Two Heavenly Chicken Recipes For This Chinese New Year!

One of the must-have food to be served during Chinese New Year is chicken. This is because back in the old days, people rarely get to eat chicken as it is considered a luxury hence meat is only served during important festivals when family comes together. Presently, although we are able to enjoy eating chicken regularly, serving chicken during Chinese New Year still symbolises togetherness. The citrus fruit especially the Mandarin orange is also a huge hit during Chinese New Year. This is because the Chinese word for mandarin, 'kam', sounds similar to the word 'gold'. Having an abundance of mandarin oranges at home during Chinese New Year is a synonym for having our house filled with gold and wealth. Today, I'm going to bring chicken and Mandarin orange together to make Roasted Orange Chicken, a delicious dish to be served during Chinese New Year. This way, we welcome both prosperity and togetherness into our homes! Mandarin oranges, red dates, dried wolfberries, mushroom, cane sugar, 5-spice powder and butter. Roasted Orange Chicken 1 whole chickenmandarin oranges9 red dates1 stick cane sugar ((110g))juice from one mandarin orange1 tsp five spice powder1 tsp salt30 g butter Juice one mandarin orange.Rub chicken with five-spice powder and salt. Leave it rest for 30 minutes.Melt butter and cane sugar in a pot. Add orange juice.Simmer until the liquid has reduced.Slice mandarin oranges and arrange the oranges on the roasting plate. Place chicken on the bed of orange slices. Stuff the balance of oranges and red dates in the chicken cavity.Roast in a preheated oven at 230°C for 30 minutes.After 30 minutes, remove from oven and glaze the chicken thoroughly. Roast for another 15 minutes.Remove from the oven. Add soaked mushrooms and dried wolfberries. Glaze again.Roast for another 15 minutes. Once done, transfer to a serving plate and serve immediately. Besides roasted chicken, steamed chicken is also popular for Chinese New Year because it is simple to prepare yet is extremely moist and tasty. We have to take into account how busy we can be in the kitchen when the entire extended family gets together hence it is always good to try to simplify things. We can steam or poach the chicken plain, or we can add some herbs to make it even more flavourful. If you are similar to me who knows nothing about Chinese herbs, what you can do is go to a Chinese medicine hall and request for them to grind the steamed chicken herbal mix, leaving some out for decoration purposes. They can usually do that for you with the correct measurements. Healthy and flavourful, steamed herbal chicken which falls right off the bones is a dish favoured by the young and old. Steamed Herbal Chicken 1 whole chicken1 pack steamed chicken herbal mix1 tbsp dried wolfberries9 pcs red dates2 tsp light soy sauce2 tsp oyster sauce Clean a whole chicken. Place the chicken on an aluminum foil lined with paper. Coat the chicken with the blended herbal mix. Rub thoroughly including the inside of the cavity. Add light soy sauce and oyster sauce. Throw in the rest of the ingredients such as red dates, dried wolfberries and more herbs. I like to have some non-grounded herbs for aesthetic purposes. Make sure to stuff some of the ingredients into the chicken cavity, too.Wrap the paper and squeeze the top to secure it.Next, wrap with aluminum foil and squeeze to secure. Steam for 90 minutes.Unwrap and serve immediately. Delicious falls right off the bones herbal chicken for the entire family! Now that you have your heavenly chickens ready, do try out these 2 Prosperity Vege Recipes and 2 Abundance Fish Recipes for Chinese New Year. We can't forget about our yee sang either when it comes to CNY—Roar in the Year of the Tiger with these Three Creative Yee Sang Recipes! And for dessert, let's welcome the Year of the Tiger with these adorable Tiger Shaped Pineapple Tarts! Motherhood wishes you and yours an auspicious Year of the Tiger blessed with an abundance of prosperity and good health! Gong Xi Fa Cai! For more insightful stories and fun recipes, stay tuned to Motherhood Story.

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