It is dinner time once again. And tonight is inspired by the amazing lunch I had today, in the Gugulethu township, and the Chinese cuisine. I love Chinese flavours :). Funny enough growing up, people thought I had some Asian blood in me because of the shape of my eyes. But my mother swore she didn’t know any Asian people, never mind making a child with one.
Anyway, on to dinner. Tonight I’m making Roasted chicken marinated in Mzoli’s secret braai sauce, served on a bed of Chinese vermicelli noodles and a soy and ginger broth. With an alternative red cabbage purée instead of the broth, as my sister does not appreciate spicy flavours.
What do you need?
– Chicken thighs. – Mzoli’s braai sauce
– Chinese vermicelli noodles.
– Fish stock. – soy sauce. – ginger. – red cabbage – miso soup paste
– Spices- pepper, chili flakes, tumeric.
– leftover red cabbage purée
What to do?
– The chicken- dry rub with pepper, salt and chili flakes. Add onto roasting pan with fish stock, then drizzle olive oil on top. Pop into oven at 230 deg for 45 min. At 30 min, take out of the oven and brush with the Mzoli’s sauce and put the pan back. At 45 min take off oven again and brush with the sauce. Cover with foil so it doesn’t cool too quickly while finishing your other elements of your meal.
– The broth- in a pot, add a cup of fish stock, 2 tbs of soy sauce, 6 slices of ginger( not too thin), roughly chopped onions, a handful of red cabbage for some sweetness, 1 tsp of turmeric and 1 tbs of miso soup paste. Let this slowly boil until reduced to 3 quarters. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Then sieve for serving.
– Vermicelli noodles- these cook very quickly. Into a pot with boiling salty water, add the noodles. It should take 2-3 min to cook.
– Red cabbage purée- this is left over from a dinner a few days ago. Check it out under; Beef fillet with couscous, green beans and red wine jus.
Serve in a pasta bowl. Pour in the broth, then the noodles in the middle as a bed for the chicken, then the chicken. Drizzle the juices from the roasting pan on top of the chicken, then garnish with chives and a tomato.
NB- I prefer cooking with chicken thighs as they have some fat that adds a lot more flavour, as compared to breast that tends to dry quickly.
The Chinese vermicelli noodles are also known as glass noodles or cellophane noodles.
