Chicken Stir-Fry For One

I love chicken. I love it simply steamed, boiled, poached, fried, baked, and even when it doesn't look like chicken anymore. Yep! I can eat chicken everyday and not get tired of it for like mooonnnths!

Anyone here feeling me? :P

I'm sure a lot of you reading this have your own favorite meat or veggie and that's awesome (and makes each of us uniquely weird). However, eating the same chicken dish for a few days a week is not something I would like to go back to no matter how much I love it. I don't believe in just one true love when it comes to food haha!

You see, when I started living by myself a few years ago, I was stuck with eating the same thing for almost the entire week because I only knew how to make stuff for like a family of 5. 

I must admit, cooking for one is a whole new level of difficulty compared to let's say, cooking for 3-6 persons. I'll gladly welcome cooking for an entire family as compared to cooking for just 1. No kidding!

Needless to say, this resulted to me either ordering out (hello calories!), or  stuffing myself trying to eat everything as soon and as much as I can just so I can cook something else (I know this is self-defeating). I gained lots of weight and was unhappy :(

So what I did was develop recipes or adapt recipes to be good for one and yup, I did quite well with dozens of them. 

No more leftovers unless I wanted it for this gal!

This chicken stir-fry is one of my favorite dinners because it is so versatile. You can eat it on it's own or with rice. Mix up a little sauce and it's good for noodles too! 

What I like the best about this chicken stir-fry for one is how fast it comes together and how flavorful and filling it is. In fact, when I want to lose weight, this is one of my go-to dinners. 

Why? 

Because this chicken stir-fry is low carb and high protein! 

Yep! Does that sound too good to be true?

It's got lots of fiber and vitamins too!

Before I start sounding more and more like a real info-mercial, let's head on to the main recipe shall we?

Chicken Stir Fry For One Recipe

As the usual thing with stir-frys, this chicken stir-fry recipe only spends about 5 minutes tops cooking, so you'll have to chop up everything that needs to be chopped and prepared before you start heating your wok.

I can't stress how important using a wok is for this recipe. There's just something magical when you cook with woks. The way it is shaped and how it handles and distributes heat makes food cook a certain way, it's simply superb.

You can use a frying pan but it won't be as awesome..

You can try a cast iron skillet and maybe come up with 90% wok awesomeness :P

Heat the wok over high heat until it starts smoking. Add the oil and swirl to coat the whole pan.

add the chicken and let it cook for about a minute on each side. This happened very fast so I wasn't able to get pics :(

Once the chicken is no longer pink and slightly browned, add the ginger, the green onion, and baby corn. 

Keep sauteing for about 1 minute.

Have you watched one of those cooking shows where the chef creates a little mushroom poof of smoke when a liquid is added to the stir fry? 

That's gonna happen when you add in the soy sauce so be prepared!

this is it!

(only captured the last of the smoke and steam show)

and for the last step:

turn off the heat and toss in the red bell pepper and sugar snap peas for the last 20-30 seconds. 

Transfer immediately to a plate.

isn't it absolutely gorgeous?

I love sprinkling this chicken stir-fry with korean red chili flakes and some sesame seeds.

from another angle...

Of course I'm using chopsticks! 

If I don't do that I'll either inhale this thing or start shoveling this dish into my mouth haha!

Incredibly tasty and very satisfying! You might forget about the rice when savoring this chicken stir-fry dish.

And here's the full recipe:

Chicken Stir-Fry For One By PinkGingerSnaps

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken breast fillet (about 1/2 lb or 250 grams) sliced thinly
• 1 cup sugar snap peas (chicharo)
• 1 cup baby corn sliced diagonally
• 1 medium size red bell pepper cut into strips
• 1 tablespoon light cooking oil
• 3-5 stalks green onions cut into 1-2 inch sections
• 1 slice ginger
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• chili flakes and sesame seeds for garnish

Procedure:

Slice up everything which needs to be sliced and heat your wok over high heat. Once the wok starts smoking, add the oil and sliced chicken breast fillet. Toss the chicken around in the wok and cook for about two minutes until slightly browned and no longer pink. Add in the baby corn, ginger, and green onion. Don't forget to keep everything moving! after a minute of sauteing everything together and the ginger gets really fragrant, add the soy sauce and keep tossing for about 30 more seconds. Turn off the heat and add the sugar snap peas and red bell pepper. Cook in the still hot wok for about half a minute and transfer immediately to a serving dish so the veggies don't get wilted. Garnish with sesame seeds and chili flakes if desired. Serves 1 :)

Let me know if you tried this dish! Thanks for reading :)

Bokkeumbap or Kimchi Fried Rice Made With Homemade Kimchi

Finally! Christmas is over (at least for this year)! Whew!

Although I love Christmas, I can't help but feel a bit 'unhealthy' after gorging myself enjoying a lot some of the sinful Christmas dishes this time of the year. 

It's not just the decadent goodies and the compulsory mingling with lesser mortals other people which leaves one with a feeling of a bit of heaviness. It is the combination of the stress, hectic holiday shopping, and trying to think of a way to fit back into 'normal' clothes post holidays. 

I swear, there should be a term called PHD - post holiday depression - as we mourn the months spent trying to stay fit only to get derailed by a few weeks of merry making :P

Anywhoo, if you're getting tired of eating sinful leftovers and want something like a simple dish that's good for digestion as well, why not try some kimchi fried rice? 

It does sound weird if you're not Korean but believe me, it's more than delish and it's good for you too! How bad can that be, right?

I used my homemade kimchi in this recipe (I might share how I made it at a later post) and it turned out better than I imagined it would taste. 

Who knew what koreanovela characters ate when they're depressed can taste so good? Must be why they eat it when their Korean drama lives reaches a crisis stage huh?

On a related note, that's kind of how I mustered the courage to give this recipe a go, while pondering my lost waistline and what will become of my later kitchen adventures ahaha!

Here's my Kimchi Fried Rice Tutorial and Recipe

Printable or copy-friendly recipe for bokkeumbap or kimchi fried rice is at the end of this post.

First off, you'll need really good kimchi - best if it's a bit 'ripened' or over fermented.

This kimchi is good (I made it, yay!) and it's the last of the more than 3 kilos of kimchi I made in November so it's been in my refrigerator for a while. 

As the last bits of my first batch of real kimchi, I thought it deserves the honor to be made into bokkeumbap :P

I squeezed out the kimchi juice or kimchi liquid coz who wants a soggy fried rice, right? 

You'll want to save it for later though. Keep reading to find out why :)

I took the chopped drained kimchi and sauteed it in a frying pan with 1 tablespoon of butter and a touch of cooking oil.

Then, because I'm a total glutton hungry, I added about two cups of leftover rice and gave everything a thorough mixing and stirring. Just do what you do when you make fried rice. 

About halfway through, I added about 2 tablespoons of the kimchi juice and some freshly ground pepper. 

If your rice is a bit wet/soggy, you can omit the kimchi juice and add salt instead to flavor the rice.

Continue whatever you do when you make fried rice until you're about sure everything is ready.

I like my fried rice with a bit of crispiness, so what I do is I spread it thinly over the pan and let the bottom crisp up. Yum!

add a touch of sesame oil and chopped green onions in the last 20-30 seconds.

and don't forget to add a sunny-side up egg before you dig in!

btw, here's more food p0rn haha!

and one more

I totally inhaled this thing in like a minute. 

The dog didn't even had a chance to beg.

and I'm not even ashamed of it :P

Here's the easy to follow recipe:

Bokkeumbap Tutorial by PinkGingerSnaps

Ingredients for Kimchi Fried Rice:

• 2 cups sour or over fermented kimchi, drained of liquid and chopped up (reserve the liquid)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons green onions
• fried egg for garnish
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• a touch of cooking oil (to prevent the butter from burning up)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups cooked cooked rice (use leftover rice for best results)

Procedure for making the Bokkeumbap or Kimchi Fried Rice:

Prepare the kimchi by squeezing out the liquid and chopping it into small pieces. Melt the butter in the pan and add a bit of oil to prevent the butter from burning. Add the kimchi and saute for a few minutes until the kimchi is almost dried out. Add the rice and mix until everything is well incorporated. When you are about halfway done, season the bokkeumbap with the liquid from the kimchi or soy sauce. Don't forget to add salt and pepper to taste. Continue frying the rice until nearly done and add the sesame oil and green onions on the last few seconds of cooking. Serve with fried egg or add pork too! Enjoy!

Want to see how I made kimchi at home? Let me know!

Tomato Basil Chicken Parmesan Recipe

So, I've finally decided to post a real blog entry featuring one of my recipes. As some of you may know (if you're my friend, you'll know), I often cook and share my recipes online...just not like on a real blog. 

I mean, I did post some of the stuff I make at home but it's not really a blog entry. It's more of an afterthought sort of thing. 

That lead to some issues, SERIOUS ONES.

Why?

You see, I'm a blogger/writer and sometimes clients would google me and see that my own blog is basically a ghost town complete with tumbling weed and eerie silence. They find it hard to believe that someone who ghostwrites for them can't write for her own blog.

I know, I know, you came here for the recipe and not for the mini-rant and existential(?) musing but I just want to get that out of my system and boy, why do I sound so awkward writing for myself!?? haha!

Tomato Basil Chicken Parmesan Recipe

More back story ---> Earlier this month, I began sharing photos of my some of my daily kitchen adventures at instagram and quite a few people asked me if I can post the recipes too.

Well, I'm not exactly a fan of maintaining my own blog so it took me a long time to take care of my laziness busy schedule to write this baby up.

I became acquainted with the inspiration for this recipe wayyyy back 2011 or 2012 via pinterest. It just looks sooo easy and delicious...sorta like it's speaking to me right out of my ipod's screen. Some versions of this have cream, or some have spices which I'm not a fan of. 

I guess it took a long time jumping from the web to my frying pan because I'm based in the Philippines and finding fresh basil at the supermarket and grocery has been like the quest for the holy grail until recently. So yep, this dish has been waiting for sooo long to be made, hence the back story needs to be told :P

I did share my first attempt at fb and instagram and thankfully, people responded positively so it so here goes,

My recipe for tomato basil chicken parmesan:

Make sure you've shopped and have all ingredients ready. It is always best (in my opinion) to use fresh tomatoes and rock salt for this tomato basil chicken parmesan recipe. 

Why?

because those ingredients makes this dish rustic, fresh, and summery y'all! 

to start, chop up them garlic, basil, and tomato. Don't make it fancy!

Season the chicken with freshly cracked black pepper and rock salt. 

Fondle that chicken breast and don't be afraid to be inappropriate with it haha!

heat a pan over medium high heat and wait til it's smoking before adding olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.

I'm using a non-stick pan here but I opted to add a generous amount of olive oil because you really can't go wrong with it. Also, it's good for you!

Place the deboned chicken breasts skin-side down and brown on both sides.

looking yummy!

add the garlic and cook for a bit longer until you can smell the garlic doing it's magic.

Add the diced fresh tomatoes and saute. You may add 1/4 cup of water to help the tomatoes soften or if you want the dish to be more 'saucy'.

Once the tomatoes have softened a bit and formed a chunky sauce with the olive oil (about 5-8 minutes), add the fresh basil and cook for 1 minute and then top with grated parmesan cheese.

Enjoy over pasta or rice!

I would suggest to add a bit more olive oil if you'll serve this over pasta; preferably angel hair spaghetti or spaghetini kinda like what you do with aglio olio.

Let me know if you try it!

And here's the printable version :)

Tomato Basil Chicken Parmesan Recipe by PinkGingerSnaps

Ingredients:

• 1 lb or half a kilo of boneless chicken breast with the skin on.
• 1 tsp rock salt or use 1/2 tsp if using table salt (you may add more)
• 1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh tomatoes
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped as well
• 1/4 cup high quality olive oil
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped.

Procedure:

Prepare the chicken by seasoning it with salt and pepper. Chop up the basil, tomatoes, and garlic as well. Heat a pan over medium-high heat until it is very hot. Add the olive oil and chicken skin side down. This sears the chicken and keeps the juices inside. Brown on both sides. Once that is done, add the garlic and saute until the garlic is slightly browned then add the tomatoes. Decrease the heat to medium and allow the tomatoes to soften (may take 5-10 minutes depending on how ripe the tomatoes are). You may add a bit of water to help the tomatoes meld with the olive oil. Add the basil and cook a minute longer then remove from heat and add the parmesan cheese. Nom, nom, nom!

Everything You Have to Know About Jeans

GUIDE TO JEANS

Jeans. They go by so many names. Be it denims, overalls, working pants, blue jeans, or plain Levi's; jeans has taken the world of fashion and popular culture by storm. 

One of the most versatile pieces of clothing, jeans has been a part of many closets for more than a hundred years from the time it was first conceived in 1873. The blue jeans, or overalls, is one of the most successful fashion trends which has taken a life of its own. It even has its own history intertwined with the history and culture of the country where it was originally from, the United States of America.

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HISTORY OF JEANS

The blue jeans or denims that we have today didn’t have a glamorous past. In fact, it was invented as an accident and out of necessity. More than a hundred years ago, at the time of the American gold rush, the need for durable clothing rose in the American west. Levi Strauss, the man behind today’s world-famous Levi's brand of jeans originally made pants out of canvass and tarp material - as popular lore says. One day in 1873, he used some denim fabric to make overalls . The precursor to the blue jeans was thus born!

The first jeans did not look like the ones we have today although it was an instant success with the miners because of its flexibility and durability. Life in the mines was very hard, and the denim fabric held up really well to the rigorous demands of the job.

WHY WAS JEANS FIRST USED AS THE WORKING MAN'S TROUSERS?

Everyone who owns a pair of jeans knows how much stress and use the fabric can beautifully hold up to. Speaking of history, the denim and jean fabric has been in use for a few centuries even before Levi Strauss came up with his world-famous blue jeans (see end part of this article).

THE ADDITION OF RIVETS

Jeans would not be jeans without rivets. Rivets are the metal reinforcements which are attached to the parts of the jeans where the seams meet, usually around the pockets. The first jeans did not have rivets in them. As a result of this, the pockets would get torn off when the miners would fill them with heavy gold nuggets. Here is where Jacob Davis became a significant persona in the history of clothing.

Jacob Davis thought that adding rivets would significantly improve the strength of the existing overalls at that time.  Unfortunately (or fortunately as most would say), he did not have the 68 U.S. dollars needed to register a patent, so he contacted Levi Strauss with his idea by sending a letter. Levi Strauss agreed to pay for the patent in exchange for having equal rights with Jacob Davis on the resulting product. This is how the blue jeans we know today came to be born on May 20, 1873 upon the issuance of U.S. patent No. 139,121.

For the next 35 years, these two enterprising men held the exclusive right to manufacture blue jeans – which is why their product’s brand name has almost been synonymous with the term ‘jeans’.

THE ERA OF JEANS

As mentioned earlier, the miners loved the resulting riveted pants which they called overalls. With the addition of rivets, the overalls became the garment of choice for miners and soon became a favourite as well amongst workers from the cattle industry, the cowboys. The western states of the United States became known as the denim country, with cowboys, miners, and farmers donning the jeans as their everyday garment.

SHAPED BY WARS

During the first world war, the materials for making jeans became scarce, since the metal for making rivets were needed to produce bullets and other weapons. This caused a reduction in the number of rivets in the patented version of jeans. Rivets from the back pockets, watch pocket, and the crotch was taken out to comply with the government issued restriction on the use of certain clothing materials.

The first and second world wars also introduced the use of jeans by women workers who have taken over the manual labour in factories and farms as the men were fighting in the war.

IN POPULAR CULTURE

In the 1950s, wearing jeans became synonymous with having a 'bad boy and bad girl' reputation. Popularised by James Dean in the 1950s movie Rebel Without a Cause, wearing jeans became associated with motorcycle gangs and being involved in rebellious behaviour. As a consequence of this, wearing jeans became a prohibited act in schools, churches, restaurants, and theaters. Levi Strauss and Co. had to repopularise the use of denim garments and jeans by aggressive marketing ploys. We all know how that went, as we won’t be using jeans today if that campaign did not go successfully.

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JEANS TRIVIA

The first jeans was not called jeans. Thy went by the name bib overalls or waist overalls. These overalls were loose fitting and were designed to cater to factory workers and miners.

Before 1890, jeans only had one back pocket. This information is very useful in ascertaining how old a pair of jeans truly are; just like how it came in handy to authenticate one of the oldest pair of jeans which was sold in an eBay auction for more than $43,000.

A vintage Levi's jeans would spell the brand's name in all caps, while modern ones would spell the brand’s name with the letter E in lower case.

Before the 1960s, men’s jeans have the zipper in the front whilst women’s jeans have the zipper on the sides.

People these days pay a premium price for distressed jeans. The distressed look can be naturally achieved by at least 3 years of regular and frequent wear. This process can be replicated in the factory within just a few hours using abrasive tools to simulate years of use.

The first jeans were blue because the dye used to make the denim and jean fabric is one of the cheapest when it was first invented.

Modern jean and denim fabric are not pure blue but are made with an interlocking of blue and white thread at a ratio of 3:1.

Prior to 1963, people would have to buy a pair of jeans which are larger than their frame. This is because pre-shrinking was not introduced until that year by Levi's.

The 1960s was the decade the term ‘overalls’ was replaced by the term ‘jeans’ in popular culture.

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STYLES OF JEANS

Speaking of styles, jeans are often categorised according to cut and shape. The colour of the fabric used can also be used as a categorising factor by some makers. Still, jeans may also be categorised according to the styles of their waistbands, shape of the legs, or the type of pockets. The most common parameter for categorising jean styles is the leg shape.

BOOT CUT OR BOOT LEG JEANS

Best cut for winter wear jeans, boot cut or boot leg jeans  are cut in such a way that the fabric skims the legs but is slightly flared at the lower portion to accommodate the bulk which wearing boots may add to the leg.

FLARED JEANS

The characteristic style of jeans during the late 60s and the 70s, flared leg jeans are narrow at the knee and feature an extra wide flare at the leg. This style is often paired with a low rise waist.

SLOUCH JEANS

Wide at the legs, slouch jeans are the preferred style of jeans for those who often wear the garment while performing manual labour. The fit is very comfortable.

STRAIGHT LEG JEANS

Also known as the traditional cut, straight leg jeans has a narrow straight leg. There is no flaring at the ankles or at the knee. This style of jeans has stood the test of time and is a fashion classic. The best part is the fact that it flatters many body shapes and can make the wearer appear taller.

TIGHT JEANS OR SKINNY JEANS

A narrower version of the straight leg jeans, tight jeans or skinny jeans is well-loved by stylish men. Worn properly, skinny jeans can make the wearer look slimmer and taller. The major disadvantage would be comfort but with modernised versions of the jean and denim fabric, today’s skinny jeans are very comfortable indeed.

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MATERIALS FOR MAKING JEANS

Today’s jeans are usually made of either denim or jean fabric with some iron or copper rivets. Some brands may use leather and cotton as an additional material along the jeans’ pockets.

THE JEAN AND DENIM FABRIC

The jean fabric is not an American invention but a European one. As early as the 17^th century, working people has been using the jean fabric to make work clothes and other items.  It is believed that the jean fabric originated in Genoa, Italy. It was initially called gene (not to be mistaken for biological genes) which on later date became jean.

As for the denim fabric, the fabric originated from Nimes, France. The word denim is derived from ‘de Nimes’, which means ‘from Nimes’. It was shortened to denims or denim on a later date and became known as the name of the extremely strong blue fabric we now call as denim. The term can be interchanged with jean fabric at present time.

The denim and jean fabric may look alike to the untrained eye, but denim is actually coarser than jean. The denim fabric was fabricated by weavers from Nimes to copy the jean fabric made by Genoese weavers. What they came up with is a twill version with a coarser weave. Both types of fabric gained popularity, with denim becoming a favourite for making overalls and smocks and jean being used by Genoese sailors as a tarp to protect their goods from the sea. Nowadays, jeans can be made using either types of fabrics.

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Excuse the nerdiness everyone! I love jeans and so I thought writing about it would  be fun for a change of pace :) Feel free to link to this article!