Air fried Chicken Drumstick

This is one of the happiest results I've obtained from using my Philips air fryer so far ( only been 3 days). The drumsticks were so crunchy and NOT greasy it was sheer joy! I thought to myself I'd never be eating KFC again since i can have fried chicken without the unnecessary fats and guilt!

So happens after making this my hub bought me KFC immediately the next day just cause its my favorite. Couldn't bear to eat those wicked wings but aha a brilliant thought struck. When the KFC got home, they were all soggy and greasy after having been boxed up for a few hours. I placed them into the Philips airfryer at 160 degrees for about 15-20 minutes and they came out all crunchy (crunchier than if you'd have it fresh from the KFC outlet, in Australia that is since they do it soft fry) and it almost felt like it was grease less since all the extra grease were released into the pan when its air fried. But hub complained that without the greasy feel it didn't seem like KFC hahaha..

Back to the air fried chicken (spicy) recipe;

Ingredients:

-8 chicken drumsticks (the ones i got were pretty huge)
-2 cups of home made buttermilk (2 cups of milk added with 2 tbsp of white vinegar, leave it for
5 minutes before using)
-2 tsp of salt
-2 tsp of soy sauce
-dash of freshly ground black pepper
-2 tsp of garlic powder (substitute with fresh garlic if you're game to peel and chop some)
-2-3 tbsp of tobasco sauce
-2 tsp of paprika
-tapioca starch (bought the one meant for deep frying) mixed with some salt & pepper for coating the drumsticks

Marinade the drumsticks with all the above ingredients, overnight or for 30 minutes or more. Because I'm making this for my kids too, I didn't add in the tobasco sauce and paprika while marinating, instead I add them in at the last moment so I could make some without the spiciness for the kids and not having to marinade them in 2 separate bowls (anything to save up on washing).

Coat the drumsticks with tapioca starch mixed with some more salt & pepper.

Air fry them for 15 minutes (for very small drumsticks) or 20-25 minutes for large drumsticks at 180 degrees. Turn them over half time through cooking to ensure even crispiness.

Note: for maximum crunchiness do not overlap the drumsticks . I only airfried 3 at a time (again the were pretty huge).

Note to self: Check with Philips-some of the tapioca starch actually got blown out of the appliance while cooking, is this to expect of fine crumbs?

Philips airfryer

After much research, I've decide to obtain this new appliance in hope of making healthier fried food. Having read many reviews (very conflicting ones that is) I'd have to get one to try it out, after all its 30 days money back guarantee. I can tell you that I have no intention whatsoever of returning it after only having owned it for 3 days and being totally delighted with it! Am sooo happy with this little new toy here for its made my life in the kitchen so much easier and the results it could achieve is totally unbelievable!

There were a lot of reviews that this appliance was nothing more than a table top oven and a replicate of many other appliances already on the market but with a hefty price tag. Also what it could do was achievable with the oven too. I beg to differ! Before I went out to buy this I actually experimented with my tabletop convection cooker, table top oven and my 90cm oven if it make food crispy as if they have been deep fried. Conclusion-No!

So bottom line is-I'm happy with my Philips air fryer as it could give me the texture of deep fried food that other appliances can't.

The Philips air fryer came with a recipe book that mainly emphasise on potatoes. I'm not big on spuds, I bought this more with the intention that it could make main meals such as chicken/pork chops and fry whatever I would do the traditional method (deep frying with oil). But I've read that Tempura is not advisable on this fryer, no big deal for me, I don't do tempura anyway :)

I'll be jotting down my experiments with this airfryer here for my reference and anyone else who's interested.

Hainan chilli dipping sauce

This is the chilli sauce that you'd get from the Malaysian chicken rice hawker stalls. I've made this numerous times and I just couldn't get the taste right until this time when i accidently poured in way more sugar than i intended. So there you go, its all in the sugar. Back in the days eating at the hawker stalls, I'd shamelessly lace my chicken rice with this sauce, thinking back now makes me feel so guilty.

I'll still make this, just won't be dousing my rice with it like i used to :)

Ingredients:- (portion for a small sauce plate)
2 big red chili with seeds
5cm ginger
4 garlic cloves

Seasonings:-
2 tbsp of lime juice/white vinegar
3 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of salt

Pound in a mortar & pestle or place in a blender to process the aromatics, when you get the consistency that you like, then add in the seasonings. Adjust taste to your liking

Shallot oil dipping sauce

This is my all time favourite dipping sauce to go with Chinese white poached chicken ("pak cham kai"). And its easy to make, no fuss at all.

Ingredients:
Peeled shallots cut into bit size pieces
Sprinkling of table salt
Cooking oil enough to soak the shallots in (raw, no need to heat up oil beforehand)

Steam Chicken with fish sauce and goji berries

When you've not made a dish for some time, you'd tend to forget them. This is one of those dish that has been long forgotten but sudden recollection of it makes me feels so blessed. Its awfully easy and very tasty. This is a dish that my mum used to make a lot back in the days. Here goes:

Ingredients:

1 whole free range chicken chopped into bite sized pieces (makes a big difference in a simple dish like this)
5 tbsp of fish sauce
2-3 tbsp of shaoxing wine
1 tsp of salt
2 tbsp of wolfberry

Method:

Mix all ingredients together and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes before steaming. Steam for approximately 20-30 minutes (depending on the size of chicken) on mid flame.

Note: Adjust the taste to your liking, allright to do so after its cooked.

Pita chips

This is yummylicious! My daughter kept requesting for it since she tried it at her grandaunt's place. Yeah at 28 months old she already remembers food that she likes even after only having eaten it once! So thanks to my ingenious aunt, here's something for a healthy snack.

Simply cut/tear some pita bread into smaller pieces, top it with some Olive Oil (I used extra fruity EVOO) and rock salt and fan bake it in the oven for about 1 hour at 110C. These are really crispy and crunchy, I could eat a huge container full in front of the tele.

Food to get you through winter

Winter does have a way of getting to your tummy and certain food just makes wintry days seems so much more bearable. In such times, I always turn to my food idol Nigella Lawson. I did two recipes from her consecutively and I must say I am a happy chap :)
This is Mughlai Chicken from her book Feast. Altered it slightly by using evaporated milk instead of yogurt (since i had none) and I must say it was heaven!!!! Picture does no justice to it, honestly am not gifted in the photography department and neither do I have one of those sophisticated DSLR ( I think) like other food bloggers, oh well I'm more into making memories though.

And this is her 'Meatballs with Spaghetti' from Nigella Bites. I needed some real comfort that night hence i added in some cream at the end of the cooking process and it was ohhhh sooo good... I know my Mum's shaking her head reading this :)