Honey Soy Garlic Ginger Chicken Thighs

More backup blogging. So many recipes I used to try when living in Urbana. Now I only cook on the weekend. I guess that's what happens when you work longer hours and commute. Anyway, back to cooking.

Sometimes I just want greasy Chinese takeout. It doesn't happen often, but when It does, regret always comes after. I overeat noodles and rice and feel guilty later. If I make my own Asian inspired chicken, less guilt, and less likely to binge on fried rice. 

Honey Soy Garlic Chicken Thighs

1 inch ginger, grated

3 cloves of garlic, grated

1 cup soy sauce, low sodium

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1/4 tsp fish sauce

1/4 tsp sesame sauce

6-7 chicken thighs

Green onions, chopped

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, combine ginger, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, fish sauce and sesame oil. Whisk together until consistent. Sometimes I add mustard or hot sauce in here to give it some kick. 

Put chicken thighs in sauce and mix until well coated. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray and pour chicken into dish. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until chicken reaches 160 degree internal temperature. Let cool for 10 minutes, serve with green onion sprinkled over top. 

Enjoy

-Akemichan

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

Winter is still here. I'm currently in the middle of a blizzard where I have nothing to do. Can't go to work, can't drive around town, can't go to the gym, doctor's appointment cancelled due to weather. It's times like this that I'm happy I no longer work in the airline industry. But now, I have nothing to do all day.

When I'm stuck in the house I feel stuck on so many levels. No exploring, no adventures. Trying not to eat because after I eat, I'll get bored and eat everything in the house. So what's a girl to do? One pot meal should suffice. Everything on could need in one pot, that way I don't have a mini buffet of flavors to steadily consume while trapped in the house. 

I like chicken, I like soup, I like Thai. That'll do.

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided

6 chicken thighs

1 inch ginger, peeled and grated

4 cloves of garlic grated, or chopped

2 bell peppers, sliced

1 large onion, sliced

1 tbsp Thai red curry paste

1 13 oz can of coconut milk

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes 

1 32 oz box of low sodium chicken broth

2 bunches of bean threads

Lemon or lime wedges

Cilantro or basil to taste

Salt and pepper 

Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large pot of Dutch oven on medium high heat, sear chicken in 2 tbsp oil for 2 minutes on each side. Remove from pot and side to the side. 

Heat oil over medium heat and sautee clued onion, sliced bell pepper, garlic and ginger. Sautee for a couple minutes until vegetables start to soften. Add curry paste, and stir until vegetables are coated. 

Add coconut milk, chicken broth and tomatoes. Stir until well mixed. Bring to a boil, then add chicken and bean threads, cover and simmer for 25 minutes. 

When done remove chicken, shrewd with fork and return to soup. Ladle into bowls, and garnish with herbs and lemon or lime. 

Enjoy hot as soup, or thicken and eat over rice. 

July & August Randoms

July and August were transition months for me. July was my first month and FedEx and August was my last month at American Eagle. Major transition occurred and I'm still getting used to it. I get to have two meals a day with Bryan and I leave work before the sunsets. I have weekends off and don't get yelled at daily. Who am I? This is so unusual, in a great way. 

Here's some of the things that have been going on in July and August.

Giant jar of kimchi (gone in a month)

Happy 4th of July

New shoes :-)

Pizza and wine from Pizza Antica

Cucumber mojito

New hair for new job

Just a relaxing night at home with Goof

Noodle salad from Miga

Pool time, nailed it

Frozen yogurt time

Powering through doubles with peach iced tea

Beer and blue drink

Outdoor happy hour at Houlihan's

Zucchini noodles with tofu and mini portabellas

Just because

Penne with kale, goat cheese, tomatoes and peas

Guava helado and strawberry mango paleta from El Oasis

So official

Grilled swordfish steak with peach and cucumber salad

"Green Machine" from PopShop

Living room picnic

Smiley turkey burger

Loving wearing business casual

Quail egg time

Quail egg stuffed mushrooms

Coconut helado and kiwi paleta from El Oasis, my new obsession

Summer was nice, but fall, my favorite season, is upon us. The air is getting cooler and the pumpkins are getting bigger. I can't wait to head over to the pumpkin patch, drink hot apple cider and make some soup.

-Akemi-chan

Long Weekend Trip to Honolulu

I miss home. For a long time I convinced myself it would be difficult to move back. I'm getting so used to roadtrips and hopping on a 2 hour flight to a completely different location and the low cost of living of the Midwest. But every time I go home to see my family, it makes my ambitions of world travel seem irrelevant. So I spent my three-day weekend on a little trip home to see the family before Winter hit Illinois. 

Final approach

I didn't get home until around dinner time in Hawaii and my parents had a little house party so I could see as many people as possible in a short time frame. How nice of them. So as soon as I landed, we went straight home and had dinner together. :-)

On my second day home, we spent most of the time shopping at Ala Moana. When it was time to eat, we were actually going to go to a restaurant further away from the mall. In an improptu move, we decided to go across the street to the new ramen shop Man Ichi. Soooooo glad we did. It was so good. Like, people not talking at the table good. Like don't stop to drink water good. Like don't stop the breathe good.  

Giant soup spoons for hungry patrons

MOOOAARRR please

My last day home, Dad and I went to Diamond Head to take a little hike. I've been trying to be more active, but the harsh and unpredictable Illinois weather makes it difficult to muster up the motivation for outdoor activities. So while the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, we spent the afternoon outside.

The last time I hiked Diamond Head was with my Dad, about 15 years ago, maybe more. How things have changed. I remembered it being so muddy and wilderness-like. No railings, no lights in the tunnels, etc. Perhaps it was my young mind exaggerating everything, but it seemed a lot more difficult. 

This time around, I saw women in moderate-height heels, railings, lights and concrete. So much has changed, but the view is still worth trekking up the mountain for. 

After brweaking a sweat, there's nothing like shave ice. Yes shave ice. Not shaved ice. Not snow cone. Not ice shave. Shave ice. Haha

Classic rainbow

It was a short weekend, but I'm glad I got to do it. Honestly, I've had shorter visits home and I felt like collapsing due to jetlag. But between the family time, the food and the exercise, I felt revived from a sort of rut. Can't wait to come back home again.

Akemi-chan

April in Hawaii

Sometimes you need a getaway. Okay, I know I'm be very obnoxious in saying that, but even the constant traveler needs some downtime. Typically when I go on vacation, I'm all about the sights, the food, the experiences and the moment. I want to pack as many new activities into the trip as possible. The major downside to this travel philosophy, besides the price tag, is you get burnt out. Going to bed at 1 am and waking up bright and early to get the new day started is rough. Sometimes you just need to take a deep breath, forgo the adventure and go back to your roots. Sometimes you just need to go home. 

Going home is always full of possibilities, but sometimes going for a walk in my old neighborhood and reading a book in the backyard is all I need to get myself centered again. To realize what truly matters and to appreciate little things like the sound of the wind in the trees and the warmth from the sun after a long Winter. 

Here are some snapshots from when we went back to da kine. 

Maui bound

We flew from Champaign to DFW to make our way to Hawaii. Unfortunately, we could not get onto the direct flight to HNL. What can we do? It was still in the Spring Break time zone, so we did what we could and hopped on a flight to Kahului, Maui for a short layover before heading home to Honolulu. But first, lunch. Thanks to an awesome recommendation from one of the airport worker, we headed over to Da Kitchen for some local kine grindz. 

Da kitchen's fried spam musubi

Mahi mahi cakes

Kalua pork wontons

Feels weird flying on Hawaiian Airlines instead of American

Takeoff

Heading toward the sunset

My favorite part of the flight. Oh nostalgia!

Smoothie time before the beach from Lanikai Juice

Windy beach day in Haleiwa

Nothing says home like spam

Next stop Zippys, Zipmin

Playing with my brother's puppy

When I'm at home, I'm starving for friends. Luckily one of my good friends still lives on the rock and he planned a wonderful night of food and fun for us to enjoy. What a way to spend a Saturday night.

Dinner at Izakaya Torae Torae

Curried potato salad

Cucumber wrapped roll

Hamachi kama

Red dragon roll

My delicious lychee soju. Amazing!

Chicken karaage

Seafood shooter, my favorite of the night

Tuna tataki

Poke

Spicy tuna roll

Dessert

Full and ready for some fun

Buddy and I at Nocturna Lounge

Sometimes you just need to recover

Puppy love

Shopping of course

Family time at the Cheesecake Factory

Sushi time at our favorite spot

Soft shell crab roll

Giant shave ice with ice cream and azuki bean

Not-so-red-moon

One of our last days on the island, we decided to go stand-up paddle boarding. Last time we were home, we saw some people paddling on the North Shore and it looked amazing. We were very fortunate that my uncle has a couple of boards and let us borrow them fr the day. So we spent the afternoon at Alamoana beach park, paddling our little hearts out.

Breakfast of champions

Homemade mahi mahi tacos

nom nom

Haven't had Jamba Juice in a looooong time

On my last day at home, it was just the family and I. Bryan had already gone home to work and I had another day before making my way to San Francisco. For our last meal together, my family and I decided to try a new Thai restaurant in my hometown. It had great reviews and a lot of good local chatter, so we had lunch at Ranjee Thai.

Sweet and sour fish

Spicy eggplant

Traditional pad thai

Coconut fried ice cream with raspberry sauce

The girls grabbing lunch

I love my family and lately it seems that they are all I have back home. Most of my friends have moved to the mainland, like I have, which makes trips home a little bittersweet. Hawaii is my home and where most of my memories come from. To see that many of the people from these memories do not reside in my home state is not only heartbreaking but symbolic of how so much has changed since I last resided in the Aloha state. But Hawaii will always be home and it's always wonderful to come back to it.

-Akemi-chan