Asian Inspired Spicy Pickles & Grilled Curry Chicken Fillets Recipe

The Sun does not come out to play as often now, this signifies that Fall/Winter is near. Gloomy days really make me crave for something spicy for lunch. With chilies, onion, curry powder stored in the kitchen, I know exactly what dishes I shall prepare which could spice out my dull palette - pan-fried curry chicken fillets and  spicy pickles.

Spicy Pickles
I love vegetable pickles especially the spicy and tangy ones as shown above. This is one of the popular dish back home, either in Chinese 'mixed rice' stalls, Indian mamak stalls or Malay nasi campur stalls, you can get it easily. With the right ingredients, you could prepare a jug of homemade pickles which tastes as good as the one sold.

Ingredients: cucumber and carrot (cut into chunky fries strips), pineapple slices (cut into cubes),sliced onion and chili, sugar, rice vinegar, salt, water.
Instructions: Rub the cucumber with some salt, put aside and let them 'sweat'. So that the cucumber strips will turn crunchy. In a bowl, dissolve the sugar in hot water and pour in the rice vinegar. The sugar, water and rice vinegar ratio is 3/4: 1/4: 1. Drain the cucumber and mix the rests of the ingredients (carrot, pineapple cubes, sliced onion and chili) into the vinegar solution. Store it in refrigerator for 2 hours before serving.
I ended up using the canned pineapple since I couldn't get fresh pineapple from the supermarkets. You may remove the chili seeds if you dislike spicy food, but I prefer not to de-seed the chili for some extra 'kick'. Red shallots may add-up the extra kick too, unfortunately I can't get it here, so I substituted with Bombay onion. The pickles does not disappoint me at all, it turned up to be a great side dish full with flavours - spicy, tangy and sweet. Very appetizing in fact, a must try dish!

Curry Chicken Fillets
I am very proud with these curry chicken fillets. They are well seasoned, moist and tender,  a recipe worth sharing indeed! They are not hard to prepare either. Check out how to prepare these ...

Ingredients: Chicken fillet (preferably chicken breast), curry powder, salt, pepper, sesame oil, soy-sauce, cooking oil.
Instructions: Mix the curry powder, salt, pepper, sesame oil, soy-sauce in a bowl. Pour over the mixture onto the chicken fillets. Some rubbing will help to ensure the chicken fillets are well 'coated'. Marinate the fillets for 2 hours. Heat up the cooking oil in a pan and pan-fry the chicken fillets under medium-high heat for 5-6min. You may oven bake the chicken but they may turn a bit dry. Pan-fry could be a better option as you may control the heat to keep the fillet moist and juicy.

Happy trying!

Interesting Local Food You Should Try When Visiting Denmark

Danish are well known for their distinguished Danish pastries. However, there are much more great Danish food that you should not missed when visiting Denmark.

1. Open Faced Sandwich
Traditional open faced sandwich, also known as smørrebrød in Danish is actually a single slice of bread (often whole-grain rye bread) with different toppings including spreads, cold cut, cheeses, eggs, roasted beef etc and complemented by leafy greens, herbs or pickles.

Smoked salmon and caviar (sometimes with shrimps) smørrebrød and liver pate smørrebrød are commonly served in Danish cafes. Cafeteria in Fotex hypermarket serve affordable smoked salmon, shrimps and caviar smørrebrød. For DKK49 (USD7), you can enjoy fried fish fillet version too, quite a deal to be honest. 

2. Hotdog: Danish Hotdog Stands
Hotdog stands dotted almost every city around Denmark and they are easy to spot. Stop by and pick your favorite hotdog or sausage at the stand. "Hotdog" is universally recognized as hotdog comes inside a bun. However, the Nordic version is more than that. You may have Frank Hotdog which the hotdog is stuffed inside a hollowed out baguette with the sauce of your choice i.e. ketchup, tangy mayo or mustard. Hotdog and Ristet Pølse on the other hand are served separately with the bun.
Check out the various type of sausages available for your selection.

3. Liquorice Candies
"Denmark has a particular love affair with everything liquorice - liquorice chocolate, candies, ice cream even beer" " ... very true statement instead. Liqourice candies are perhaps the most popular one among children and adults. There are huge selection of liquorice candies sold in most of the Danish' supermarkets. Comes in vibrant colors and various flavors, be prepared to be spoilt with choices. Colorful gummy candies and marshmallow are available too. Liqourice is an acquire taste to some. Tip for first timer, instead of buying a big bag, you may get the liqourice stick for DKK3 (per stuck). Remember to bite and chew. Enjoy!

4. Sunset Boulevard - Danish Fast Food Chain
Same concept as the US sandwich chain Subway, Sunset Boulevard is the Danish home grown fast food chain serving freshly made sandwiches and burgers. Thick and juicy patty coupled with fresh lettuce and tomato slices, the hamburger is a winner (sorry for McD's fans).
The sandwich is equally good, freshly grilled chicken pieces pair with secret yellow sauce that could beat the sandwich from Subway. The crusty fresh baguette made the great difference. The herbs blended fries is also a highlight. They taste so good and you can eat it on the own without any dips. One more thing is they don't turn soggy easily.

The fried chicken wings is a Must-Try too. Not all the Sunset Boulevard outlet have it in the menu, perhaps it is only for limited time only. Well seasoned, full of flavor and you will be blown away after the first bite.

Spinach Salad (Sigeumchi Namul) and Kimbap

Leafy spinach is my all-time-favourite. Spinach is so versatile and can easily turn into delicious dish just by simply stir-frying it. In today's recipe, I am going to show you the simplest method to prepare spinach, the Korean way without heating up your pan. It is known as Sigeumchi Namul in Korean or in spinach salad in English.

Ingredients: 1 bag of spinach, sesame oil, sesame seeds, rice vinegar and salt.
Instruction: Boil the spinach in hot water for 30 second. Drain the spinach and cool the spinach under the cold running water. Squeeze out the excess water. In a bowl, mix the sesame oil, rice vinegar and salt to taste. Mix the dressing with the spinach and sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds before serving.

The delicious spinach salad goes super well with my home baked chicken breast and potato wedges.

Not only I eat it as a side dish for my baked chicken and potato wedges, I even have it in my kimbap (Korean seaweed roll).
Seaweed, rice, sesame oil, rice vinegar are the main ingredients for the kimbap. For the rests, you may have any of your favourite ingredients. For me, sigeumchi namul, cocktail sausage, carrot stripe, egg roll cut into stripes are all that is required.

The kimbap rice is a bit under seasoned for this first attempt. Perhaps, some soy-source may help to enhance the taste. I will remember to add it in the next time.