Roast Thai Pandan Chicken (Gai Hor Bai Toey)

This dish is a classic and perennial favourite. I roasted this instead of the traditional way of steaming and deep frying the chicken.

I love pandan leaves. They are a real sensation. Everything from sweets to savouries can taste so much better with the addition of pandan leaves.

Thai Pandan Chicken is an internationally renowned dish that utilises pandan leaves. It’s a good dish to start with if you are new to using pandan leaves in your cooking.

Traditionally, the dish is steamed and then deep fried or simply just deep fried. The pieces of chicken are also cut into small pieces and then individually wrapped in pandan leaves.

For me, I wanted this to be an easy week night meal so I shortened the process. I also have an aversion to deep drying at home. So, I just wrapped the whole chicken thigh with pandan leaves and roasted it. The verdict? It may not be as pretty to look at but it sure did taste good! Oh, and so easy to do as well. The marinade really gets into the chicken meat. Scrumptious!

I have made this twice already, once with coconut milk and the other time without. I would say, if you can, keep the coconut milk in as it just brings all the flavours together. Another note, try not to skimp on the marinade time, it really allows the flavours to get into the chicken.

Roast and eat with a side salad for a totally delicious and easy meal.

Greek Pastitsio

A Greek version of lasagne, the addition of cloves and cinnamon make a nice difference to the recipe.

  

Last weekend my husband and I decided to make a Greek Pastitsio. The best way to describe it is that it is a Greek version of lasagne.

It is constituted of pasta, meat sauce and white béchamel sauce. The method for assembling the Pastitsio is exactly the same as assembling a lasagne. Layer the pasta first, followed by the meat sauce. Repeat. Make sure to finish with a final layer of pasta before spreading the béchamel sauce over. Sprinkle on some cheese and bake!

We got inspired to make this dish after watching Rick Stein cook it on his Mediterranean Escapes series. I have included a link to the video here so you can watch it as well.

Rick Stein cooking Pastitsio – Mediterranean Escapes

Personally I like the meat sauce in the Pastitsio because you add in cloves and a cinnamon stick. It really adds a nice, warming aniseed flavour and smell to the sauce.

Do note that the original recipe calls for Greek kefalotiri cheese but I just used Mozzarella to substitute.

I really am looking forward to making this again. I hope you give it a try too. Enjoy!

XO Fried Noodles

XO sauce takes this fried noodle dish up a notch. Noodles just got serious. Try it!

Hello folks!

Guess what? I just had my first experience of an exploding watermelon. I went to bed and the watermelon was fine and sitting pretty on my kitchen counter. In the morning the husband is shouting “Oh No, Oh NO!” I ran down to the kitchen and was greeted by a watermelon mess. Dripping down the counter and flooding the kitchen floor with watermelon goo. Since I had to clean everything up I thought it was a sign that I should mop the whole kitchen up as well. Boo.

So now that my kitchen is back in a clean state let us talk about this noodle dish. I made this fried noodles a few nights back and you must try it. Really. You just must.

It is truly a quick mid-week or an any time super fast of meal. Home made fast food. Delish.

For those who are wondering, XO sauce is really a savoury Chinese seafood based sauce. You can certainly make it yourself but for other mere mortals such as myself, you can buy it ready made.

Since we are talking FAST meal here, I added half a bag of ready packed stir fry vegetables. Of course if you prefer, you can chop up your own favourite veggies and add them in. I also used ready peeled prawns, but once again, if you want to use chicken, tofu, other types of seafood – go right ahead.

I loved it so much I can’t wait to make it again. Let me know if you like it.

If you make this you can always show me on Twitter or Instagram by tagging @leowailin or using the hashtag #nomsieskitchen. Enjoy!