麻油雞 – Sesame Oil Chicken w/ Rice Wine

Feeling Asiany lately and I’ve been opting for homecooked Chinese food a lot more than going out lately…. so gonna do another Asian recipe post :]  And semi-freaky I suppose.. since it’s almost Halloween :]

Note to self: Do a Freaky Food Memory post in honor of Halloween! WOOT

Alright alright! Let’s get AASSSSSSSSSSSSIIIANNN!!!! *freaky-like*

SO quickie intro to this recipe… People who have been following my twitter/blogs/fb should know that I’ve gone through low points, health wise. Insanely low weight – I’ve been 90lbs and I’m 5’7,5″ – I’ve battled severe anemia and other things I don’t really want to get into right now.  So my mom is constantly trying to make me foods that make my health better… herbal soups, etc etc, you know how us asians do… healing naturally thru herbs and food is better than any pharmaceutical thing… haha… “drugs” :]

SO.

One great recipe to help “heal” the body and “warm” it up – I’m always so cold – is Sesame Oil Chicken aka 麻油雞. It sounds like a nice little dish but it’s got bite. Why?  TONS of booze in it.  The recipe is super simple… and it basically is just a mish mash to taste.  I keep it simple.. and extra boozy :] No salt, sugar or water.

All you need is quality 米酒 Rice Wine, 麻油 Sesame Oil, Ginger and a whole Chicken – preferably bone in..

Doesn’t this remind you of Hapi Djus – YAY Eurotrip

psssst

FLǕGGȦ∂NKđ€ČHIŒβǾLʃÊN

Sorry I get distracted easily.. back to the recipe

Heat up your wok/pan  and pour in about 3 tablesppons of 麻油 Sesame Oil… My mom has a special Black Sesame Oil that she uses specifically for this.  The smells are amazing.. the flavor just packs so much more punch. Use more if you want more sesame oil flavor.  Once it heats up, add some thinly sliced ginger – or chunks of you don’t want to eat it, but I love eating ginger.. the more the merrier – especially for me since I love ginger – and stirfry it til it’s browned and the sesame oil and ginger smell amazing.  Pop in the chicken pieces… and brown it. I love chicken feet like crazy – plus the collagen in it is SUPER good for the skin… it’s how we asians stay so young ;] – and once browned add.. a bottle of rice wine.  Hell, add more if you want, the more the merrier :]  It’ll get a nice orange/tan color – make sure you skim off the excess fat/oil on top of the soup before you drink.

Don’t judge. I love chicken feet [鳳爪<3].

It’s pretty strong though… and too much is a bit “上火” – kind of like the imbalance of your yin and yang… too much firey foods like alcohol, spicy, fried, etc make it off-balanced and it’s too much “fire” aka 火 – Just simmer for like 10-15 minutes or so until chicken is fully cooked and tender and drink and eat away… make sure only to eat a bowl at a time – with noodles it’s AMAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZING…..  my mom and I love it with 麵線 [miàn xiàn] which is a super skinny salted wheat noodle… NOM NOM NOM

I didn’t have mine with noodles last night, I went more caveman approach to NOMMING it… but here’s a look and feel:

Source: Flickr

Side Note: This is a GREAT dish to heal the body after you’ve just given birth, just saying… my grandma did it for her daughters and my mom plans to do it for me.