Savoury Herb Pancakes with Stir Fried Chicken in Red Wine Vinegar

The name's long but I had no idea what else to call it. Earlier today I had no more than a 350 calorie lunch and by the time I was on my way home, my mind was filled with nothing but food. At first nothing really struck my fancy until I started thinking of pancakes. Then, the idea of having savoury pancakes popped into my head and stuck till I reached my front door. By then I had a severe mouth-watering craving for them and I decided to go at it. 

I didn't have much left in my fridge, except for the usual carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes - long-lasting vegetables that are must haves for people who work and are unsure when the next home-cooked meal will be. That's why I think the recipe below has much room for improvement but I was definitely satisfied. I just need to master the art of making the pancakes rounder and fluffier and maybe change the meat from chicken to something else.

Savoury Herb Pancakes with Stir Fried Chicken in Red Wine Vinegar

Serves 2

Pancakes
2 cups flour - 900 calories
3/4 cup milk - 90 calories
1 tbsp Mix dried herbs (Thyme, Oregano, Rosemary, Parsley, Basil) - 30 calories
1 tsp baking powder - 20 calories
1 tsp salt
2 medium eggs - 120 calories
Pepper to taste
Butter for frying - 101 calories
Total of 1,261 calories

Stir Fried Chicken in Red Wine Vinegar
300g Chicken meat - 513 calories
Half a large white onion - 60 calories
1 tomato - 30 calories
1 cucumber - 40 calories
Half a fairly large carrot - 30 calories
1 tsp soy sauce to marinate chicken meat
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
Total of 673 calories

Method:

A) Pancake Batter
Step 1: Sieve flour into a bowl.
Step 2: Then add baking powder.
Step 3: Stir the flour together till evenly mixed.
Step 4: Add eggs and mix
Step 5: Add milk and whisk till smooth and all lumps have gone
Step 6: Add herbs, salt and pepper
Step 7: Melt butter in a pan and fry

If you want even sized pancakes, use a measuring cup to ladel out batter. Gets you the same amount everytime.

 

 

I know, right? Like what is wrong with my pan??? Don't buy Greenpan. That brand sucks. In any case, make sure to fry over low flame. That way the underside won't get burnt before you're ready to flip.

 

 

B) Stir Fry Chicken

Step1: Put olive oil in pan. Then fry garlic cloves and chopped onions until fragrant.

On hindsight it might have been a better idea to fry the carrots first.

Step 2: Put cucumber, carrots and chicken in.

Remember to marinate chicken in soy sauce first.

 

 

Step 3: Add red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.

Step 4: Serve. I love ketchup with everything so I just added a touch. But you're welcome to do without. It was still just as tasty.

 

The total calorie count on this dish was 1,934 calories. But I had about a third so that leaves me with 650 calories. The hubby usually eats more as he burns calories off easily by being very active. Now that I'm done with that its time for a restock!

How to: Basic Dashi Stock & Simple noodles

During this long Malaysia Day weekend, I have had a calorie binge. So it was definitely back to healthy options today. Knowing that I had a long work-week ahead, I decided to prepare a batch of Dashi stock (Japanese seaweed stock), that I could freeze and reuse in the dishes during the week. This stock is super simple to make, has almost no calories and best of all, is super tasty. Here's what you'll need.

Dashi Stock

Step 1: The ingredients.
2.5 litres of water
2 pieces of Kombu or kelp
A fistful of bonito flakes

Step 2: Put them all in a pot and boil

Set the flames to high until the water starts boiling. After that switch to a smaller flame and let it slowly simmer for 30 minutes or until the aroma starts wafting from the pot.

Step 3: Remove from flame and strain
After straining, leave until completely cooled before transfering to a covered container to be frozen for future use.

Simple rice noodles in dashi broth
Step 1: Put 4 to 5 ladels of broth in the pot (Depends on how much broth you prefer)
Put in rice noodles (Or your preferred noodle choice)

 

Step 2: When noodles are soft, add 1 tbsp mirin (Japanese glutinous rice wine)

 Step 3: Add 1tbsp Goma shabu (Sesame sauce for shabu shabu)

Step 4: Soy sauce to taste

Step 5: Crack an egg and add dried seaweed in a bowl. Pour hot noodle soup on top of egg and seaweed. (I prefer my eggs a little undercooked but if you're worried about eating partially raw eggs you can cook them in the pot first)

Step 6: Eat

Total calories for Soup Noodles - 320 calories (mainly from rice noodles)

There are a tonne of things that you can do with Dashi broth. For example, it can be used as a base for a hot pot, to sweeten sauces for tofu dishes or as the basic in stews. If you're the type that has a busy lifestyle to maintain, this is definitely one to keep in stock.