Sunday 10 July 2011

Chicken Teriyaki + Question #2

I have been working on my dissertation this weekend and although the progress is rather slow, it is getting there... I hope.

I enjoy looking at what people are cooking and eating at their homes. I don't think that's a secret, I read food blogs after all. I also like looking at people's supermarket trolleys... Oh, come on, you know you have and enjoy doing it too :)

However, I am afraid to tell you that the truth about my nosiness is worse than that. I travel quite often by trains and travelling by train is truly an experience in itself. Whenever possible, I always ask for a seat with a table, even though this means sharing the table with three other people. You can most definitely close your eyes and ignore all the passengers around you, or concentrate on a good read, or playing with your gadgets.
I sometimes do or at least pretend to do all the mentioned, but I couldn't help myself from doing other things like overhearing people's conversation... but who could?! It's a public transport.

Anyway, peeking at what people are having for their snacks is what I enjoy most! On a recent train journey from London to Newcastle, I sat next to a lovely elderly couple and they had home-made sandwiches, cubes of cheddar, crackers, grapes, batons of carrots and cucumber, cherry tomatoes and a loaf of banana bread. Of course, I tried not to make it too obvious that I am staring at their packed lunch, even though I was drooling over that banana bread. To makes things worse, the table across from us were having cupcakes from the hummingbird bakery. I make an excellent secret agent one day.

I never bother really to make something for 'on-the-go'. I suppose that's probably because I would have eaten it before the journey and all I had were crumbs.

My friend introduced me to Japan Centre at Regent Street few years ago and since then, whenever I'm going on a train journey from London, I almost always stop by there to grab my food supplies, sweet or savoury, like onigiri, sushi, edamame, ramen noodles or my latest favourite thing, green tea tiramisu. Yum... and to drink, equally Japanese, I like pocari sweat isotonic drink.

On another journey, I was surrounded by a group of lads on their way to a football match, and all they had was beers. I like beers, but I also need the ham sandwich or at least salted peanuts or doritos.

Now my question for you is, "Imagine yourself going on a train journey, what would you have to eat? Do you prepare something home-made? or if you're buying something pre-made, what do you get?"

Again, this is part of my research for my dissertation. You can leave your answer by leaving comments below or you can email me. Any ways would be greatly appreciated. If you miss question #1, you can read it here.

Now, to food I cooked and ate earlier: chicken teriyaki. This is another one of Nigella's quick and delicious recipe. Just a few ingredients mixed for the brief marinating of the chicken thighs, followed by an easy stove-top cooking. You can serve it with sushi rice, but I like it with sticky Thai rice noodles and a scatter or chopped coriander leaves.


Chicken Teriyaki
Recipe by Nigella Lawson
For list of ingredients and instructions, click here.
If you want to watch the video, click here.

27 comments:

  1. Just to answer to your question, I'd take something home-made with me, and it would either be sandwiches and salads or salty cakes!

    Your chicken Teriyaki looks great! It's nice to see you back and thank you for your comment on my blog!

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  2. I love Nigella's chicken teriyaki! It's my most made recipe from 'Kitchen'.

    I'd probably make some ham sandwiches to take along, fruit and crisps too!

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  3. I'm horrible when I travel and need to bring food. I bring the entire pantry with me! I make salads, sandwiches, pack pickles, cookies or bars, toss in a bag of sweets (just in case there's a delay) and a bag of nuts and sultanas - I might get peckish before we arrive. I end up not eating a 10th of it but I can't help myself. I probably need a shrink.

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  4. In Indo,
    I bring lontong with hot beef filling in it. Zing! Actually if I were to travel with my dad, we'd probably have pocari sweat too... taste like sweat, yum! healthiness.

    In Korea,
    I like tteokbokki, which are available in all train stations. (again it's spicy).

    In Western world,
    hmm... probably just chips crisp and water... lame huh? Hahaha...

    Hey I just made Teriyaki chicken a while ago and mentioning about Teriyaki blogger's fever... must be a pandemic.

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  5. lovely chicken teriyaki... Nigella's recipe always works so well.

    I like a really good bacon butty for a train journey... and lots of cups of tea!

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  6. Goodness, what kind of dissertation are you writing up, Michael? I've got to check up on your Q#1. If I were going on a long train ride, I'd probably make a little picnic basket for it. It would contain strawberries, or sliced guava/mangoes, chocolate muffins, egg and cucumber sandwiches, spicy nasi goreng and champagne. Haha, just kidding about the champagne....maybe sparkling Perrier to wash it all down!

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  7. In my days of European train travel, what made me happiest was a hunk of cheese, a hunk of sausage, a hunk of bread, and a bottle of wine.

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  8. Love Chicken Teriyaki!! Yours looks lovely, Michael!

    What would I take? I'd make sure I had a few homemade chocolate chip cookies, I know that for sure. I would try and take something healthy like an apple or grapes... and, of course the old stand by of puffy Cheetos :) You can't travel without puffy Cheetos!!

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  9. I've never been on a train!! If I were on a journey close to home I'd pack a homemade snack, however if I were away from home it'd be a hunk of cheese, some salami or ham, bread and fruit. Wish there was a train near by!

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  10. Good luck with the dissertation.
    And the chicken looks great...

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  11. I'm afraid I'm a sucker for Marks and Spencer Food prawn mayo sandwiches.. unfortunately we have a store at Brighton station, and I take the train to uni every day and up to London or back home a lot so I've spent a small fortune on them in the last two years!!

    I'm back from Turkey, you'll love it. The food was amazing, expect plenty of Turkish food on my blog!! Glad to hear the dissertation is coming along slowly but surely, I'm sure I, like the rest of your readers, would love to read it!!

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  12. Lovely dish and I definitely agree that the Thai rice noodles would be just perfect with it.
    As for journeys, it's a sort of ritual that I try to make muffins if I have time. Nice healthy, low-fat ones with plenty of fruit and serious ingredients if I'm feeling virtuous and chocolate if I need something to cheer me up. Given that most journeys seem to be a bit grim, then it's more often chocolate that wins out. White chocolate and lemon is the current favourite.
    If I don't have time to bake, then it's usually a brioche or a Danish pastry.

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  13. Looks like a great teriyaki dish :)
    On a train I always order a fruit and cheese plate with crusty bread and wine...
    Hope you are having a great week

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  14. I'm insanely curious about other people's eating habits too! In fact if I could wander around someone's house the first thing I would go to would be their fridge and pantry! :D

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  15. Guess it is always better to make something home made like that chicken! But don't you just hate how slow trains are?

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  16. Hang in there with the dissertation Michael. You're almost done!
    I think I would have grabbed one of those cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery. How did you resist?
    On trains....crusty bread with cheese, please.

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  17. @Annalisa: Welcome back. I have missed you.

    @Anna: I love Nigella's chicken teriyaki. I cooked it again for tea. Can't have ham sandwich without crisps. Salt and vinegar for me.

    @Maureen: I need to travel with you. I'll help you eat all the stuff :)

    @Pierre: I had lontong when I was in Indo. I asked my aunt not to make it too spicy for me.
    Chicken teriyaki pandemic?! Maybe...

    @Dom: bacon butty... yes!

    @Maya: I need to travel with you too. Gorgeous picnic basket. I'll have the champagne! :)

    @Stephen: Bread, cheese, sausage and wine. Perfect!!

    @Jenn: I love cheetos. Too bad we don't have it here. I can order it from an online store, but they charge you at least an arm for that.

    @Andrea: You should go on a train ride to a beautiful countryside. With your supplements, I think you're ready to go.

    @Indie.Tea: Thanks! I'll be sure to keep you updated with the progress.

    @Alex: Oh yes, M&S... I spend most of my wages there :) I look forward to some Turkish food! I'm glad you had a great time.

    @Phil: Can't go wrong with chocolate. I actually had some toblerone with me on my last train ride.
    White chocolate and lemon sounds utterly delicious!

    @Alisha: My kinds of snack there :)

    @Lorraine: I do the same thing too! I love checking out people's fridge and pantry. So glad to know I'm not the only one.

    @Rick: They can be quite slow. I don't like it when train stops a lot. I want direct route!

    @Barbara: Thank you for the encouragement. I need it. How did I resist? Well, I really didn't want to spend the night in jail :)

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  18. i think I will have what that couple had ;0)

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  19. The kids and I LOVE chicken teriyaki and I love how you did it on thai noodles instead of just over rice. Good thinking.

    I admit, I totally stake out other people grocery carts and try and decide what they are going to make for dinner. It's a sickness. I would have asked the older couple to share their snacks with me...they sounded good! :)

    Lots of yummy love,
    Alex aka Ma What's for Dinner
    www.mawhats4dinner.com

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  20. Michael-I loved reading your post about the train journey, and smiled to myself...what would I bring to eat on the train?...and also about the cute elderly couple and the guys only drinking beer.
    For me, it depends how long of a train ride it would be...most likely some snacks, like chips, and peanuts, and just plain water, or maybe a panini of some sorts...otherwise I would settle down reading one of my great novels, or planning a new recipe with one of my good food magazines.
    I absolutely love your Chicken Teriyaki from Nigella. I would love this on top of a nice portion of white long grain rice.
    Thanks for sharing...as always!
    xo

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  21. Your teriyaki is sensational! A must try recipe for me. I would take with me bread and manchego cheese and a bottle of Rioja on my train ride. I learned this traveling long distance in Spain. Cheers!

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  22. YUM! I love chicken teriyaki!

    I have a problem with looking at what other people are reading. I just can't help myself. I need to know.

    I would love to answer that question for you but it would really depend on my craving at the time. I would probably buy something to go. A nice cold cut sandwich with some fruit and a French Baguette sounds exquisite right now so that's definitely what I would want to take with me. And trail mix. I don't go anywhere without it. Nuts, raisins and chocolate candies makes the perfect trail mix to me.

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  23. Ooh fun. First, my earliest memory of food is a tough one. It would have be a bowl of ice cream I was eating. It also happened to be on a night that a transformer in our backyard blew. I think it was burned into memory for shock factor. I don't think I was older than 6.

    As for lunch on a train, I would probably pick something up. A salad and maybe some bread most likely. I'd also probably bring fruits and maybe some vegis. Finger/hand foods that aren't too messy.

    Good luck with your dissertation!

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  24. Mmm ... the chicken teriyaki looks wonderful. I'm on a chicken kick - just made more chicken tikka masala after last Friday's post, think I'll make teriyaki very soon. For train travel? Think I'd take a sandwich, some nuts, maybe a low-sugar cookie or muffin and a flask of tea.

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  25. Chicken looks good but I can't stand Nigella. Can't stand the way she always looks so neat and clean when cooking (you wouldn't want to catch me in the act - not a pleasant sight) and that smile plastered on her face all the time. Grrrrrrr!!!! LOL!!!

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  26. @Rebecca: Sounds like a great idea. I hope they don't mind sharing :)

    @Alex: I'm glad you admit. Don't worry you're not the only one!

    @Elisabeth: Panini sounds great for train journey and I need reading materials too. One time bring Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking with me.

    @Michelangelo: I must try that... love manchego cheese and rioja. Would that be weird if I bring a jug of sangria on board? I don't think so :)

    @Maranda: I know. It depends on my mood too, but I have certain must haves. Trail mix sounds great!

    @Russell: Gosh! What a memory. Thanks for sharing! I think you should bring some of your delicious cookies for the train ride.

    @Jean: I'm on chicken kick too. I just realised I've been eating a lot of chickens lately. Chicken tikka masala sounds lovely. Yum!

    @Suituapui: I know what you mean. Sometimes I feel the same way. But deep down, I love her... :)

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  27. Michael-I'm back again! Thanks for stopping by my blog...I was going to let you know about the award; not to worry, no rush on mentioning and passing the award on, just was thinking of you...as always!
    You are such a wonderful friend, and I love to stay in touch with you and your adventures in your travels, and of course your delicious Nigella recipes!
    Have a wonderful weekend, my friend!
    xoxo

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