"Almost" Hainan Chicken with Rice 簡易海南雞飯

Nguyên liệu

• 4 Large chicken thighs (, 1.5-2.0 lbs)
• 1 packet Spicy Bake Mix (鹽焗雞粉– flavor rub for making “salt baked chicken”)
• 1 stalk Lemongrass* (, cut 2 inches long and pound with meat pounder)
• 20 g Galangal* (, sliced)
• 3-4 Pandan leaves* (, washed and tied in a knot)
• 2 Large shallots (, quartered)
• 4 cloves Garlic (, halved)
• 1 tsp Salt
• ¼ tsp Tumeric powder
• 1 tbsp Oil
• 4 rice cooker cup Uncooked rice
• 700 ml Chicken broth
• ½ Long English cucumber (, thinly sliced)
• 2-3 stalks Green onions (, chopped)
• 2-4 slices Ginger (, minced)
• ½ tsp Salt
• 3 tbsp Oil
• 1 Large red chili (,chopped)
• 1 Thai chili (, chopped)
• 1 clove Garlic (, chopped)
• 1 tsp Sugar
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
• 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Corn starch
• 4 tbsp Water

Cách làm

1. 1

   Trim fat and excess skin from chicken. Cut fat into small pieces (1-2cm) and put into a bowl If you have time and want to make the skin tighter and nicer looking, you can blanche the chicken legs for 30 seconds at this point. Then submerse it in cold water or an ice bath. This will help the skin stay in shape when you cut the chicken after it’s cooked

2. 2

   If you want to make boneless Hainan chicken, make a cut around the drumstick bone on the inner side of the chicken leg. Do not cut through, only cut to the bone. Repeat for the thigh bone. Detach enough of the meat from the bone so that he bones are exposed. This will make deboning easier after steaming

3. 3

   Coat with one packet of Spicy Bake Mix. Mix well and set aside

4. 4

   Wash rice and drain water

5. 5

   Add 1 tbsp of oil into a pan at medium heat. Add chicken fat to render the oil. Once the fat pieces have shriveled, remove them from the pan. This oil will be used for cooking the rice. If you think that there is too much oil, remove some from the pan I like to have 2-3 tbsp of oil

6. 6

   Add garlic, half the shallots, half the lemongrass, half the galangal, ¼ tsp turmeric powder and 1 tsp salt and stir-fry for 2 minutes I purposely added only a little salt to accommodate for the sauces that go with the chicken. If you are not making sauces and want the rice to be saltier, you can add more

7. 7

   Add rice and stir-fry for 2 minutes until the turmeric powder has mixed with the rice evenly

8. 8

   Pour everything into the rice cooker and add 700ml of the broth or a little past the “4” line (since we used 4 rice cooker cups of uncooked rice) to compensate for the oil and added ingredients in the rice and press “cook”

9. 9

   Put the chicken with the slit side down in a dish for steaming I didn’t have any pandan leaves at the time, but if I did, I would tie it into a knot and place it underneath chicken legs

10. 10

    Put the rest of the shallots, lemongrass and galangal on top of the chicken

11. 11

    Steam at low heat (82˚C or 180˚F) for 30 minutes or until cooked. Steaming tip for stove top: Boil the water in the steamer first on high heat, put the chicken into the steamer and then reduce heat to low. For 1-2 pounds of meat with bone, cooking time will be around 30 minutes; 2-3 pounds, 45 minutes. Low heat steaming will make the chicken tender and juicy.

12. 12

    Prepare cucumber. You may choose to spread the slice cucumbers around a serving dish Besides using cucumbers, you can also use lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro or pickled raddish

13. 13

    Once chicken is cooked, let it rest for 5-10 minutes or until it’s cool enough to handle

14. 14

    Use kitchen scissors to remove the meat from the bones, keeping the meat in one piece is preferable for slicing If you’re not worried about aesthetics, you can just use your hands to tear the meat off the bone…rustic style.

15. 15

    Cut the meat into desired size and place on serving dish

16. 16

    Put chopped green onions and minced ginger in a heat-resistant bowl

17. 17

    Add ½ tsp salt and mix well

18. 18

    Heat 3 tbsp of oil try to use a flavor-neutral oil

19. 19

    Pour into bowl and mix well

20. 20

    Put chilies, garlic, sugar and vinegar into a food processor, blend and pour into a container If you don’t want to use a food processor, you can put the garlic and chilies in a Ziploc bag, put on a cutting board, and pound with a meat pounder

21. 21

    Add 2 tbsp of Thai sweet chili sauce and mix well

22. 22

    In a small pot, add 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp dark soy sauce, 2 tbsp sugar on low heat

23. 23

    In a small container, mix 1 tsp cornstarch with 4 tbsp water

24. 24

    When sugar is melted, add cornstarch mixture to the pot and mix well

25. 25

    Once the mixture thickens, you can turn off heat. It will thicken more after you turn off heat