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Mon 29 Jun 2009

Hainan Chicken Rice

Posted by Jun Alday under Chinese, Cooking
[4] Comments

Hainan Chicken Rice is one of my all-time favorite dish. When I was living in Hong Kong, I use to go to the coffee shop of the HK Hilton to order this dish. They served the best Hainan Chicken as far as I am concerned. Unfortunately, the HK Hilton closed to pave way for the present Bank of China building. Although there are many Singporean and Malaysian eateries in HK serving Hainan Chicken Rice, what I miss is the HK Hilton version in taste. This gave me the motivation to look for recipes and cook the dish myself.

In the internet, there are many recipes of this dish and I have tried most of them. However, there is one particular recipe that I came across that is rather close to the HK Hilton version. What differentiates this recipe from the others is the use of cloves and cinnamon in cooking the rice.

Hainanese chicken rice is often considered as the 'national dish' of Singapore. It is also a common dish in Thailand where it is called 'Khao Mun Gai.'

There are many ingredients to the dish but the actual preparation is very simple. Here is my take on Hainan Chicken Rice based on the recipe I found with some variation from my own experiments.

Long grain rice
Medium size chicken
Young ginger – shredded very fine
Garlic – shredded very fine
Cloves – few pieces depending on volume of rice
Cinanamon sticks – 1 0r 2 sticks depending on volume of rice
Pandan leaves – for soup and rice
Lettuce or Chinese lettuce –

Clean and rub salt to chicken.
Stuff chicken with pandan leaves and ginger – close opening
Cook chicken, breast down, 30 to 40 minutes. Do not over cook.
Take out chicken from the pot and leave stock.
Transfer chicken in a container and drench with ice cold water to create springy texture.
When the chicken is taken out of the pot, add lettuce or equivalent to chicken stock and turn off heat. Do not cook lettuce.

Fry shredded ginger and garlic in oil till golden and fragrant.
Wash rice and pour chicken stock, same measurement as when cooking ordinary rice
Add fried ginger and garlic with cinnamon and cloves, take out oil
Add pandan leaves when rice boils
Discart the pandan, cloves and cinnamon stick when the rice is done.

The cloves, cinnamon stick, fried ginger and garlic in chicken stock with the rice.

Fish sauce
Sugar
Red chillies
Young ginger
Lime or equivalent
Garlic
Vinegar

Grind garlic and ginger with mortar and pestle until fine (you can use blender depending on the quantity you are making). Add vinegar, fish sauce, lime and sugar to taste.

Sesame seeds – roasted
Sesame oil
Soya sauce
Fresh Tomatoes – sliced
Cucumber – sliced
Pineapple – tidbits
Coriander leaves

When the chicken is cooled, slice and arrange in plate. Splash with a little soya sauce and sesame oil then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Mould cooked rice in small bowl and transfer to plate. Garnish with sliced tomatoes, cucumber, pineapple and coriander leaves. Served with soup and chili sauce.

Optional: To improve on the taste of the soup, saute some garlic and shallots (or red onion) then pour the chicken stock and boil for few minutes. Turn off heat and add lettuce. Sprinkle with chopped spring onions on serving.

Note: Much as I would like to acknowledge the original author of the recipe that I stumbled upon in the internet over 10 years ago, the website is not in the web anymore.

Tags: 'khao mun gai, chicken dish, Hainan chicken rice, singpaore dish

Fri 26 Jun 2009

Pineapple Lily

Posted by Jun Alday under Arrangements, Flowers, Ornamental, Plants
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A single flower spike rises from a rosette of thick leaves and is densely covered with small, six-petalled flowers ranging from cream and green shades to pinkish-purple. The spike is topped with a pineapple-like cluster of leaves.

Finding a new flower is always exciting for me. Last year when I checked on my obscure flower vendor in Dangwa market, I found, for the first time in so many years of going to that market place, an interesting flower I have not seen before. I bought several stalks and was told it is called Pineapple Lily. At home, I checked the flower’s name and it is indeed called Pineapple Lily. Apparently, it is not an uncommon plant but is widely available from the florist or the gardeners in America. I wonder why they are not being commercially grown in the Philippines despite its economic potential. It is nearly a year now since I first spotted that flower and I have not seen them again.

Pineapple Lily or Eucomis is a genus of African bulbs in the hyacinth family Hyacinthaceae. Most species of this genus are commonly referred to as pineapple flowers or pineapple lilies. The name “Eucomis” is of Greek origin, “eu-” meaning “pleasing” and “kome” “hair of the head”, thus referring to the tuft of leaf-like bracts that crown the inflorescence of the species in this genus.There are some eleven species in this genus. Eucomis can be found in grassland, forest, swamps and on river banks, but is absent from the drier regions.

Eucomis is a magnificent garden plant, well suited to pockets in the rockery. It can also be used in groups as borders, planted en masse, or in large containers. The flowers look good for many weeks in the garden, and last for a week or two in the vase. The fruiting inflorescence is also decorative and can be kept for up to a month in the vase.

Eucomis species are attractive feature plants for the garden. This is a very easy plant to grow, relatively needing little or no special attention (in very cold districts the dormant bulbs may be lifted and replanted in spring). Bulbs put into the garden should be planted level with or just below the soil surface in a well drained, warm and sheltered position in full sun.

My modern and simplistic approach to arranging the Pineapple Lilies.

The foliage is broad with a spread of 12 to 15 inches wide. The flower form in the center of the plant on a strong and thick stems 12 to 15 inches tall. The flower looks like a spike with tightly arranged white flowers about ½ inch wide on the top of this stem.