Emily, the hilarious gal behind The Pig & Quill, is making a human baby, and I'm making little baby sized chicken bites on a fluffy bed of rice, swaddled up all tight in a toasty seaweed blanket. Aww!!! It's practically the same! Right? No? Oh.
To help Emily welcome a new baby girl into world, we’re throwing a surprise virtual baby shower! A bunch of food bloggers got together to make some seriously delicious baby shower treats for our girl, Em. And her baby girl, lil' piglet. And her husband. I guess he helped... so...he can come too.As a regular visitor to Emily’s blog, I’ve always loved her quick wit and, more importantly, her taste in food. Her favorites are tacos and Asian. And also, girlfriend loves spam, and isn’t afraid to say it. Here’s the thing: spam is kind of weird and scary. Here’s the other thing: spam is effing good. If you haven’t had spam musubi—tangy sweetly sauced spam sandwiched between rice and wrapped up in nori—you haven’t lived. Or you just haven’t been to Hawaii. Either way, you’re missing out.
It’s a major bummer that Emily can’t eat spam while she’s all knocked up (that’s the official term, right?), so I wanted to give her all the musubi goodness without all the nitrate badness. Enter: fried chicken! On our Kauai honeymoon, Evan and I saw musubi filled with fried chicken (!) instead of spam, and then the planets aligned, a stork visited, someone planted a head of cabbage, and Emily got pregnant (that’s...how it works…?).
I considered oven-frying the chicken (otherwise known as baking it), but I figured Emily is putting in the hard work of, you know, child birth, so the least I could do is fry some damn chicken. But not just any chicken! Lil' nuggets of sweet, salty, garlicky, soy-sauce marinated goodness: mochiko chicken! So, here's to tasty snackies, surprise baby showers, and of course, Em's real life human baby!!Congrats, girl! Recipe below, and the rest of #EmsPigletParty posts below that!
Fried Chicken Musubi
2 cups cooked sushi rice, mixed together with 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, cooled
Sesame oil
Furikake (or just sesame seeds)
24 pieces of mochiko-style fried chicken (recipe below)
3-4 sheets nori, cut into 24 thin strips
Sriracha if desired
Dip fingers in a little bit of sesame oil to stop rice from sticking to your hands, and roll out 24 tablespoon sized balls. Dip each ball in furikake or sesame seeds, and flaten into an oblong shape. Top each with a piece of chicken, and wrap with a thin strip of nori. Seal with a few grains of sticky rice. Top with sriracha if desired.
Mochiko-style Fried chicken
Recipe adapted from Foodland
4 Tablespoons mochiko flour
4 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 Tablespoons sugar
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1⁄2 Teaspoon salt
2 Eggs, beaten
6 Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 24 total pieces
peanut oil for frying
In a large bowl, whisk together flour through eggs, until combined.
Add chicken to batter, and marinate at least an hour, but overnight in the fridge if possible.
Heat about 2-3 inches of oil in a large dutch oven or cast iron pan, to 350 degrees. Add a few pieces of chicken at a time and fry until golden brown on the outside and cooked through on the inside. Let drain on a paper towel, then cool before making musubi.
Wait! There's more...
See the tasty treats everyone else made for the baby shower!
With Food + Love
2 cups cooked sushi rice, mixed together with 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, cooled
Sesame oil
Furikake (or just sesame seeds)
24 pieces of mochiko-style fried chicken (recipe below)
3-4 sheets nori, cut into 24 thin strips
Sriracha if desired
Dip fingers in a little bit of sesame oil to stop rice from sticking to your hands, and roll out 24 tablespoon sized balls. Dip each ball in furikake or sesame seeds, and flaten into an oblong shape. Top each with a piece of chicken, and wrap with a thin strip of nori. Seal with a few grains of sticky rice. Top with sriracha if desired.
Mochiko-style Fried chicken
Recipe adapted from Foodland
4 Tablespoons mochiko flour
4 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 Tablespoons sugar
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1⁄2 Teaspoon salt
2 Eggs, beaten
6 Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 24 total pieces
peanut oil for frying
In a large bowl, whisk together flour through eggs, until combined.
Add chicken to batter, and marinate at least an hour, but overnight in the fridge if possible.
Heat about 2-3 inches of oil in a large dutch oven or cast iron pan, to 350 degrees. Add a few pieces of chicken at a time and fry until golden brown on the outside and cooked through on the inside. Let drain on a paper towel, then cool before making musubi.
Wait! There's more...
See the tasty treats everyone else made for the baby shower!
With Food + Love
