Hearty Three-Bean Chicken Stew

Bacon, chicken chunks and three different beans, cooked to a rich tomato stew with a ton of different spices, and made creamy by a cheeky handful of cheese stirred in at the end. What's not to like? :)

I improvised this on the fly last night with leftover ingredients, so measurements are totally approximate. Feel free to add or omit anything on the list- I think carrots, zucchini or any chunky vegetables of your choice would make a great addition too.

Hearty Three-Bean Chicken Stew

Serves 8

*If you prefer not to use canned beans, just soak 3/4 cup of dried beans for each kind listed (so 2 1/4 cups dried beans total) overnight in water. Bring to a boil the next day and simmer for about 90 mins-2 hrs until cooked. You can use the water from cooking the beans in your stew.

Snip 200g streaky bacon into bits with some kitchen shears- I like to use Trader Joe's Bacon Ends and Pieces for cooking, and I much prefer kitchen scissors to a knife so I can cut it straight into the pot without getting a chopping board greasy.

Add a touch of olive oil and saute over medium-high heat until the fat from the bacon melts.

Add in and cook for a few minutes:

1 large cooking onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, chopped

A few dried chillies, crushed

Cut 2 lbs boneless chicken thighs into small chunks ( far prefer dark meat to white, but you can use chicken breast if preferred). Add to the pot and saute briefly until seared.

Pour in:

1 can (28 oz) chopped tomatoes

1 can (15 oz) each of pinto beans, red kidney beans and white canellini beans, drained (you can use just one type or other varieties if you prefer)

About 1 cup water (or the stock from cooking your dried beans if you did that)

1 tsp each of ground cumin and ground coriander

A generous sprinkling of dried oregano, basil, thyme, smoked paprika and cayenne (or any other herbs you want)

Lots of freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste

1 bay leaf

Bring to a boil, then simmer on low-medium heat, stirring occasionally for about 30-45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and sauce is thickened.

Right at the end, stir in a tiny handful of grated cheese to make creamy (I had a Mexican blend of asadero, sharp cheddar, queso blanco and Monterey Jack lying around).

Let cool slightly before serving. Eat on its own, with rice or with bread.

Tastes even better as leftovers the next day!

Ayam Goreng Berempah (Malay Spiced Fried Chicken)

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Delectably crunchy and bursting with the robust flavours of a dozen herbs and spices, this Malaysian-style fried chicken is simply hard to beat when it comes to good old juicy, crackling scrumptiousness. Be careful cooking this when you're hungry- once all the aromatics start sizzling away your entire kitchen will fill up with a fragrance that is oh so UH-MAZING.

Serve with rice, or alongside nasi lemak for a more divine experience.

Ayam Goreng Berempah (Malay Spiced Fried Chicken)

Serves 4-6

Chop 1 whole large chicken up into about 12 pieces (or use 12 drumsticks/thighs).

Blend in a grinder to a paste:

4 large cloves garlic

2 medium cooking onions

1" ginger

4 sticks lemongrass (white part only)

Stir together to form a batter:

1 egg, beaten

1 tbsp meat curry powder (Baba's is the brand we stick to)

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp cornflour

Combine all the chicken, paste and batter in a large container and add a small handful of fresh curry leaves. Mix well and leave to marinate in the refrigerator at least a few hours (overnight is best).

About an hour before cooking, remove the chicken from the refrigerator and leave it to reach room temperature (so the inside isn't cold- you don't want meat that ends up burning on the outside but raw in the middle!).

Heat up a large amount of oil until hot but not smoking-it has reached the correct temperature when you drop a small curry leaf in and it sizzles and bubbles. Drop the chicken pieces in carefully and deep fry over medium heat for about 10-15 mins until golden and crisp (use your discretion- smaller pieces will cook faster).

Shake off excess oil and place on a rack to drain further.

Stuff your face!

Perfect with some homemade nasi lemak!

Rich Chicken and Bacon Cacciatore with Buttered Couscous

By no means an authentic version of the Italian classic (of which a million variations exist anyway), this impromptu version of pollo alla cacciatore or "Hunter's chicken" was something I quickly whipped up using leftover ingredients for a warming lunch earlier today.

Chopped bacon gives the rich tomato gravy an added intensity and smoky flavour that really elevates it in my opinion- feel free to go the more traditional route with wine, olives, mushrooms and peppers, or splash in some balsamic vinegar or Worcestershire sauce if desired.

Serve with lots of gravy alongside buttered couscous (recipe below-by far the fastest easiest thing to cook ever!), rice, rustic bread or pasta.

Rich Chicken and Bacon Cacciatore

Serves 2-3

Cut up about 250g cooking bacon (or use pancetta/any other fatty bacon you prefer) into small cubes. Dry fry without oil (both the bacon and chicken will be oily enough) over high heat in a large pot, stirring constantly until the fat starts to render and the cubes begin to go golden.

Turn the heat down to medium and add:

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large cooking onion, cut into thin strips

A few bay leaves

Stir and allow to cook in the bacon fat (sinful I know!) until fragrant. Don't worry if at this point things stick to the pan- the addition of chopped tomatoes and water later will deglaze everything nicely.

Throw in 1 kg skin-on chicken thighs/ drumsticks and brown for about 5 mins on both sides, then add:

1 can (400ml) peeled plum tomatoes (bash them a bit to break up the whole pieces). If preferred, regular chopped tomatoes or sieved tomato passata works great too

1 tbsp tomato puree (I used double concentrated)

A bit of water

Good sprinkle of dried mixed herbs

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Sliced carrots (or whatever vegetables/beans you desire)

Cover and simmer on low heat, stirring occassionally for 15-20 mins or until the chicken is cooked and the sauce is thickened to a deep rich red.

Serve hot with plenty of gravy alongside buttered couscous (below) or your carb of choice :)

Buttered Couscous with Herbs and Raisins

Serves 2-3

Stir together in a small pot:

About 150g dried couscous (roughly 50-80g per person)

Sprinkling of dried mixed herbs

1 bay leaf

Small handful of raisins

Salt and pepper

Pour in enough boiling water to cover the entire mixture (water level should be about 1 cm above the surface of the couscous), then cover and leave to stand for about 3 mins until all liquid is absorbed.

Add a knob of butter (which will melt in nicely as you stir) and fluff up the couscous grains with a fork. Done!

Marisa's PERFECT Hainanese Chicken Rice

SAM TAN'S KITCHEN HAS MOVED! Please visit the new website/online store at www.samtanskitchen.com. You can also follow Sam on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Thank you!

Those that know me well will know that whilst I love a lot of different foods, I Love Hainanese Chicken Rice.

That's right, Love, with a capital L, in Bold, and Italicised. Actually, it's more like LOVE, or LOOOOOVE if lengthening a word with extra vowels and typing it in Caps Lock increases the meaning of it.

It is the one and only dish that I could happily eat every meal, every day forever and still request as my last before I die, the sole chart-topper in the (long) list of Yummy Grub Sam Has Loved Since She Was Yay High And Makes Kinky Orgasmic Noises Eating. So you can only imagine how I felt about my good friend, insanely-talented-cook and all-round foodie queen Marisa when I discovered how stupendously, phenomenally, deliciously perfect her version of it was.

Marisa, I LOOOOOVE you! *big hug*

Wonderful Makcik Marisa (makcik means Auntie in Malay, and it's our term of endearment for her because she cooks like the kind of old-school aunt who is able to churn out the most stonking traditional dishes, no matter how complex, all from memory) has generously agreed to let me share her amazing kai fan (chicken rice) recipe here on my blog. As is typical of a makcik she doesn't weigh or measure anything, so all the amounts provided below are my interpretations of what she means by "a bit of", "some" and "quite a lot" after some trial and error.

If you are not from Malaysian/Singapore/Hainan and unfamiliar with the beautiful concept of Hainanese Chicken Rice, think of it as a little tripartite of gourmet harmony: Part 1- poached/steamed chicken infused with the delicate flavours of ginger and spring onion then drizzled with light soy sauce and sesame oil, Part 2 a mouthwatering aromatic rice cooked in the tasty stock created from steaming the chicken, and Part 3 the accompanying condiments- a fresh ginger dip, a light garlic chilli sauce and a thick dark soy sauce (or if you're from Hainan, oyster sauce mixed with minced garlic)- that round off the entire exquisite package for your palate perfectly. Oh and of course there's a Part 4 to the equation if you choose to have it- a bowl of hot, steaming clear chicken broth. Result: culinary sublimity.

The popular Cantonese version from my mother's hometown of Ipoh typically serves chicken rice with pork meatball soup and blanched beansprouts (hence it being called nga choy kai fan or Ipoh beansprout chicken rice), whilst Singaporeans insist that a good variation must have "jelly"- the under-skin fat that solidifies into a clear gel when the chicken is served stone cold- in order to be authentic. Others refer to it as "Hailam" chicken rice and not "Hainanese"- whatever the case, if ever you're ordering it in a restaurant just ask for pak cham kai fan (white chopped chicken rice) and you're in safe territory :) Click here for a more detailed rundown of the regional variations of this divine creation than I could ever hope to write.

Maybe it's just me choosing to ignore that it's the chicken fat making everything taste good, but aside from its deliciousness I do believe Hainanese chicken rice is far healthier than many of its fried, oily, sugary, santan-laden Malaysian hawker counterparts.

You know, just in case you, like, needed an extra reason to eat this or something.

Marisa's PERFECT Hainanese Chicken Rice

Serves 4-6

Best bargain EVER- got this entire 375g bag of reduced-price ginger ends from

Asda for £0.04!

First of all, blend 150g fresh ginger to a paste (you should get about 4 heaped tbsp). Put aside about 3 tbsp to be used later for the ginger sauce/rice.

• PART 1- THE CHICKEN
  

Rub lots of salt and the remaining 1 tbsp ginger paste all over 1 large (approx. 2kg) whole chicken, preferably cornfed (for firmness and texture). If you only have chicken legs or portions lying around you can use those instead, but be sure to adjust cooking time and be prepared for a less accurate result.

The ginger-and-salt rubbed chicken

Combine 1.5 litres water with 8 spring onions, finely chopped (white parts only) in the base of a large steamer. Bring to a boil and steam the chicken for about 45 mins (much less if you're using portions) over medium heat. The chicken is cooked when its juices run clear.

Leave the chicken to cool thoroughly before chopping into pieces. This is essential so that the skin has a chance to firm up and prevent the meat shredding apart when you cut it. Stir together some light soy sauce and sesame oil and drizzle generously over the meat. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves or thinly sliced spring onions.

*Garnishing tip- to make the spring onions curl, slice them into very thin strips and soak briefly in cold water.

• PART 2- THE RICE

Wash and drain 4 cups uncooked long grain white rice (1/2 cup rice per person is usually already a generous portion- this will make enough for seconds).

Blend together to a paste and stir in until well dispersed amongst the rice grains:

1 tbsp of ginger paste

1 medium onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic

Salt to taste

1 tsp sugar *optional

Add 1 pandan (screwpine) leaf, knotted. Top up with chicken stock from the steamer until the liquid level is about 1" above the rice. Cook as per usual.

• PART 3- THE CONDIMENTS

Ginger sauce

Saute in a small saucepan for a few minutes:

2 tbsp ginger paste

2 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

Stir in some finely chopped spring onions if desired. Allow to cool before using.

Chilli garlic sauce

Blitz together:

50g fresh large red chillies (about 4 medium)- make sure to deseed them if they are super-hot like the large chillies you get in the UK!

3 cloves garlic

2 tbsp rice vinegar

Salt

1 tbsp sugar

Serve about 1 teaspoon of each sauce per portion of chicken rice, along with a teaspoon of thick dark soy sauce/cooking caramel- Marisa and I both recommend the Cheong Chan brand (red label, made in Malaysia).

• PART 4- THE SOUP

Season the chicken stock from the steamer well with white pepper and salt. If desired, add some fishballs/pork balls and blanch for a few mins until cooked.

Serve steaming hot with a sprinkling of dried shallots or finely chopped spring onions (the green part).

Say a few words of thanks and eternal gratitude to Marisa, dig in to your homemade kai fan and savour the goodness!

Malaysian Chicken Curry with Potatoes (Kari Ayam)

To call this "Malaysian" curry is probably a bit misleading, seeing that a million different variations exist in the multi-racial country each with its own ethnic take, no version more or less Malaysian than the other.

If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say my recipe here is a sort of cross-breed between a traditional Malay interpretation (with the lemongrass and galangal) and a mamak (Indian-Muslim) variety using ground chillies. But then again what do I know- lots of Malay recipes I've found online use fresh, dried or powdered chillies as a key ingredient too, whilst some mamak recipes omit them altogether choosing instead to emphasise lemongrass. Malaysian-Chinese/ Kapitan/ Nyonya versions meanwhile seem totally identical both in the ingredients and methods to the versions above, save for the addition of belacan (dried shrimp paste) in some adaptations.

Still others list fresh tomatoes, all manners of additional seeds/spices, yoghurt and even pandan (screwpine) leaves as essential, whilst quite a few advocate the technique of stirring in an extra dollop of thick coconut cream right at the end to make it authentically rich.

The conclusion I've come to is so long as your curry contains the holy trinity of onions, garlic and ginger combined with a good curry powder, coconut milk and chunky potatoes somewhere in the mix, you can pretty much add, decrease, remove or substitute any of the ingredients below and still have the right to call your curry Malaysian, albeit one with a bit of an identity crisis.

Ah well. Who cares about the specifics anyway? What is Malaysia after all if not a big fat mind-boggling melting pot of cultures and flavours? Perhaps, just like in real life, there should not exist a desire to differentiate- we are after all one and the same at the end of the day, none superior to the other and each merely unique in our own ways.

Hmm perhaps "Malaysian" Chicken Curry is the most accurate name after all :)

Malaysian Chicken Curry with Potatoes (Kari Ayam)

*serves 4-6

* like all curries, the flavour improves if made one or several days in advance, or even months if you freeze it

Grind to a paste:

6 dried chillies, soaked and deseeded

1 red onion or 6 shallots

4 cloves garlic

1" ginger

Optional: 1" galangal, 1" turmeric root or 1 tsp turmeric powder, a few candlenuts

Fry over medium-high heat in oil until the oil separates (by this, I mean until the paste thickens and visible trace amounts of oil seep from the sides and "separates" from the bulk):

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Prepared spice paste

2 tbsp meat curry powder (Baba's is a reliable brand)

A sprig of curry leaves

Some cloves, star anise, cardamom pods and a cinnamon stick (known in Malay as rempah empat beradik or "The Four Siblings")
Optional: A stick of smashed lemongrass, some cut tomatoes

Stir in and let cook for 10 mins:

1 kg chicken pieces

2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

Optional: 2 pieces asam gelugor/keping (tamarind peel-substitute with 2 tsp tamarind juice if desired)

Add, cover and simmer until meat is cooked, potatoes are tender and sauce is thickened:

Salt to taste

1 tbsp sugar (palm or dark brown sugar if available)

2 1/2 cups coconut milk

*If desired, stir in a bit of thick coconut cream right at the last minute to increase richness

Leave curry to sit for a few hours or overnight before serving (I find it tastes much better not piping hot). Perfect with rice, roti jala, roti canai or pretty much any roti you can think of.

Adobong Manok/ Chicken Adobo (Filipino Vinegar & Garlic Stew)

I first tried this utterly delectable dish when it was home-cooked by my beautiful Filipino friends in the King & I cast, and since then I have been addicted. Vinegar. Sour punchy flavourful vinegar. Who knew it was so lip-smackingly life-changing?

Adobo is the national dish of the Philippines and rightly so- salty, tangy, garlicky and succulent, it is testament to the fact that if there's one thing Asians know how to do right, it's food.

Typically it is made with pork, chicken or a combination of both, and the process could not be easier- throw everything into a pot and stew. The recipe below is a pretty basic traditional version, although I've been told there are all sorts of variations including adding coconut milk, hard boiled eggs, vegetables or even pineapple and liver pate!

Adobong Manok/ Chicken Adobo *Serves 3-4*

(If desired, combine all ingredients and marinate overnight before cooking to improve flavour. The dish also keeps well and can be made a few days in advance)

Saute lightly until fragrant:5 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or more, up to a whole head if desired)1 onion, sliced into strips

Add and fry briefly until browned:

8 large chicken thighs/drumsticks, or 1 kg chicken cut into pieces

(for a different variation use half chicken half pork, cut into cubes)

Add, cover and simmer 30 minutes (longer for pork) until sauce is thickened:

1/2 to 1 cup vinegar of choice (put more or less depending on how tart you want it. I've tried white, malt, cider and rice vinegar, all other kinds should work too).
1/3 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup water
1 tsp black peppercorns

3 bay leaves

*Some insist it is important not to stir at ALL whilst it simmers- I haven't been able to resist but if you can, try it and let me know if it makes a difference!*

I never bother with this, but if desired remove meat once cooked and fry briefly in a separate pan to crisp skins (but watch out for oil splatter).

Serve with hot rice and lots of gravy.