Chicken Wings update: Favorite marinade

Making something good even better....

Julia and I were in a bit of a pinch you see. We were in a new apartment with a kitchen equipped with shall we say, the barest of bones. All joking aside, we didn't have all of the knickknacks my lazy self is used to. But in this case it was definitely a blessing in disguise!

We were really craving some chicken wings, like we had last time see here
This recipe is kind of a simplified improvisation that we in fact like better than the original... Who knew?

This has seriously become my favorite marinade to put on any piece of bone-in chicken. Give it a go!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced/grated/chopped as finely as possible
1 heaped teaspoon of honey
a squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of vinegar
tabasco or chili to taste

Stir all the ingredients together and give it a taste. The sweet, salty, tangy and spicy should balance each other. Adjust quantities accordingly if necessary.
As you can see in the photo below I used it on thighs. I guess you could use it on pretty much any piece you want. I love it with rice and a side of fried and steamed greens if I want to be slightly healthier... 

Stir-fry of beef with broccoli

This is a very basic template that I often use when doing a Chinese inspired stir fry dish. By template I mean that the specific ingredients can be substituted to taste, seasonality and whatever you have on hand. I love using vegetables that keep a bit of crunch (pak choi, chinese kale, etc.). Otherwise you can use whatever you fancy.

Ingredients for two to three people:
ca. 200 gr. good beef, thinly sliced (steak cuts tend to be good for this)
1 tblsp oyster sauce
1 tblsp soy sauce
a generous pinch of sugar or palm sugar
pepper to taste
Groundnut or vegetable oil to fry
two cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
fresh chili to taste, finely chopped
1 head of broccoli, florets split if they are big, stem parts chopped to equal sized pieces
one glass of water on standby
1 small red onion, cut into wedges
a generous splash of Shaoshing rice wine or dry sherry
1/2 tsp of corn or potato starch dissolved in a little bit of cold water

1. Marinade your meat in a mixture of the oyster, soy, sugar and pepper. Leave it for at least 20 minutes.
2. Heat your wok or frying pan on high. Put in a tablespoon or two of oil and add your beef evenly. Let it sit for a minute or two to brown and then turn over. Take out of the pan and set aside.
3. Wipe out your pan if necessary. Heat it back up and add more oil if desired. Add the garlic, ginger and chili and fry until fragrant (Only a minute or so). Add the broccoli and stir fry for two minutes. Add a splash of water and cover the pan to allow the vegetables to steam for about three minutes.
4. Remove the lid and add back in the beef, the onion and the Shaoshing rice wine. After the wine has cooked off you can add more water if needed for the sauce.
5. Add the dissolved starch at the very end and it will only need a couple of moment to thicken the sauce. Check the seasonings and add more soy or pepper if necessary.
Serve with rice or noodles.