Braising is a cooking method that means cooking slowly over low heat with a small amount of liquid. It is sometimes used interchangeably with pot roasting although purists like to make a distinction. In braising, it is usual to first brown and sear the meat before adding any liquid. But the fact that there are braised vegetable dishes makes it obvious that searing is not an integral part of braising.
Why am I talking about braising? Because it is my favorite alternative to frying marinated meat. I don’t like frying because of the mess it makes and I don’t often have enough space in the fridge for marinating meat. With braised dishes, I get the best of both worlds — highly flavorful meat that is not swimming in watery sauce.
Ingredients
- 8 chicken drumsticks
1 heaping tbsp. of black beans and garlic sauce (available in supermarkets)
1 heaping tbsp. of spicy ginger and garlic sauce (available in supermarkets)
1/2 c. of rice wine
1 small head of broccoli
1 small head of cauliflower
Instructions
Cook the chicken in a non-stick frying pan until it renders fat and the skins start to brown (if a non-stick pan is unavailable, brown the chicken with about two tablespoonfuls of vegetable cooking oil).
Add the sauces and stir to coat each piece of chicken.
Pour in the rice wine. Cover than pan and braise for 20 to 30 minutes or until the chicken is done and the sauce has been reduced to about two tablespoonfuls.
While the chicken cooks, cut the broccoli and cauliflower into bite-sized florets. Blanch in boiling salted water for five minutes, drain then plunge in iced water.
To serve, place the chicken on a platter and surround with the vegetables. Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables. Serve at once.
Cooking time (duration): 30 minutes
Number of servings (yield): 4
Connie, nakahanap ka na ng bagong bottle ng chili garlic sauce w/ ginger, or you made your own concoction already?
Nakabili ulit kami. Sa Robinson’s. Rush-rush yang ulam na yan hehehe
hi, i am a fan of pinoy cook… can i ask something? i am not using rice wine, what could be my alternative?
I heard — HEARD — that sherry can be substituted.
hello i’m a newbie here and to cooking as well so i am wondering about this “…….. drain then plunge in iced water” what exactly does plunging the vegetable in an iced water do?.. thanks… BTW… checking out your site always encourages me to cook…so glad i stumbled here….
1) To prevent the veggies from turning soggy as they continue to cook in residual heat.
2) For color retention.
Dry sherry is a substitute for rice wine in chinese cooking as many people can’t find rice wine at their local supermarkets. Your recipe is wonderful. I use black beans for spareribs too.
Hi! May I pls ask what brand is this “Spicy ginger and garlic sauce”. Where did you buy this? Thanks!
Several brands are available in supermarkets.
I love your blog. I make something from it at least once a week. I am writing to tell you how much I enjoyed this dish in particular. We both work and need easy to prepare but nourishing meals for us and the kids. This one was on the table in 1/2 hour. I added 1 tbl sweet soy sauce but otherwise made it exactly the way you described. Thanks – leftovers were even better.
Chicago, Illinois
Will cook this for dinner..:)
hi ms. connie, may i ask where i can buy unroasted peanuts? =) thanks in advance!
Wait, I’m confused. How is unroasted peanut related to the recipe, Winny?