Bento Side Dish Recipe: Chicken and Corn Stir Fry

Homemade food is good for you, I know. However, the few cooked things available in the fridge were lightly seasoned veggies and stewed meat. After seeing these dishes for the past few days, my stomach is now crying for something spicy, something with a fiery kick. 

Taiwanese style fried chicken steak sprinkled with tons of chili powder. My evil inner voice has spoken. Instead, I weighted my options and settled for a spicy sausage sitting in the fridge. Just on the way going downstairs to the kitchen, I slipped. Painfully sitting on the bottom of the stairs with abrasions and bruises. Maybe it's a sign telling me to halt that greedy thought. 

Back to healthy chicken and corn stir fry.

Ingredients?

• 6 chicken tenders
• 1 corn or small can of kernel corn
• 1 medium carrot
• 1/2 onion
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 black pepper
• Small pinch of white pepper powder
• Some toasted white sesame seeds

How?

Take a knife and scrape down the kernels if using one whole corn instead of canned version. Cut the chicken tenders into smaller cubes. Peel and dice the onion. Peel and chop the carrot into smaller cubes. 

Drizzle some olive oil to the pan and turn to medium high heat. Add in the onion along with salt and pepper. Cook till the edges of the onion turns slightly browned.

Add the carrot first and cook for about one minute. Add in the kernels then give it a quick stir. Transfer the chicken to the pan. Once the meat has been fully cooked through, give it a taste and see if more salt is needed.

Sprinkle some white pepper powder before transferring the mixture onto a plate. Also sprinkle some toasted white sesame seeds before serving.

After all, a healthy stir fry isn't bad at all, but cravings need to be satisfied no matter what. I went ahead and grabbed a few chocolate butter cookies in the pantry. 

No injuries this time.

Other lighter Asian stir fry recipes:

• Colorful mung bean sprouts stir fry
• Scrambled eggs stir fry with oyster mushroom and pork slices
• The new greens - stir fry mizuna with garlic, grape tomatoes, and beech mushroom

Quick Fix Meal - Instant Udon with Mentaiko, Panko, and Grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Friday is finally coming up, but for this week, it means work instead of having fun. I can foresee myself staring at the computer the moment I rolled down my bed all the way till my brain cannot function anymore this Saturday. 

Despite the extra workload, tummy still needs to be fed with yummy food. After all, that might be my only comfort this weekend. Under such time constraint, a quick instant Japanese udon comes in handy.

Instant udon with mentaiko, panko, and grated Parmigiano Reggiano -

Ingredients (for 1)?

• 2 packs of instead udon
• 1 teaspoon of mentaiko
• 2 tablespoons of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1 1/2 tablespoon of panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• 1 tablespoon of tsuyu (Japanese soup base)
• Some dried seaweed flakes
• Few drops of homemade chili oil
• 1 poached egg (optional)

How?

The ingredients combination was inspired by a local Japanese restaurant. The udon mixed with mentaiko, grated cheese, and topped with crunchy bread crumbs is one of their popular dishes. 

Grate the cheese and set aside for later use -

Boil some water and cook the instant udon according to the packaging instruction. Once ready, saves one scoop of water on the side first. Drain well and transfer the udon to a serving bowl -

Mix the udon with 1 tablespoon of tsuyu and some chili oil. If the udon dries up or sticking together, add some cooking water that was saved earlier.

While the udon is still hot, quickly transfer the grated cheese over. Also top the udon with mentaiko, panko, and some dried seaweed flakes -

Mix well before serving. You can also fancy it up with additional poached egg - if not in a time crunch like me.

You can find precooked udon at your local Asian groceries. In fact, Costco also sells organic version and it's quite tasty. Mentaiko can be stored in the freezer, and Parmigiano Reggiano has been one of the stable ingredients in my fridge. As a result, putting together this meal using all the readily available items definitely saves a lot of time without sacrificing the taste.

Here's one other simple noodles recipe:
Cooking for one - Japanese cold noodles with the best in season cherry tomatoes plus a touch of lemon