Next Time You Think About Lemon, You Can Try This Lemon Chicken

I cannot point clearly where I first saw the dish name lemon chicken. I know I saw it in the menu card at one particular restaurant in the Philippines. But I did not try. When we are in the Philippines, what I usually eat are dishes that I have been growing up with like adobo, sinigang, and laing. Lemon chicken sounds western, I prefer native, foods that when I eat can be nostalgic. Just lately, I found out that lemon chicken is not just delicious, you can also add this dish in your easy to cook and budget recipes. This is how I have this discovery. My husband and I shop once a month in Amazing Oriental, an Asian complete supermarket. There is Amazing Oriental in Rotterdam Central, in Alexandrium, but we always go in Amazing Oriental in the Chinese Boat. The location is just perfect, fronting the iconic Euromast, fifteen minutes drive from home. Amazing Oriental has plenty to offer. Asian foods, from fresh to canned goods, to frozen foods. They have Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Indonesian, Singaporean, and Indian brands. Sometimes, we go there not just to shop but to explore more of the other possible dishes and cuisine.

I saw these Lee Kum Kee sauces mix, handy, ready, Hongkong style. I picked one, lemon chicken. I said to my husband, I want to try this, just one. Because if it is not delicious, nothing to lose. And to my delight, my husband really love it. Last week, we went back shopping there, I took five. Here is how I cook lemon chicken with the Lee Kum Kee sauce.

Soak in egg, roll in flour.

Ready for deep frying 

We need: 

 1 Lee Kum Kee lemon chicken sauce mix, 

 around 350 grams a chicken fillet, 

 1 egg (beaten), 

 a bit salt, 

 flour, 

 and oil.

How:

 I sprinkle a pinch of salt to the both sides of the chicken. I soak it to the egg and roll in the flour. I set aside for about fifteen minutes. To fry, I use sunflower oil, must be enough oil for deep frying. The heat must be high enough for the chicken to become crunchy. Once fried, put the chicken in a serving dish. You can warm the Lee Kum Kee sauce in the microwave for just 1 minute, the sauce is creamy, you can pour it slowly to the chicken. Lemon chicken is good with rice or fries and vegetable salad. Next time that you will think about lemon, why not try the lemon chicken, not just about lemon to lemonade. Don’t forget that this dish is easy, delicious, and so budget-friendly. Till next time.

Shopping Story. Shopping With My Husband in Amazing Oriental

Cold, rainy. I got my purse, just my keys, my phone, my ATM, and the drugs that can calm me down when I have a panic attack. Two weeks now since I was diagnosed with panic attack. How it tremendously changed me as a person, as a mom, and even my happy lifestyle. For weeks my husband would be with me, that is what marriage vow, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health.

I sit in the car, in cold hand, have a deep breath, I want to see how far can I go now, traveling, will I panic or not? 

approaching Euromast, Rotterdam

Rotterdam a fifteen minute drive from home, this time my husband took it slow. The clouds that I see as we approach the big, busy city were clear blue, even it cannot hide the wintry day. We are going to shop in the big Asian Store inside the famous Chinese Boat. The location is just in front of one of Rotterdam’s iconic towers, the Euromast. We shop at leisure, with my pleasure. 

I bought kangkong and gabi for my sinigang. I never see any gabi in any asian store in our small city. To my surprise, there is Durian, I just wonder why the big durian is in the freezer? Is still delicious even after frozen?

durian

I never tried tasting this they said stinky fruit from Mindanao! I made a photo just to amuse me. My husband bought one sack of jasmin/pandan rice. I also have a new walis tambo, a floor sweeper. The one I purchased from a vacation in the Philippines is now really bad and bald. 

with my new walis Tambo

My husband picks American potato chips, mine is Japanese! It's still unopened, waiting with a good cup of coffee or a warm chocolate. In our last round in the store, I also pick the pandan chiffon cake mix, will try baking than buying, a jar of Saba for Igado, I love to cook Igado as soon as I can, it brings back a memory of my beloved parents… lastly, I found a frozen kinayud na buko, that would be so great for my ever favourite buko salad and buko pandan.

I am so glad, we finished our shopping without feeling of panic. We went out the store, I took some photos, me and my new walis tambo. Driving back home, the weather turned colder, cloudier, and really foggy! This how the Dutch weather is, very unpredictable. I took my phone, steadying my hand, and glad that I made a few videos. As I look back, I am glad, I was able to move again, with some help, I can go out, to shop, to laugh, or to just breath with all my heart’s delight. 

the we of me

driving back home 

Happy for the day, later that evening, my panic attack strikes again.

I drink my medicine fast, I feel calm, drowsy, drifted into a long, tight sleep. I began to make up my mind, when I woke up, I finally decided I liked to write again! 

Do You Eat Tofu?

cooking tofu 

Do you eat tofu? Do you like it? The tofu had a thousand years ago of origin. Wikipedia said that the first tofu-making was first recorded during the Chinese Han dynasty some 2,000 years ago. So Tufo originated in China, and I think most Asian love tofu. In the Philippines, we called it tokwa. It is not just a common ingredient in Filipino dishes, but also a common street food. In the busy streets in Manila, there are food carts and food stalls that sell tokwa't baboy. It is a crispy fried tokwa and pork belly. It is delicious with the dip of a bit spicy vinegar with crushed garlic. In the Netherlands, I also cook tofu. It is a healthy part of my cooking. A pack of tofu in the supermarket is 1.75 euros. I cook tofu with garlic, onion, and tomatoes. Sometimes, I mix tofu with mushrooms, sometimes, with taugé. For my seasoning, I use fish sauce. Why not try tofu on your next cooking? Tofu has a low calorie count and relatively large amounts of protein. The alternative name of tofu is bean curd. Indeed, a healthy food.

The Monster Fruit Jackfruit

The photo I am showing is a jackfruit tree with its fruit, the jackfruit. It is also called nangka, in the Philippines, it is langka. If you are living in a western country, this tree and its fruit might be unfamiliar to you. Or perhaps you just see it on the tv or on the internet. But in my country, the Philippines, jackfruit are well-known. It is a part of some authentic Filipino dishes as well as desserts. From what I have read in Wikipedia, jackfruit's scientific name is Artocarpus heterophyllus, a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family. The jackfruit weights as much as 35 kilos, yes that heavy. From the outside, it looks like a monster fruit but, in the inside, for the Filipinos, it is a heavenly fruit! When it is raw, my mother cooks jackfruit with coconut milk and fish on it and spices. The ripe jackfruit is an excellent dessert too. It is perfect with the halo-halo, ginataang mais, mais con yelo, or in toron, all of which are Filipino sweets and desserts.
A single jackfruit can yield hundreds of the small fruit lobes, looks like a bulb. Each of which carry a highly nutritious seed. The fruit itself is a good source of Vitamin C, while the seeds are rich in protein, potassium, calcium, and iron. So the next time you will see jackfruit, you might have a second thought to think monsters about this fruit. Jackfruit is versatile, delicious, and when it is ripe, it smells so good! By the way, jackfruit is the National fruit in Bangladesh.

Rice Noodles With Tuna Flakes

Rice noodles with tuna.

My cooking skill is from scratch to progress, learning, experimenting just within the economic cooking. Enjoying a good and healthy meal does not that pricey. When you are a good cook, you can gather the leftover to make it  taste as a brand new meal.

After me and my son went out to the supermarket this morning, I cleaned up our fridge to make room for the newly purchased items in preparation for the coming weekend. I saw the leftover cabbage and paprika when I cooked pancit bihon last week. I do not like to throw them so I think of a dish where I can use them. I checked our cupboard and there is a canned tuna in sunflower oil, and I have three packages of pancit bihon.

I started to cook pancit (rice noodles) with tuna, my first time.  I am sharing it now because I have found out that it is delicious. My son also loves it. Here is how I cooked it:

Ingredients:
250 grams rice noodles (in Filipino bihon; in Dutch mihoen)
1 canned tuna flakes, drained (you can use even the plain tuna flakes)
200 grams shredded cabbage
200 grams shredded paprika
Crush garlic
Medium size onion
1tbs oil
Ground pepper
1 Maggie bouillon cube (before I use soy sauce when cooking bihon. Since my husband do not like soy sauce, I use bouillon.)
*tip: you can add other more vegetables like beans and parsley.

How:
While cooking, soak the rice noodles in the hot water for about 10 minutes then drain.

Sauted the garlic and onion together for 1 or 2 minutes.
Add the paprika, then the cabbage. Put the Maggie bouillon, dissolve it, mix all together and cover for 5 minutes. Add the rice noodles, the tuna flakes, and the ground pepper, mix and cover again for another five minutes. If the rice noodles are soft already, it is already done. If not, mix again and cover until the rice noodles get soft. Vegetables do not need to be overcooked. Served hot with a squeeze of fresh lemon.

Tuna is really versatile.

Lumpia, Loempia, Loenpia, Or Ngohyong

In the Philippines this is lumpia. This is spring roll of Chinese origin, but also found and common in Indonesia. Here in the Netherlands, lumpia is also a regular entry in many Asian restaurants. Lumpia, loempia, loenpia, or ngohyong.

It was twice already that I made lumpia here in the Netherlands. My very Dutch husband comes to like some of my Asian cooking, including lumpia. Lumpia is easy to prepare, easy to cook. I also found out that the Turkish store nearby is selling lumpia wrapper for only €2.75.

use the egg wash to seal the lumpia wrapper

my lumpia: consists of carrots, coriander, onion, paprika, and egg yolk. 

wrapping

Ingredients:
500 grams ground meat (I like ground beef)
Lumpia wrapper (the entire package has 40-50 pcs)
250 grams shredded carrots
250 grams shredded coriander
1 pc paprika, also shredded
1 pc medium size onion
1 egg (keep the egg wash separately to seal the wrapper)
For seasoning, you can use lumpia ready mix

Procedure:
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, including the egg yolk and the lumpia ready mix. Mix well.
Spread the lumpia wrapper on a flat, clean surface or in a big plate.
Spoon the lumpia mix to the wrapper and wrap the lumpia like you are wrapping a small gift. I suggest two tablespoons of lumpia mix for every wrapper. It is light, easy to fry, and bite-size.
Don' forget to use the egg wash to seal the lumpia wrapper.

Frying: if you have a French fries fryer, you can fry your lumpia there. You can also use even a pan as long as you dip fry the lumpia for a crunchy result.

Lumpia is good with sweet and sour sauce. I also like dipping it in vinegar with crushed garlic, or soy sauce with lemon. Enjoy!