3 easy dishes to whip up with an air fryer

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SINGAPORE - While newly minted home cooks have no lack of choice in kitchen appliances - from retro-style electric hotplates that come with takoyaki plates to the all-in-one Thermomix - the air fryer has made a strong comeback in a time of work-from-home meals during the pandemic.

 

Check out the frozen food section of supermarkets and you will find that many ready-to-eat packs now come with air-fryer reheating instructions. Ditto for food ordered in from restaurants and bakeries.

 

For novice cooks intimidated by the idea of cooking from scratch, the air fryer provides a good entry point.

 

Air fryers typically cook food through the circulation of hot air. An upside is they require less oil than deep-frying to crisp up food.

 

The first time I bought an air fryer, which was about five years ago, was to heat up a frozen yam ring.

 

For deep-fried frozen foods, the air fryer does an admirable job of reheating without requiring extra oil.

 

Last year, I bought my current air fryer to reheat cooked frozen foods such as prawn rolls.

 

But the air fryer is capable of much more than reheating, I discover recently. You can quickly whip up Korean-style chicken wings from scratch and even make restaurant-worthy appetisers.

 

For my recipes, I use a digital Mayer 3.5L air fryer, which can heat up to 200 deg C.

 

Here are three recipes you can put together in a jiffy.

 

1. Korean-style air-fried wings with yangnyeom sauce

 

Afraid of deep-frying and the inevitable oily aftermath? Reach for the air fryer to pull off this quick rendition of Korean-style fried chicken.

 

Since the machine is all about convenience, I do not bother to chop my own garlic and ginger. I use Chung Jung One dried ground garlic and dried ground ginger that come as powders in jars from Koryo Mart.

 

If you are buying other brands, which come salted, you may need to adjust the amount of salt in the marinade accordingly.

 

Go for mid-joint wings, which are fun to eat and fit into the air-fryer basket nicely. Make sure the wings are dry before you add the marinade.

 

Ideally, marinate them for four hours or overnight, then give them a final toss in the yangnyeom sauce before cooking.

 

Most online recipes call for chicken wings to be baked in small batches in single layers, but I am too impatient for this.

 

I cook them all at once, then cook them in smaller batches a second round to achieve more even browning. I finish off with a third round so each piece is piping hot before serving.

 

The results are acceptably crispy for a cooking method that requires so much less oil than deep-frying.

 

Prepare the sweet-spicy savoury yangnyeom sauce when the wings are almost ready. Then give it a swirl and tuck in, with your favourite K-drama on screen.

 

Ingredients

 

For chicken wings

 

• 1kg mid-joint chicken wings (24 pieces)

 

• 3 Tbs cooking wine

 

• 1 Tbs salt

 

• 11/2 Tbs dried ground garlic

 

• 1 Tbs dried ground ginger

 

• 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

 

• 1 Tbs rice flour

 

• 3 Tbs corn flour

 

• 1 Tbs oil (for greasing the air-fryer basket)

 

For yangnyeom sauce

 

• 2 Tbs gochujang (Korean red chilli paste)

 

• 3 Tbs brown sugar

 

• 2 Tbs light soya sauce

 

• 1 tsp dried ground garlic

 

• 1/2 dried ground ginger

 

• 2 Tbs tomato ketchup

 

• 2 tsp white rice vinegar

 

For garnishing

 

• 1/4 tsp toasted sesame seeds

 

• 1 stalk of spring onion, sliced

 

Method

 

1. Add wings into a large bowl and use a fine skewer to pierce them.

 

2. Add the cooking wine, salt, dried ground garlic, dried ground ginger, black pepper, rice flour and corn flour. Mix well. Clingwrap the dish, place it in the refrigerator and leave the wings to marinate for at least four hours or overnight.

 

3. Remove the wings from the refrigerator 30 minutes before you air-fry them.

 

4. Grease the air-fryer basket.

 

5. Place eight wings, skin side down, in one layer in the basket. Stack the remaining wings, skin side down, on top.

 

6. Air-fry at 180 deg C for 24 minutes. Shake them every 10 minutes.

 

7. Remove 16 wings and place them on a wire rack. Turn the remaining layer of wings over and air-fry for another six minutes. Remove and set them aside. Place another eight wings, skin side up, in the basket and cook for another six minutes. Do the same for the remaining eight wings.

 

8. Place all the wings in the basket and air-fry for another six minutes.

 

9. While waiting, add all the ingredients for the sauce into a saucepan and bring the mixture to a simmering boil. Turn off the heat.

 

10. Once the wings are ready, pour the sauce into a large mixing bowl.

 

11. Add the wings into the mixing bowl and toss them gently and briefly to coat them in the sauce.

 

12. Serve immediately.

 

 

2. Kaki mentaiyaki

 

Crank up the oven if you plan to grill a platter of oysters. But if you are cooking in small quantities, the air fryer is a handy appliance to prepare kaki mentaiyaki (oysters with marinated cod roe).

 

Frozen oysters are more affordable than live ones.

 

I buy sashimi-grade oysters from Japan's Hyogo Prefecture and mentaiko online from seafood seller 9s Seafood. The mentaiko cost $28 for 500g and the oysters, $35, which came in a 1kg bag (about 16 pieces).

 

The upside to buying frozen oysters is that you can defrost however many you wish to eat, instead of the entire packet.

 

My air-fryer's basket can take six oysters at a go. To defrost, the seller recommends submerging them in water for 20 to 30 minutes then rinse to remove debris.

 

Thankfully, frozen oysters are easier to shuck than live ones. Some opened slightly when defrosted. Nonetheless, to avoid cutting your hands, prepare a towel and a shucking knife.

 

Place the oyster, cup side of the shell down, on the towel and get a good grip to prise the shell open.

 

If the oyster is clammed shut, insert the shucking knife into the hinge of the oyster.

 

Once the oyster is opened, use the shucking knife to cut the muscles that attach the oyster to its top shell and bottom shell.

 

Discard the flat top shell and you are ready to slather on the mentaiko and mayonnaise mixture and start air-frying.

 

Ingredients

 

• 6 frozen oysters (330g, including the shells)

 

• 30g mentaiko

 

• 40g Kewpie mayonnaise

 

Method

 

1. Defrost, clean and shuck the oysters.

 

2. In a bowl, mix the mentaiko and mayonnaise.

 

3. Take 1 tsp of the mentaiko mixture and spread it on top of one oyster. Repeat for the remaining oysters.

 

4. Place the oysters in the air-fryer basket.

 

5. Air-fry at 200 deg C for two minutes or until the mentaiko topping is slightly browned.

 

6. Serve immediately.

 

3. Korean luncheon meat fries

 

Give spam fries a K-twist by using Korean luncheon meat with a spicy dip.

 

What is the difference between regular and Korean luncheon meat? The latter tastes less salty and does not feel as fatty.

 

For my recipe, I use Beksul Luncheon Meat (above) from Lee Mart.

 

Ingredients

 

• 1 can of Korean luncheon meat (340g)

 

• 1/8 tsp of dried parsley

 

• 1 Tbs Kewpie mayonnaise

 

• 2 Tbs gochujang

 

Method

 

1. Slice the luncheon meat into 1cm-thick strips.

 

2. Place the meat in the air-fryer basket.

 

3. Cook the strips at 200 deg C for 12 minutes or until they are browned. Remove the basket and give the strips a shake every five minutes to allow them to brown evenly. Cook for five minutes more if you want them more crisp, but they will not be as moist.

 

4. To prepare the dip, mix the mayonnaise and gochujang.

 

5. Sprinkle dried parsley on the luncheon meat fries and serve with the dip.

 

Serves two

 

Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reproduced with permission.

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