Recipe - "Hainanese Chicken Rice"

Hainanese Chicken Rice

One of the things I missed about living in Kuala Lumpur is buying fresh chicken from the Tiong Nam morning market. I used to buy my chicken from one “aunty” (a polite way of addressing an older person in Malaysian culture) in Tiong Nam. I could always count on her in supplying me the right chicken for the appropriate chicken dish. If I needed to cook “Hainanese Chicken Rice”, I would inform her a day before and the next day, the “aunty” would get  me the right type of chicken for me to cook the dish.

This “aunty” taught me (briefly) the different methods in preparing the delicious “Hainanese Chicken Rice”. She mentioned that chicken has to be steamed. The rice has also got to be steamed together with the chicken stock. She told me to use lots of garlic to fry the rice.

Steamed Chicken aka Pak Cham Kai



Steamed Chicken

1 whole chicken with skin intact in room temperature
3 ½  tsp salt
2 inches ginger (roughly pounded)
3 Spring onions (cut into 2 inches length size)
2 tsp sesame oil
soy sauce

Procedure

Wash whole chicken thoroughly inside out.

Rub the outer and inner chicken with 2 tsp salt and follow by ginger. Stuff the ginger and spring onions into the chicken. Lastly rub the chicken with 1 tsp sesame oil.

Heat up wok and bring to boil. Place chicken on a steamer plate. Steam the chicken for ½ hour.

Keep the remaining broth of chicken collected in the plate.

Rub an addition 1½ tsp of salt on the chicken. Let the chicken cool. Cut into pieces and sprinkle with 1 tsp sesame oil and some soy sauce. Scoop with spoon some of the chicken oil from the steamer plate and pour gently over the chicken pieces.

The Steamed Chicken Rice - beautiful aroma and fragrant!

Steamed Chicken Rice

4 cups fragrant rice
3 pandanus leaves
Chicken stock + (dilute with 1 tsp of salt and ½ chicken cube)
4 slices of ginger
2  whole garlic (chopped finely)
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp shallot oil or vegetable oil

[Chicken stock : simmer 1 kg of skinless chicken drumsticks with 1½ liter of water for at least an hour]

Ingredient A

1 inch of ginger
4 shallots

Procedure

Pound finely ingredient A. Set it aside.

Heat up wok. Add oil. Low flame, fry Ingredient A. Add chopped garlic. Fry until garlic turns slight brownish. Put in rice. Fry for another 2 minutes. Add ½ tsp salt, butter and slice ginger. Once butter melted, spread evenly with the rice. Turn off heat.

Remove the rice and spread the rice evenly into the line baking tray. Pour chicken stock to the level where the stock covers slightly above the rice. Place the Pandanus leaves in the tray.

Prepare a steaming pot or wok and bring to boil with high heat. Steam the rice for 40 minutes.

Chicken soup - served with the "Chicken Rice"

Serve the chicken rice with hainanese chilli sauce (refer recipe : http://5foodway.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/recipe-ah-mais-special-hainanese-chilli.html, ) minced ginger, black caramel sauce and a bowl of chicken soup.



Hainanese Chilli Sauce that accompanies the Chicken Rice

 Chilli Sauce

To add some flavour into the chilli sauce, take some chicken oil from the steamer plate and mix with the chilli sauce. In addition to that, to enhance the taste, cut finely some fresh calamondin (limau kasturi) skin and mix it together as well. This makes a perfect chilli sauce to dip with the steamed chicken and eat with the rice.

The most rewarding moment for me is seeing my family enjoying eating my “Hainanese chicken rice” and  receiving praise by my father in law (a Hainanese) that I cook the best “Hainanese chicken rice”.

Recipe -Ah Mai's special Hainanese Chilli Sauce

Ah Mai's Hainanese Chilli Sauce

Our beloved "Ah Mai" who taught me the special recipe - "Hainanese Chilli Sauce"

Today I am going to share with you a traditional family recipe that has been handed down through many generations. I am indeed honoured and privileged to learn this recipe from my husband’s late aunty who was fondly known as “Ah Mai” (aunty in Hainanese dialect). The recipe is making the special Hainanese chilli sauce that goes really well with the “Hainanese Chicken Rice”. Ah Mai told me that “Hainanese Chicken Rice” is not complete without the special chilli sauce. She shared with me the ingredients and the technique in making this special sauce. I have tried it many times and find it  really good.

Ingredients

600 gm of fresh red chillies
5 cloves of garlic
1 inch of ginger
1 tsp of salt
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of fresh Calamondin juice or lime juice

Procedure

Wash and remove the seeds from the fresh chillies. Blend together with garlic and ginger.

Once blended, pour into a bowl. Mix well with salt, soy sauce and calamondin juice. Taste it and if it is too spicy add a little bit of sugar to suite your taste. Put into a bottle and keep in the refrigerator. You may serve as a dip or eat with the “Hainanese Chicken Rice”.

This article is dedicated to Ah Mai who left us last year. She is dearly missed but never forgotten. Having this “Hainanese chilli sauce” will always remind us of her sense of humour and her caring nature.