Black Pepper and Kuchingite

Last night, I recreated Food Avenue's Black Pepper Chicken quite by accident. By the time I realised what I had done and also realised that I just had to blog about it, my mom finished the remaining bowl of it so when I rushed down to the kitchen to snap a photo of it with me Nokia, ... it was gone. Hence the diagram below drawn Khai Yong's style.

It's obviously not a very good diagram but it's a complete and well-labelled diagram that would make my Std5 Science teacher proud! Not that I'd wanna make that sadist proud and well, I felt this post needed a picture. Forgive its simplicity even thought that is its strong main point. There's only so much one can do with a mouse and a laptop sitting on a pillow. Below is how I came about the discovery! Bear in mind tho, the end product of my 15min preparation wasn't quite like how I had imagined it to be when I started out. In fact, it's FAR from what I had expected it to become which was far far very far from being black pepper chicken. This is its story.

a little oil
a lil garlic, chopped
a lil onion (note singular form), sliced
oyster sauce
coarse black pepper in a bottle
chicken slices
a can of straw mushrooms (halved)
a green capsicum, sliced
corn flour stirred well in warm water
dark soy sauce

Tumis the garlic till it smells good then add in the onions. Add some oyster sauce for taste (the more you add, the saltier the dish) (at least, that's my theory laa, hahah). Stir well. Add a LOT of coarse black pepper, wait for the smell then add in the chicken slices. Stir till the chicken cooks adding more black pepper to your likening. Add a dash of dark soy sauce to colour the dish. Once the chicken has cooked, add the mushrooms and the capsicums and stir stir stir! Add in the starch and stir some more!! Add a lot more black pepper! And stir!

When you think it's done, it's done. Serve on a plate with rice and charge medic/pharmacy students RM5 for it.

But Food Ave version doesn't have the mushrooms. You can ditch those. They didn't exactly add to the flavour. I think straw mushrooms would work best with Chinese-style soups of the vegetable kind. Other than the mushrooms, the dish smelled just like the Food Ave version and more or less tasted the same. But without the feeling that Food Ave is ripping you off.

Or the uncertainty that you have to wait an hour or two for it in which you'd prolly ditch the place and have Rooftop lunch instead. Mmmm... I kinda miss Rooftop lunch.

Oh did you all know that black pepper comes from Sarawak? Apparently so.

Speaking of Sarawak, I've got a really good friend who lives there (Kuching in fact) and today happens to be her birthday. Let's all wish her a good birthday and hope she doesn't get worms from walking around barefooted in IMU all day (you never know what lurks upon the floors). So happy birthday and MAY YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE! (Hahah. That has to be the cheesiest birthday wish you give someone). Just so you know, I can't offer much except that I got your back. And maybe one day, I'll cook for you my FA style Black Pepper Chicken!

I'd find out their sweet and sour recipe buthen it tastes so bad it's not really worth the effort. But it prolly has like vinegar in it and all the mildly acidic waste from the Pharmacy lab practicals. Hahah.

L-R: Bday girl, friend of bday girl.