(Hainanese or Singapore Chicken Rice)

Ingredients

• •To make the Chicken :
• •1 whole Chicken (to be boiled in a large pot of water by itself)
• •70 milliliters sesame oil
• •60 milliliters light soy sauce
• •1 medium sized cucumber
• •1 sprig parsley
• •60 milliliters concentrated chicken stock
• •Chicken Stock:
• •300 to 500 grams chicken feet or bones
• •2 liters water
• •Rice:
• •1 clove garlic
• •20 grams ginger, bruised
• •4 cups Thai fragrant rice
• •Cooking oil
• •150 grams chicken fat
• •Chicken stock
• •1/2 teaspoon salt
• •Water that was used to boil the chicken (some to be used for cooking the rice, the balance is to be used as a base stock for an accompanying soup)
• •Condiments:
• •20 grams galangal (optional)
• •100 grams ginger
• •100 grams red peppers
• •1 teaspoon chicken oil
• •20 milliliters concentrated chicken stock
• •10 to 15 milliliters dark soy sauce for each diner as dip
• •2 cloves garlic
• •Soup:
• •Balance of water used to boil the chicken
• •250 grams cabbage
• •20 grams peeled shallots
• •Spring onion for garnishing

Directions

1. 1To make the stock, first start preparing the stock. Simmer the chicken feet or bones for about 2 hours in the stated amount of water. By the time the stock is ready for use, ensure that there are about 1.5 liters left after evaporation of the water during simmering. This makes the stock more concentrated and thus more effective. If this stock is used then the need for chicken concentrate or powder is not necessary.
2. 2While the stock is simmering, check and clean the whole chicken. Boil a large pot of water. The water has to be sufficient to cover the whole chicken. Bring the water to a boil. Put the whole chicken into the pot of boiling water. The fire should be strong so as to bring the water to a boil again as soon as possible. Approximately 15 minutes cooking is required. A good way to test whether the chicken is cooked or not is to get a skewer and stab the meatiest part of the chicken, such as the thigh, and if the meat is soft and easily penetrated, we know that it is cooked. Remove the chicken and let it cool down.
3. 3When the chicken is cooling down, the rice can be prepared. The rice is just as important as the chicken. Fry the uncooked rice in a wok with some of the chicken oil obtained from the fat as well as some cooking oil. Keep on frying in a moderate fire. Continuously keep on turning over the rice so that it does not burn at the bottom of the wok. Continue until the rice turns a slight golden yellow shade. Next pour the rice into a pot. Add some chicken stock, salt and the balance of the water required is obtained from the water used to boil the chicken. The liquid added should cover the rice by about 1/2 an inch. Add 1 clove crushed peeled garlic and a piece of about 20 grams bruised ginger to the pot. Cook the rice. Serve in a bowl or plate.
4. 4While the rice is cooking, the chicken should have cooled down. The whole chicken should then be brushed evenly with sesame oil. This should be done as soon as the chicken is cool enough to handle. Otherwise, the chicken skin would darken. The sesame oil also gives a fragrance and flavoring to the chicken. No salt is to be added to the chicken. The cooked chicken is then cut up into appropriate sized pieces and served on a large plate. It is not easy to cut a large chicken and yet not mess up the chicken. An alternative would be to debone the chicken meat in whole intact chunks as large as possible with the skin intact on the meat. These are then cut up into appropriate sized pieces. The chicken must not be overcooked. Served as shown in the above picture.
5. 5The condiments are prepared by grinding the ginger and galangal(optional) together. 5 to 10 milliliters of concentrated chicken stock is added. About 1 teaspoon of chicken oil is also added. The red peppers are then ground with the peeled garlic. They are served separately as shown in picture.
6. 6The soup is then made using the balance of the stock and water that was used to boil the chicken. Add the shredded cabbage. Add the peeled shallots. Add the shredded cabbage. Add salt to taste. Simmer for 15 minutes. Cut the spring onion and garnish the soup.
7. 7The chicken rice should be served as shown in the picture above. The condiments should be used as a dip for the chicken.