CHICKARRONES

I remember watching my mom, dad, and late brother Harold cook. They did not waste anything. For instance trimmings of vegetables and meats were never thrown away if all possible. “You can make stock and soups with the trimmings,” my brother the trained chef would say. He was all about efficiency, productivity and being profitable. There was no reason the home kitchen could not be held accountable for waste.

“Save the extras, I can make stir fry tomorrow,” mom would say. And dad was more blunt, “Don’t throw that ______ _______ away!” OK. Save it, use it, feed the peeps right? Right.

So in this post, I fried some chicken skins. Like pork skins chicharrones, I saved some chicken skin from the legs, and coated it with salt and pepper and cornstarch hence Chickarrones. Great for beer busts, and snacking. OK, maybe not so healthy but once in a while if you love that kind of foods.

Love, enjoy each other. Rock & Roll all the way. Good food, good lovers, life is good my friends.

The Heavy Metal Wokker: “Love Is Better Than Hate!”

Me in the Lahaina test kitchen. Personal chef services to you, special lovers, couples only. Wok Style. Heavy Metal Wokking. No Nonsense. Simple. To the point just for you that’s in love with your significant other. I’m Ron Sambrano, the Heavy Metal Wokker, I do not discriminate. If you are a couple in love, that’s all that matters to me. I do not judge anyone period. If you are a couple, there’s no labels you know? So, I’ll be perfectly clear here. If you are a straight couple, I’ll serve you. If you are a gay couple, I will serve you. If you are transgender, I will serve you. Because my friends. You are people. That’s all that matters to me. I love you too. So that’s where I stand. This world is so filled with hate, we don’t need it. We really don’t. So as we move forward. The Heavy Metal Wokker is here to wok for you.

Blessings my friends!

CHICKEN CHOW MEIN

For you lovers that want to hire me for a simple lunch. That’s right. You both are home, and tired from all that love making, man you built up that late morning, noon hunger. But you don’t want to dress up and head to your local Chinese joint do you? I mean traffic, parking. Some bum at the corner harassing you for 10 bucks. And when you hand him 10, some other bums notice that you got cash, then they hit on you. Nope, don’t want that crap. In fact lovers work hard. You want to relax. Don’t you? So how about this, lunch time comes around, you call me up, “Hey Ron, me and my lover is hungry, can you make us (In your own kitchen), some fresh Chinese style?”

Imagine- you’re just at home, relaxing, watching the t.v., or not. And I do all the shopping, prepping, cooking (in your kitchen), and clean up, and leave. While you enjoy home cooking in your own home. Cool right? Of course. So I’ll come over, cook up some white sticky rice, set up the table for ya. (Oh, I can bring the alcoholic bevies to you, but for insurance and liabilities, you will need to open any bottles or cans and pour it yourselves.) But nonetheless, I’m whipping up whatever you order in my wok. Hey I’m a rocker baby! Heavy Metal, balls to the wall, I don’t full around, I make it happen! So I whip up the rice, set it on the table, I do the chow mein, set it on the table. Maybe some other dishes, or appetizers, all good my friends. Live life, Love it, enjoy it!

CHICKEN CAKE NOODLES

Chicken Cake noodles, is fried chow mein noodles, topped with chicken, carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, onions, green onions, celery, garlic, ginger, with chicken gravy, seasoned with oyster sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. This dish tastes great the next day, I even like it cold straight out of the fridge :). So you lovers, if you got leftovers, no worries, you can always eat it the next day. Lovers, you will get hungry later on, that’s a fact. 🙂 Live life, love, and love again my friends!

AU & TAKO CAKE NOODLES

This is a dish that is one of my favorites in Chinese restaurants. I put my own twist on this but still have that restaurant flavor. Now for you lovers, this looks like a lot of food, but it isn’t too filling. First of all let me explain, since I’m in Hawaii right now, and not in Vegas. But for this dish I’ll let you know right now. Au is marlin. Pronounced (Ow), like you got an oweee. Now Tako, (Tah ko) is octopus or squid. In this case it is octopus. So it’s two seafood proteins, with a gravy made up of chicken stock, sesame oil, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, a cornstarch slurry. The veggies are Napa cabbage, carrots, onion, green onion, mushrooms, and of course garlic and ginger. The noodles used in some Canton houses are wonton noodles, very thin cuts. However depending on the market, if I can’t get those noodles, I’ll get chow mein. The noodles are cooked and then drained. Then it is formed into a disc shape, and fried in a skillet so that both sides are crispy. Then it is cut into fourths. After everything is cooked, it is topped over the noodles. The idea behind frying the noodles is that it will hold after the gravy is poured over it. Hence cake noodles, like eating a slice of cake. The veggies are usually stir fried separately and then topped over the dish for a nice presentation, and the veggies will not wilt quickly when done in that manner. Again, lovers will have leftovers. Live life. Be happy.

SALT & PEPPER CHICKEN

Salt & Pepper Chicken is a simple Chinese Style Island dish. Generally I use chicken thighs with the bone removed and skin on. It is marinated in soy sauce, and oyster sauce then floured and fried crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. However if a client does not want any soy or oyster sauce, I’ll omit it. Also if a client doesn’t want skin on, I’ll remove that as well. Or, if the breast meat is requested, that can be arranged. How is this dish eaten? Simply with a starch of white rice, brown rice or stir fried rice. In this picture there is 5 medium/small thighs. Usually when cooking for couples this is the amount they will get or possibly 4 large thighs. Either way, all the lovers will have extra food for the next day or evening. Live life, enjoy the abundance when it comes your way!

LEMON CHICKEN

Lemon Chicken, a Chinese style dish. Simply made with dark meat chicken thighs, skin on, bone off. Seasoned with salt and pepper, depending on the eater (client), sometimes I’ll marinate the meat in sherry wine, sesame oil, and pepper, and dredge it in cornstarch for a rather crisp exterior but a juicy insides. This was simply seasoned and coated in flour. It was wok fried, and each piece was dipped in a lemon sauce. The lemon sauce generally is very tangy, since it is…lemon sauce. However with the American style Chinese foods, eaters on this side of the globe for some reason wants their lemon sauce more on the sweet side, making it a… sweet and sour sauce with hints of lemon. This is a tricky sauce. So if you hire me, I do need to know, if you can handle the tanginess of lemons, or you are more on the sweet side of the tanginess. The good thing is, you’ll get the flavor you want. Sometimes you go to a restaurant and request something on the menu to be less pronounced and the chef gives you an attitude. So then. Lemon Chicken can be any flavor you want it to be. Heck you might want tangerines instead of lemons it’s all good.