Saucy Chicken with Mango

My brother and I are big fans of Yummy Magazine, but ever since we rarely check out the magazine stands and bookstores, the only way we could see the recipes from the magazine was through their website - http://www.yummy.ph/ - I know having the real magazine in our rack was always a best thing to have especially on days that one cannot think what to serve, which is why when I met up with my friends last Saturday (08 May), and saw a copy of Yummy Magazine, I didn't hesitate to have a copy for myself.

One confession to make - I have been very, very much into chicken lately. I remember the time I came home from Bolinao, I was eating chicken during lunch and dinner for one week straight... and I wasn't getting tired eating it! Funny, I have been checking my skin if I already growing feathers (just kidding). Anyway, the magazine has some chicken recipes, but what caught my attention was this recipe:


Saucy Chicken with Mango
{Serves 4 to 6}

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 (2-inch) piece ginger, peeled and sliced into thin strips
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 kilogram chicken legs and thighs
• 1 piece chicken bouillon cube, dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 cup chopped leeks
• mango cubes from 2 ripe mangoes

For the Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 3 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Directions:

1. Make the sauce. Dissolve cornstarch in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and sugar. Stir and set aside.
2. Over medium heat, add oil to a large pan and immediately put ginger in the pan while the oil is still cold. Cook the ginger until the edges start to brown. Add onions and cook for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the chicken, then the dissolved chicken bouillon. Cover. Cook for about 20 minutes. Transfer to a big platter.
4. In the same pan, pour the cornstarch-soy sauce mixture. Boil for about 5 minutes. Put back the chicken back into the pan and toss, making sure the pieces are coated with the sauce.
5. Add leeks. Stir. Cook for 5 minutes more. Add mango. Stir and serve.

I bought the magazine on Saturday, and planned on cooking the dish last Tuesday. However, someone in the family must've not heard me when I told that no one should touch the mangoes I took home from Bolinao (there were only 2 left). As I prepare for the dish for dinner last Tuesday, I found out that the mangoes were missing, and that I wasn't able to add the leeks on the list of things to buy when brother went to the grocery after he voted. The dish is certainly nothing without the mangoes and leeks, so I waited for the right timing.

The timing came last night, my 30th birthday. With the ingredients complete, I decided to cook this dish for our dinner. At first I was doubting if I could really cook the chicken in just 1/4 cup of water, and to my surprise I was able to! :) The smell of the ginger and the chicken certainly gave me that hint of "tinola," and when I added the leeks to sauce and chicken it made it seem as if I was cooking tinola in a different way.

Normally, I am always afraid to try new dishes especially when the family will eat it, too, so when I served it, I felt as if I am a culinary arts student presenting a new dish to her professors. In a Japanese anime I watched, it was said that the very first person who should eat the food was the one who cooked it, so when I tasted it, I made sure I had everything in my spoon - chicken, mango, leeks, and ginger. When I chewed on it, it was really good! The sweet taste of mango did give a different texture to the chicken meat, and all flavors was just good. I asked mom what can she say and she said, "masarap" (delicious). Her getting up to take a container and put in two chicken drumsticks - securing her "baon" for the next day gave me that seal of approval. My mom and her officemates now brings homecooked meals for lunch, and my mom's intention of sharing my cooking to her officemates made me feel great.

Just a little change... the recipe didn't list mushrooms, but the image in the magazine had some slices of mushrooms, and since I also cooked carbonara for dinner last night, I just divided the mushrooms so I could put it in this dish, too. Now that I found a new way to cook chicken, I am waiting for the day when I can cook it again.

This recipe was taken from the May 2010 issue of Yummy Magazine. The magazine features easy meals for everyday cooking, so if you want to try the recipe I just made as well as the other recipes, don't forget to get yourself a copy. If you're on Facebook, you can check out their page (and become a fan, too) at - Yummy Magazine's Facebook Page, or you can follow them on Yummy Magazine's Twitter Page if you're into tweets.

As for me, I still have around three recipes I would like to try, and hopefully I can cook it all before the new magazine comes. :)

*** Jenn ***