I'm Cooking Again!

Yeah, yeah... it's been a while since I made something special from the kitchen.  But during the Holy Week, I found myself sauntering near the fiery furnace once more to make a few dishes for lunch or dinner.

Thursday was Fish Tom Yum day.  That was after I got excited when I got dried galangal, dried lemongrass, and kafir lime leaves from my favorite supermarket.  My sister got a kilo of salmon fish heads, which I cooked in the hot and sour soup.  Yum!

But this isn't what I am tickled about. Today, I made Hainanese Chicken for lunch!  I've been dying to give it a try, but I was intimidated by the long procedures in the recipes I researched.

It actually took a long time to make, not because of a difficult procedure or a hard-to-find ingredient.  It was because it took us 2 days to get some pandan (screwpine) leaves.

Not very many people plant pandan in the metropolis.  This is why you cannot just knock on your neighbor's door and ask for a few blades.  You have to go all the way to the market or the supermarket to buy a bunch! And, they don't come cheap either.

So anyway, I got my pandan, I cooked the chicken last night, made the rice this morning, and finally, we were able to eat Hainanese Chicken Rice for lunch!

Hainanese Chicken

The yummy rice!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken  
• 2 thumb-sized ginger, sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 pandan or screwpine leaves, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 tsp salt
• enough water to cover the chicken
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp light soy sauce

Chicken flavored rice

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed 
• 1 thumb-sized ginger, grated
• 2 pandan or screwpine leaves, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 2 cups jasmine rice, washed
• chicken stock

Procedure:

1. Wash the chicken thoroughly.  Stuff the cavity of the chicken with ginger, garlic & pandan leaves.
2. Tuck in the wings and legs, and seal the cavity with a toothpick.  Place in a pan and fill with water enough to cover the chicken. Season with salt and chicken cube.
3. Bring to a rolling boil; reduce heat and cook for another 20 minutes.
4. Drain cooked chicken and set aside. Do not discard chicken stock.
5. Saute garlic, ginger and pandan leaves in hot oil; add rice and mix thoroughly for the oil to coat the rice.
6. Add 2 1/2 cups chicken stock to the rice.  Stir and cover.  Cook rice over low fire until done.
7. Before serving, rub or brush the chicken with the sesame oil and light soy sauce mixture.
8. Arrange the chicken in a glass or ceramic pan or on individual plates. 

You can put the rice in one serving container, or scoop the rice beside the chicken on a plate; garnish with wansuy leaves or chopped spring onions.  Serve with these 2 sauces: grated garlic in oil, and fine chili sauce (which we got from the supermarket).