Tag Archives: chili

Recipe: Taiwanese-style Three Cup Chicken or Pork

I’m a fan of cooking shows, especially the globe trotting kind. While he’s no Andrew Zimmern (whose Bizarre Food series I absolutely enjoy), I recently digested Ainsley Harriott’s street food series “Eat the Streets” on Netflix and was excited to try out some ideas I gleaned from the show.

One of them is a strangely familiar dish, bearing passing resemblance to Filipino adobo chicken…in which chicken parts are braised in a soy sauce base.

Three Cup Chicken/Pork is an easy poultry dish made herby with garlic, ginger and basil. As the meat braises in a spicy-salty-sweet sauce, the basil really gives this dish the perfect finish.

I found pre-cut drumsticks at my local 99 Ranch grocery, but you can chop your own or substitute chicken thighs. I’ve also cooked this with pork belly–which is especially divine.

Serious Eats’ article on San Bei Ji helped me refine some of the measurements and ingredients to suit my family’s tastes. As it stands this recipe contains a lot of heat, but feel free to adjust or omit the chili peppers.

  • 1-2lbs of chicken drumsticks, cut into 3rds (or pork belly)
  • 2oz black or toasted sesame oil
  • 2oz mirin or rice wine
  • 4oz kecap manis, sweet soy sauce
  • 1-2oz chopped garlic
  • 1-2oz ginger root, sliced into rounds
  • 5 pieces of thai bird chili peppers (less to moderate the heat)
  • .5-1oz thai basil

Over medium-high heat, saute garlic, chili peppers and ginger root in sesame oil until fragrant. Add protein, rice wine and sweet soy sauce and braise for 15-20 minutes. Add thai basil and toss until wilted.

Recipe: Brisket Jalapeno Chili

I forgot to post my brisket chili recipe last week, since getting wrapped up in chasing down issues with my web hosting (AWS and GCP). I’m not even sure I remember the ingredients any more, but technically you can follow my original Slow Cooker Jalapeno Chili recipe and get about the same results. After all the prep work, the slow cooker does all the cooking for you.

So I’m just going off memory but here are the ingredients:

  • 4lbs smoked flat of brisket
  • 10oz, Onions, raw
  • 56g, Garlic, raw
  • 5-6oz, Peppers, jalapeno, raw, some seeded, some pan roasted
  • 6oz can (10 tbsp ea.), Tomato Paste
  • 2 or 3 14.5oz can (1 4/5 cups ea.), Fire Roasted Diced Tomato
  • 6 fluid ounce, Water – Municipal or beef browth
  • 1 tbsp, Spices, chili powder
  • 1 tbsp, Spices, onion powder
  • 1 tbsp, Spices, garlic powder
  • 2 tbsp, Spices, paprika
  • 1 tbsp, Spices, cinnamon, ground
  • .50 tbsp, Dark cocoa powder unsweetened
  • .50 tbsp, Spices, pepper, black
  • 1 tsp, Spices, pepper, red or cayenne
  • 4oz Trader Joe’s Sriracha and Roasted Garlic BBQ Sauce
  • dash of ghost pepper spices
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

After chopping garlic and onions, I sweated them briefly in a pan with some EVOO. I tossed those into a 5-6qt slow cooker, along with fresh chopped jalapeno chunks. I reserved 2 of the jalapenos and pan roasted them until their skins blistered, before chopping those up and including them in the mix.

As you may recall the flat of brisket was part of a whole packer we previously smoked. Since it tends to be lean and tougher than the point, the flat end of the brisket is a pretty good candidate for slow cooking. I sliced it up in 1″ chunks and tossed it into the crockpot.

At this point I threw in the rest of the ingredients, though I’m having trouble recollecting if I added 2 or 3  cans of diced tomatoes. If you have a bigger slow cooker and don’t mind a more “wet” chili, go ahead and included the 3rd can. But I prefer mine more meaty and chunky, with less sauce in my chili.

Be careful with the ghost pepper seasoning; it can heat up a chili quite fast!

Recipe: Slow Cooker Jalapeno Chili

This slow cooked chili ambushed many at a workplace potluck lunch with its heat. The secret is leaving the seeds intact on 1 or 2 jalapeno peppers. Cumin powder lends a distinctive aroma to the chili. Additional heat furnished by chili powder, red pepper and a dash ghost pepper chili added to meat while browning in a pan.

  • 8 oz, Angus Ground Beef Chuck 80%/ 20%
  • 8 oz., Ground Lamb
  • 8 oz, Ground Pork – Fixed
  • 9 oz(s), Onions, raw
  • 56.00 g, Garlic, raw
  • 4.50 oz(s), Peppers, jalapeno, raw
  • 6oz can (10 tbsp ea.), Tomato Paste
  • 14.5oz can (1 4/5 cups ea.), Fire Roasted Diced Garlic Tomato
  • 6 fluid ounce, Water – Municipal
  • 1 tbsp, Spices, chili powder
  • 2 tbsp, Spices, cumin seed
  • 2 tbsp, Spices, paprika
  • 1 tbsp, Spices, cinnamon, ground
  • 0.50 tbsp, Spices, pepper, black
  • 1 tsp, Spices, pepper, red or cayenne
  • 8 oz, Fresh Lean Ground Turkey With Rosemary Extract
  • dash of ghost pepper chili

Over medium heat, lightly brown the meats in a skillet, season with spices to taste. Add to a preheated slow cooker. Using the fat/grease left over from the cooked meats, saute garlic and onions until aromatic, about 2-3 minutes, then add to the slow cooker. Toss in the remaining ingredients, then cook low and slow for 4 hours. Or cook on high for 2 hours.

Serving suggestion: serve warm over hard boiled eggs or egg bake. For my potluck lunch, it made for a spicy, meaty topping on burgers and hot dogs.

IMG_20160707_JalapenoChilionEgg

Yields about 78oz of chili.

MPF calculation per 2oz serving:
71 calories
Total Fat 4g
Total Carbohydrate 3 g
Dietary Fiber 1g
Sugars 1 g
Protein 5 g