Oyster Sauce Chicken : Microwave Method

This incident happened to me last weekend and I wrote the post immediately after lunch. At the same time, I had the flu. Double whammy! Read on : 

My gas tank is empty and so is the spare tank. Yaaarghh!!!!! Sure I could call the provision shop and have the nice uncle bring me another 2 tanks. But I didn't want the hassle of waiting because the uncle might show up a couple of hours later. My lunch couldn't wait. It's my fault really. I should have ordered another tank when I used up the spare. But, you know, sometimes I forget. Hmmm.....Luckily there's the microwave oven.

I have not been cooking using the microwave oven for a very long time. These days, the main function I use is the convection oven mode when I bake. Or to heat up food when I am in a hurry. I first experimented with microwave cooking many years ago when I was house sitting for my auntie. At the time, I was a student studying for my professional exams.

This is how I cooked the oyster sauce chicken. I placed my minced garlic and sliced ginger into a corningware dish and mixed them with two tablespoons of oil. Then I zapped the dish, uncovered for 1 minute. After that, I stir the garlic and ginger and zap again for 1 minute.

Once that was done, I put in the marinated chicken pieces  into the dish and stirred to mix it with the garlic and ginger. I covered the dish and zapped for 2 minutes. Then, I take the dish out and removed the lid carefully (be careful the steam can be very hot and sometimes the oil can spatter) and stirred the chicken. Repeat zapping for another 2 minutes, remove, stir and zap for a final 2 minutes. Then I just left the dish covered for the chicken to cook further using residual heat.

Next, the vegetables. I bought a bunch of spinach and I would usually just fry it with garlic and salt. I crushed a few cloves of garlic and removed the skin, leaving the garlic whole. Then I put it into a corningware dish and mixed the garlic with a tablespoon of oil.

I zapped the garlic in the microwave for 1 minute, removed the dish and put in the spinach, mixing it with the garlic. Zap for 2 minutes covered, and stir. Zap for another 1 minute, remove the lid and stir the spinach. Let it stand for a few minutes to cook on residual heat.

Oh, forgot to add salt to my vegetables but that is alright because I have a bowl of soya sauce with black vinegar and raw garlic and chilli padi. That is my favorite condiment when eating dishes like this.

So how did the dishes taste? Well, nothing beats the wok. The aroma of browned garlic and ginger was missing but the chicken was very tender. It was not overcooked. The vegetable tasted bland as there is none of the usual fried garlic and salt aroma and taste. But still, it was edible and at least I was able to put food on the table.

Just in case you are interested to cook using the microwave or are caught with your gas tank empty, here's the recipe for what I cooked.

Chicken Oyster Sauce

Recipe Source : Phong Hong

Ingredients :

- 2 chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces

- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce

- 1 tablespoon light soya sauce

- 1 tablespoon dark soya sauce

- 2 tablespoons Shao Hsing wine

- 5 cloves garlic, minced

- 10 thin slices ginger

- 2 tablespoons cooking oil

Method :

1. In a mixing bowl, add chicken, oyster sauce, light soya sauce, dark soya sauce and Shao Hsing wine. Mix well to coat and set aside for 20 minutes.

2. Put garlic and ginger in a corningware dish and mix with the oil.

3. Microwave uncovered for 1 minute and stir.

4. Microwave for another 1 minute.

5. Add marinated chicken pieces and stir to mix with the garlic and ginger.

6. Cover the dish and microwave for 2 minutes.

7. Remove the cover and stir.

8. Cover the dish and microwave for another 2 minutes.

9. Remove the cover and stir.

10. Cover and microwave for another 2 minutes.

11. Keep the cover on and remove from the microwave and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Spinach with Garlic

Recipe Source : Phong Hong

Ingredients

- 1 bunch of spinach (bayam)

- 5 cloves garlic, smashed and left whole

- 1 tablespoon oil

Method :

1. Put garlic into a corningware dish and mix with oil.

2. Microwave for 1 minute uncovered. (Can add salt to taste after this, I forgot)

3. Add spinach and toss to mix with garlic and oil.

4. Cover the dish and microwave for 2 minutes.

5. Remove cover and toss the spinach.

6. Cover and microwave for another 1 minute.

7. Remove cover and let stand for another 2 to 3 minutes before serving.