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

Lemon Ginger Honey "Tea"

Despite the fact that I was raised in a family that drank mostly coffee, I grew up with tea; Japanese green tea with some homemade meals, jasmine tea at Chinese restaurants and eventually I made my way to Earl Grey and other European teas. I guess to some degree my mind always associated coffee with adulthood and if I'm being completely honest, I don';t consider myself a grown up. I drink coffee from time to time, but my heart, mind and soul is in tea.

I haven't been on a plane in a few months, and once I return from our little road trip to Michigan I get a sore throat. These allergies are killing me. Even though I have a fully stocked cabinet of teas, I wanted something ginger-y. Ginger reminds me of when I was younger (and sick) and my mother would give me candied ginger to sooth my achy throat. Sometimes the memories are just as soothing as the resolution.

Lemon, Ginger, Honey "Tea"

1 1/2 cups of water
1-2 tbsp honey
1 3 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
1/2 lemon

In a small pot, bring water to a simmer. In the meantime, cut ginger into 1/2 inch pieces and cut lemon into slices/ wheels. Once water has come to a boil, add honey to taste. Then add ginger and lemon. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes to infused flavors into water. Scoop/ strain out the ginger and lemon and enjoy hot or cold.

-Akemi-chan

PINspiration: Curried Chicken Thighs with Coconut Rice

Sometimes I want something comforting and substantial, even though it's Summer and I normally crave light and refreshing. I find the perfect way to ease these cravings is with chicken thighs. They're cheap, easy, flavorful and satisfy both Boyfriend and myself. 

Since I'm still riding this coconut craze, I thought curry would be a great option. Time to crank up he spices. 

I found a recipe on Pinterest, no surprise there. For the original recipe go to this link. It seemed simple enough for a weeknight meal and had lots of thing that I liked. I'm not sure if I needed to use the basmati rice (especially since it was expensive) but you live and you learn. 

The image from the original recipe

I tweaked the recipe a little to include some other ingredients, like garlic powder, onion powder, peas and coconut oil, but I think it turned out pretty good. So good that I ate it twice in one day. Whoops!

Curried Chicken with Coconut Rice

 4 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
6 chicken thighs (bone in, skin on)
1 tbsp coconut oil
3-6 garlic cloves, minced
3 inches of fresh ginger root, grated
1/2 onion, diced
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups basmati rice
1 can unsweetened "lite" coconut milk
2 cups frozen peas
chopped green onion (optional)
fresh cilantro (optional)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack at lowest level, or at least low enough to fit dutch oven.

In a medium sized bowl combine curry powder, cayenne, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. One by one, place chicken thighs into mixture to coat chicken on all sides. Place dutch oven onto stove and turn heat  to medium high. Add coconut oil until it melts in dutch oven. Add chicken thighs (I did three at a time) and brown on both sides. When browned, remove from dutch oven and place on plate (I used the lid of the dutch oven, turned upside down).

Improv plate

When all chicken is done browning, add onions, garlic and ginger. Cook over medium heat until onions have become soft. Add tomato paste, stir, and cook for another minute. Add basmati rice and stir to thoroughly coat rice with tomato mixture. Cook for one minute. Add coconut oil and 2 cups of water. Stir and bring to a boil. When liquid is boiling, add chicken on top of rice and in liquid. Bake in oven for 15 minutes. Add frozen peas to hot liquid, cover, and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until rice is cooked.

When finished, spoon rice and chicken onto plate and top with fresh cilantro. Enjoy!

Maybe I should start wiping my plates.. haha

This recipe makes 6 very large servings, including a lot of rice to go with your chicken. I wouldn't mind adding more veggies next time, like bell peppers or maybe some sweet potatoes in the Fall, but this is good for now. If only I can keep myself from raiding the fridge for the left overs.

-Akemi-chan

Green Smoothie: Chia, Mango, Coconut and Kale

Yesterday (Sunday) I agreed to work a morning shift at the airport. Thanks to our handy trading system at work, I covered a coworker's shift as a thank you for covering me so I can rendezvous with my family in New York. So once again I was waking at 4AM to work a morning shift. Since I was working a double shift, I made anticipatory preparations for food. 

I love smoothies and when I plan on being up for 20 hours a day, it's a great snack/ light breakfast. In an effort to get my fruit and vegetable servings I made another protein packed green smoothie.

Snacking on smoothies in between flights

Mango Coconut Green Smoothie

1 tbsp chia seeds
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 mango, diced
1/2 banana
1 tsp grated ginger
1/3 cup almonds
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 cup kale
handful of ice
1/4 tbsp water

Add chia seeds to a small bowl and add coconut milk. Soak chia seeds for an hour or overnight in the fridge. Add all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.


It was a hard and complicated day and I'm glad I took the time to get easy meals together. When you spend a good amount of time running around and lifting bags, it's good to have a filling smoothie. That way I didn't have resort to fast food, like many of my coworkers do. I like burgers and fried chicken just as much as the next person, but it just leaves me feeling heavy and sluggish. Not ideal for a day full of physical labor.

I was at work from 5AM til noon, returned at 4:30PM and stayed until 1AM thanks to delays. Thank you Midwestern thunderstorms. I may not consider working another double for a while, but I know it won't last long. My love for traveling is too great and trading shifts to embrace said traveling is bound to happen. Totally worth it.


-Akemi-chan

Green Smoothie: Spinach, Apple, Banana, Ginger, Carrot

Green smoothie take two. I followed a recipe I found online that involves ginger. Ginger is supposed to have anti-inflammatory and immune system boosting powers and since I've been feeling sluggish and under the weather, I figured it couldn't hurt.

Green Smoothie: Spinach, Apple, Banana, Ginger, Carrot

1 banana, sliced
1 apple, diced
1 carrot, grated
1 celery stalk, grated
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
1 cup fresh spinach
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup milk, I used almond milk

Blend all ingredients together until smooth.

Pretty colors

This smoothie definitely has a kick thanks to the ginger. It was almost too much ginger for me. The spinach was a great addition and gave it a fresh feeling. Now I have to figure out what green smoothie combination I'll try out next.

-Akemi-chan

Favorite Time of Year/ Sweet Potato Soup

After living in the temperate, beachy, year-long-summer climate of Hawaii for 22 years, I've come to appreciate the beauty of seasons. This is my third Autumn in Champaign, IL and it gets more beautiful every year. The changes in every gust of wind, the gradient of color in the trees, the perfect mixture of cold crisp air and sunshine. There's nothing like Fall.

As a former Fashion Merchandising major, I've been hypnotized by the allure of a Fall wardrobe: the aubergines, mauves and forest greens that cannot be fully expressed in Hawaii's consistent uniform of shorts and sandals . Fall has been the time of year that I do not envy my homeland, that I do not wish for the past. Yet, every Autumn brings new adventures, surprised and inspirations to be found.

I have never fully embraced the comfy, cozy nature of Midwest food. I grew up in a place that 70 degrees was freezing! Fresh, light and Asian-inspired were the normal descriptions to our food. Dumplings, mac n cheese, pot roast and meatloaf were not part of my childhood. Instead we had Kalua pork (a traditional Hawaiian variation on pulled pork), Spam musibis (rice balls with teriyaki pan fried spam), and Potuguese bean soup (a soup made of kidney beans, linguisa sausage, cabbage, potatoes and carrots). This year, is the year I take Fall by the horns and make hearty, stick-to-your-ribs food that my Midwestern honey would be proud of.

Let's get started.

In today's kitchen, we have sweet potatoes. I bought them hoping to make some sweet potato fries. They were delicious, but I wanted something warm and hearty and not something that I would be crouched over in the corner shooing away boyfriend because they were my precious. Today's lunch is sweet potato soup.


Since boyfriend is at the office, I made two servings: one for my lunch and one for him when he gets home from work.

I started with sweet onion, garlic and sweet potatoes. Dice onion, chop garlic and peel and cube the sweet potatoes. We LOVE garlic in our house, but add less if you're not a big fan. Take a pot, over medium heat and add some extra virgin olive oil. After oil is heated up, add onion, garlic, salt and pepper.After onions and garlic are cooked (I like them a little browned), add sweet potatoes and chicken broth.

Bring heat up to a boil, then simmer the mixture for around 5 minutes. The chicken broth will help the sweet potatoes soften and the broth adds extra flavor. You can substitute with water, vegetable broth, beef broth, or add a splash or two of wine.

Add seasonings for warmth and depth. I added curry powder, cumin, red pepper flake and a pinch of cinnamon. You can veto the red pepper flake if you don't like the heat. Roughly chop some fresh flat leaf parsley and add to pot with spices. Stir mixture to incorporate flavors.

I also added some freshly grated ginger for a little kick. Used my handy Japanese ginger grater that I got from home, specifically to grate ginger. PS: also wonderful for grating garlic.

After the potatoes are soft and the flavors are incorporated, I blended the soup with my wonderful immersion blender to desired consistency. I love my soup with some texture so I didn't blend it to be silky smooth, but it's your preference. Also, if you want your soup to be super smooth, you can add more liquid to help the process.

After desired consistency is reached, prepare toppings. I chose a few parsley leaves, diced cherry tomatoes, a lime wedge and crumbled goat cheese.

Ladle soup into bowl, add tomatoes, goat cheese and parsley. Squeeze lime juice over soup. For added flavor, I drizzled some olive oil over the top.

 Sweet Potato Soup with Goat cheese and Tomatoes

• 2-3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1-1/2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cherry tomatoes, diced
• 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

Bon appetite and happy Fall!

-Akemi-chan