While there’s nothing wrong with roast chicken when done properly, it really only has one taste profile most of the time. But we love cooking with chicken because it is a versatile meat that is cheap and readily available. It does not have a strong taste and can take on flavour really well. Even the chicken carcass can be used to make stock and soups which means very little of the animal is wasted.
They can be stir-fried, cooked in stews, soups, double boiled, deep-fried, steamed and even barbequed. In fact here are five quick and easy chicken recipes from Sharefood the versatility of this meat.
Five quick and easy chicken recipes from Sharefood
1. Ginger Masala Yoghurt Chicken
If you think that you need to slave all day over a pot of curry or masala dish, you are in for a surprise. Unlike beef, chicken meat is extremely tender and doesn’t require hours of cooking to break down the meat. And because the recipe calls for chicken legs you don’t have to worry about drying the meat out due to the amount of fat found in chicken thighs.
2. Claypot Fragrant Yam Rice with Chicken
Hear! Hear! For one pot meals! And what better place than to make it all in the rice cooker! A great tip for most quick and easy chicken recipes would be to cut the meat into bite-sized pieces. This not only shortens cooking time but also ensure that the meat is cooked through at the same time as the rice and the yam. Bite-size portions also mean that the person enjoying this dish can also enjoy some tender chicken with every bite.
3. Braised Chicken Feet with Beancurd Skin
Moving on to a less popular part of the chicken that is equally delicious when cooked well are chicken feet! They require a two-step process to cook but the results are succulent, fall off the bone cartilage and tendons. First, you will need to deep fry them and then dunk them in an ice water bath for 3 hours so that the skin puffs up. This allows the flavours of the sauce to permeate the chicken feat in the second part of the cooking which is braising. It might seem like a lot of work, but the bulk of it is really prepping the meat to absorb all the flavours which can be done the day before. Once that part is done, the braising part is only 15 minutes max until the sauce thickens.
4. Tangy Buffalo Chicken Drumettes
Suffice to say anything fried would be loved by many, especially if its drumettes or wings. So even if you have kids that don’t enjoy spicy food, you can always skip the hot sauce in this one and you will still see the chicken fly off the plates. Great tips when it comes to deep frying is to make sure your chicken is at room temp and that you rest your batter for at least 30 minutes. The result is chicken that is cooked through with a deep-fried coating that is light and has great texture.
5. Salt Baked Chicken
To think that all these while I thought it was made in the oven! How wrong was I? Flavoured with ginger, salt, cooking wine, and then stuffed with Chinese medicinal herbs, it is then double wrapped in parchment paper and cooked in a bed of salt over medium to low heat turning midways. The salt helps maintain the heat and the parchment paper protects the chicken from absorbing the salt. The end result is a super flavoursome tender whole chicken that would beat roast chicken any day.
This article is done in partnership with Sharefood Singapore with video tutorials that encourage everyday people like you and me to try home cooking. Don’t you just love their quick and easy chicken recipes? For more videos like these head on over to their Facebook page.
This article first appeared on NONILO.com. It is edited and published with permission for theAsianaprent.