Chicken Curry Rice ala Paella

Happy Year 2010 Mates!

How have you been my Filipino, Vietnamese, Aussie & the global readers and friends? What are you guys preparing for the dinner tonight? :)

It's always best to welcome the year with a bash of good food. Any occasion will not be a feast unless there are sumptuous dishes on the table. It's more than a week now since 2010 arrived. Still unfathomable that we are ending another decade. How time flies, really. Tonight I will be preparing Jamie Oliver's Ginger Lemon Turmeric Rice along with my specialty Chicken Kebabs. It's always good to catch up with good friends here in Saigon after my Holiday vacation in Manila.

Before I headed for my holiday in Manila, I did some cooking stints for my good friends here in Saigon. I cooked Paella for Muay Thai friends after not cooking the dish for almost two years. I also cooked Crepe Dome Chocolate Cake for the first time but I do not have a nice photo for me to post it here. But one of my specialties which is Chicken Curry Rice was a winner during the Christmas dinner with fellow Filipinos here in Saigon. And I am happy to share the photo and the recipe here in my blog.

Did you guys know that I spent Christmas Eve in Saigon unexpectedly? On the day of my flight back home which is on the 24th, an unfortunate event happened in the airport. Problem with my visa at the immigration. The whole day of he 24th I was fixing my visa to be able to fly back home on the 25th of December. I thought it will be a lonely Christmas by myself because most of Filipinos I know went home already for their vacation. I was sad until Ashely Groom my Aussie mate from Muay Thai invited me to be part of his Christmas dinner. I brought a cake and we ate it along with the Cayenne Chicken he prepared which I terribly liked. With us also was his American friend Corey and his Vietnamese girlfriend. Corey's girlfriend left early so Corey, Ashley & I just watched the DVDs of Logie Award-winning Australian television mockumentary series---SUMMER HEIGHTS HIGH. That's how we spent the Christmas Eve after the Cayenne Chicken, Salad, Beers & Wine. It was indeed a different and memorable Christmas Eve that I will always be thankful to have and it's because I gained a true friend like Ashley Groom.

It was a pretty tiring holiday back home. I engaged myself meeting a lot of people to catch up and I didn't cook much during Manila trip because it was too tight and I am still a bit sickie then. To summarize the year that was, it's a pretty amazing year. It's about failures & victories, quitting & surviving and most of all standing the test of time.

Chicken Curry Rice Ala Paella

Ingredients:

• Curry Powder
• Chinese Chorizo
• Breast Chicken
• Spring Onion
• Lemon/Lime
• Chicken Stock
• Paprika/Pepper/Salt
• Jasmine Rice (cooked)
• Green Capsicum
• Egg/Butter
• Garlic

Procedure:

Cut the breast chicken into cubes then put in a bowl. Squeeze in some lemon then put a dash of salt, paprika, pepper and curry powder then set aside. Boil the eggs then cut diagonally then set aside also. Cut the capsicum in small cubes then peel and pound the garlic and have it ready. Heat a wok in a medium temperature then place the butter then add the garlic. Saute it for around 30 seconds then add the marinated chicken and chorizo. Allow it to be cooked until a little golden brown then add the the capsicum then followed by he Jasmine rice. Mix them all together. Then add the chicken stock then seasoned it with huge amount of curry powder. Then some pinches of salt & pepper. Continue to mix all together until cooked. Place it in a Pallera pan or wok then sprinkle the chopped spring onions and top it with the sliced eggs. Put some lime on the side for optional citrus flavor of the rice.

Here's to another year of roller coaster adventure to a life less ordinary! The day I proclaimed "Starting today will be my lucky day" it did happen and it still continues...

hugs,
joanie xxx