Category: Asian Recipes

Posted in Asian Recipes, Japanese Recipes

Japanese Style Chicken Katsu

Posted on by Myra Ortiz

So instead of buying your toddler’s favorite chicken nuggets from a fast food or your local supermarket, why not make your own version – Japanese style! It’s actually fun to make, an activity that kids can join in to help plus the ingredients and steps are quite simple too. I surely had fun making AND eating it! LOL. This recipe below can also be followed if you’d like to make Pork Tonkatsu as the steps are the same . Serve it hot and crispy with a bowl of rice, some healthy steamed vegetables on the side like broccoli or baby corn and drizzle with some Tonkatsu sauce or Japanese mayo. Home cooked easy meals level up! 🙂

can serve up to 4 persons

prep time 15 mins

cooking time 20 mins

Simple Ingredients:

  • 4 pieces Chicken Breast fillet (cut each fillet diagonally or in half)
  • half cup all purpose flour
  • 2 large eggs (beaten)
  • 1 cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • cooking oil (I used palm oil to deep fry)

Steps:

  1. Pat dry chicken with a kitchen paper towel. Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides and let it sit for about 10 minutes or so.
  2. Get 3 separate bowls for the flour, beaten eggs and panko. First, coat entire chicken breast in flour. Next, dip chicken in beaten egg making sure all parts are covered (I usually use tongs to do this so it won’t stick to my hands). Lastly, press into the panko crumbs until well coated.
  3. Heat oil in a skillet about half inch. When you see small bubbles are starting to appear, this means your oil is hot enough for deep frying.
  4. Place 3 pieces of chicken at a time to ensure quick cooking and less oil absorption. Give it about 3-4 minutes on each side until golden crispy brown.

*Homemade Tonkatsu sauce: mix 1 tbsp ketchup, 3 tbsp regular soy sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp brown sugar

season with salt & pepper on both sides

flour > egg > panko

now we’re ready to fry!

because the chicken fillet is cut diagonally it should cook faster, so each side only needs a few minutes
crispy golden brown!

Also a great idea for baon (packed food) to school for your kids or work for you and your husband 🙂

Posted in Asian Recipes, Pinoy Recipes

Crunchy Lumpiang Shanghai (Spring Rolls)

Posted on by Myra Ortiz

This is one of my 4-year old son’s favorite food! He loves Jollibee Lumpiang Shanghai so much that we literally buy it everyday after school for his lunch. I just had to make a healthier version since he loves it too much he can actually eat it everyday! 😉

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Yield 35-40 pieces

What you need for the filling:

  • half kilo lean ground pork ( I used Australian 90% ground pork)
  • 150 grams shrimp (optional but recommended)
  • 2 carrots (finely diced)
  • 2 medium white onions (finely minced)
  • 1 stalk celery (finely diced)
  • half cup minced parsley
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp all purpose seasoning/garlic powder (optional for more flavor)
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 1/2 tbsp all purpose flour

Other Ingredients:

  • Lumpia wrapper (I used Bambi Spring Roll Wrapper 35 pcs)
  • approx 3 cups of cooking oil (best to deep fry to get the right crispiness!)

How to make lumpia:

  1. Put all the filling ingredients in a large bowl and mix very well
  2. Get enough amount of lumpia mix about 1 spoon scoop and wrap ( I used egg white as glue for wrapper ends when rolling – this works really well)
  3. Heat oil. carefully place the spring rolls before it gets too hot. This way the meat inside gets thoroughly cooked without burning the wrappers
  4. Serve with sweet and sour sauce or mayo or ketchup! whichever dip you like 🙂

You can set aside the rest of the uncooked lumpia to keep in the fridge and cook the next day or 2 for baon or appetizer. Here’s what I did to the rest of the lumpia:

Posted in Asian Recipes

Honey Chicken with sesame seeds

Posted on by Myra Ortiz

This tasty recipe I made is sort of a fusion of Japanese, Chinese and Korean flavors. Safe to say this is an Asian style glazed chicken dish. It may require a bit more ingredients to amp up the flavor but really, it’s quite easy to make, easy to follow through and most of what you need is easily available in your local supermarkets. But what I can absolutely guarantee is — this recipe is DELICIOUS!!! Go and try it for yourself! And let me know what you think 🙂

prep time 20 mins

cook time 30 mins

Serves 5-6 people

what you’ll need for the chicken:
  • 4 chicken breast fillet (cut into bit sizes)
  • salt and pepper (to taste)
  • garlic salt (to taste)
  • 2 tbsp paprika
  • 3 eggs (lightly beaten)
  • 4-5 tbsp cornflour or cornstarch
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • lots of oil for deep frying (good to use healthy oil like olive oil or canola oil)
  • chopped scallions (for garnish)
  • sesame seeds (for garnish)

In a bowl, season your chicken with salt and pepper then set aside. Next, you’ll need 3 separate bowls: 1 for the slightly beaten eggs, another for the cornflour and finally another bowl for the all-purpose flour (in this bowl add in the garlic salt, paprika, a little pepper and mix). Just set all aside.

what you’ll need for the sauce:
  • 3 cloves garlic (finely minced)
  • 1 tbsp Chinese rice vinegar or white wine vinegar (if you do not have access to both, regular vinegar can work too!)
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 5 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 1/2 tbsp honey (best if you’re using REAL honey not the flavored one for a more healthier meal)
  • 3 tbsp tomato ketchup (not banana ketchup for all you Filipinos out there)
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1-2 tbsp chili sauce (however spicy you want it)

Add ALL of these ingredients in a bowl and MIX! set aside as you will use this later after frying all the chicken.

time to cook!
  • Prepare your all chicken for frying: first dredge in cornflour > next dip in egg wash making sure all parts are covered > last dredge in seasoned all purpose flour
  • Heat a good amount of oil in a large pan on high heat and when you see it starts to smoke a little then you know your oil is ready for frying
  • Lower your heat a little and carefully add in your chicken. Fry until crispy golden brown. Turn 2-3 times during cooking. Good to fry in batches to ensure the chicken is fully cooked.
  • Place chicken in a kitchen paper towel to absorb all those oil. Set aside.
  • SAUCE time! get a new clean pan. Add your prepared sauce, let it simmer and reduce for about 3 minutes. Once it bubbles and consistency becomes thick, add in all your crispy chicken and coat them all with your flavorful sauce
  • Finally sprinkle with chopped scallions and sesame seeds. You may eat as is or better, top it on a big steamy bowl of white rice. ENJOY!
Posted in Asian Recipes

Quick and Easy Tenderloin slices with broccoli

Posted on by Myra Ortiz

This super yummy all-time favorite recipe takes less than 20 minutes to make!

What you will need:

  • half kilo Beef or Pork Tenderloin (cut in slices)
  • 4 cups broccoli florets
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch (mix with 4 tbsp of water)
  • cooking oil (whichever oil you prefer – I use olive oil)
  • 1 medium size clove garlic (minced)
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 3 tbsp oyster sauce
  • half cup water
  • half tbsp grated ginger
  • 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
  • sesame seeds (for sprinkle)

how to cook it:

  1. Season tenderloin slices with a dash of salt and pepper (set aside and let it absorb the flavor)
  2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli florets and blanch for about 2 mins to retain crispiness. Remove from pot, run through/plunge it with cold water and drain. (set aside)
  3. In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp of cornstarch and 4 tbsp of water (set aside)
  4. In a non stick pan, heat about 3 tbsp of oil and cook tenderloin for about 5 mins (set aside – we’ll cook it more later, don’t worry)
  5. In the same pan, add a bit more oil then fry garlic and get it to light brown until fragrant. Add in grated ginger then throw in the butter to stop the garlic from cooking further (burnt garlic is bitter and we don’t want that!)
  6. put back your semi-cooked tenderloin and mix mix mix!
  7. Time to add the flavors in! add in oyster sauce, soy sauce, water, brown sugar and the cornstarch you prepared earlier (make sure to mix the bowl again as cornstarch may have settled). Give it a good MIX! you’ll notice the sauce getting thicker.
  8. Throw in your sliced white onions, broccoli and sprinkle with some sesame seeds
  9. Roughly mix and when you see that the onions have separated, it’s ready to serve! (even better if you top it on a hot bowl of rice!)