We love having Japanese food at home. One of my favourite and easiest to prepare is "Teriyaki whatever". Salmon, chicken, beef, even peppers and broccoli goes well with the sweet, soy-based sauce.
I have been making our teriyaki sauce from Namiko chan's recipe for sometime now and we're loving it. True that bottled teriyaki sauce can be found readily off the shelves, but I generally find them sweeter than what we prefer. No such issue with the homemade version and as encouraged by Namiko on her blog, here's the adaptation adjusted to our preference.
Teriyaki Sauce (makes about 150ml)
(adapted from justonecookbook)
60g Light soya sauce
60g Mirin
20g Sugar
Thickening Agent
5g Cornstarch
40g Water
1. In a small sauce pot over medium heat, combine light soya sauce, mirin and sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar and bring the mixture to a boil.
2. Combine the cornstarch and water, and stir it into the sauce pot, making sure that the mixture is well combined.
3. Continue stirring as the sauce thickens to your desired consistency. It will continue to thicken slightly as it cools.
4. Remove from heat and let cool before using or storing in an airtight container.
Thoughts: With 3-5 ingredients and less than 5mins, this sauce is very easy to prepare. Each time, I'll make 4x the recipe and store it in the fridge so there is always some ready to use. While I haven't had the chance to use it on the grill yet (even though I'm in the country where "barbie" is so popular), the sauce goes on perfectly with roasted chicken, oven-baked salmon or even a simple stir fry of beef and vegetables.
Since the original recipe is created to resemble the "American-style" teriyaki sauce, I've adjusted it very slightly to better suit our Asian palate. To create a more balanced pull between sweet and salty, the sugar has been reduced slightly. The cornstarch mixture has also been thinned out so the resulting sauce is less syrupy. While thickening of the sauce is optional and the Japanese rarely do it, I still want it to have a little viscosity so it coats the food easily and gives it a nice, thin, glaze. However, if I want to use teriyaki sauce as a marinade, I'll make this recipe without thickening or heating it.
Store bought teriyaki sauces are convenient, but good ones are hard to come by. Some of them can be quite vile, usually weird-tasting, slightly off with a gooey or even gloppy consistency. Homemade stuffs are the best, free of additives and preservatives; you know what goes into them. Best of all, it is healthier and you can change it to the way you and your family prefer. Once you try this, there's no need to buy them again!
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On days when I'm feeling under the weather or simply don't feel like cooking, I'll think of an easy way out for dinner. We rarely get takeouts so that'll usually end up with us having porridge for the night.
But today, after spending the whole afternoon shopping, I wasn't left with much time to prepare dinner. Of course initially I wanted to cook porridge, only to realised I still have plenty of ingredients in the fridge. *ugh* Me and my bad planning.
So I stood in front of my fridge and stared hard at the ingredients. Then I remembered watching some food network show, roasting a whole chicken and potatoes all in the same pan. Meh, I'll do that since I'm only using chicken leg (aka chicken maryland in oz), it'll cook fast enough before the sun sets. Most importantly, preparation is easy and there wouldn't be too much dishes to wash!
One-Pan Roast Chicken and Vegetables (serves 2)
2 Chicken Leg, bone-in
500g Royal Blue Potatoes, cut into 1" chunks
150g Carrot, cut into 1" chunks
15 stalks of Asparagus, trimmed
2 sprigs of Fresh Rosemary
1 tbsp Olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 200°C
1. Pat dry the chicken legs and season with salt and pepper.
2. Line a rimmed baking sheet/pan with parchment paper. Place potatoes and carrots in the pan. Drizzle over olive oil, sprinkle salt and black pepper, and toss to coat the veggies with your hands.
3. Push the veggies to the sides and place the rosemary in the middle and the chicken legs on top of them, skin side up.
4. Cover the whole pan loosely with aluminium foil and bake for 30mins.
5. Remove the foil. Place the asparagus among the veggies and try to coat them with some of the juices. Return pan to the oven for another 15-20mins until the chicken has browned and cooked through.
6. Remove from oven. Rest for 10mins and serve directly in the pan!
If you like this recipe and would like to share it, please link to this blog post with its original contents. All recipes are created by me (unless otherwise stated) and require a lot of effort and time to craft. Crediting back is the biggest form of encouragement for me! Thank you! =)
Thoughts: Who doesn't love an easy dinner with everything cooked in one pan? Dinner is served in an hour, including preparation and cleaning. Ya, cleaning means washing the knife and chopping board only! Happy!
The cooking time can be shorten by cutting the chicken leg into drumstick and thigh. To be honest, I was feeling lazy so I couldn't be bothered to cut them; I can do other chores while the dish is cooking anyway. Plus my carnivorous innerself thought they'll look nicer as a whole piece in the photo. Regardless, just make sure the chicken is cooked through by poking the thickest part of the meat with a skewer or knife and the juices should run clear.
I used royal blue potatoes, carrots and asparagus in the dish simply because those were what I had in my fridge. Feel free to replace or add in any other veggies that you like. Sweet potatoes, bell peppers, parsnips, zucchini and even broccoli are a few delicious suggestions to try! Then share your creations or your favourite veggies to be roasted on facebook or tag @whattobaketoday on instagram!
All blog posts and photos are properties of WhatToBakeToday (unless otherwise stated). Unauthorized use and/or duplication of these contents, whole or part thereof, without express or written permission from this blog's author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to WhatToBakeToday with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
When you have access to fresh strawberries, the best way to enjoy them is to eat them as they are. But when you have way too much, the next best thing might just be to make them into jam.
Straight up, regular, strawberry jam is great, but since strawberries and basil goes so well together, it makes perfect sense to make them into a jam!
Strawberry Basil Jam
500g Strawberries, hulled, diced
100g Sugar (or more if desired)
1 Lemon, zested, juiced, save the rind
pinch of salt
handful of fresh Basil leaves, chopped
1. Place a plate in the freezer for testing later on.
2. In a saucepan, place all ingredients except the basil leaves. Cook mixture over medium-low heat, stirring frequently till most of the strawberries have broken down, approximately 10mins.
3. Reduce heat to low, place a small amount of jam on the cold plate from the freezer and let set for 1-2mins. Run a finger through the jam to see if it is viscous enough to stay on. If it is still runny, continue simmering for few more minutes and repeat test till the jam sets on the cold plate.
4. Heat off, remove the lemon rind and stir in the chopped basil. Allow to cool slightly before ladling into the jars. Carry on with the canning process.
Thoughts: I would love to have strawberry plants in my garden, but too bad my fingers aren't green enough. Thankfully, there are several farms that allow the public to pick fresh seasonal fruits for a small fee. Usually $10-15 for as much as you can fill a tray like this, and we will leave with more than enough to make 2 batches of this jam plus fresh strawberries to eat everyday for at least a week!
The basil isn't strong enough to be overpowering, just a hint of it. However, it did impart its grassy notes, which against the sweet-scented strawberries, gave the jam a little more depth. You can add more if you prefer to have basil's smell stand out.
For the lemon, it's there to help with the lack of pectin from ripe strawberries. Unless you have a mix of both ripe and unripe strawberries, I'd suggest including it in the recipe. Granted that cooking the rind of the lemon can leave a bitter aftertaste at times, but since that's where the highest concentration of pectin is, I took a risk with it. Turned out the bitterness is barely detectable, most likely due to the short cooking time. Otherwise, we can always increase the amount of sugar to kinda mask it.
The simplest way to enjoy this strawberry basil jam is of course, to spread it on a piece of buttered toast. But my favourite way? A spoonful of it stirred into a bowl of plain yoghurt, together with some homemade Granola Clusters and fresh berries. Omg, so good!
All blog posts and photos are properties of WhatToBakeToday (unless otherwise stated). Unauthorized use and/or duplication of these contents, whole or part thereof, without express or written permission from this blog's author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to WhatToBakeToday with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
