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!