Gingery Pumpkin Chicken

In our family, ginger (zingiber officinale) is often used as a herb to aid postpartum mothers in their recovery period during the first month. I remember grandmother cooking Tapai Chicken (Rice Wine Chicken) with a generous amount of ginger. Some of us have taken a great liking to it, and the dish is now a regular appearance on the dinner table all year round. I was taught to cook this in my teens.

It is mentioned in the book 'HERBS'  that ginger has medicinal purposes. Soothing menstrual cramps is another one of its benefits.

I habitually use ginger in my cooking when I want a little spicy oomph in my meal that doesn't involve using the chilli. This is such a recipe.

Gingery Pumpkin Chicken

Gingery Pumpkin Chicken
Ingredients:
- 335g chicken drumettes
- 350g pumpkin (cubed)
- 1/2 cup grated/blended old ginger (that's about 5-6 thumbs of ginger)
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce (or to taste)
- 1 tbsp corn flour (mixed with 1 tbsp water) (optional)
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 3 stalks spring onion (chopped)
- 2 cups water

How-to:
1) Heat oil in pan.
2) Saute ginger for awhile. It will be quite dry.
3) Add chicken. Stir for a bit. Then, add the pumpkin.
4) Add water and oyster sauce. Mix well and leave to gently boil.
5) Simmer until the pumpkin is tender and the chicken is cooked. This took between 5-7 minutes for me.
6) Using the spatula, mash the pumpkin a little. Switch the heat off. Stir in the corn flour mixture to thicken the gravy slightly (optional).
7) Finally, stir the spring onion in.

1) Grated ginger. 2) Cubed pumpkin.
3) Rinsed chicken. 4) Sauteing ginger and chicken.
5) Adding pumpkin into the mix. 6) Season and leave to simmer.
7) It's done when the pumpkin is tender and chicken is cooked.

Yum with rice!