Tiny Urban Kitchen

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Hainanese Chicken Rice + Giveaway!

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I almost never ate chicken growing up.

My mom doesn’t like chicken, and thus we hardly ate chicken at home. Furthermore, there just aren’t nearly as many Taiwanese dishes made with chicken. Chicken wasn’t nearly as available in Taiwan as, say pork, which is an essential ingredient in so many Taiwanese dishes. In fact, Bryan’s dad talks about how in Taiwan, his family ate chicken only once a year as a treat, on his father’s birthday.

For most of my life, I didn’t love chicken because I also associated it with the dry and bland meat that you see in a lot of places. It wasn’t until recently (for example, when I started playing around with sous vide), that I realized chicken can be just as juicy, tender, and flavorful as any other meat.

The other day, a Singaporean friend came over and we cooked up a bunch of Malaysian dishes from a new cookbook that I recently received. Hainanese Chicken Rice is one of Bryan’s favorite Malaysian dishes, so I immediately opted to try that recipe.

What resulted was seriously one of the best (and simplest!) chicken dishes I have ever made.

Before I go on with the recipe, let me just say a few things about the book. I received a free review copy of Flavors of Malaysia: A Journey Through Time, Tastes, and Traditions about a month ago.

I have very little experience with Malaysian food, so I invited my good friend Chia Chi, who is from Singapore, to come over and cook some dishes with me.  Aside from her lovely company and wonderful cooking skills, Chia Chi gave helpful insight regarding the authenticity of the recipes in the book.

The author, Susheela Raghavan, was born and raised in Malaysia and gives a lot of background about Malaysian food culture throughout the book. The book is full of information, over 300 pages filled with all sorts of Malaysian recipes, personal stories, and cultural insights. As Raghavan says herself in the introduction to her book, “This is not just a recipe collection, but a cultural and gastronomical journey through the centuries.”

Accordingly to Chia Chi, all of the classic Malaysian favorites are in this book.  You’ve got a bunch of Indian-style recipes as well as Chinese-style recipes. There are all kinds of dishes, ranging from snacks, soups, salads, sauces, noodles, to all the various meats. There are separate sections for desserts and fusion cuisine, as well as sections highlighting certain festivals. The center section includes a collection of beautiful color photographs, all taken by the author herself.

The flavors of the dishes we made are pretty authentic, although the author herself says that she has toned down the spice levels to accommodate western palates.

Overall, we found the recipes to be very easy to follow.  The book is organized neatly with the recipe amounts listed on a separate column from the rest of the text. Her measurements are often given in ranges, which is very typical of Asian cooking (my mom never measured ANYTHING!). As an inexact cook myself, I appreciate the ranges. It tells me which parts of the recipe are more flexible and frankly, it makes me a lot less relaxed when I’m measuring stuff!

Chia Chi and I had no trouble following this recipe, and the Hainanese Chicken and Rice came out beautifully. The chicken was juicy and flavorful. Everyone who was there (even Bryan, my harshest critic!) thought the chicken was delicious.

The chicken rice was also fluffy and fragrant, although one diner commented that it did not have as strong of a chicken fat flavor.  I think that’s mostly because I purchased an organic free range chicken which does not have as much fat as a typical supermarket chicken. On the flip side, the flavors of the poached chicken were very nice. I seriously think you get what you pay for when it comes to the inherent flavor of the chicken – organic free range has an edge.

GIVEAWAY!
The publishers of this book were kind enough to give me three books to give away! I will be hosting a new giveaway for the next three days (one book per day!) as part of a three-part Malaysian Food Series. Each day I will describe a different dish I made from the book.

To enter the Giveaway
Please leave a comment below telling me what your favorite Malaysian dish is. If you are not familiar to with Malaysian cuisine, tell me your favorite Southeast Asian dish, or Asian dish of you are not familiar with Southeast Asia.

Me?

My favorite dish is Popiah, a fresh spring roll filled with pork, cilantro, peanuts, sugar, hoisin sauce, vermicelli, bean sprouts, cabbage, and carrots. I first had it at a food stall in Singapore and fell in love! It wasn’t until years later that my mom taught me how to make my own!

You may submit comments until midnight, Wednesday March 2, 2011, at which time I will do the drawing.


Update! Congratulations to the first Flavors of Malaysia cookbook winner – bunster10!
 
bunster10 said, “I’ve only had a few opportunities to try Malaysian cuisine. I think the last time I did was on a trip to Hawaii. We decided to try a Malaysian restaurant. I don’t remember what the dishes were but they were all very tasty!”
 
There are still two books to give away. Click here and here to enter!

If you are interested in Malaysian food in general, check out Malaysia Kitchen for the World, a global initiative of the Malaysian government that aims to educate and inform consumers about Malaysian cuisine and Malaysian restaurants throughout the world.

Hainanese Chicken Rice
from Flavors of Malaysia: A Journey Through Time, Tastes, and Traditions

Chicken
1 4/12 lb whole chicken
1-2 T finely crushed fresh ginger
2 heaping T finely crushed garlic cloves
1/2 cup chopped scallions or spring onions
1/2 tsp freshly ground white pepper
12 tsp salt
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp regular soy sauce

1. Rinse chicken and pat dry. After removing the “innards” pack, stuff the cavity with 1 T each of ginger, garlic, and scallions. Rub the whole chicken (including the cavity) with white pepper and salt. Set aside.
2. Bring 13 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Lower heat and add remaining ginger, garlic, and scallions. Simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Place entire chicken into the pot, making sure it is fully submerged. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes. Turn off heat, cover, and let steep for an additional 15-20 minutes.
4. Remove chicken from the pot, reserving the stock.
5. Allow to cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes). Alternatively, if serving cold, plunge the entire chicken into ice water and let sit for 20-30 minutes.
6. Brush the chicken with sesame oil and soy sauce. Set aside. Before serving, cut up the chicken into pieces.

Rice

1 T cooking oil
1 T sliced and crushed garlic cloves
1 heaping tsp crushed fresh ginger
Heaping 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots or onion
1 cup Jasmine rice, washed and rinsed
1 1/2 cup reserved chicken stock
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 Pandan leaf, tined with fork and tied into a knot

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan. Saute garlic and ginger for about 1/2 to 1 minute. Add shallots/onions and saute 1-2 minutes.

2. Stir in rice and saute until translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups reserved chicken stock, salt, sesame oil, and pandan leaf (see photos above for how to tie)

3. If you have a rice cooker: put the contents in a rice cooker and cook until done.
If using a stovetop: Bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes (until all liquid is absorbed and rice is cooked). Remove from heat and let rice cook in its steam for about 10 minutes.

Soup
4 cups reserved chicken stock
1 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 finely ground white pepper
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp chopped garlic cloves (optional)
1 tsp chopped or crushed ginger (optional)

Place all ingredients in a pot, stir and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Garlic with scallions and serve.

Dip #1: Savory Chile Sauce / Sos Lemak
1/2 cup chicken stock
6 fresh red chilies (Fresno, jalapeno, Serrano, cayenne, THai, or cherry peppers), finely chopped
1 heaping T chopped or crushed garlic cloves
1 T chopped or crushed ginger
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp white sugar
1 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed or bottled lime juice
2 tsp cooking oil or fat skimmed from boiled chicken stock

Dip #2: Pounded Ginger in Flavored Oil
4 heaping T chopped or crushed ginger
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp  freshly squeezed or bottled lime juice
1 tsp regular soy sauce
1/4 cup cooking oil

Dips
Combine all ingredients together and mix well.  Let stand 30 minutes before serving.

Put it All Together
Serve with chicken, soup, and the two dips.

Disclaimer
Time to time I receive free products, meals, etc. as a food blogger. I do not receive any payment for blog posts/reviews nor am I required to write a post when I receive free products, meals, etc. The views expressed in this post are completely my own. I was given a free review copy of the book.

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Comments

  10. slin says

    I don’t think I’ve ever had malaysian food but it sounds great! As for asian food, I love most dishes that involve rice noodles like chow fun or pad kee mao.

  11. Elva says

    I love Vietnamese food! I don’t know exactly how this translates but my favorite dish is Bún Tôm Thịt Nướng – Grilled Jumbo Shrimps and Pork Over Vermicelli Noodles (I took this from my favorite restaurants website).

  16. Thundor says

    i dont think ive had malaysian food before…looks yummie though! wish i could have some!

    i love asian food in general…so it’s a bit hard to choose…

    now iam hungry…gotta eat some lunch 🙂

  20. Judi says

    My friend in Santa Barbara, CA, sent me your recipe & link because I’ve recently arrived in Singapore to visit our daughter who lives here. I’m going to jot down each & every dish mentioned here and go out and eat my way thru this vacation! What a terrific blog & what great suggestions! Thanks, everyone! I have LOVED anything here made with curry (what a selection!) and always get a spring roll for a snack. We’re off tomorrow to KL so will use those suggestions, too! Meanwhile, put me down for PHO and I’ll add something from KL if I can post again. I want that cookbook!

  21. Kathy says

    I love pulled tea. I had it during Malaysian Night, which was put on by our Malaysian students. The music and dance were wonderful and the tea was totally yum. If I were to learn to make two Malaysian foods or drinks they would be pulled tea and Kerutuk Chicken.
    All he best!

  23. Tammy says

    yay, you posted on Hainanese chicken!

    my fave Malay dish is laksa … hands down. spicy coconut milk based soup? seafood? two types of noodles?? I cannot resist.

  25. Wei Ping says

    My favorite dish is Nasi lemak! It is is rice cooked in a rich, creamy coconut cream infused with pandan leaf. It is served typically with fried peanuts and anchovies, hard-boiled egg, cucumber slices and a dollop of sambal. Traditionally, it’s served as a quick hearty breakfast meal; but, these days it’s available everywhere, round the clock at many restaurants and hawker centers. 🙂

  26. Julia says

    Hmmm, I wish I was more familiar with Malaysian food. There a few times I’ve had it at a famous restaurant in Philadelphia called Penang (but I’ve heard that a lot of Malaysian restaurants are called Penang haha). They have this amazing Mango chicken dish that I must get every time I go. The menu describes it as shredded mango cooked w. spicy sweet & sour sauce served in mango shell. So not only is it refreshingly delicious (especially if you can get the wave of mango juice at the same time as you bite the chicken), but the plating is aesthetically pleasing with the mango shell.

  27. burp_excuzme says

    I must totally win this!!!! Dunno if you remember but I grew up in Singapore, so oh this post is sooo close to my heart.

    My favorite Malaysian dish is popiah, otah-otah, roti canai, Penang laksa, kuih, and of course their sambal egg!!

  28. Alain says

    thank you for holding this awesome giveaway and for sharing this wonderful recipe! for me, hainan chicken rice is one of those dishes that seems deceptively simple, but is really one of the hardest dishes to make! i think it’s a very personal dish in that everyone has different memories and associations with it. I can’t wait to try this recipe though! While i do love hainan chicken rice, my favorite southeast asian dish has to be pho with rare beef and fresh basil leaves as the only add-ins. the layers of flavor is extraordinary and not something i can just whip up at home. there’s nothing more comforting to be me than a bowl of piping hot pho on a cold rainy day!

  31. sukanya says

    Chicken satay, nasi lemak and nasi goreng are my favourite malaysian dish, I tried nasi goreng at home couple of times.

    chicken is really looking juicy and fluffy, btw am going to try your recipe for chili dip / sos lemak

    take care

  33. Thomas says

    Can’t forget kari ayam, which essentially is chicken with bone cooked over low heat with lemon grass and chili paste. It is simmered in thick rich coconut curry. Extremely flavorful! It’s like the chicken version of the beef rendang. 🙂

  43. CharlieR says

    I love to cook and experiment and oriental is one of my favorites.
    Not the mutated dishes we serve in North America and pass off as chinese etc., but the authentic dishes (although I do have to tone the spices).

    This dish looks and I know tastes great!
    Something even my mother would eat and she is a hard ticket when it comes to food. (she has lived with me since my dad died in June and is strictly plain fair, although I do sneak things in there. She eats complains and then eats some more.)

    I would love to cook and experiment with the recipes from this book.

  48. shirley says

    Other than the hainan chicken on this post, I love the shrimp noodle soup. At least once a month I crave that potent shrimp paste with spicy flavor. Thankfully I have malay restaurant nearby.

  56. Jessica says

    I loved seeing this post because Hainanese chicken is a really big thing in my family. I’m half Hainanese half Vietnamese, and my grandmother was famous for her Hainanese chicken in their village in Vietnam, and later inspired my father to become a chef today. One of the greatest dishes EVERRR

  58. Hugo de Vos says

    Picking a Malaysian favourite is just so hard as it is my favourite of the SE Asian cuisines. think for me it is a toss up between Laksa or Beef Rendang as each exemplify the cooking of the region. And then there’s the satay. Those little beef skewers grilled with a delectable sauce. How does one choose? I’m going to bite the bullet and go with Beef Rendang.

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