Hainanese Chicken Rice

Whenever I am visiting Uncle Ronnie and Auntie Margaret in Singapore, I will never have to guess for long what they going to bring me out to eat for the very first meal upon arriving there. I remember I brought a friend to Singapore and I told him, I already knew what we going to have for lunch later while waiting for them to pick us up from a mall and yes, I was right - for their infamous Hainanese-style Singapore chicken rice. 


So the other day I craved for soft, tender and juicy steamed chicken. Normally the steamed chicken rice in KK will cost about RM4.50-5.50 and not much restaurants in KK are serve their chicken being tender and juicy, but normally taste quite bland, dry and they are not generous in giving portions as well for what we paid. When I started to cook, I just realised how much money could be saved and actually I am beginning to enjoy cooking at a beginner stage. So as I am normally eating alone, I bought half a chicken that cost me only RM3.88 ! See how much can I save and I can eat for the next one or two meals again sigh! So here is my version of Hainanese Chicken Rice.


Ingredients:


A. For the chicken


     1.  Half kampong chicken (normal bigger chicken if serving more)
     2.  1 bulb of garlic ( separate to their cloves and cut or bruise them to release more flavour)
     3.  1/4 of big onion ( cut into half and separate from the layers)
     4.  Slices of ginger ( about the same amount as big onion)
     5.  Salt to rub on chicken




B. For the rice

1.      2 cups rice

2.      Chicken broth from steaming the chicken (Do not throw away the leftover ginger, garlic and onion)

3.      3 slices of ginger

4.      4 cloves of garlic chopped into tiny pieces

5.      Half tablespoon of butter

(PS: I am making garlic rice instead because I don’t have pandan leaf which you cook together with the other ingredients in the rice cooker and you’re done! You don’t need garlic and butter if you’re cooking the normal pandan chicken rice)

Method:

A.Steaming the chicken

1.      Rub salt all over the chicken.

2.      Stuff the half of the garlic, ginger and onion inside the cavity. (For my case of using half chicken I just stuff underneath the half cavity facing the steaming plate).

3.      Put the remaining half garlic, ginger and onion at the bottom steaming plate and top of the chicken. (Make sure your steaming plate is deep enough to collect chicken broth)

4.      Cover and steam the chicken over high heat for 50 minutes.

 5.      Cut the chicken when it has cooled down. Do not throw away the collected chicken broth which can be used to make your chicken rice.

B. Chicken Rice

1.      Cook rice in the rice cooker using the chicken broth and the ginger. (If you do not have enough chicken broth just add more water; or you can add more of your own chicken broth with the chicken cubes)

2.      When the rice is cooked, melt the butter on the heated wok then fry the garlic until turn golden brown.

3.      Pour in the rice and stir well in the wok for 1-2 minutes and it’s done!

Easy Chinese Chicken Soup

This soup is very easy to prepare, not only a healthy choice of soup but also low in calories for those who are looking after their diet. I remember my mum always cook this soup for supper whenever we were close to exam period during the school days. 

Ingredients:

1. 1 kampong chicken (you can also use mixed breed or ordinary chicken but its better you have their fatty skins removed)
2. 1/2 tsp of salt
3. Dried chinese mushroom (soaked and soften)
4. Chopped gingers
5. Red dates (Fung Zhao)
6. Wolfberries (Kee Tzu)
7. Water (Enough to cover chicken)

Method:

1. After cleaning the chicken, chop it to bite sizes and place the chicken meats in a bowl. Evenly rub the chicken with salt.
2. Sprinkle ginger on top of it. Add in the red dates, wolfberries and dried mushroom.
3. Bring some water (enough to cover chicken) to boil.
4. Carefully transfer bowl with chicken to the pot and cover tightly.
5. Boil at low fire for 1 - 2 hours depending on how soft you want the chicken to be and flavourful the soup to be. Normally people boil up to two hours if they are adding Yok Choy or chinese herbs which is optional for this recipe.
6. If you want a quicker one, you can also steam it for 30 minutes.