Hainanese chicken - it's all about the chook

For those who are familiar with South-East Asian food, you must have heard of Hainanese Chicken. It is a national dish in Singapore and wildly popular in other parts of Asia also (such as Japan, Malaysia and Thailand). But what most of you may not know is that this is a Chinese dish that originated from the island of Hainan, a tropical island and popular tourist destination. This is a simple, subtle yet flavourful dish commonly served with oily chicken rice, dipping sauces, clear chicken broth and refreshing vegetables such as cucumber. The chicken skin is gelatinous, flesh tender and juicy, the chicken rice full of chicken goodness, the dipping sauces (commonly a garlic and chili one, and a shallot one) add great flavour boosts to otherwise quite a subtly-flavoured dish, the coriander garnish and light soy broth bring everything together.

I like making this dish at home because it is so easy (and healthy too)! Well, I could post my own recipe here, OR I could just point you to a few of the better recipes out on the world wide web. Those who are not familiar with the authentic taste and texture of this dish could easily get lost in the countless Hainanese Chicken recipes out there.  Below are a few good Hainanese Chicken recipes I recommend:

1. Adam Liaw, the winner of MasterChef Australia, has a pretty good recipe found here: Adam Liaw's Hainanese Chicken. I would say that this recipe would get you something fairly close to the Hainanese Chicken and rice sold in the Asian food court under Pittsway Arcade in Sydney CBD. I wrote a passionate blogpost on the chicken rice there called: The best chicken rice for under $10 in Sydney
2. SBS food safari, a cooking/eating show, has a pretty decent recipe found here: SBS food safari hainanese chicken. I like the use of Chinese shaoxin rice wine but not quite sure about serving it with kecap manis, a Malaysian sweet soy sauce with the taste and texture of savoury molasses. I have never served my chicken this way. I am sure you can pick and choose the bits you enjoy.
3. Pailins Kitchen, a YouTube cooking channel, has a good Thai version of the dish: Kao Mun Gai. If you are in Sydney, try out Kao Mun Gai at Yok Yor Thai Food Factory.
4. Ochikeron, a YouTube cooking channel, has a good Japanese version of the dish: Hainanese Chicken Rice - Japanese variation. This is the easiest variation of this recipe, as this entire recipe is cooked in a rice cooker. But you are not going to get the same authentic taste and texture found in recipe 1. 

As you may have noticed, each recipe varies depending on the cultural origin of the chef and individual preferences, so don't be alarmed by the number of variations. As a matter of fact, I would go so far to say that as long as you follow the following basic principles, you can apply your own little 'twist' to this dish as you like:

• Buy a good quality chicken as it is the star of the dish. I always get free-range organic whole chicken as they taste like chicken (unlike the sad caged hormone-pumped 'product' that grow from a chick to full-grown in 2 weeks). It makes a huge difference what chicken you get, trust me.
• The chicken needs to be cooked on low heat. Don't boil the crap out of it.
• The rice needs to be seasoned with chicken flavour. The best approach is to use the cooking liquid or chicken fat or both.
• There needs to be a sauce. Or this dish would be too subtle. Garlic, ginger and shallots are the 'holy trinity' in Asian cooking, and the most common Hainanese Chicken sauce ingredients. You can add them in the cooking broth also to flavour the chicken.
• Garnish the dish with something fragrant and 'crunchy'. Fresh coriander and/or shallots, or deep-fried shallots, or fresh chili, garnish brings the dish to the next level, both in taste and look.

Now that you are equipped with all of this knowledge, I bet you cannot wait to run into the kitchen and try it out yourself. I am going to leave you with a nice picture of the Hainanese chicken rice I cooked the other day to get you in the mood. Happy hainanese chicken eating, everybody!

 

Teriyaki chicken-simple, healthy, exotic and delicious

Chicken Teriyaki served with rice and Japanese coleslaw

Ingredients for the teriyaki chicken (serves 4):

·         6 tbsp light soy sauce

·         6 tbsp of mirin

·         6 tbsp cooking sake

·         4-6 tbsp of caster sugar (depending on how sweet you like your teriyaki)

·         1 clove garlic, bruised/lightly crushed 

·         4 large chicken thighs, diced

Method:

1. Mix the soy sauce, mirin, cooking sake, sugar and garlic. Leave the diced chicken to marinate in the mixture for 10-15 minutes
2. Saute the marinated chicken (minus the marinade) in a non-stick pan on medium high heat for a minute or two, or until they are slightly cameralised on the outside
3. Pour the teriyaki marinade over the chicken pieces in the pan and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to medium to medium low so the mixture simmers. Cook with the lid for 5-6 minutes, or until the chicken pieces are cooked through
4. Remove the cooked chicken pieces with a slotted spoon and turn the heat up to reduce the sauce to a glossy, luster and slightly thickened teriyaki sauce
5. Return the cooked chicken back to the teriyaki sauce and toss well to make sure the chicken pieces are well coated. Serve with steamed Japanese rice (sushi rice or any short-grain rice) and Japanese coleslaw (see recipe below).

The juicy chicken coated in the glossy and thick Teriyaki sauce is best served with steamed rice and a refreshing Japanese coleslaw or salad, as the rice soaks up every drop of the flavoursome sauce, and the coleslaw freshens the palate and provides a much-needed tang to the dish. Also try Teriyaki salmon.

Ingredients for the Japanese coleslaw (serves 4-6):

Ingredients:

• 1/6 of a small red cabbage, shredded
• 1/4 of a small white cabbage, shredded
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 shallot, chopped finely
• 1/6 of a Spanish/red onion, shredded (optional)
• Japanese mayonnaise
• fresh orange juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Mix the shredded cabbages, carrot and Spanish onion and finely chopped shallot in a salad bowl
2. Whisk Japanese mayonnaise and orange juice together in a bowl to form a salad dressing consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add to the cabbage mixture and toss to combine. Voila!

Who is the parent? The chicken or the egg?

There has been extensive debate on the subject of who the parent is-the chicken or the egg? Well, while everyone has their philosophical stance on the subject, there is one thing we can all agree on: chicken and egg taste good together. There are many 'parent and child' recipes out there, such as chicken caeser salad, chicken and egg fried rice, and chicken and egg pad thai, but if I had to choose one recipe that brings out the best of the parent and the child, it would have to be 'Oyakodon'-a popular Japanese dish that literally means 'parent and child'. Oyakodon represents the cooking philosophy behind Japanese cuisine: fresh and lean ingredients+light and flavoursome sauces+simple and quick cooking techniques=delicious and healthy dishes. The chicken and onions are braised in a sweet soy braising liquid, and the beaten eggs are added at the end of the cooking process not only to add body, but also a velvety dimension to the dish. The parent and the child form a harmonious combination of both flavour and texture. So here is how you make the Japanese chicken and egg rice bowl (Oyakodon):

Oyakodon

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 200ml instant dashi stock (‘Dashino-moto’, or instant dashi powder, is readily available from large Asian grocers)
• 4 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cooking sake
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 4 dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated in warm water and sliced
• 1 small clove of garlic
• 400g chicken thighs, chopped into small (around 1-inch) chunks
• 6 eggs, beaten lightly
• chopped coriander or chives for garnish

Method:

1. Add dashi stock, soy sauce, cooking sake, sugar and mirin to a frying pan, turn the stove on to medium high heat and cook till the sugar has dissolved
2. Add the sliced onions, garlic and shitake mushrooms, and cook, covered, until the onions start to soften
3. Add the chopped chicken and cook covered for 6-7 minutes or until chicken is tender
4. Pour the egg mixture over the chicken mixture, cook, covered, over low heat for about 2-3 minutes or until egg just sets. Note: the egg mixture should be just set, as we are not after scrambled eggs here. Remove from heat and keep covered to cook the egg mixture a while longer, if desired
5. Serve Oyakodon with steamed rice in a bowl. Garnish with chopped coriander or chives.

Quick spicy stew with leftover roast chicken, red pepper, leek and baby spinach-a recipe that makes Coles's $10 dinner campaign look like a scam!

Ingredients (for 4 people):

• ½ of leftover roast chicken ($8 for a whole roast chook from Franklins, so about $4-5 worth of leftover chicken)
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed ($0.20)     
• 1 large red capsicum or 2 small red capsicums ($2), cut into strips
• 1 large leek ($1.5),
• 1-2 birds eye chili ($0.10),
• Salt and pepper to taste (price negligible)
• 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce (price negligible)
• A handful of coriander ($0.50)
• 3 handfuls of baby spinach ($1.5-2)
• 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar (price negligible)           
• 1 teaspoon of sugar (price negligible)
• Olive oil (price negligible)

Total price: approximately AUD$10

Method:

Shred the chicken meat into strips (note: only use the chicken meat in this recipe, minus the skin, as the skin has too much of the roast chicken flavour for this Asian-inspired recipe). Sautee the garlic and leek in a dash of olive oil. Add some salt to help soften the leek. When the leek is softened, add the red capsicum strips, chili and black pepper. Put the lid on, and stew the veggies on medium heat for about 5-6 mins, or until the leek becomes creamy and capsicum softened. Add the chicken strips, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sugar, cook for 2-3 minutes until all the flavours are combined and chicken heated through. Add the baby spinach and cook with the lid on for 1-2 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted. Garnish with coriander and serve with steamed rice.

This recipe puts Coles’s $10 dinner campaign to shame, as it transforms the humble leftover cold chicken into a well-balanced one-pot wonder that goes a long way (rather than Coles’s $10 dinner recipes that mostly consist of only meat and carb). You can bulk up the dish even more by adding 1 more capsicum and leek, maybe even a few baby potatoes. You can replace the pricy baby spanich with its cheaper cousin English spanich. The carcass and skin can be kept to make a delicious chicken stock. There is no better way to use up the good ol' leftover roast chicken!

Sandy's addictive oven-baked spicy BBQ chichen wings-you will want to make them everyday, trust me.

Ingredients:

• 2 kilos of chicken wings
• 1 cup of tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup of worcestershire sauce
• juice of one lemon
• 2-4 tablespoons hot/mild mustard (depends on your taste)
• 1-2 tablespoons of ABC Extra Hot Chilli Garlic Sauce from Heinz (available from Woolworths and Coles. You can substitute the sauce with minced red hot chilli, sugar, garlic, and salt)
• 1 tablespoon of hickory
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar (you can use normal white sugar or raw sugar, but brown sugar will intensify the caramelization process of the sauce, making the wings extra sticky)   
• 1-2 tablespoons of minced garlic (if you have a social engagement to attend to afterwards, you should reduce the amount of garlic to be socially acceptable)
• 1/4 cup of water
• White pepper to taste

Method:

Pre-cook the chicken wings in boiling water for about 5-6 minutes, depending on the size of the wings. Note: this makes a light chicken stock.

Drain and set aside the pre-cooked chicken wings.

Make the BBQ marinade by mixing all the ingredients together. Marinate the partly cooked wings in the BBQ marinade sauce for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Note: the longer, the better, preferably at least an hour.

Place the marinaded chicken wings on a baking dish, pour leftover marinade over the chicken wings. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180-200 C (depending on the type of your oven) for 15-20 minutes, turn and toss the chicken wings to ensure that they are evenly coated in the sauce. Bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the sauce has caramelized, and wings become tender. Done!

The wings can be served as a main meal with rice and green veggies, or as a snack. The end result should be tender chicken wings coated in a sticky spicy and smoky sauce. These chicken wings are addictive and finger-licking good!