*

One thing is for certain. I cooked it in a very Singaporean kitchen. 100% home cooked. Okay so what you may say. And you are right. No big deal.

The only thing to shout about is really how well these ingredients all come together to make a delicious dish accompaniment to a perfect meal. The roasted cashews, seared to an uneven edgy char. The marinated chicken bits and pieces seasoned with the troika of marinates – white pepper, soya sauce and oyster sauce – three basic differences that brings such confluence of taste to simple poultry.

I love the roasted cashews and how the celery just added that unique flavour to the dish. Truly I was amazed that I realised to cook this dish only now. This is the stuff legends are made of.

Recipe

Ingredients

2 Chicken Drum (deboned)
Handful of Baked Cashews
3 stalks of Celery (chopped)
6 pieces of Scallops (halved)
White Pepper
Oyster Sauce
Light Soya Sauce
Olive Oil

Method

1. Marinate the chicken pieces in white pepper (about 1 tsp), 1 tbsp soya sauce and 1 tbsp oyster sauce. Leave it to marinate for about 5 minutes.

2. In a wok/pan heat about 3 tbsp oil. Then stir fry the cashews until they start to brown. Once the cashews are browning, add the marinated chicken pieces to stir fry. Ensuring that they change colour to a light brown.

3. Add the scallops and turn the heat up to high. Keep stirring to ensure evenness of cooking. Then throw in the chopped celery and cover the lid to steam the vegetables and softened them.

4. Steaming cooks the vegetables and the meats and allows the flavours to come together cohesively. Remove the lid and stir fry until you can smell the dish. Do a taste test and you can serve.

Bon Appetit!

Stir Fry Luncheon Meat and Potatoes

Stir Fry Luncheon Meat and Potatoes

I thought I would cook something different tonight, maybe something that I always see at Jo Kwon’s and my go-to dish if there are not many varieties to choose from at the Chap Cai Png Stall (aka 10 dish rice). This is because every Cai Png in Hokkien is also known as Economical Rice with Dishes and every stall that I have visited in the last twenty to thirty years, will also have this dish as one of the staples.

This plain and simple dish is none other than the Stir Fry Luncheon Meat and Potatoes. Traditionally cooked in a mix of thick sticky tomato ketchup sauce and oyster sauce, this dish is a sure win amongst Cai Png worshippers. I think I might have successfully created my own version and carried on the essence of that humble yet flavourful dish.

Nations would go to battle to secure the rights to the origins of this dish, yet it is so freely shared here in our homeland for the benefit of everyone. Whoever created this dish must be genius. Nuff’ said, here’s the recipe.

* please note that I have included amazon affiliate links to the products I use, so check them out if you wish to support me, and if I can get these items from NTUC Supermarket, I would just indicate.

Recipe

Ingredients

A can of Luncheon Meat (my family loves the Ma Ling Pork Luncheon Meat [NTUC] brand as we have been eating it for years)
9 Baby Potatoes or 4 Large Potatoes (you can use any potato, it doesn’t matter brand or no brand)
Olive Oil
Tomato Ketchup (we only use Maggi Tomato Ketchup Sauce [NTUC] for this, as it has the best taste)
Oyster Sauce (I love Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce [NTUC] for the taste)

Method

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Do the same for the luncheon meat and cut into chunks about the same size.

2. Heat about 3 tbsp of oil in wok and fry the potatoes over high heat, constantly stirring so that it doesn’t burn. Then when potato pieces start to brown, you can add the luncheon meat to fry. Continue frying until you can smell the luncheon meat.

3. Add a tbsp of Oyster sauce and about 3 tbsp of Tomato Ketchup and continue to stir fry. Immediately add some water to prevent the sauce from drying up. Continue to fry for about 5-7 minutes over medium heat and once it is ready, serve.

If you like another simple recipe using potatoes, you could check this one out – New Potatoes

Bon Appetit!

Stir fry the potato chunks until some slides are brown.