KARAGE CHICKEN
When I first had Japanese food MANY years back I really hated it. My dad had taken the family to some restaurant in Hurlingham to welcome my aunt Ciru back home. All I remember from that night is how me and the toilet bowl were best friends for the night. I cud not stand the food especially the thought of having raw food. Years later I was introduced to more “African” friendly dishes (read fully cooked) I was introduced to sushi rolls with cooked fillings and also to Karage and some saucy chicken wings whose names I do not remember, from there at least I have been able to move to the more experimental foods.
Anyway as I had posted last week I asked my Japanese colleague Tomoko to teach me and my gals a few Japanese dishes and in addition to Teriyaki Chicken she also taught us this dish that Liz kept calling Karanga (dry fried meat in Swahili). It was really good. We ate it with just a bit of mayonnaise and rice and it was really good. Hope you like it too. HAPPY COOKING!!
2 chicken fillets (butterflied)
· 1 egg
· 2 tablespoons Sake ( you can use sherry if you do not have, but you can buy from Health You stores)
· 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce (Tomoko swears by Kikkoman brand)
· 1 teaspoon of sesame oil ( if you do not have regular oil will do)
· 1 teaspoon garlic
· 1 teaspoon ginger
· 1 ½ tablespoon of corn/potato starch (if you do not have replace with corn flour or regular flour)
· 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour
· Oil for frying
Ingredients Instructions Mix the Sake, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and oil in a bowl.
Cut the chicken up into cubes and place into a zip lock bag. Pour the sauce into the bag and mix up well. ( if you do not have the zip lock bag you can mix this up in a bowl. Refrigerate for 30mins.
Break the egg and whisk it, add it into the zip lock bag and mix well. Refrigerate for a further 30mins.
Remove the chicken from the sauce and drain out excess fluids. Mix the corn starch and flour and place the chicken in the flour and toss till well coated
Heat the oil till hot. Place the chicken in the oil and cook till slightly brown. Remove and set aside. Cook till all the chicken bits are browned then return them to the hot oil ( start with the ones you first removed)
Cook until completely cooked. ( this makes the chicken crispier). Serve hot. HAPPY EATING!!!
Cooking Club; Class 2: Japanese: TERIYAKI CHICKEN
Our lovely teacher Tomoko
Last year one of my gals, Mo came up with an idea of starting a club in Kakuma. Her brilliant idea was that we start a book club which we all refused because, well it was too…………. (Insert whatever politically correct term you want to put there).
After a lot of thinking and with me starting the blog Liz said we should do a cooking club. It took us forever to have our first meeting and even to coordinate what we wanted to learn. We had the first club meeting at my house and I think we made roast chicken with veggies, it wasn’t too bad but we did not take photos (maybe purposely). After our first meet up I started having an urge to take advantage of the multi-cultural nature of our office. We have international staff from quite a number of countries and I felt that I should at least learn a few of the dishes before I leave Kakuma (God knows when that will be)
Since I have taken a liking to Japanese food I decided to approach Tomoko to teach me how to make Chicken Teriyaki and Karage Chicken (which Liz kept calling Karanga chicken LOL) it was a great night, we learned a lot, ate good food and had lots of laughs. Hope you will enjoy the meal. HAPPY COOKING!!
OOOH Forgot to mention I first heard about Teriyaki chicken from my pal Ngome back in 2006 I had no idea what that was and he thought I was such a shade (ignorant person from the village) well Ngome at least now, 6 years later, I can make it 🙂 .
NB: the photos did not turn out soo great but the food was really tasty, trust me!
*After a lot of public out cry from the brains behind the book club and her cronies I hereby apologize for forgetting whose BRILLIANT idea it was to start the cooking club, the idea was Liz Chege. I am sorry that forgot 🙂
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce ( Tomoko swears by Kikkoman brand)
- 1 tablespoon Mirin ( get from Nakumatt)
- 1 tablespoon Sake (get from Healthy U stores, there is one at Westgate and Yaya Malls)
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- Freshly ground black pepper
- A little all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
Instructions
Place the fillets in between two sheets of cling film and bang them with a meat mallet or rolling pin till thin.
Generously pepper the fillets with the black pepper.Place the peppered fillets in the flour and cover completely with a thin layer.
Mix the mirin, sake and brown sugar in a bowl.
Put about a tablespoon of oil in the pan.
Place the fillets in the pan, pour in the sauce and cook for about 5 mins on each side.
Cut up the cooked fillets and serve. HAPPY EATING!
https://www.themothershipvillage.com/cooking-club-class-2-japanese-teriyaki-chicken/
MULTIPURPOSE DOUGH RECIPE
I found this recipe at Fauzia’s Kitchen Fun last week when I was in a panic about making puff pastry. I had two failed attempts after which I decided to look for an easier option and ended up with this one. I expected it to be very bready but it actually wasn’t too bad so for one of those days your feeling to lazy to try and make your own puff or too lazy to rush to the supermarket to buy some or too broke to buy use this recipe it won’t disappoint. You can use this for pies and rolls. HAPPY COOKING!!
Ingredients
- 1 and half cups white flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons oil
- ½ teaspoon instant yeast
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup milk+water mixed half and half
Instructions
Sift the flour in a large bowl, add the salt, yeast and baking powder. Add the oil
Warm the water/milk mixture to as hot/warm as your hands can tolerate during kneading. The hotter the better as the dough will be softer but don’t make it boiling hot.
Add the milk mixture slowly into the flour as you knead the flour until u have a soft firm dough, not too sticky
Knead the dough well on a floured surface. Pound the dough as you turn in around so as to make the dough soft (almost like you would for chapattis or mandazi)
Set aside for about 30 mins for the dough to rise.
Use as needed for pies, rolls etc
https://www.themothershipvillage.com/multipurpose-dough-recipe/
