A meal that I cooked for lunch past few months ... ehehe ... It's not easy to get bored of chicken rice, kan. This time around I tried the recipe from Rasa Malaysia and we love it. Anak-anak I pon nowadays lebih suka Hainanese Chicken Rice. Siap request next time please make nasi ayam hainan, xnak yg biasa, goreng punya.
Suka masak nasi ayam as it is a complete meal. Tak payah dah nak fikir apa lauk pauk iringan ...
3 cups uncooked washed rice
5 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cloves finely chopped garlic
4 finely chopped shallots
2 + 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp chicken broth
4-6 blades of pandan leave (screwpine leaves)
1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised
1 tbsp of the garlic and shallot oil
70g chicken fats
1+ 1/2 tsp salt, to taste
For the chicken1 whole chicken, preferably free range organic chicken
1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised
5-6 stalks of scallion, washed
10 bowls chicken stock, adjust accordingly
4 blades of pandan leaves (screwpine leaves)
1 carrot, roughly chopped
2 + 1 tsp of salt
10 bowls of cold water
1 cucumber, peeled, halved and sliced diagonally
For the sauce2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp chicken broth
3 tsp sesame oil
3 tsp garlic and shallot oil
For chicken rice chilli sauce90g red chilies (you may add in some bird’s eye chili)
15g garlic
50g ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
50ml chicken broth
60ml lime juice, to taste
To garnishFew sprigs of cilantro
Method:
For the chicken1. Wash chicken, drain well, stuff ginger and scallion into the chicken’s cavity. Using 2 tsp of salt as scrub, rub the salt all over the chicken for smooth looking skin.
2. In a not too large stockpot which fits the chicken perfectly, boil the chicken stock (enough to cover the whole chicken) together with pandan leaves, carrot and salt.
3. Submerge the whole chicken, breast side down in the boiling water for 35-45 minutes depending on the size of the chicken. Lower the heat to gentle simmer immediately.
4. When chicken is cooked, remove chicken and plunge it into prepared cold water at once for 10 minutes. Keep the chicken broth** for later use.
5. Drain the chicken, discard ginger and scallion from the cavity and set it aside to cool before chopping it neatly into desired serving size.
For the rice1. Heat oil in wok, fry chopped shallots and garlic till fragrant and golden in colour. Add rice and stir well. Transfer the rice mixture to rice cooker.
2. Once transferred, add chicken broth, pandan leaves, ginger, garlic and shallot oil, chicken fats and salt into rice mixture. Cook according to rice cooker’s manual instruction.
To prepare chicken rice1. Line a serving plate with cucumber slices.
2. Arrange chicken pieces on top, pour in the prepared sauce before garnishing with cilantro.
3. Serve with chicken rice, side soup and chicken rice chili sauce.
**Any left over chicken broth can be served as side soup, garnish with cilantro or chopped scallions. I like my soup with fish balls. ;)
Cook’s Note:Never let the Great-Wall-of-China-long list of ingredients and methods intimidate you. It’s really not as tough or scary as it seems + the ingredients can be easily attainable almost everywhere and importantly, your effort will be extremely well paid off after.
