Small meals and timing

[Patricia Jean]

How long should I cook one chicken breast (approx200-250gm) in the Varoma?  I overcooked the last one and it was so tough!

We had a yummy version of Asian chicken rice when in Sabah.  We made the sambal we had at the Shangri-La Tanjung Aru to the best of our knowledge but ruined the chicken breast when cooking it in the Varoma.

[fundj&e]

hello and welcome to the forum , pop over to 'Introduce Yourself' on the home page and say hi

sorry cant help you with that Q. Maybe 12mins

[Katya]

Hi Patricia Jean and welcome.

I'm sorry your chicken was overcooked as it must have been a disappointment to you.

I don't think the number of chicken breasts you are cooking in the Varoma will affect the cooking time.   The size of the chicken breast will be what makes the difference, some are much thicker than others.    I haven't done enough steaming of them myself to be able to give you a good answer but hopefully someone on here will be able to.

Good luck with the next lot 

[cookie1]

Are there any timing guides in Full Steam Ahead book. I'll try to remember to have a look later.

[judydawn]

The time in Full Steam Ahead for a 600g chicken breast says 20-25 mins Cookie. That is a very big breast and I find if I do a big one, the flesh is not cooked at the thickest part so it is better to butterfly these bigger portions.

PJ, I've just checked through all the chicken dishes I've made from the forum and 99% of them are made from breasts or thighs which have been chopped into chunks.  I have done a full breast but I keep an eye on it and when I am happy with how it looks, I remove it and place it in the thermosaver so as not to overcook it.  Whichever is cooked first, the vegies or the chicken, goes into the thermosaver whilst the other cooks longer.  I cooked a weber roast the other day and steamed the vegies in the TMX, somehow I misjudged the timing and the vegies were cooked before the meat had rested so I just kept them warm in the thermosaver.  It is all a matter of timing and that can sometimes go awry, no matter how long we have been using our TMX's.
Your 200-250g chicken breasts are quite small so I would be checking on them after fundj's suggested time of 12 minutes and every couple of minutes thereafter until you are happy with them.

[Patricia Jean]

Thank you people.  I will try again sometime but keep checking the piece of chook.  My chicken stuff up was trying to cook it in the varoma while doing the rice. Our sambal and rice were good.  Left over sambal I put in small amounts in glad wrap and froze these parcels for aother time.  It thawed well and we had it with some sweetlip snapper.
The dish we had was Sabahan chicken rice.  We noted that at the Shangri-La the chicken breast had been poached as one does with Hainese chicken.  The flavours were mainly ginger & lemon grass.  The rice had been cooked in chicken stock flavoured with ginger & lemon grass predominately.  The sambal we had and loved and were able to get a bit of information from the chef but not the full recipe of course.  It had lengkaus (galangal), ginger, lemongrass lime, leaves, shallots, a couple of different chillies, salt and a bit of sugar.
 At our age we no longer have large appetites and found the chicken breast dish at the resort too much for one each.  We had to leave quite a bit behind.  Later we ordered the dish for room service and shared the one serving.  Still had some rice left over but not the chicken nor the gorgeous sambal!
 I've listed what the ingredients were so that others who like Malay food may experiment. 

[Delightful Den]

You're making my mouth water PJ.

Is the Shangri La that you stayed at the one in Kota Kinabulo?  We stayed at the Shangri La Rasa Ria in Sabah. It was opulent. I keep wanting to go back but there are so many other places in the world that I would like to go.

[Bedlam]

You're making my mouth water PJ.

Is the Shangri La that you stayed at the one in Kota Kinabulo?  We stayed at the Shangri La Rasa Ria in Sabah. It was opulent. I keep wanting to go back but there are so many other places in the world that I would like to go.

We stayed there in Nocember Dashingden, it is being renovated so will be even better soon. I too would love to go back. The staff make it one of the friendliest places i have stayed at. It rubs off on the guests i believe.

[Patricia Jean]

In reply to those who enjoyed Sabah. We stayed at Shangri-La Tanjung Aru, about 10 mins from Kota Kinabalu city by taxi.  We chose it because, apart from enjoying some luxury for a few days, we could walk outside down the road to eat local food.  We don't speak the language but gestures, smiles, and a pocket dictionary Malay-English helps a lot. 

We love Asian food and bought the Thermomix recipe book " A Taste of Asia".  But we have to practice a bit more to adjust quantities for two.

[Delightful Den]

DW and I flew into Bandar Seri Begawan  in Brunei and traveled on a back roads tour over 4 days to Kota Kinabalu. Our guides took us eat at road side stalls and restaurants where the locals ate.  We loved it. We even ate at an eco village on the edge of a river in the jungle.