Chicken and Cabbage with Oyster Sauce

I went to the kitchen today with absolutely no idea to cook. One of the rare times that happens, but its been my turn to cook for the last three days, so I didn't really have time to think up of something. Sigh. Looking through our cupboards and fridge, I came across a full head of cabbage left over from our okonomiyaki. (Yes, I know that was quite a long time ago, but the cabbage looked and smelled okay still :P) I like cabbage, though the okonomiyaki wasn't really a big success for me. I usually cook cabbage in either soups or on its own in a stir-fry, but I've never cooked it in a stirfry with chicken before. So, that's what I decided to make for dinner - and you got the whole thought process behind it, haha! So, here we go!

What you need:
3 boneless skinless pieces of chicken, cut into bite-sized chunks
2 shallots, sliced thinly
1 onion, sliced thinly
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
2 dried chillies, chopped
1/2 cabbage, sliced
1 cup water
5 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons kicap manis (sweet soy sauce)
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes, more if you want it spicier
Salt, chicken stock granules and white pepper, for seasoning

What you do:

1. In a wok heated up with some oil, add the shallots, onion and garlic and fry until softened and fragrant.
2. Add the chicken pieces and stir-fry until cooked through.
3. Add the cabbage and mix until thoroughly combined. Season well with salt, chicken stock and pepper.
   
4. Add the water, oyster sauce and kicap manis. Simmer until the cabbage is softened to your liking.
5. Adjust seasoning, sprinkle the chilli flakes over the top and serve.

For a last minute effort, I thought this wasn't too shabby. It was relatively easy (deboning the chicken was the hardest part) and didn't require more than an occasional stir during the whole process of cooking. As for the taste, I liked it. It tasted a bit typical Asian - you know, oyster sauce and soy sauce and chilli, but it wasn't too bad. The cabbage was a tasty addition and helped to bulk up the dish, especially since our chicken pieces recently have been pathetically small.

Justin liked it as well, especially the cabbage. Hadi said it *was* nice, but he preferred a roast or a traditional deepfrying to this method of cooking, since those usually produce crisp chicken pieces, heh. :P He's got a point, but I do like stirfries more because they are much more flavoursome. (Usually, the insides of our roasts just taste like chicken - although the outsides are very very flavoursome) My favorite method of cooking would be first deepfrying, then coating with a thick sticky sauce *drool* But it takes too much effort to fry, so we hardly ever do it that way, heh. Plus, it uses up to much oil, and oil is kinda expensive here. :P (Yes, we're very stingy, haha)

Not only that, you can't really deepfry or roast cabbage, can you? :P So stirfry + simmer is the only way to go, haha. I *had* to use up that cabbage somehow :P Feel free to add more veggies if you like (something like carrots maybe?), and to up the spiciness factor as well. I found it a bit too spicy, but I don't think Hadi and Justin even tasted it. :P Up to you. I know I have a very low spiciness tolerance level. :P They loved the dried chillies though, heh. I didn't really taste the onions/shallots though, so if I do this again next time, I might sprinkle some of the crispy fried shallots. Although, at the rate we're going, we might have to make some more soon. :P Plus, I think it needed more white pepper. ;) I love white pepper, hehe.

Quote of the day: An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.