First post! : Here's to writing again + Cooking recipes --> It's all about chicken

Hmm. I am clueless on how to begin writing my first post. I have been thinking lately, I kinda want to get into my writing mode again. I have not been writing since the last time I wrote for the star newspaper back in secondary school (well minus the fact that I need to write academic essays during my uni days---> tough times eh?).

Fun fact: most of my friends and teachers thought I would be pursuing journalism or something writing-related. Fast forward, I am now an accounting and finance degree holder. Funny enough, I used to not like accounting but after years of studying it, I realise it ain't that bad. Maybe because it kinda opens up a lot of opportunities? Idk. I'll be starting work soon enough so let's pray hard I survive 😅. I need all the prayers, friends.

Once I entered college and university, my passion for writing just died down. Quite disappointing, ain't it? I was overwhelmed by all the intellectual people around me i.e. the Grammar NAZIs, the outspoken lads, the walking dictionary, the Mr/Ms know-it-all, etc. I was also lost trying to find myself, trying to fit in, constantly putting in effort into making friendships, went through some ups and down,  going through heartbreak which made me feel really insecure of myself but above all, I am still surviving. Alhamdulillah. (Yeah despite me always looking happy and seemed to know what I want to pursue in life, truth is nope, I don't). Just gotta keep going and see where life takes me, I guess. I am still trying to quit overthinking and be contented with what I have coz ya know life is to chill. Though keep in mind that, you should know when to be serious too. So, here I am channeling my inner passion for writing while I still have that precious free time.

Okay, let's put aside all that because for all you know everyone struggles at some point in life. So this is what I have been longing to write about! Cooking! When I was left alone in London to pursue my university degree, I was finally hit by the sudden realization of 'adulting'. Well, by that I mean learning to be a responsible adult i.e. paying rent, cooking, finding accommodations, working part-time and the list goes on. Cooking is incredibly important because eating out every day can be super expensive. You wouldn't want to go broke, would ya? The first time I cooked I had to face-time my mama LOL. I was terrible but day by day I improved. Shoutout to my housemates and friends who were always eager to eat my food every time I tried a new recipe. Thanks for the compliments and nasty comments (just kidding they are nice people). I've always just used recipes from blogs as a reference and changed them to my own liking. Tbh, it is really up to you. Use your creativity and unleash your potential in cooking!

Disclaimer: Most pics are from my instastories because I didn't save the original photos...Hope it looks appetising enough. Don't expect much. Imma mediocre.

1. Fried Chicken

It looks okay lah, one with sauce and one without

Key ingredients:
Main

• Chicken wings/drumsticks ((5-6 pcs) or diced chicken breast (500g) if you are on a healthy diet  --> up to your preference 
• Corn starch (1/4 cup)
• Flour (1/4 cup)
• Eggs (1-2)
• Salt
• Black pepper

Sauce

• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoon of tomato sauce --> can add more to your own liking
• 1 tablespoon of honey --> can add more to your own liking
• 1 teaspoon of chili paste (cili giling) + a little bit of water --> make sure it is not too watery
• 1 tablespoon of sesame/ alt. spring onions --> for the dressing 

How to prepare

• Marinate the chicken with salt and black pepper and leave it for about 30 mins
• Then mix together all the flour, corn starch, eggs in a bowl. Later on, coat the chicken with the mixture. Make sure the chicken is all covered up
• Preheat the oil in the pan and fry the chicken until it turns golden brown
• As for the sauce, chopped/blend the garlic and stir-fry (tumis) them in a non-stick pan with a little bit of oil.
• Mix all the ingredients needed for the sauce and cook them on medium heat. Do not use strong heat as this will make the sauce burnt.
• Pour the sauce onto the fried chicken
• Finally, sprinkle the sesame/spring onions onto the chicken. Enjoy!

2. Stuffed roast chicken

Key ingredients:

Main (for the stuffing)

• 1 whole chicken 
• Bread (2 pcs)
• 1 egg
• 4 cloves of garlic

Sauce (for the outer skin of the chicken)

• Soy sauce (preferably dark/sweet) [4 tablespoons]
• Sugar [1 teaspoon]
• Salt [1 teaspoon]

How to prepare:

• Beat the egg in a bowl, add the blended garlic and stir it. Then put the bread inside the bowl like how you make french toast. (The idea is to make the bread soft)
• Later on, stuffed the bread inside the chicken through the opening and use a stick (lidi) or a thread to tie the chicken. This is to prevent the stuffing inside the chicken from overflowing.
• Then mix all the ingredients for the sauce and pour it onto the chicken to marinate.
• Preheat the oven. Once it is preheated put the chicken inside at a temperature of 200-degree Celcius for about 30 minutes first. Then turn the chicken upside down and heat it for another 30 minutes.

Im bad at taking photos seriously I've tried

3. Ayam Bakar Masak Kicap (The simplest one I would say)
Key ingredients
Main

• 1/2 Chicken (bought the readily cut one)
• Dark soy sauce [1 tablespoon]
• Oyster sauce [1 tablespoon]
• Salt [1 teaspoon]
• Sugar [1 teaspoon]
• Garlic powder [agak-agak hmm as much as you think would be fine]
• Salad
• 2 tomatoes

How to prepare:

• Marinate the chicken with dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, sugar, and garlic powder for an hour or longer to ensure all of them are properly absorbed into the  chicken
• Preheat the oven/microwave at 200-degree Celcius
• Once marinated, put the chicken into the oven/microwave and heat it for an hour. Make sure you spread some butter/oil over the pan before putting the chicken. Before the last 30 minutes turn the chicken upside down. This is to ensure consistency.

4. Chicken Rice (No pictures for this coz I forgot to take pictures of it 😓)

Chicken

• Braise the chicken (ensure that the chicken sinks under the water). Add 2cm of ginger and two cloves of chopped garlic. When the water is boiling, turn off the heat and let the chicken to cool down. Keep the broth for the soup.
• Marinate the chicken with these ingredients and left it for a while.
• 1 tablespoon of sweet/dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
• 1cm of ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce

Soup

• Use some of the chicken broth from before
• Add a half packet of soup condiment, one cube of chicken stock, two teaspoons of salt, 1/2 onion and a little bit of "daun sup" (think it is called parsley?)

Rice

• Add all the ingredients below in the rice cooker and mix it.
• Two cups of rice (6 people)
• 1cm ginger 
• 2 cloves of chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 3/4 of the chicken broth
• 1 cup of water

Sauce

• Mix all this together on the stove using medium heat.
• 2 red chilies 
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2cm of ginger
• 1 teaspoon of vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 cup of water

That's all for now. Till then. K bye.

P/S: I hope all of you readers enjoy reading this post. Feel free to leave a comment on what I should write about and improved on.