One-pan Mexican Chicken and Rice

{McCormick Mexican Vegana Cooking Contest} : 

One-Pan Mexican Chicken and Rice 

Never done Mexican Dish before! 😅 An boy’s feedback, thumbs up for first attempt! But, please cook more chicken! But, my fridge only left 2 pieces of boneless chicken legs ! 😂😬

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken thighs (boneless and skin on) 
• 1.5 cups of pearl rice / short-grained rice 
• 1.5 cups of chicken stock 
• 1/2 yellow onion (diced) 
• 1/2 red capsicum (diced) 
• 1/2 cup corn (you can use either fresh corn or can ones) 
• 1 tbsp minced garlic 
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder 
• 1/3 tsp paprika 
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1.5 tbsp onion powder 
• Sea salt
• Black pepper 
• Parsley chopped for garnishing (optional) 

Method:

1. Rinsed rice and drained. Set aside. 
2. Season chicken thighs with garlic powder, oregano, paprika, sea salt (about 1.5 tbsp) and black pepper (about a tbsp). Salt and pepper is estimated as I used McCormick seasalt grinder and black pepper grinder. Set aside while preparing other ingredients. 
3. Heat cast iron skillet or Dutch oven. (I used my non-stick pan as I don’t have either one.) Add chicken, skin-down and cook till brown for 4-5 minutes. Flipped over and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Remove and set aside. 
4. Preheat oven to 230degrees. 
5. Add oil to same pan. Add in onions and cook for 3-4minutes. Once onions soften, add in garlic. Cook for about a minute. 
6. Add in uncooked rice, red pepper, corn and cook for a minute. Pour in chicken stock. You can use either store-bought chicken stock (e.g. Swanson’s brand) or homemade chicken stock. If you use store-bought chicken stock that contains salt, please adjust salt accordingly. 
7. Seasoned with a tbsp of salt, 1.5 tbsp onion powder and black pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and off heat. Placed chicken on top of rice, skin side up. Baked in oven, covered with foil for 30-35mins. (** I transferred the rice to an oven-proof dish and placed chicken on top. Then baked covered with foil in oven.)  

*Note: As oven temperatures differs, please adjust baking time accordingly. If you prefer softer texture of rice, please bake longer.
#McCormick Brings Passion to Flavour #MexicanFlavor #FlavorForecast2019

Char Siew Pork Ribs

Ingredients:

• 6 Slabs of pork ribs (about 2kg pork ribs)
• 3/4 bottle of hoisin sauce (Lee Kum Kee brand) 
• 1/2 bottle of char siew sauce (Lee kun Kee brand) 
• 1/2 cup of soya sauce 
• 2 tbsp of chinese cooking wine 
• 2 tbsp of honey
• 2 tbsp of brown sugar
• 4 tbsp of minced garlic
• 2 tbsp of garlic powder
• 2 tbsp water 
• 1 tsp of five-spice powder

Additional glaze (to prepare in a bowl):

• 2 tbsp of honey
• 1/2 bottle of char siew sauce
• 1 cup of marinade from ribs
• 2 tbsp of water 

Method:

1. Combine hoisin sauce, char siew sauce, soya sauce, cooking wine, honey, brown sugar, garlic, garlic powder, water and five-spice powder in a bowl. Whisk well to combine. 
2. Rinse and pat dry pork ribs. Placed on a big plate. Pour half of the marinade on the ribs and and coat well. Transfer ribs into a jumbo ziplock bag and pour the remaining marinade into bag and make sure that ribs are well-covered with marinade.  Zipped bag and refrigerate overnight for best results. 
3. Remove pork ribs from fridge 30mins before grilling. 
4. Preheat oven at 200 degrees, top and bottom heat. 
5. Drain ribs from marinade. Transfer ribs into an over-proofed dish/tray, line with baking/parchment paper. Cover with aluminium foil and use a fork to make some holes to allow heat to release from ribs. Grill ribs for 1.5hours covered. 
6. Remove cover after 1.5 hours. Transfer ribs onto baking roasting tray with rack. Baste with prepared glaze and place back into oven at 220 degrees. Rotate and flip in between grilling. Continue to baste ribs with the glaze to ensure it achieve even colour. 
7. Remove from oven once ribs are brown. Allow it to cool slightly before serving. 

** Note: Oven temperatures varies. Adjust time and temperatures accordingly during grilling.

Steamed sliced fish with ham

Ingredients: 

• 400g of Sliced fish fillet ( I used batang fish fillet) 
• 4 slices of picnic ham 
• 5 slices of ginger 
• Spring onion for garnishing (optional) 

Marinade for fish: 

• Dash of salt, pepper and rice wine
• A tsp of oil 

Seasonings: 

• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp light soya sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar/ rock sugar
• 1 tsp of water
• Dash of sesame oil 

Method: 

1. Rinse fish and cut into slices. Alternatively, purchase vacuum-packed sliced fish fillet from #haisiaseafoodsupplies online, which is conveniently packed for cooking. Add marinade and set aside for 15 mins. 
2. Sliced picnic ham into quarters. 
3. Mix seasonings in a bowl. 
4. Arrange sliced ginger onto steaming plate. Arranged sliced fish and ham alternatively together on top of ginger slices. 
5. Bring water in steamer to a boil. Steam fish over high heat for 6 minutes. In the meantime, use a small saucepan to heat up the seasonings (oyster sauce, light soya sauce, sugar and water. Stir in sesame oil and turn off heat. Pour over fish when the 6 minutes is up. 
6. Served hot and garnish with spring onion.