The box came from 7000s miles away with love
Normally Mom and Dad will visit us during holidays. Because of the Covid this year, nobody is traveling, especially international travel. Dad decided to send us a big goodies box from Taiwan. I guess my diet plan is out of the window until 2021. Pineapple cake is everyone’s favorite so dad bought two boxes and Mr.J already finished a box in one week. Peanut candies, crackers, and Sun cakes were all so yummy. The two vermicelli in the middle are the regional specialty food from KimMeng Island. Dad bought those for us to try when he visit KimMeng not long ago.
Vermicelli normally is eaten in a rich savory broth. Mr. J doesn’t like anything soupy so this recipe is a little different. The Shaoxing Wine in the pantry, today, is the day for you the shine.
- 2 bundle Vermicelli or 4oz cooked angle hair.
- Salt and pepper
- 4 Chicken Thighs with or without bone
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1.5 cups ShaoXin Wine
- 1 cup warm water
- Fresh ginger, sliced thin
- Green onion for garnish
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream, optional
1.) Clean and trim off the excess skin from chicken thighs. Season both sides generously with salt and pepper. What are you doing? don’t throw those chicken fat away. They are the flavor bombs.
2.) Heat up a large pan and fried those flavor bombs to crispy. Remove chicken cracklings and set them aside. In the same pan, brown the ginger slices with remaining chicken fat. Remove the ginger and set them aside when the ginger became aromatic and brown. Add sesame oil and chicken thighs into the same pan. Yes, one pot meal, nobody want to wash extra dishes.
3.) Once the chicken thighs are brown on both sides. Add ShaoXin wine, brown ginger slices, warm water. Turn the heat down to low. Cover the pan and cook for 5-8 minutes or until chicken thighs are cooked.
4.) Add vermicelli. The package says it cook in 30 seconds and they aren’t joking. Gotta move fast from this point. Turn off the heat and add 1 tablespoon of heavy cream.
5.) Sprinkle fresh chopped onion and crispy chicken skin as topping. The vermicelli is soft. The sauce is creaming. The green onion gives a pop of freshness and that crispy and crunchy of the chicken cracklings provide a great contrast in texture. It’s a fusion of goodness.
