Hainanese Chicken Rice

I believe everyone in Singapore has tasted Chicken rice before or the least know what it is when it is mention. It is such a common and popular dish for decades and it is no surprise that many home cooks has their own special recipe. Okay, I am not talking about cooking it from a box or some premix from a package or bottle, I meant really cooking it from scratch! I admit I fall in that category of using premix prior to this, convenient and frankly speaking its not bad in taste too. But the satisfaction of know you can whip this up yourself and actually taste great, how awesome is that?Haha! But I do believe every different family has their own recipe in cooking this...just like my mum's! But the surprising thing is I never consulted my mum on this before cooking from scratch...I just go! You would think it's so difficult to cook this....no no its not, I promise. Plus the end result is gonna wow you that you can actually cook this awesome heehee:D

Okay enough talk, here is the recipe for my chicken rice:

Ingredients for Chicken Rice (Serves 4)
1 whole chicken (get fresh, not frozen is possible)
2 tbsp salt

5 slices fresh peeled ginger 
2 sprigs of spring onion, cut into segments

6 shallots peeled 
8 garlic cloves
8 slices peeled ginger
2 pandan leaves

2.5 cups washed white rice (I mixed 1 cup brown rice heehee)


salt to taste
2 cups chicken stock (Optional, I used some chicken powder and water)
1 cucumber, sliced (I used Japanese, less seed and not as bitter)

Sauce over the chicken
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar

Ice water (1.5Liter) for "shocking' the chicken

• Clean the whole chicken by rinsing in water and remove unwanted parts. Dab dry and rub the whole chicken with salt, a good 2 tablespoons all over the chicken including the cavity area. Let it marinate for 20 minutes.
• Prepare the steamer, at a medium fire. Place the chicken in the steamer together with the ginger slices and the spring onion segments after 20 minutes. 
• Steam till the juice runs clear when pricked at the deepest part of the met. I pricked the part between the inner thigh and breast. Mine took about 30-35 minutes to fully cooked. Timing depends on the size of the chicken.
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• In the mean time, place garlic, shallots and ginger slices into a blender and zap till fine.
• Heat up the wok with 3 tbsp of vegetable oil and add in all of the ground mixture and stir fry till fragrant.Cook about 5-8 minutes at medium low heat till fragrant, add in the 2 pandan leaves (knotted) and stir for 30 seconds. Remove from fire.
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• Place the washed rice in the cooker together with cooked mixture earlier with the pandan leaves. Add salt and chicken seasoning (if desired) together with enough water. Give it a quick stir and cook the rice in the cooker.
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• Once the chicken has been cooked, remove it from the steamer and gently place in the prepared ice water to cool it down. Leave the chicken in the water for 5-10 minutes. Then remove and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
• Prepare the special sauce for the chicken. This sauce will perk up the flavor and keeps the meat moist and flavorful.
• Chop up the chicken nicely, and drizzle the special soy sauce mixture over the chicken. Serve with the cooked rice while still warm.
• The drippings of the chicken while steaming was used for making soup. I added cubed silken tofu and slices of fish cake plus a bit of salt & 2 cups water. (Optional)

Look at the juicy and tender meat!I was so happy this turned out well! I am actually looking forward to cooking it again. ;) Plus the family was all praise about it...best part is you know there is no preservatives, yay!
The weekend is around the corner, do consider taking the chance to cook this for your family. I know you can walk across the street to the food stall to buy a pack, but it will be so so so different and worth it, guarantee!

Try it and let me know how you like it. Happy advance weekend to you guys! Cheers!

Chestnut Chiffon Cake

Oh I know, every time I return to this blog of mine, I seem to be dusting off plenty of cobwebs and dust, haha! Sorry guys, will try harder! Never fear, I am back with this all so delicious chiffon recipe to redeem myself, heehee :P Anyway, this Chestnut Chiffon recipe has always been my to-do list and since my MIL gave me a packet of chestnut she bought from her recent trip to Thailand, kind off kick start it. Plus ever since I tasted a Mont Blanc cake from Lady M, I was hooked and vowed to bake a chestnut cake myself.

I remember last time chestnut used to be so uncommon in local grocer except for those mobile stalls where old school uncles will roast those yummy chestnuts in charcoal. I would be drooling every time I walk pass and smell those super fragrant roasted chestnuts! (I still do when I see one haha!) But nowadays Singapore import so many ready to consume chestnuts in convenient packaging in many major supermarket! Joys! But somehow I just didn't get myself to buy some to bake...lazy as usual haha! Thanks to MIL! Oh yes, don't really fancy those paste form in cans because the though of other stuff could be mixed in just doesn't appeal me at all haha!

Recipe for Chestnut Chiffon Cake (makes 20-22cm tube size pan)
Egg yolk mixture
70g egg yolk
70ml water
70ml vegetable oil
125g chestnuts (from those ready consume packs)
40ml milk
100g top flour/ cake flour
 
Egg white mixture
190g egg white
95g caster sugar

Chestnut buttercream (optional)
200g Swiss meringue buttercream (cold) (I followed Bravetart's recipe, please refer to link)
60g ready to consume chestnuts
40ml cold heavy cream

• In a blender, add 125g of the chestnut and 40ml of milk. Zap till very fine crumbs or smooth, depending how chunky you want your cake to be.
• Preheat the oven to 160C and prepare a tube pan of 20/21/22 cm.
• In a large mixing bow, add egg yolk, water, oil and mix well. Add the pureed chestnut and stir till all is incorporated. Lastly, stir in the the cake flour with a whisk and making sure there is no lumps when all is combined.
• In a separate mixing bowl, add in all the egg whites and beat till foamy. Gradually add in the caster sugar and beat till mixture reaches stiff peaks.
• Add in 3 separate portions of the egg whites to the egg yolk mixture till all is incorporated and no visible white lumps.
• Pour cake batter into tube pan. Use a tooth pick or chop stick to run through the batter to release any air or bubble trapped inside.

• Bake in the preheated oven for 30-33minutes till the cake tester comes out clean or with very fine crumbs.
• Remove cake from oven and invert to cool completely before unmoulding.
• Once cake is completely cooled, remove from pan and slice up to serve.
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• To make the chestnut buttercream, combine all three ingredients in together in a blender and zap till smooth. Pipe the chestnut cream over the cooled chiffon as desired.

I cannot start to tell you how much I love this cake. It was literally love at first bite...yum! So light, soft, moist, fluffy and delicious, I can cry eating it hahaha! And it would definitely be a bonus if you make the buttercream too. :) Notice that I did not blend my chestnuts till very smooth as I wanted to be able to taste bits of it when enjoying the cake...its like eating the real stuff ya? Haha!

There, a shot of the sliced wonderful chiffon cake, haha! So yummy! Do try this...I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed. An ace of a chiffon cake. ;)

Okay guys, I better sign off and get my dinner ready! Till we meet again, eat well & be merry!