Here’s another version of my oyster sauce chicken! This time it’s with lots of dark sauce gravy (my niece loves this) so you can slurp it up with rice. Sorry for the less-than-fabulous pictures under poor lighting conditions!

My big tummy nowadays means I prefer to settle dinner using my slow cooker. Just prep everything the night before, add water and turn on the slow cooker on before leaving for work. Remember to cook this on low so the chicken doesn’t end up tough. Contrary to belief, meat doesn’t necessarily get more tender the longer you cook it! Overcook it on high, and the the ‘boiling’ water will overcook the meat. Same goes for cooking soup over the stove top. Simmer instead of boil for long hours to get the meat soft and tender.

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Quick post! I have been craving for this dish since forever and finally cooked it tonight. It is super easy to cook and everything is done in one pot, so washing up is a breeze. I thoroughly recommend this for weeknight dinners!

You should be familiar with the confinement dish 猪脚醋? This is similar except I used chicken thigh pieces instead and way less ginger. I say chicken goes really well with the gravy. I prefer it actually. I didn’t add hard boiled eggs but you totally could to make this dish even more complete.

I used Chan Kong Thye Black Sweet Rice Vinegar which is available in major supermarkets.

Too bad I can’t eat an entire pot of rice (fat issues blah), but this vinegary dish still satisfied and warmed my tummy on a rainy night. The husband prefers oyster sauce chicken aiya but what does he know. You should cook this, this week!

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Do you have colleagues who snort at you bringing a salad to work, tease you for not eating carbs, or guilt-trip you for making healthier choices? IGNORE THEM. They just need to justify their own unhealthy eating habits by making YOU feel bad. At the end of the day, the body is ours, and we can do without that chicken rice.

I am very thankful that I have supportive colleagues who have similar eating habits. We discuss lunch ideas everyday and think of new ways to cook familiar ingredients. This way, eating healthy becomes fun and will never be boring. That said, we do enjoy a cupcake or two occasionally, and succumb defenselessly when it comes to waffles. *waves cash*

If you’re one of those people who guilt-trip your colleagues for choosing to eat healthy, stop it. It just makes you look stupid. Luckily I don’t have to deal with such nonsense! Some of our lunchboxes that have seen the light of day: stuffed Portobello mushrooms, grilled eggplants with tuna, kale and tuna omelettes, zucchini noodles, tofu noodles, spinach falafel with yogurt, curried lentils without coconut milk, and what I’m going to share today: Grilled Cauliflower Steaks.

It all happened one afternoon after lunch where I bought a head of purple cauliflower. We’re always discussing what to cook, me and the designer, so I asked her to give me some lunch ideas.

“Make cauliflower steaks!” the girl was excited.

I’ve never even heard of this before. Cauliflower, to me, is for Chinese stir-frys, and it’s starting to get boring.

Her instructions: “Slice it right down the middle, then slice again to get a 1-inch slab. Season it how you would season a steak – salt and pepper, Cajun, anything, then grill or bake it.”

Sounds like a plan! I prepared this first thing after getting home. And I didn’t regret it! When you slice the cauliflower right down the middle, the ones by the sides will break apart into loose florets. I kept those for an easy stir fry. For a whole head of cauliflower, I managed to get three decent “steak” slices.

The preparation for this was really easy. Drizzle with olive oil and preferred seasoning, then bake in the oven for 25 minutes, till tender. I used some truffle salt and Old Bay – you can most definitely use garlic onion seasoning or cajun, or simply just salt and pepper. The idea is to season these as you would steak.

Taste wise, I didn’t detect any difference between purple and regular cauliflower. Cauliflower is totally transformed when roasted, grilled or baked. It tastes nothing like the stir-fry or boiled versions, emitting a delicious, intense, nutty flavour. I baked these in the oven and then air fried it for the last few minutes for them to get slightly charred and sizzling. I served these with Bacon and Peas as I was making some for the husband’s dinner that day. I must say these two go very well together! You can also have this with some beans or an egg salad. Try this – it’s not as unimaginable as you think, more fun than just salad, and wayyy healthier than chicken rice. ;)

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Oyster sauce chicken has always been one of my favourite dishes. There’s a stall in Clementi market and hawker centre that sells a really yummy version, but when you can cook it yourself at home, why not?

This dish is comfort food, a familiar favourite. I usually only cook this on days that I can eat rice.. I eat very little carbs and no rice/noodles/bread Mondays to Fridays. All I can say is: 如果你没有肥过，你是不会了解的。Haha. I like this dish with lots of gravy so I can spoon it generously over my precious bowl of rice on weekends. Sooo good!

I had some leftover chicken drumlettes in my freezer and thought to use them up in this dish. You could also use mid-joint wings or chopped chicken pieces. I recommend chicken thigh as the tender meat goes very well with the soft potatoes, carrots and glorious gravy. This dish is super easy to cook. In a nutshell: fry onions, add chicken, wine, carrots and potatoes, seasonings, cover and simmer. Don’t add the cooking wine together with the seasonings but directly to the chicken, before the rest of the seasonings. You’ll see how a splash of wine creates magic in the hot wok, instantly lifting the overall aroma and flavour of the dish.

I used Taiwan carrots and spring onions for this recipe. Chicken drumlettes (frozen) and potatoes from Giant and yellow onions – 4 for $4.65 杀人放火 from Cold Storage. I bo bian have to buy cos I needed it for a last-minute dish and the only accessible store was Cold Storage.

This portion is enough for the four people in my family. My pictures just show half a portion. This recipe yields two plates with lots of gravy! We eat quite simply. Most of the time, I cook one all-in-one dish or soup and the husband laps it up with rice. As an average family of four, 三菜一汤 is too much for us as an everyday meal.. (I’m not talking about Chinese New Year.. we go allll out *guffaws*).. how do people finish the food?

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