Sunday, March 15, 2009

HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE




The Dish...
Invented by the people of Hainan (an island off the southern-most coast of China), this has become a South East Asia’s most popular dish, loved by Malaysians & Singaporeans especially. Originally this gourmet is boiled chicken and rice cooked with chicken broth. However the chicken could then be roasted or fried as you prefer. The dish consists of three main component. The chicken, the rice and the chilli sauce.

Chicken Ingredients
One chicken
10 glasses of water
Index finger length fresh young ginger, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled
One stalk of spring onion, chopped
Half tsp salt
2 Tbs olive oil (or canola oil)
How to cook the chicken broth...
Wash chicken and remove knobs of fat on either side of the buttocks. Smash the ginger and garlic and tie the spring onions into a knot.
Stuff the chicken with salt, garlic, ginger and spring onions.
Boil 10 glasses of water in a large pot. Add chicken, breast side down, submerging completely.
Boil water, turn the heat down to very low and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, uncovering once to turn chicken over.
Remove chicken and drain liquid from the body cavity. Retain liquid for later use.
Wash under tap water for 2 minutes to stop the cooking process and to tighten the skin.
Drain, rub some Sesame oil over and let the chicken cool to room temperature.
Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and serve garnished with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes. Coriander (cilantro) leaves can be used to decorate the top. Keep broth for cooking rice, making the soup and to make the chilli sauce.

Alternatively, rub the boiled chicken with light soy sauce, sesame seed oil, cumin powder & honey. Fry the chicken for about 5 minutes or roast them for 10 minutes

Chicken Rice Ingredients...
3 cups long grain rice
5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped finely (For best result, use the food processor. Not the blender)
5 shallots or onions, peeled and chopped finely
Two-and-a-half Tbs olive oil
Three-quarter to three-and-a-half cups chicken broth (from the boiled chicken)
Three-quarter tsp salt
How to cook the rice...
Wash rice and drain in a colander for 10 minutes
4 Tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a rice cooker pot. Add shallots and stir fry for one minute till fragrant. Add garlic and stir fry for one minute.
Add the rice grains and stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and salt. Start the rice cooker or boil over high heat and lower down the heat to steam the rice when the water level reaches the level of the rice grains and steam holes appear. Steam for 30 to 40 minutes till rice is cooked.

Chilli Sauce Ingredients..
6 fresh red chilli peppers
4 shallots
1 bulb of garlic
Thumb size fresh young ginger
Half cup boiling chicken broth (from the boiled chicken)
4 tsp lime or lemon juice
One tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sugar
One tsp salt
How to cook the chilli sauce..
Peel shallots, ginger and garlic. Add the chillies and use a food processor to grind the ingredients.
Put all into a bowl and add the boiling chicken broth. Add remaining ingredients, cool and leave for at least one hour before serving.

Serve the dish with light soy sauce, the chicken broth, rice, the chicken, tomatoes, cucumber & lettuce. Enjoy the best Chicken Rice recipe ever.

1 comment:

  1. oh, this sounds delicious! It sounds like a lot of work, but I am sure it is worth it!

    ReplyDelete