JONESIN' FOR SOME ORIENTAL FOOD

Although there ARE Oriental restaurants in Italy, we've never been to one. The general consensus for both Oriental and Mexican restaurants seems to be that the food isn’t very good, so we’ve just never bothered. Regular visits back to the states have allowed us to satisfy our tastebuds, and it gives us something to look forward to when we go back.

I have brought some Mexican foods and ingredients to Italy, and we occasionally enjoy fajitas, but alas, no refried beans. Oriental food is something that I’ve never cooked at home though, except for a fried noodle recipe that I fell in love with and eventually had to stop making because there were just too many carbs!

A few months ago I found a recipe for Bourbon chicken, which seems to be the latest hot thing at the food court Oriental restaurants. You can’t walk through a mall these days without being offered a sample, and although it’s not as good as sweet and sour pork, or my favorite, General’s Chicken, it was tasty so I figured I’d give it a try.

I’ll give you the recipe, but not before telling you what I thought about the recipe. First of all, I was surprised that the chicken was baked! I thought after marinating it would then be quickly stir-fried, but no! Secondly, although the chicken was tender and tasty, it may have been a little too….something….too sweet, maybe.

Thirdly, it definitely did NOT satisfy my craving for Oriental food. Perhaps I do need to dig out that fried noodle recipe, or try more ‘traditional’ recipes. Sweet and sour pork or chicken, War Su Gai, General’s Chicken, or maybe even a bowl of pork fried rice might do the trick, but this recipe, although good, just didn’t scratch the itch. The fourth problem I had with this recipe is that it just wasn't good enough to justify using 1/2 cup of my good Kentucky bourbon!!

Perhaps if you have better access to good Oriental food on a regular basis you’ll be easier to please than I was. The recipe is certainly simple enough, and here it is:

Bourbon Chicken

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp powdered ginger
2 Tbsp dried minced onion
1/2 cup bourbon whiskey
1 lb. boneless chicken leg or thigh meat cut into bite size chunks
2 Tbsp white wine

Cooked white rice, optional

In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic powder, ginger, onion and bourbon; stir until sugar has dissolved.

Add chicken and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Place chicken and the marinade in an 8 x 8-inch glass baking dish and bake in a preheated 350°F. oven for 45 minutes, basting every 10 minutes with pan juices.

Remove chicken. Scrape pan juices with all the brown bits into a frying pan. Heat over medium heat and add white wine. Stir and add chicken. Serve immediately with pan juices over cooked rice.

I used a bit more than one pound of chicken...I think you could use up to 1 1/2 pounds with good results. Also I didn't have any dried onions, so I chopped up a bit of green onion and used that instead.

I did find that taking the meat off the legs and thighs to be a giant pain in the ass. I'm not some girly-girl who cringes at the sight (or touch) of blood and guts, but it was just soooo time consuming, and not nearly as easy as de-boning a chicken breast.