One Friday last school holiday, the kiddo stayed the whole day playing with the daughter of our close friends. They are a lovely Korean couple and Antonio adores Aerang (the mom) so much. We always try to catch up on a regular basis; usually dinner at our place or theirs.

That Friday afternoon when I picked him up, I was also invited for dinner. But what was so exciting was that I was in for a treat! Free homestyle Korean cooking lessons! Up close and personal. Yey! We had stir-fried cellophane noodles and fried chicken wings. I was ecstatic.

(My take-away pa ako hehehe)

I have always loved sweet and spicy Korean-style fried chicken. Aerang said Korean soy sauce is the key and so I was always trying to find one whenever I am at an Asian dairy. Challenging, as I couldn’t find it with all the Korean characters. So I turn Japanese.

There are few versions, sometimes with corn syrup and sesame seeds. A dash of chili flakes or chopped red chili gives extra zing. Sometimes ketchup instead of soy sauce to give it a reddish color. You can always improvise. But whatever you do, always take note of the double-frying process that makes the wings extra crispy. Keep away from Chinese or pinoy soy sauce; too salty.

Ingredients:
Chicken wings
Salt and pepper
Flour
Cornstarch
1 Medium-sized onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 cup Shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
2 tbsp Brown sugar
Thumb-size ginger, sliced
2 piices of chili
1/2 cup Mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)

Coat chicken evenly with salt and pepper and set aside.

Heat oil in a saucepan. Saute garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add onions and saute until soft. Pour in shoyu and mirin, add brown sugar and bring to boil. Add chili and simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes. You may add salt depending on your preference. Set aside.

Heat oil in a deep fryer over medium-high heat. Mix 1/2 part flour and 1/2 part cornstarch on a plate. Coat chicken wings with flour mixture and deep-fry for about 10 minutes or until light brown. Drain and set aside.

Heat the soy sauce mixture on another burner while you heat clean oil again in your deep fryer. Working in batches of 3, preferably using chopsticks (easier at syempre para feel na feel), fry wings the second time around for about a minute or two (that would make them golden brown), then toss into the soy sauce mixture. Coat well on each side and transfer to a serving platter.

This is my piece. With extra sauce .

Tanghalian namin kahapon. Finger-licking good. The kiddo loves it. But he loves Tita Aerang’s original version better. Hahaha!

Lasang Pinoy, Sundays.

Dagdag, luto gamit ang tirang soy sauce mixture after 3 days. With toasted sesame seeds.

Iska

I am not a professional cook. My only claim to having a culinary background is a short stint as my dad’s teen ‘sous chef’ in his carinderia ages ago. Dad ran small eateries since I was a young kid - serving standard ‘turo-turo’ food ranging from the likes of menudo, adobo, pritong isda, dinuguan, binagoongan, bopis, munggo, pinakbet and giniling to merienda fares like goto, ginataan, pancit bihon, halu-halo and saging con yelo.

My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.

Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.