Chicken Rice

Chicken Rice (Boon Tong Kee’s recipe)

Serves five

Chicken

Ingredients

1 whole chicken weighing 1.6kg to 1.8kg

20g salt

20g old ginger, smashed

3 tsp shallot oil, drained from frying

shallots with oil

3 Tbs soya sauce

3 Tbs water

15g sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

Method

1. Place chicken in a pot, pour in enough water to cover the bird. Remove the chicken and bring the water to a boil.

2. Add salt and ginger to the boiling water. Bring to a boil again.

3. Hold the chicken by the neck, slowly immerse then lift it from the boiling water. Repeat five times.

4. Place it in the pot, cover and turn off the heat. Allow it to cook for about 45 minutes.

5. Remove the chicken and rinse under cold tap water for a few minutes until the inside is no longer too hot to touch.

6. Immerse the chicken in an ice bath and set aside for about 10 minutes or until it is cooled.

7. Cut it up into serving sizes.

8. Drizzle shallot oil over.

9. Dissolve the sugar in water then mix in soya sauce. Pour this mixture over the chicken before drizzling sesame oil over it.

Hainanese flavoured rice

Ingredients

700g Thai fragrant white rice

60g chicken fat, available from wet market poultry stalls

40g old ginger

40g shallots

20g garlic

900ml chicken stock

7g monosodium glutamate (optional)

5g chicken essence powder

3g sugar

10g salt

3 pandan leaves, tied into a knot

Method

1. Rinse rice, drain and set aside for 30 minutes before use.

2. Blend ginger, shallots and garlic to a smooth paste.

3. To a heated wok, stir fry the blended paste with chicken fat till fragrant.

4. Add the rice and stir fry until well mixed. Transfer to an electric rice cooker. Turn the rice cooker on.

5. Add chicken stock, monosodium glutamate, chicken essence powder, sugar and salt. Stir continuously until enough moisture has evaporated and the rice is no longer covered by stock.

6. Add pandan leaves, close the cooker lid and allow the rice to cook.

7. Wait five minutes after the cooker has automatically switched off when the rice has cooked, before turning on the cooker again. Re-heating the rice ensures that it is dry and fragrant.

Chilli sauce

Ingredients

60g fresh red chilli

30g chilli padi

10g dried red chilli, soaked till soft then drained

10g salt

15g ginger

10g shallots

7g garlic

4g monosodium glutamate (optional)

4g chicken essence powder

5g sugar

3ml vinegar

2ml sesame oil

10ml cooking oil

5ml lime juice

Method

1. Scald fresh red chilli and chilli padi briefly.

2. Blend fresh red chilli, dried red chilli and chilli padi until a smooth paste forms.

3. Place the chilli paste in a jar, mix well with salt and cover. Keep the jar in a cool, dark place for between 10 and 15 days. Mould may form naturally as part of the fermentation process.

4. Blend ginger, shallots and garlic to form a smooth paste.

5. Remove the layer of mould from the chilli paste and pour the remaining fermented paste into a pot.

6. Add the ginger-shallots-garlic paste, monosodium glutamate, chicken essence powder, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil and cooking oil. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer over low heat, stirring regularly to prevent the paste from burning.

7. Turn off the heat when the mixture reaches about 90 deg C and leave to cool before adding lime juice. Mix well. If the paste is too thick, dilute with a little chicken stock.

The Straits Times 26/09/2009