My second brother came over a few days ago and he was helping me with a couple of things around the house, from some kitchen work to repainting the kitchen walls. Obviously, I had to cook something yummy for him. I believe in food bribery. As the saying goes, “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”. Well, I personally believe this is not just valid for men. Food creates memories and can also forges ties between people. Food can be a very powerful motivator too. A burger and slices of cake can really go a long way. Should you come across a traffic police whom you just can’t buy your way out of a ticket from, try offering him donuts or even a cupcake? It might just work!
So I cooked this when my brother came over.↓
My mother, on the other hand-made Bubur Chacha for dessert. Her’s was just motherly love, particularly knowing that my brother has a sweet tooth. ????
Even though Chicken Rice is a favorite of my brother’s, it happens to be one of my preferred comfort food too. For those of you who are not familiar with chicken rice, it is a really popular dish in Asia particularly in Singapore, China and Malaysia. In fact, it is also considered as one of the national food of Singapore.
Chicken rice consists of a few components.
- The aromatic and delicious rice that has been cooked in an aromatic chicken stock.
- Mouth-watering Fried chicken.
- Freshly made chili sauce.
- A clear soup.
- A side salad.
Instead of fried chicken, it can be served with steamed chicken too, and it is more commonly known as “Hainanese Chicken Rice”. I have to say the fried chicken version is more popular in my family. I mean who can say no to fried chicken right? The chilli sauce is actually made from fresh red chillies and that is the authentic sauce to go along with the chicken rice but a few years ago, we had chicken rice at a particular restaurant that served a green chilli sauce, alongside the red sauce and it was so delicious that we have been serving chicken rice with both sauces. You can obviously make just the red chilli sauce, if you prefer.
Don’t be daunted by the list of ingredients or the amount of work for this Chicken Rice Recipe. It is actually really simple and most of the ingredients are a repetition and used in every component of the dish.
Allow me to throw you a rough guideline as to how the process should work.
The stock: Chicken, garlic and ginger are all boiled together to make this delicious broth. You would have to cook the stock first as it is used for both the rice and the soup.
The sauce: Made from a blend of fresh chilies, ginger, garlic, lime juice and seasoning.
The rice: After washing and straining the rice, the rice is pan fry with some sesame oil and aromatics. This is an optional step, but it definitely intensifies the flavor of the rice. The rice is then cooked, in a rice cooker using the stock that we prepared earlier.
The fried chicken: Your way or mine. Doesn’t really matter.
This chicken rice recipe is pretty simple and most importantly, it is a dish that would please everyone. In fact, if you would rather skip the fried chicken, you can just grill a whole chicken and enjoy this for dinner with your family. For me, this is the perfect meal, when enjoyed with your loved ones.
- 2 whole chicken or 2kg of chicken parts
- 1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised
- 5 garlic, chopped
- 3L water
- 6 blades of pandan leaves (screwpine leaves)
- Salt to season
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 cups uncooked washed rice
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- 4 finely chopped shallots
- 4 cups of chicken stock
- 4 blades of pandan leave (screwpine leaves)
- 1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised
- ½ tsp salt to season
- 6 cups chicken stock
- Fried shallots (optional)
- A dash of pepper
- 6 stalks of scallion, sliced
- 100g fresh red chilli
- 3 garlic
- 2cm piece of ginger
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 50ml water
- 60ml lime juice, to taste
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 100g fresh green chilli
- 3 garlic
- 2cm piece of ginger
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 50ml water
- 60ml lime juice, to taste
- Poached chicken
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 3 tbsp sesame oil
- Place 1 tbsp of oil in a pot and saute the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the 3L of water. Add in screwpine leaves and salt.
- Once it comes to a boil, carefully submerge both the chicken into the pot of water.
- Poach the chicken for about 20mins.
- Once the chicken is done, plunge the chicken into the basin of iced water and leave it for 5 minutes.
- Strain and keep the chicken aside.
- Heat oil in wok. Fry chopped shallots, garlic and screwpine leaves till fragrant for about 1 minute.
- Add rice and stir well for about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the rice mixture to rice cooker.
- Add 4 cups of stock, ½ teaspoon of salt and cook according to rice cooker’s manual instruction.
- Bring the chicken stock to a boil
- Add pepper, fried shallots and top with scallion.
- Place everything in a blender and process till smooth.
- Place everything in a blender and process till smooth.
- Heat a pan/wok with oil and fry the chicken till golden.
- Arrange cucumbers and lettuce on a large platter.
- Mix the light soy sauce and sesame oil in a bowl.
- Arrange the chicken pieces on the platter of salad and drizzle with the light soy sauce and sesame drizzle sauce.
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