{"id":808,"date":"2012-12-15T21:24:37","date_gmt":"2012-12-15T18:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zarada.net\/?p=808"},"modified":"2013-04-03T19:34:31","modified_gmt":"2013-04-03T16:34:31","slug":"malaysian-chicken-rice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zarada.net\/?p=808","title":{"rendered":"Malaysian Chicken Rice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nasi lemak. Roti canai. Chicken rice. These have got to be the top three Malaysian national dishes! And all are favourites in our family and when we\u2019re at home in Malaysia all we have to do when we feel an urge for any of these, is\u2026..run down to Aji Don or Bestari.<\/em><\/p>\n

But when you\u2019re thousands of miles away from home, you just have to cook it!\u00a0 Not that people don\u2019t cook these dishes at home in Malaysia, they do (well, maybe except for roti canai which is easily bought frozen) especially at the weekend.<\/em><\/p>\n

Having lived away from home all these years, I\u2019ve been on a mission to continually perfect my own rendition of chicken rice. Because hubby loves it. Son loves it and I love it. And hubby\u2019s all time favourite quote when it comes to chicken rice has been: \u201cYour chicken rice is so good, I can eat it on its own!\u201d Sounds almost like the Malaysian radio commercial for Gardenia bread! \"Smile\"<\/em><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Hainanese chicken rice usually comes “steamed” or “roasted” and since none of us are too fond of the “steamed” version, my recipe here is for that.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

INGREDIENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the chicken soup
\n<\/span><\/strong>Chicken bones from 1 chicken carcass
\n5cm chunk of ginger
\n2 cloves garlic
\n1.5 litres water<\/p>\n

For the chicken rice
\n<\/strong><\/span>2 cups (rice cooker cup) jasmine rice
\n1\/4 medium-sized onion or 4 shallots
\n2 cloves garlic
\n1.5 cm chunk of ginger
\n1 tbsp Canola oil
\n5cm long cinnamon stick
\n1 Maggi chicken cube<\/p>\n

For the roast chicken
\n<\/span><\/strong>1 kg whole chicken
\n1 tbsp ginger juice
\n1 tbsp dark soya sauce
\n2 tsp honey
\n1 tsp salt
\n1\/2 tsp white pepper powder
\n1\/2 tsp 5-spice powder (optional)
\nCanola spray oil<\/p>\n

For the chilli sauce
\n<\/span><\/strong>6 red chillies
\n3 cm chunk of ginger
\n2 cloves garlic
\n1\/2 tsp salt<\/p>\n

Garnishing
\n<\/span><\/strong>A sprig of spring onions
\nA bunch of fresh coriander leaves
\nCucumber
\nLettuce<\/p>\n

DIRECTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marinade the chicken
\n<\/span><\/strong>Remove excess skin at the neck and bottom of the chicken and cut into quarters. Wash well and drain. Prick with a fork all over, then dry with a paper towel. Place all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Taste the marinade for salt then add the chicken quarters to the bowl and rub the marinade all over. Cover the bowl with cling film and set aside in the fridge to marinade for at least an hour.
\n
\nPrepare the chicken soup
\n<\/span><\/strong>Wash the chicken bones and place in a pot with the water. Peel the ginger and garlic and smash with the sides of a large knife. Add to the pot of water and chicken bones. Bring to the boil on high heat, then let it simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand.<\/p>\n

Prepare the chilli sauce
\n<\/strong><\/span>Wash the chillis, cut into 3 cm pieces and boil in 1 cup of water until chilli turns orangey. Drain and set aside. Peel the ginger and garlic and slice into small pieces. Place boiled chillis, ginger, garlic and salt into a container, add 1\/2 cup of the chicken soup prepared earlier and blend using a hand blender until fine. Set aside.<\/p>\n

Prepare the roast chicken
\n<\/span><\/strong>Preheat the oven at 180C. Spray Canola oil onto a baking dish. Remove chicken from the fridge and arrange the chicken quarters onto the dish spreading any marinade left in the bowl all over the chicken pieces. Spray the tops of the chicken with Canola oil. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn the chicken pieces around and roast for a further 15 \u2013 20 minutes till brown and crispy but not burnt. Turn again and roast for a further 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes covered in foil.<\/p>\n

Prepare the chicken rice
\n<\/strong><\/span>While the chicken is in the oven, prepare the rice. Wash the rice under the tap to remove as much of the starch as possible. Drain and leave in colander to dry. Peel the onions or shallots, garlic and ginger. Slice the onion and garlic thinly lengthwise and julienne the ginger. Heat the oil in a non-stick pot. When hot, fry the cinnamon then add the sliced onions, garlic and ginger. Fry on medium heat till fragrant and the onions brown. Add the washed rice and fry till the rice is covered in the oil. At this point I usually just touch the edge of a knife in the Paella seasoning (basically saffron powder) then dip it in the rice to get a lovely light yellow colour. Add 3 cups (rice cooker cup) of the chicken soup prepared earlier and one Maggi chicken cube. Mix everything well and let the rice cook on medium heat. Taste for salt when most of the liquid is gone and add salt if necessary according to your taste. Turn the fire to low and insert a heat diffuser between the pot and and the gas fire to cook the rice slowly until all the liquid is dry without burning it.<\/p>\n

TO SERVE
\n<\/span><\/strong>Cut each chicken quarter into two or three pieces and arrange on a bed of lettuce. Garnish on the side with sliced cucumbers and top with fresh coriander.<\/p>\n

Add salt and pepper to the soup and serve with diagonal slices of spring onions.<\/p>\n

Serve the rice, roast chicken and soup hot with chilli sauce on the side.<\/p>\n

<\/div>