Tuesday, May 3, 2005

Recipe: Cheater's Chicken Rice

FOOD FOR FATTIES # 1

I'm a Hainanese. I eat chicken rice and love every bit of it. It's a thing we do. So as you can imagine, being on a diet and all, Hainanese Chicken Rice is definitely a no-no for the next three months. And so, I decided to improvise.

Now Mae and I have made chicken rice on one previous attempt. Since we're pretty lazy people, we cheated a little - hence the name of the recipe. Purists will balk at our chicken rice. Also, I run the risk of being excommunicated from an angry clan of chicken-rice loving Hainanese folk. But what the heck, gluttony is the mother of quick and easy recipes. So here goes:
THE CHICKEN
2 large chicken thigh
1 cucumber, sliced (for garnishing)


THE RICE (Serves 2)
1.5 cup of rice
1.5 big garlic
1 stump of ginger (can I say stump?)
2 pandan leaves (if you have any)
1.5 tbsp Maggi Chicken Stock
1.5 tbsp Butter (x3 if you're not dieting)


THE GRAVY
1 tbsp Maggi Chicken Stock
3 tbsp oyster sauce
0.5 cup water
2 tsp starch flour
2 tsp brown sugar


THE OIL
0.5 cup oil fried with a few cloves of chopped garlic.

THE CHILLI
3 red chillies
4 cloves of garlic
0.25 cups of vinegar
0.25 cups of water
Oil is fattening. There's no doubt about that. But to have steamed chicken rice without any oil is just wrong. Besides, we only live once. So there! :) Okay, on with the show. In 10 easy-peasy steps:

1. Defrost chicken. Put in a deep dish. Steam it. You can use a steamer or just any plain old wok. As you steam your chicken, the fragrant vapour of your chicken will condense into a delicious broth onto your dish. DO NOT DISCARD. This is THE FORCE of your chicken rice!!

2. Wash rice and boil rice. You can use a rice cooker. Mae and I use a microwave rice cooker coz we're lazy people. Do as you normally do, except this time, add a little more water since authentic chicken rice should be slightly damp. Throw in your garlic, ginger, pandan leaves, butter and chicken stock. If you run out of ginger or pandan leaves, don't fret. We didn't have any and it still turned out fine.

3. Mix all gravy ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Heat it in a saucepan or do like we did. Put in the microwave.

4. Fry your garlic oil.

5. By now, your chicken and your rice should be done. Collect the chicken broth from the steam chicken and pour some of that liquid gold (remember THE FORCE?) into your rice. Mix well. Resume warming rice.

6. Still got broth? Mix the rest into your gravy.

7. Put chilli, garlic, water and vinegar into blender. You can throw in a piece of ginger if you like. Add in broth. (Yes, it's everywhere!) Blend the stuff. Then put the chilli mixture in a saucepan and cook it until the "green" taste of raw chilli is gone.

8. Lay your cucumber slices on a plate. Mae and I bought a Japanese Kyuri instead. Same thing. Taste better.

9. Chop up chicken into reasonable-sized chunks. Lay onto cucumber. Pour gravy mix liberally over the chicken. Drizzle garlic oil over this plate.

10. Serve while hot and bask in the genius of your cooking skills.


Here's a little disclaimer for you. In case you think that Cheater's Chicken Rice will taste like the definitive Hainanese Chicken Rice, don't hold your breath. While it isn't half bad, it will never be as good as the real thing. But when you take into consideration that you made it all by yourself and it seems to be a fairly healthy dish, you'll forgive me. I promise. :)

If you're doing this, pls tell me the results. Also, if you think you have anything that enhances this recipe, do share. May THE FORCE be with you.


the force is strong in this one

25 comments:

  1. Err. I prefer the roasted type leh ;-)

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  2. Thanks for the recipe, James. I'm definitely gonna try this out one day after my exams. I've been craving for chicken rice for a looooooooong time!

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  3. looks yummy. Gonna try and cook it tomorrow. :) Will tell you how it goes.

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  4. First thing I did when reading this post:
    *scroll down*
    *scroll down*
    *scroll down*
    *scroll down*
    *scroll down*
    *sees the last picture*
    *regret scrolling down*
    Those chicken!!!!!!!!!!!

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  5. OH MY GOD .... i think i just put on 4kgs looking at the pictures. damn you james damn you. oh well... i too am hainanese as well and chicken rice is like manna from god. if you ever go down to klang there is a coffee shop at taman berkeley which in my opinion has the best claypot chicken rice.

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  6. salivating! think i shall have chicken rice tomolo...dammit! it's fattening u know??? Haaa

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  7. diet wor...but the mind not diet wor...LOL...:lol:...
    seems a lot simple leh the recipe, will try it :).

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  8. oh man! now i have a craving for chicken rice. who cares if its fattening lah... i love the stuff! yum yum...

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  9. Brown sugar and Maggi stock in the oyster sauce? Now I know why Soo Kee's oyster sauce tastes like that...oh...so...heavenly.
    =P

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  10. yums! scrumptious recipe you have there =) see lah, now I've a chicken rice craving too. Love those pics, James =)

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  11. hmmmm... yummy scrummy!!! skin the chicken first lor if you're on diet :p

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  12. I'm gonna try this recipe. Looks so yummy. And you made it so simple.

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  13. Yum! Succulent picture of chicken. :)

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  14. I agree with all the comments. This is so evil!!! It's 10:53 PM in california right now ... where the hell am I going to find the ingredients?????
    You're really evil showing pregnant women these things. >_< *shakes fist*
    *cries* oh man when I go back to KL you better belanja ... ;_;

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  15. Hmm.. something to enhance the recipe....
    Try WHISKEY! ;)

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  16. Anjali: Then you're probably not Hainanese. :)
    Do it Eileen, and post your results (the chicken rice) on your blog.
    You cook, Kat? Hehh...
    Chicken is lovely, Pickyin. :)
    Claypot Chicken Rice, Leo? You sure you're Hainanese? :lol:
    Not too fattening if you DIY, 9!
    Good luck, Twinsmom. :lol:
    I have a craving for Chicken Rice all the time, CC. I'm friends with many Chicken Rice sellers. :lol:
    AhPink, if you throw in some finely chopped fresh onions, the sauce will be even better!
    Thanks Chun. Go. Eat your chicken rice now. :)
    Skin it after you cook it, BabeKL. :)
    Yes, yes, Ann. And if you need someone to taste it, you know where to find me. :lol:
    And succulent taste of chicken too, Primrose!
    Erm... 7-11, Gwen? :lol:

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  17. Ah, I usually take the Whiskey afterwards, Sashi. :)

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  18. I like to season the cucumber with sesame oil and refrigerate then throw in some parsley/coriander leaves for added fragrance. Yummy! And BTW its a 1in piece of ginger smashed to release the smell. Hehe. Another glutton here.

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  19. Hah I made chicken rice this way before (3 yrs back I guess), not cheating as much la cause i still use the chicken stock for the rice :). Didn't use starch for the sauce but instead added a dash of sesame oil. For chilli I used lime juice instead of vinegar; add some sugar to it, it tasted nicer. One tip, next time buy the chicken with yellow skin (some market ppl call it "ooi bak kay") to cook chicken rice, the aroma and taste is better.

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  20. 7-11?!?! >_< where got? omg

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  21. *Drool* *Drool* *Drool*

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  22. the force is very strong on this one indeed...it made my mouth water...

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  23. Well, if you like chicken and you wanna maintain your diet, be off with the skin.

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  24. Good tips there, MG! Thanks!!! :)
    Thanks Momof. BTW, is the Yellow-Skinned Chicken a Kampong Chicken? Because I can't stand Kampong Chicken. It's too tough for my liking! :)
    Just yanking your chains, Gwen. :lol:
    I take that as a compliment, Cupcake Queen!
    Methinks my photography is slightly better than my cooking, Fred. Hehh!
    Coming from you, that's a compliment, Killuminati!
    The skin comes off only just before the chicken enters my mouth, Gina.

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