After moving here, I've never attempted to make it. Back home, any time I had a craving for it, I had a choice of 4 places to buy it from, and those places are just 10 minutes away from my place. While waiting for the dish to be ready, which only takes a few minutes, I would enjoy the delectable smells wafting from the kitchen. So heavenly and so mouth-watering.
But here, of course, I would have to cook it myself. I didn't attempt to at first because I wanted it to be authentic and that meant that I would need to cook the rice in lots of chicken fat and oil. I couldn't make myself use that much oil in a dish but one day, I really had a huge craving for it. So I caved.
I looked at the recipes online and as usual, didn't follow any. I only used them as a guide as I changed and combined the various recipes to suit my palate, waist line and of course, my pantry. It's not easy to find ingredients like pandan leaves and even fresh red chilies but luckily I stocked up my pantry with the essentials just days ago.
I must say that although I had to make a number of different components just for one dish, it wasn't difficult and didn't take too long. As the rice was cooking, the whole kitchen smells like a hawker centre in Singapore. You can always find a few chicken rice stalls in hawker centres, or food courts. So the smell of the chicken rice being cooked took me back instantly to my hometown. Once the dish was ready, the first mouthful was not a disappointment. It was almost like those back home, except that it was less oily. I can live with that if it meant that I could cook this healthier version more often. Pete enjoyed it also. He loves chicken, rice and soya sauce so it's a real hit with him.
I don't have a proper recipe for the dish I cooked. As usual, my method of cooking is to throw stuff in and taste as I go along. But I will write what I know and the measurements are just approximations.
First, I made the chicken stock. I put 2 whole chicken legs and 2 thick slices of ginger into a pot and covered the legs with water. Don't use too much water. Once the stock is boiling, I turned down the heat and simmered it until the chicken is cooked. I skimmed off the scum that floats to the top from time to time. I also added a bit of chicken stock cube towards the end to make it more flavourful.
While the stock is boiling, I made the chili sauce. It's not chicken rice without this sauce. I put 5 fresh red chillies, 4 cloves garlic, a thumb sized ginger piece, cut into smaller cubes and juice from 2 big limes into a blender and whizzed them up. I added a few tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon of salt. Once the ingredients are well blended I poured the mixture into a clean jar and adjusted the seasoning. I found the chilies to be fiery hot so I added more sugar. I also added a bit more lime juice and a bit of the chicken stock. The sauce should be spicy, sweet, garlicky and a bit sour too. I love this chili sauce. I even drizzle this sauce over my curry puffs. Yummy!
To make the rice, I grated half a big onion. It's better to use shallots but I don't have them. They are expensive here. I also grated 3 cloves of garlic. Then I sliced about 3 thin slices of ginger and set aside 2 pandan leaves, tied in a big knot. I heat oil in a wok and added the grated onion and garlic. I fried them until fragrant, only about a minute or so and then added some chicken fat. I reserved chicken fat whenever I cleaned up whole chicken just to be used in this dish. I think that made the dish more authentic. Then, I added the washed and drained rice. I made sure the rice grains are coated with oil and then poured everything into the rice cooker. I added the ginger and pandan leaves and the chicken stock. I also added a bit more salt and let the cooker do its thing.
When the rice is cooking, I roasted the chicken legs. The proper roasted chicken back home is quite difficult to make, especially to get the skin dry and crispy. My method is a short cut. I simply added some oyster sauce, soya sauce and sweet soya sauce to the chicken pieces and then roasted them in a hot oven (200C). Since they are already cooked, I only roasted enough to crisp up the skin. I also brushed the skin with a bit of oil to make it extra crispy.
The excess soya mixture I used with the chicken I poured into a small saucepan. I added a bit more of the ingredients and a bit of chicken stock and heated it up, just until it thickens a bit. I like mine a bit sweet so I added a bit more sweet soya sauce. And that's all. Once everything is ready, serve the sauces in separate sauce bowls or drizzle the soya sauce over the rice and the chili sauce on the side. Don't forget to garnish with cucumber - that's the traditional way. I served mine with lots of salad leaves, just to lessen the guilt a bit!
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