Saturday, May 8, 2010

My cooking - Khao Mun Gai (chicken rice)

Hainanese chicken rice was my most favourite but now I can't take it too much due to the greasiness. It's really a love and hate thing. So alternately I made a healthier one but the reality is poultry fat can never be replaced. :) Besides, charcoal boiling is another essential factor.
1. OK, home cooking is home cooking. Let's lower our demand. First heat the wok with some cooking oil (supposed to use the chicken fat or at least peanut oil), but I used olive oil. Put some garlic gloves and ginger slices. The garlic glove shouldn't be peeled and slightly crush it to crack a bit, so for the ginger slice (needs to be a bit thicker slices). 2. Use some pre-washed rice. Best to use Golden Elephant pre-washed rice (with vitamin B-complex added). Don't wash it, as the moist in the rice after washing would get sticky on the wok. Pan fry the rice a bit. Then put that in the rice cooker and pour in chicken broth for cooking.

3. I would give it only 40 marks out of 100, because (1. I used olive oil (or suggest rice bran oil). 2. Should have bought some fresher garlic. 3. I didn't use Golden Elephant rice. 4. I didn't use charcoal boiling.). So where is the chicken? I didn't make it since I didn't have enough time to go to Shaukiwan for buying a nice and lively killed Long Kong 龍崗 chicken. Instead, I just went to buy an already made chicken from the BBQ shop. OK, the classic cooking for the chicken is to dip the chicken in hot boiling water (with some ginger/scallion) for 10 to 20 seconds. Then take it out and dip it in room temperature water (not tap water; should be boiled first). So this process should take almost 40 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the chicken and your testing to the inside of the chicken. This hot and cold process is to maintain the tenderness and sealing of the original flavour of the chicken. Another alternate easier way is to have a big wok and the boiling water is high enough to cover the whole chicken. Put some ginger and scallion in the water. Rub the chicken inside out with some raw sea salt. So put the chicken in the high heat boiling water of the wok. Then turn off the heat and let the chicken soak in the wok. Remarks: the chicken should be a lively killed one and don't put it in the fridge. You should do it right after you get it. Don't let it stand for more than an hour. So that's why in the old days we went to the market twice, or even 3 times a day! :) The above soaking chicken cooking is a tribute to my aunt who told me that. Salute! She is now over 80 years old and still eats a lot of choy sum and fresh fish!

5 comments:

Stella said...

Seems like lots of work for the original authentic recipe of Hainan Chicken.
Golden Elephant Rice is the only rice Lily Mo's mom said she would eat. Only one supermarket sells this brand here.
We have live "Lung Kong Chicken" too.

in the sea said...

SS, my another steamed chicken takes about an hour. Not for the steaming time. After done, I would roll the hot chicken in the juice left on the plate until it's cool and by then the juice is absorbed back to the chicken.

Why I tried this chicken rice is because I was given a mini-pack of refined Thai fragrant rice, but it turned out it's not that good.

Stella, Lung Kong or Ching Yuen chicken are good because of the water and the grain...etc. they are fed. Ching Yuen is in between Canton and Wu Nan province mountain range. The mountain range keeps some very refined water. I was in Ching Yuen several times. Even their choy sum is way too different. Still so good in my memory! :)

Anonymous said...

I think next time you need to think you want health or you want taste. no need to be in the middle.

in the sea said...

Correct. Another mistake I often have - laziness or no time. Then struggle to make something.

Richard said...

Thank you for the chicken education SEA.
I like your blog as this is also a cooking class, a tour class and others on top of all the good food.
Thank you for all sharing of everything. You are very "eat sum".
SS