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Best ever Korean Fried Chicken (IMHO). Need I say more? Think of crispy chewy and crunchy batter coated in a candy-like sweet, spicy and sticky glaze. And oh yeah, the chicken. Juicy. Delicious. Yummy. Continue reading to find the recipe. Korean Fried Chicken with Sweet and Spicy sauce Ingredients 800g (about 1 lb) chicken wings (drummettes and mid-wings, separated) 1 1/2 teaspoon salt Canola/Vegetable oil for deep-frying Sesame seeds for garnishing (optional) Batter: 2/3 cup plain flour 1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch 3/4 cup water Sauce: 1 tbsp vegetable oil 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 small red chilli pepper, finely chopped (optional if you want more heat) 1 tbsp light soy sauce 5 tbsp corn syrup 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (or rice wine vinegar) 2 tsp brown sugar 2 tsp gochujang (Korean chilli paste) Method Prepare sauce first. Fry garlic (and chilli if used) in the oil, for half a minute, but don't let it brown. Add the rest of the ingredients for the sauce and simmer for 1-2 minutes ...

This is a repost of an old favourite! This is an old favourite of mine since I was little. Typically served in chinese restaurants in BP, we would often order a plate or two of it at the end of the meal. It is a thin, flaky and crispy rectangular-shaped pancake that is usually filled with a thin layer of red bean or white lotus paste, and then cut into small rectangular bite-sized pieces. I decided to make this after browsing through a cookbook called "Dim Sum" where I came across a picture of an appetizing looking "Wo Paeng". I could just imagine the taste of it - sweet, crispy and oily. The recipe looked simple enough. However, the proportions and method of pan-frying it just didn't do it for me. I found another recipe on the web which looked like it would yield better results, and it did! Of course, it involved deep-frying the pancake to a golden crisp, just as I remembered it. I sprinkled some toasted pinenuts in the filling to add ...

If there's one thing I can't resist, it's crispy Korean Fried Chicken (see my earlier posts here and here ). So far, this is one of my favourites, with a lightly battered yet slightly chewy and crispy skin. The sweet, salty and sticky garlic soy glaze has a hint of wasabi to give it some kick. Chew on that crispy skin smothered with the soy glaze and sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds and you're in heaven. I almost forgot, every bite should be enjoyed with some of those thin ribbons of scallions. It helps to lighten up the dish, adds some freshness and makes the chicken taste more healthy than oily. Like, really. It's not just a garnish, it's a main ingredient. Don't skip it. Here's a closer look at the crispy chicken wings! The batter for the chicken was based on a recipe from Saveur. The soy glaze is my own concoction based on the famous " Red Pepper Korean Fried Chicken " at Strathfield Sports Club . Koreans enjoy their fried chicken with a...

  I honestly think that Australia might have the highest consumption of laksa per capita compared to other countries. There's probably more laksa varieties in Sydney than there is in Singapore, and IMHO, they taste better too. But let's not go there. What fascinates me is that many Australians have come to embrace Asian food as part of their regular dining and grocery options. Take panko crumbs for example. The word panko doesn't sound the least like it's something edible, though it is an ingredient that is commonly available and used here. Why go for regular breadcrumbs when you can have super light and crunchy panko? Don't these crunchy crumbed deep-fried prawns look lovely? That's the beauty of panko crumbs. Looks good, tastes great and sounds earth-shattering (okay, maybe that's a little too much). They are quite simple and easy to prepare, though I won't lie - I took a while to peel, devein and prep the prawns. But it's all worth it in the end, ...

  Never judge a book (or falafel) by its cover. Before this, I never gave much thought to falafels. They are the round brown balls that look like croquettes or arancini, and are commonly displayed in kebab stalls at the food courts here. I love kebabs, but those falafels just never looked appetizing to me. That was then. A few weeks ago, a friend decided to introduce me to Lebanese food at Al Aseel , where I ordered the mixed plate, consisting of grilled chicken, lamb and kofta with a variety of dips and tabouli. These were served with some pickles and a side of Lebanese bread. I wasn't a fan of the bright neon-coloured pickles, but everything else was superb. It wasn't until I had almost finished eating that my friend commented how I was not eating it the " proper " way. So, what is the proper way? Well, first you tear off a small triangular piece of bread. With the bread between your fingers, use it to grab som...

  I had the pleasure of dining at one of Sydney's most popular Roti Canai establishments on Friday. Mamak  specialises in Malaysian cuisine, in particular its famed roti canai , which are freshly made on the spot and served on a silver-coloured platter with two curries. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that it was my "inaugural" visit to Mamak , since almost everyone I know has been there at least once. I didn't set any expectations for this place, and was pleasantly surprised by how authentic (both in flavour and heat from the chillies) the food was. One dish I just had to try was the Sambal Sotong - stir-fried brown cuttlefish in fiery (indeed!) sambal sauce. I grew up enjoying nasi lemak, lontong and roti canai served with sambal sotong and it's one of my favourite Malaysian dishes! Typically, it uses dried brown cuttlefish which is soaked in alkaline water to rehydrate, tenderise and give it a springy texture when cooked.   In Malaysia, we use the term ...

    Deep-fried pork ribs with coffee sauce is a popular dish in Singapore and Malaysia, and is usually served with steamed white rice. During my recent trip to Singapore, I had the chance to try it at Prosperous Kitchen restaurant and it was really good, especially with the almond flakes on top which helped cut through the richness of the sauce. I attempted to replicate it at home and it was a success ( applause from Mr G ), though my version was more robust with an intense coffee flavour. These sweet and sticky pork ribs are absolutely delicious and addictive, and are best enjoyed with a generous plate of white rice.        Coffee and Almond Pork Ribs Ingredients 700g (1 1/2 lbs) pork ribs, chopped into segments 1 egg white, lightly beaten 1 1/2 tbsp cornflour 1 tbsp rice flour Vegetable oil, for deep-frying 1/4 cup almond flakes, toasted Marinade: 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 1/4 tsp pepper 1/4 tsp five-spice powder 1/2...

  A few weeks ago, I posted a recipe for Mutter Paneer  on my blog, and if you saw the last photo in the post, you would have noticed a plate of unidentified crumbed stuff next to the mutter paneer. Well, I can now reveal that the foreign object that was the subject of curiosity was really crumbed oyster mushrooms! Deep-fried curry-crumbed oyster mushrooms, to be exact. And the things you learn about oyster mushrooms when you're trying to find some inspiration to write about them. Did you know that oyster mushrooms  may be considered a medicinal mushroom since it contains statins which work to reduce bad cholesterol? Wow, that puts eating deep-fried oyster mushrooms into perspective. More for me please! The latin name for oyster mushroom is Pleurotus ostreatus ,  which literally   means "sideways oyster", and refers to the oyster-like shape of the mushroom, plus the fact that the stem grows sideways relative to the cap.   These crumbed...

I made these deep-fried curry puffs over the weekend when we had friends over for lunch (I figured just serving chicken rice might not be enough). As usual, I posted photos of these on facebook and a friend commented that it was his favourite. Actually, he thought that these were " gujia ", which I later found out through Dr Google that it was a type of sweet Indian (Rajasthani, to be specific) deep-fried pastry filled with nuts, dried fruit or coconut. Mmm...this sounds like something right up my alley (and something for me to experiment with next!).  In fact, if you think about it (or do a bit of research), there are many versions of these pastries around the world, like empanadas for example. The name " empanada " comes from the Spanish verb empanar , meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanadas, which are prevalent in Latin America, are pastry turnovers filled with a variety of savoury (or sometimes sweet) ingredients. The variant of these stuffed pastri...

Ever since Jamie's Italian opened a branch in Sydney, I've only been there once, with three other friends. I had the Buffalo Ricotta ravioli with lemon and mint, which in all honesty, I thought was a rather confusing dish because as I was eating it, I kept tasting Lemon Curd Tart, and wished it was served as a dessert instead. If it was intended to be a main-and-dessert all in one, it certainly achieved its purpose. I suppose we had higher expectations for the food, as we found that the other mains were either underseasoned or lacking in flavour (we must have caught the chef on a bad day). That explains why I never went back again. Well, not until Ms L told me that the crispy polenta chips at Jamie's Italian were very, very good. I did want to go back just to try them, but the rest of the girls weren't really keen on going back just to have a small bowl of overpriced chips.   So, I did a bit of research and stumbled upon quite a few recipes for...

    If you've been following my recent posts, you'll know that I've been coming up with "copycat" recipes for some of dishes served at Sailors Thai . This time, I attempted to prepare the deep-fried snapper with three flavour sauce that everyone at our table of ten was raving about. As we ordered only one of each item from the menu, by the time it was passed down to our end of the table, the fish was almost mangled beyond recognition. Okay, perhaps that's an overstatement. Fortunately though, the fish head appeared to be intact, and surprisingly, nobody took the best part - the cheek! If I was having fish with my family (or relatives), the cheek would definitely be the first thing to disappear. This is actually quite simple and easy to prepare, given that there aren't many ingredients required. The sweet, sour and spicy sauce is briefly simmered in a pan and then poured over the deep-fried fish. I've used a whole snapper here, although you could alway...

I first saw the recipe for these famous Japanese deep-fried chicken wings on Just One Cookbook , and was immediately drawn to the pictures of crispy  wings coated in sweet and sticky soy sauce. I don't make deep-fried wings very often, but with this one, I had to make! Indeed, these twice-fried wings were crispy and finger-licking good. We polished off the entire 2 pound batch of wings within minutes, and we were left craving for more. They are fantastic when eaten with white rice as it counteracts some of the sweetness from the glaze on the wings. Out of curiosity, I decided to do some research on the internet on Nagoya style chicken wings, and noted that they were commonly referred to as Tebasaki wings, which are seasoned fried chicken wings. I decided that since I was going to do some deep-frying, I might as well try out another recipe which I saw on Cooking with Dog . This version of the recipe is more savoury and spicy (from the garlic ...

At this point, some of you must be wondering why I am constantly cooking Japanese food. Well, Japanese recipes are often simple and span only half a page of a cookbook, which makes it less daunting especially when they usually come with a list of less than ten ingredients. Compare that to Malaysian cooking which may use spices and sauces from A-Z, with plenty of chopping, pounding, crushing, toasting, frying, simmering and keeping a constant watch while cooking. I hardly have half a day to spend doing all that especially now that I'm back at work, and it's impossible to keep the children out of mischief. Just today, while I was preparing pork chops for dinner, my little toddler managed to empty almost an entire bottle of shampoo all over the floor in the shower. So, anyway, as I was saying, I'm in the Japanese food phase recently and I decided to have a go at making Japanese potato croquettes (known as  Korokke , no priz...