The Spanish also try to cook Chinese

My favorite chicken dish ever is what I made today. I love chicken but again, as stated in previous blogs, i hate cleaning it. Last time those were just chicken breasts, this time its chicken quarters and there are lungs and yucky stuff there! 15 minutes of squeamish facial expressions later, the chicken quarters looked pretty good. I still thought about their souls but this time I was more excited to make the dish. I guess that's an improvement?
For once, we had no leftovers from our house-blessing, but it also made me think, what can I add to this dish? I still want it to be the star but i need complimentary dishes. Since it is a Chinese dish, i decided to add in fried rice (i always cook too much rice so this was a good chance to use it) and chopsuey with whatever veggies I had in the crisper.

HONEY CHICKEN with SHITAKE MUSHROOMS

Wash and then soak 10 Shitake mushrooms in 1 1/4 cup water for an hour to soften. Don't throw the water.

Cut a whole chicken in half or  4 chicken quarters - brush with soy sauce and fry until its nicely browned.
Throw 75% of the oil and pour in 1 cup soy sauce, 1 cup honey and mushroom water and mushrooms (cut in half).
Simmer for 45 minutes or until chicken looks cooked inside.
Cut into the usual pieces and serve.

Since it tastes so good, a lot of people think its a hassle to make but in truth, it is super easy. The hardest part is cleaning the poor chicken!

CHOPSUEY

Saute 1 white onion (i never use red onions for anything) in a little oil. Once onions are clear, add 1/4 cup water with 1 Tablespoon cornstarch and a beef bullion disolved in it. The cornstarch is optional, it is used just to thicken the sauce. Throw in 1 cabbage chopped, one carrot chopped into circles and half circles. Make sure you wash the veggies! When it looks half done, throw in 4 tablespoons of peas. Continue sauteing. Do not overcook, veggies shouldn't be soggy.

FRIED RICE

Chop one garlic and sautee in a little oil  until slightly browned. Add 6 slices of ham, chopped into squares. Add 2 eggs and mix well to scramble it. Add 4 cups cooked rice, keep mixing for 10 minutes. Add 4 tablespoons peas No need to salt if your ham is salts or has a strong flavor. I used spiced ham.

That's it for my Chinese lunch. This is my best attempt at Chinese. I don't know any other Chinese dish! You can also change the chicken to pork belly, crazy cholesterol but crazy good too.