What would you do if you love chicken livers and the rest of your family doesn’t?  Well, never do nothing!

Being a mom working from home for a couple of years now, I spent a lot of lunches alone.  I would normally cook more for dinner so that covers part of my lunch the next day, or my lunch break involves something quick and healthy like fresh salad greens with pan-fried steak.  On certain occasions, my time to satisfy my cravings for something the rest wouldn’t touch.  Like these crispy livers in apple-orange juice that I’ve concocted one lunch I spent home alone.  (I had no plain orange juice or fresh oranges in my fridge that time.)  Time for my ‘secret pot’, borrowing the words of a fellow blogger.

There are times when I throw in liver slices into my wok or pot when cooking pancit or soup knowing I will be the only one scooping them out to get into my plate, but in my ‘secret pot’ I would normally pan-fry them adobo or bistek-style.  This was the first time I cooked it differently and I love it.  The outcome is quite exquisite – liver slices that are crispy outside but still retain that delicate texture inside.

Ingredients:
3 chicken livers (approx 150g), cleaned
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
Breadcrumbs
1 tsp chopped coriander
¾ cup apple-orange juice (plain orange is fine)
½ tsp minced ginger

Cut liver horizontally through the middle to make thin slices.  Dry on paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Position your dipping platters like this: next to your hob is a bowl of breadcrumbs, then a bowl with lightly beaten egg, and the liver slices the farthest from your hob.

Heat oil in a non-stick pan.  Dip a slice of liver into egg then press into breadcrumbs to coat evenly. Then pan-fry for about 2 minutes each side.  Arrange in a serving platter.

Pour apple-orange juice into the same pan.  Stir in coriander, and ginger and simmer for about 2 minutes.

Drizzle over cooked chicken liver and garnish with more coriander sprigs.

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.