I haven’t had much time to cook lately, but I was super happy with some chicken chili I made. I altered a recipe from Chef John at FoodWishes. Chef John is great, by the way. Not only is he pretty funny, but I’ve never made any of his recipes that weren’t complete successes. The only things I change are:
the ancho chili powder (we don’t have such fancy things in Korea)
the chicken broth
the cornmeal and the sugar
the beans
chipotle chili
I use regular chili powder (not red pepper powder, but chili powder you buy in Itaewon). Chipotle chili is impossible to find in Korea, so I had some I brought from America. We don’t have many places to buy chicken broth and I don’t want to make it from scratch, so I rely on bouillon cubes. I don’t use the cornmeal or sugar at all. I don’t use white beans, instead I use 1 can of black beans and one can of chili beans (I rinse the can gunk off of them). I also don’t use garnish or green onions because I’m not fancy when I cook for myself. Sometimes, I get a little crazy with the cayenne and cumin because they are the best flavors. An important thing to remember is you need to use a stainless steel skillet; if you use a non-stick pan, you’re going to have a bad time. You can use it, but you won’t develop a fond on the pan and will have nothing to deglaze. Deglazing is wonderful for getting all those delicious burnt cancer-causing flavors off the pan and making sauces. When you add the dry spices and flour to the onions and garlic, it will look bad. It will look like you’ve ruined it, but you haven’t. This is not a dish about how pretty it is. You can also throw in some diced bell peppers with your onions and it will fill it out a bit if you want to stretch it. It makes “four” servings, but it actually makes 3 if you treat this as a meal and not as something to eat with a sandwich. I usually eat it straight away, but sometimes I’ll get it going and transfer it to a crockpot for 4 or 5 hours and it makes the chicken disintegrate. It’s definitely worth a shot, especially during the bleak Korean winters.
Ramen Water 