Chicken Rice Forever!
And I now declare chicken rice is a wholesome healthy meal! In a set of chicken rice dish, you will get the carbohydrate, protein, and 5-a-day vegetable you need for a day! It is delicious yet simple!
My family would describe me as Chicken Rice King, as I love chicken rice so much that I can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner - everyday! (and I can eat the whole chicken on my own if I am allowed to!) Even my cousin knows what to treat me every time if I pay him a visit in Singapore. It is one of the dishes that reminds me of my student days in Singapore. For those of us who spent a lot of time in the design studio all days (and most nights), our standard dinner would be chicken rice! I have a very fond memories of the chicken rice stall at Stirling Road Hawker centre 2nd floor. The chicken was juicy and tender, and the skin...mmm...and the rice...mmmm nicely fragrant with pandan leaves. I am not really a chilli lover, but I cannot resist the chilli sauce specially made for chicken rice. (my mouth is drooling as I write...)
Few years ago, when I was back visit my family in Malaysia, my brother brought me to this kopi tiam (a traditional breakfast and coffee shop) in Melaka that serves well-known Hainanese chicken rice. I learnt that they added glutinous rice to normal white rice to make the chicken rice. And they served the rice shaped into balls. This is unusual even for a seasoned chicken rice eater like me! But I liked the slight stickiness of the rice.
Having been living here in the UK for over 10 years, I have to say, so far, I have not tasted any decent chicken rice in this country! Those I tried, either the rice wasn't right or the chicken over-cooked! And I have been trying to make it at home, and it just never tasted like the one from Stirling Road Hawker centre 2nd floor! There is one thing I can not get in UK for this dish is the fresh pandan leaves. The fragrance from pandan leaf essence somehow never match the fresh one!
BUT I think I might have finally cracked it! I am rather pleased with the recent chicken-rice-making-trial. The chicken was nicely cooked; juicy and tender. The rice was slightly sticky as the one from Melaka (lightly fragrance with pandan essence)! And the chilli sauce was nice (not as nice as my dad's and for some reasons chillies bought in UK seldom very hot and always lack the chilliness in it!)
It is actually quite easy to prepare chicken rice, it is just to get the right taste makes this a difficult task!
Ingredients: (for making the chicken stock)
First of all, fill a deep stock pot with water, and put all the ingredients (except chicken) in, and bring the water to boil for 5 minutes. Add the chicken (breast side down), lid on, and rapid boil the chicken under high heat for approximately 5 more minutes. Switch off the heat and leave the chicken to cook (with the lid on, do not open it and just leave it alone!)Commonly, you will come across recipes that mention to plunge the cooked chicken straight from hot stock to icy water to stop the cooking process and to produce a juicy meat. But to make sure the chicken is properly cooked and the meat is still warm when being served, I would leave it in the stock until the all other parts of this dish is ready.
And I now declare chicken rice is a wholesome healthy meal! In a set of chicken rice dish, you will get the carbohydrate, protein, and 5-a-day vegetable you need for a day! It is delicious yet simple!
My family would describe me as Chicken Rice King, as I love chicken rice so much that I can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner - everyday! (and I can eat the whole chicken on my own if I am allowed to!) Even my cousin knows what to treat me every time if I pay him a visit in Singapore. It is one of the dishes that reminds me of my student days in Singapore. For those of us who spent a lot of time in the design studio all days (and most nights), our standard dinner would be chicken rice! I have a very fond memories of the chicken rice stall at Stirling Road Hawker centre 2nd floor. The chicken was juicy and tender, and the skin...mmm...and the rice...mmmm nicely fragrant with pandan leaves. I am not really a chilli lover, but I cannot resist the chilli sauce specially made for chicken rice. (my mouth is drooling as I write...)
Few years ago, when I was back visit my family in Malaysia, my brother brought me to this kopi tiam (a traditional breakfast and coffee shop) in Melaka that serves well-known Hainanese chicken rice. I learnt that they added glutinous rice to normal white rice to make the chicken rice. And they served the rice shaped into balls. This is unusual even for a seasoned chicken rice eater like me! But I liked the slight stickiness of the rice.
Having been living here in the UK for over 10 years, I have to say, so far, I have not tasted any decent chicken rice in this country! Those I tried, either the rice wasn't right or the chicken over-cooked! And I have been trying to make it at home, and it just never tasted like the one from Stirling Road Hawker centre 2nd floor! There is one thing I can not get in UK for this dish is the fresh pandan leaves. The fragrance from pandan leaf essence somehow never match the fresh one!
BUT I think I might have finally cracked it! I am rather pleased with the recent chicken-rice-making-trial. The chicken was nicely cooked; juicy and tender. The rice was slightly sticky as the one from Melaka (lightly fragrance with pandan essence)! And the chilli sauce was nice (not as nice as my dad's and for some reasons chillies bought in UK seldom very hot and always lack the chilliness in it!)
It is actually quite easy to prepare chicken rice, it is just to get the right taste makes this a difficult task!
Ingredients: (for making the chicken stock)
- Whole fresh chicken (never use a defrosted chicken. This is from my own experience, it is hard to cook the defrosted chicken well. You will find you need a lot longer time to cook it and by that time, your chicken is ruined!) (keep the fat from the chicken at the rear end!)
- 1 bulb of garlic
- A generous piece of fresh ginger (approximate 5 cm thick)(crushed)
- About 1 tsp white pepper corns
- 2-3 tbsp salt
- Few drops of pandan essence (fresh pandan leaves would be ideal if you can get hold of it!)
- Enough plain water to over the chicken
First of all, fill a deep stock pot with water, and put all the ingredients (except chicken) in, and bring the water to boil for 5 minutes. Add the chicken (breast side down), lid on, and rapid boil the chicken under high heat for approximately 5 more minutes. Switch off the heat and leave the chicken to cook (with the lid on, do not open it and just leave it alone!)Commonly, you will come across recipes that mention to plunge the cooked chicken straight from hot stock to icy water to stop the cooking process and to produce a juicy meat. But to make sure the chicken is properly cooked and the meat is still warm when being served, I would leave it in the stock until the all other parts of this dish is ready.
Meanwhile, prepare the chilli sauce.
Ingredients: (Blend finely) (This will make enough for a small jar. It can be used for other spicy dishes - works well with prawns I think!)
Once the chilli sauce is ready and set aside, it is time to prepare the rice.
The Rice:
I mixed one part of glutinous rice to 2 parts of jasmine rice. I prefer to cook the rice over the hob instead of rice cooker. In a sauce pan, wash the rice until the water is clear. Level the rice, and add few cloves of garlic (crushed), 1 cm thick ginger (crushed), the chicken fat, salt (to taste), and enough chicken stock to cover the rice (approximately 1 cm above the rice). Under high heat, bring the stock to boil, and turn to lowest heat, and leave the rice to cook until the stock is starting to absorb by the rice. Turn the heat off and set aside to let it cook.
Now, check the chicken. Stick a skewer to the chicken breast and thighs, if clear water running out, the chicken is ready. Take it out from the stock, and put it in a large plate (cover and keep warm).
Final touch ingredients:
In the serving plate, arrange the cucumber slices on the plate, top with beam sprouts. Once the rice is cooked (the stock is absorbed and the rice is "fluffy"), slice or cut the chicken and arrange it over the bean sprouts. Before digging in, pour the sesame seed oil mixture over the chicken.
Serves with the warm chicken with the hot rice and a bowl of the chicken stock...yummm!
The chicken rice can be a nice and refreshing summer dish too.Ps. This seems quite a process, but it is actually quite simple! REALLY!
Pss: This blog post also dedicates to all my dear friends from Temasek Design school, Interior Architecture department. For all the nice moments and chicken rice we shared! And most important of all, to my family who understnd my desire to eat chicken rice every time when I am back in Malaysia!
Ingredients: (Blend finely) (This will make enough for a small jar. It can be used for other spicy dishes - works well with prawns I think!)
- 5-7 Red Chillies (roughly cut with seeds)
- 5 cloves Garlic (peeled)
- 5cm thick fresh ginger (leave the skin on)
- 1 or 2 shallots (peeled)
- Olive oil ( approximately 2-3 tbsp, depends on the consistency of the paste)
- salt (to taste)
- Few tbsp of the oil from the chicken stock
- 1 tbsp red palm oil (this is optional, to add further redness to the chillies)
- 1 lemon juicy
Once the chilli sauce is ready and set aside, it is time to prepare the rice.
The Rice:
I mixed one part of glutinous rice to 2 parts of jasmine rice. I prefer to cook the rice over the hob instead of rice cooker. In a sauce pan, wash the rice until the water is clear. Level the rice, and add few cloves of garlic (crushed), 1 cm thick ginger (crushed), the chicken fat, salt (to taste), and enough chicken stock to cover the rice (approximately 1 cm above the rice). Under high heat, bring the stock to boil, and turn to lowest heat, and leave the rice to cook until the stock is starting to absorb by the rice. Turn the heat off and set aside to let it cook.
Now, check the chicken. Stick a skewer to the chicken breast and thighs, if clear water running out, the chicken is ready. Take it out from the stock, and put it in a large plate (cover and keep warm).
Final touch ingredients:
- A package of Mung bean sprouts (blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds)
- Cucumber (thinly sliced with skin on)
- Handful of finely chopped coriander
- 2 tbsp Sesame seed oil
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce (can be dark soy sauce)
In the serving plate, arrange the cucumber slices on the plate, top with beam sprouts. Once the rice is cooked (the stock is absorbed and the rice is "fluffy"), slice or cut the chicken and arrange it over the bean sprouts. Before digging in, pour the sesame seed oil mixture over the chicken.
Serves with the warm chicken with the hot rice and a bowl of the chicken stock...yummm!
The chicken rice can be a nice and refreshing summer dish too.Ps. This seems quite a process, but it is actually quite simple! REALLY!
Pss: This blog post also dedicates to all my dear friends from Temasek Design school, Interior Architecture department. For all the nice moments and chicken rice we shared! And most important of all, to my family who understnd my desire to eat chicken rice every time when I am back in Malaysia!
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