[Lazy Recipes] 1 kg of Chicken, 4 Dishes | Student Budget Meal Prep Ideas

In this blog post, I am going to show you how to use 1 kg of supermarket chicken thigh and make 4 delicious dishes out of it.

Ingredients:

1 kg Chicken Thigh, bone in, skin on.

Asian Style Chicken and Mushroom Broth (# see footnote)

• a handful of Shiitake Mushrooms, fresh or dried. (If using dried ones, rehydrate them in 2 cups of hot water. Reserve the soaking liquid)

• Ginger, 2 slices

• Toasted Sesame Oil

• Sake or Shaoxing Wine (optional)

# Omit the ginger, sesame oil and alcohol if you intend to share this with your pet.

Spicy Chicken and Glass Noodles Salad

• 1/2 large Cucumber, sliced into matchsticks

• 1 small bunch Glass Noodles

• 2 cloves of Garlic, crushed

• 1 handful of chopped spring onions/ coriander

• Toasted Sesame Oil

• Chinese Chiu Chow Chilli Oil (or any chili oil that comes with chili flakes)

• Japanese Style Taberu Rayu (chili oil with crunchy garlic), optional

• Soy Sauce

• Balsamic Vinegar

• Sugar

• Sesame Seeds, for garnish.

Chicken Skin Crackling

• Salt and Pepper

Chicken Fat Roasted Potatoes

• 2 lbs Roasting Potatoes

• a few springs of Rosemary

• Salt and Pepper

Step 1: Prepare the steamed chicken.

1. Divide the chicken thighs. My 1 kg pack of chicken thigh came with 6 pieces of skin on, bone in chicken. Steam 3 of them over a in a steaming rack over an inch of boiling water, in a small soup pot.

2. Once fully cooked, around 10 minutes, take them out and let them cool slightly. Do NOT discard the water, which now contains some yummy chicken juice!

Step 2: Making the chicken noodle salad.

1. When the steamed chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and bone from the piece of meat, and set both of them aside. Try your best to keep the skin intact as one piece as possible. Pull the chicken into thin strips using your hands or two forks. I know you are going to ask me whether you can slice it with a knife. You can, BUT it's not going to taste as great! Trust me, this is worth the work.

2. Bring a pot of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the glass noodles to the saucepan, and then let the water comes back to a full boil. Immediately turn the heat off, and then gently move the noodles around to loosen it.Once the noodles are soft, strain and very roughly chop them into short threads with a pair of kitchen scissors. Don't over do it, we don't want it to become rice.

3. To make the dressing, start with mixing together 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 1 heaped teaspoon of the chilli flakes from the chilli oil, 1 teaspoon of the chilli oil itself, 2 level teaspoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon of Japanese taberu rayu chili oil (optional). Give it a good whisk with a fork, and pour the mixture over the salad. Give it a taste, and see if it needs extra pinch of salt or any extra seasoning.

4. In a big bowl, toss together the slices cucumbers, pulled chicken, glass noodles and the dressing. Mix in a handful of sesame seeds, and the salad is ready to serve once chilled. The flavour develops even more if you let it sit overnight in the fridge.

Step 3: Make the Chicken Soup.

1. In the soup pot where the chicken was being steamed in, add to the steaming liquid the remaining pieces of raw chicken (skin on, bone in), chicken bone that's left from making the chicken salad, the shiitake mushrooms (and the soaking liquid if you used dried ones, leave about a tablespoon of liquid behind as the bottom bit always contains some dirt), and ginger slices. Add enough boiling water to cover all the ingredients.

2. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

3. Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove the chicken pieces to a plate and let it cool slightly. Carefully remove the skin and set aside with the previous batch of chicken skin. Put the now skinless chicken back into the soup, and simmer for another 20 minutes.

3. Once the soup is done, take out the chicken pieces and remove the bone. Place the bone back into the soup and let it simmer away while you pull the cooked chicken into thin strips. Return the shredded chicken back into the soup, and bring the mixture back to a full boil.

4. Before serving, remove all the chicken bones, and add in a splash sake/ Shaoxing wine, a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Step 3: Chicken crackling

1. In a small, clean, ideally non-stick frying pan, add in all the chicken skin you''ve reserved in a single layer. Try your best to lay each piece of skin out flat, and avoid any overlapping for the best result.

2. Over medium heat, slowing toast the chicken skin until they start to render their fat.

3. Once the fat starts rendering, reduce the heat to low and let the skin fry in its own oil. Flip the skin occasionally to prevent them from burning. Once the skin starts to crisp, they go from golden to brunt very quickly.

4. When the skin has significantly shrunk and have crisp nicely, fish them out of the fat and transfer them to a kitchen paper lined plate. Reserve the chicken fat. They are lovely in roasting potatoes and you don't want to throw them away! The fat will store well in an air tight container in the fridge for about 1 week.

5. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt over the crackling while they're still hot. And then they are ready to enjoy as a lovely snack that goes very well with a pint of ice cold beer.

Step 4: Chicken Fat Roasted Potatoes.

1. Preheat oven to 220°C.

2. in a large roasting tray, lay out 2 lbs of roasting potatoes cut into chunks. Toss the potatoes with the chicken fat, rosemary, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper.

3. Roast the potatoes in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, tossing them around half way to ensure even browning.

4. Serve warm.