Another kid’s favorite ! But this one looks a little more like advanced cuisine. However, you’ll see how simple it is to make. It is full of flavors. A little Earl Gray tea in the sauce gives the meal a different type of asian scent and flavors, that are more subtle than the usual sesame oil or soy-based dishes. It delicious and deliciously paired with steamed basmati or Thai rice, pineapple, leek, and pine nuts.

Asian Dishes All Around !

I do love a good asian-inspired dish. Why? Because they usually are packed with colored vegetables, combined differently, and a side of rice you may but don’t have to eat. Yes it is important to me to have the option of a grain, because my children usually are hungrier than me for it. They do always eat the vegetables, but their growing body needs more rice, more oil, more nuts!

Where I grew up, we had near my primary school an excellent Chinese take out. We sometimes ate there, enjoying their nems, spring rolls, dishes, deserts. My mom noticed some of their dishes were quite popular among us so she started replicating, and my favorite replica was her Pineapple chicken

A Sweet and Savory Dish

I do love sweet and savory combinations, especially when tastes are original ! Mixing leek and pineapple in an earl gray and olive oil sauce is not something I would typically come up with on my own. But it is delicious. Add pine nuts and it goes to another level. I know pine nuts are pricey , so you can potentially add different seeds like pumpkin seeds or sunflower, but the taste is very different and the pine nuts taste really adds a a deliciousness you would not get otherwise.

This is Not Your typical Pinapple Chicken

This is not a stir fry. Making pineapple chicken into a stir fry would imply that I use a wok or a skillet heated at very high temperature. If I did, I would be burning the oil.

This is a meal I make at low temperature and very quickly, in a sauce made of water, salt, earl gray and cumin, with a pinch of paprika. I also precook the chicken in my steam cooker. Then I finish cooking it in the sauce together with the pineapple, the leak and pine nuts.

Typical recipes of pineapple do contain red pepper as well, which I do not use. I am sure it would go well, but I have not made it with pepper yet!

Note that I don’t use soy sauce or starch. Starch would thicken the sauce and give it a thicker consistency and a shiny, sweeter look. Since it is not a stir fry, and I don’t marinate the chicken in a sauce that contains a thickener, the starch is not required. It is also not needed, and the result is a much lighter meal. I also don’t use soy sauce in this dish because it tends to overpower the earl grey and cumin sauce.

What part of this meal is steamed?

The Rice

You don’t own a rice cooker? Not a problem: you can easily do that in the steam cooker. You will only need a stainless steel bowl. Simply rince the rice with water, and drain. Then add more water ( 1.5 cups of water for 1 cup of rice) , and place the bowl into the steam basket of your hot and steamy steam cooker. It will cook within 15 to 20 minutes ! Even faster if the water it cooks in is already warm (190F).

When it comes to stainless steel prefer 18/10 or 18/8 steel type, for they are safer and more durable. According to my research, this is a good quality brand.

Why Steam Rice?

It’s easy, you don’t boil off nutrients present in rice, and you don’t over cook rice. The process is flawless, and you don’t need an additional electric appliance. What else is there to say?

What Rice Do I Use?

Thai, Jasmine or basmati rice are winners, because those are fragrant (or perfume) rices. They do have a subtle flavor and sweet scent that others don’t have. I love these. I find they are the best with asian inspired dishes.

The Chicken

No Marinade

I am not anti marinade, but I prefer using them when I grill chicken, i.e. and when the meat goes to such high temperature that it needs oily protection. That’s because I am aware that burning oil with a grill is not healthy, since I would end up eating byproducts of burned oils. So I do grill – at lower temperature and for longer, and I try to do it sparingly.

Simply Blanched in the Steam Cooker

When it comes to pineapple chicken, I simply don’t feel the need to marinate. But I can’t always afford the best quality chicken. So I prefer to let it go through a steam bath session where it removes its toxins – it is like blanching a bit, although a bit longer since it does start the cooking process.

Besides dropping toxins, through steaming the chicken removes some of its saturated fats. Saturated fats are inflammatory kinds of fat to humans, particularly if the animals were NOT lucky enough to be raised appropriately. Chicken raised truly free range also eat different kinds of foods than the ones raised “cage free”, i.e. bugs and seeds, not soy or corn! Their eggs are nutritionally richer and their meat is less inflammatory. Therefore, since I can’t afford the best kind of chicken all the time in my family of 7, I am happy to spare myself a bit of inflammation by steam cooking my meat.

What is the Process of Steaming Chicken Like

I cut my chicken in very thin slices, salt it ( so it can sweat more toxins). Then I place it in the steam basket of my steam cooker for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, I remove chicken from the basket/sieve and transfer it into the skillet that already is awaiting with pineapple, leek, and sauce. The chicken finishes cooking by seeping into the sauce with the rest of the ingredients, and if I don’t leave it in more than 5 minutes, it should be very tender and delish!

Not The Typical Steaming Process: Steaming To Cleanse and Preserve

Most recipes steaming animal protein online will be made with fish, à la chinese, but they do not steam the way I do with my cooker. Most dishes will be made cooking the fish or meat in the sauce, in a bowl that is place onto the steam basket. The sole purpose of the basket in this case is to heat the dish, not to cleanse and preserve the nutrient. The way I steam chicken or fish is more a pre cooking process: I will steam it directly onto the steam cooking basket, then transfer the fish or meat onto a skillet or sauté pan, where the sauce or marinated is awaiting. The fish or meat will finish cooking in the sauce, with the other ingredients, which is very quick. The results is a cleaner and very nutrient dense food, but also a food not devoid of its natural taste. The dressing’s sole purpose is to underline, improve on the natural taste of the food.

The Leek

Of course I pre steam the leek in the steam cooker. 3 minutes is enough so it remains a bit crunchy and its color does not fade. The taste remains well present, and it can finish cooking in the skillet with other ingredients for a few minutes at very very low heat.- don’t overcook it in the skillet!

Ready for a Light, yet Very Flavorful Meal?

I remember trying to make that dish a few times when my kids were much younger, and still had not figured out what was missing in the sauce. Since then, every time I make it is undeniably better and has a lot of success!

One way I do differently than my mom: I use fresh pineapple. My mom would use canned pineapple, which was easier to come by off season. She would also use the canned water ! So I adjusted by adding one tablespoon sugar in the sauce, and we come to just the right amount of sweetness.

Readers out there beware! I really do not have much of a sweet tooth! You may want to try with two tablespoons sugar rather than one or adjust the sugar once the dish is done!

Bon appétit!