Chicken Rice

This is definitely a staple food for Singaporeans.

Whenever we leave Singapore for longer holidays, we will come back home and rush to get our chicken rice fix. Whenever we asked the brood what they would like for dinner, chicken rice will definitely be in the list. 

Naturally, this is one of the dishes that I have to master! Recently, I fumbled on the chicken rice blog spot on my favourite site for recipes, Rasa Malaysia and tried it out. It was the best recipe that I have tried!

(I have repeated the recipe below so that I can easily make reference to it when I need it. But please visit the site :)! )

Ingredients

For the Rice

3 cups uncooked rice

5 tbsp vegetable oil

4 cloves finely chopped garlic

4 finely chopped shallots

2 +1/2 cups + 2 tbsp chicken broth

4-6 blades of pandan leaves

1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised

1 tbsp of garlic and shallot oil

70g chicken fats

1 + 1/2 tsp salt to taste

For the Chicken

1 whole chicken

1 small thumb of cleaned ginger, cleaned and bruised

5-6 stalks of scallion, washed

10 bowls chicken stock

4 blades of pandan leaves

1 carrot, roughly chopped

2 + 1 tsp of salt

10 bowls of cold water

1 cucumber, peeled, halved and sliced diagonally

For the Sauce

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp chicken broth

3 tsp sesame oil

3 tsp garlic and shallot oil

For Chicken Rice Chilli Sauce

90g red chillies

15 g garlic

50g ginger

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

50 ml chicken broth

60 ml lime juice, to taste

To Garnish

Few sprigs of cilantro 

Method

For the Chicken

1. Wash chicken, drain well, stuff ginger and scallion into the chicken's cavity, Using 2 tsp of salt as scrub, rub all over the chicken for smooth looking skin.

2. In a pot that fits the chicken, boil the chicken stock (enough to cover the entire chicken) together with pandan leaves, carrot and salt.

3. Submerge the whole chicken, breast side down in the boiling water for 35-45 min depending on size of chicken. Lower the heat to gentle simmer immediately.

4. When chicken is cooked, remove chicken and plunge it into cold water at once for 20 minutes. Keep the chicken broth for later use.

5. Drain the chicken, discard ginger and scallion from the cavity and set it aside the cool before chopping it neatly into desired serving size.

For the Rice

1. Heat oil in wok, fry chopped garlic and shallots till fragrant and golden in colour. Add rice and stir well. Transfer rice mixture into rice cooker.

2. Once transferred, add chicken broth, pandan leaves, ginger, garlic and shallot oil, chicken fats and salt into rice mixture. Cook according to rice cooker's manual instruction.

To Present the Chicken Rice

1. Line a serving plate with cucumber slices.

2. Arrange chicken pieces on top, pour in the prepared sauce before garnishing with cilantro

3. Serve chicken rice, side soup and chicken rice chili sauce
 

Notes:
1. I used ready-made 1L chicken broth to cook the chicken. Water is added till it covers the entire chicken.

2. For the chili, I tried using those packets of garlic chili that were always given with MxxDonxld meals. In order not to waste them, I will keep them and 're-use' them. With these packets of chili, I add rice vinegar, sesame oil, chicken broth, lime juice and some shallot oil.