Ingredients5 cloves garlic (Slightly Bruised)
4 cloves shallots (Slightly Bruised)
6 slices of ginger (Slightly Bruised)
1 stalk lemongrass (cut into 2inch and smashed)
Pandan leaves (6pcs of 2inch leaves)
2 Chicken Thigh & Drum
3 cups rice
Chicken stock
Chicken Bone
Ice water with salt and smashed ginger
Blanch chicken bone, rinsed and put into a soup pot of 3litres water boil for 2hrs
Marinate chicken thigh & drum with some salt for an hour
During the last 20mins boiling of the chicken stock add in the chicken thigh & drum, boil for 20mins, off the fire and let it stay in the pot for 15mins. Bring out the chicken thigh & drum and put into icy cold water (prepare beforehand) put it in the fridge for an hour.
Rinse rice set aside (make sure it's drain dry)
Heat wok add in 2 tablespoon sesame oil, once oil is hot, add ginger, garlic and shallots sauté till fragrant (2mins) add in smashed lemongrass continue to sauté another min, add in washed rice (make sure rice is not soaking wet) stir fry the rice under low flame for a min, add salt and put in pandan leaf, stir fry for another min and off flame. Transfer all the rice into rice cooker pot, add chicken stock and taste the "soup" before you cook the rice. This part is critical. The amount of salt and chicken stock you put have to be very precise in order to get flavourful rice. Below are some tips that I'll be sharing.
Tips:
For chicken, I usually will buy the whole chicken home and get husband to chop into different parts (you can ask the chicken seller to do it) chicken bone, chicken thigh & drum (as seen in pic), chicken breast, chicken wing and chicken feet. The chicken bone, wing and feet will usually become soup stock. Chicken breast can be used for stir fry and the chicken thigh & drum can be used for many other dishes besides chicken rice. Buying the whole chicken can save more smile emoticon
For the condiments, you may refer to my pictures as a guide on how to smashed and cut.
For ice water, I prepare a bowl of water with ice and put it into freezer for awhile. This is to save time.
For chicken stock, it is best to blanch away all the dirt and give it a wash before you start putting into soup pot (3l water). This is to ensure you get clean and clear soup. I use the top layer of the soup stock chicken oil for the chicken rice tongue emoticon (in my opinion I think home cook still won't be as oily as outside) Haha!
For the chicken thigh & meat, I boiled for 20mins and let it rest in the pot for 15mins, bring out and submerged into icy cold water and put into fridge. When I am ready to chop then I bring it out and pat dry.
For the salt and water level of fragrant chicken rice, the level of saltiness when you taste the "soup" with the uncooked rice have to be slightly saltish to the tastebuds. It might sound very salty but the rice will turn out just nice with enough flavour. (Just sharing my experience) If you are following the exact recipe above for 3 cups rice then the chicken stock have to be slightly more than 3 cups of water. I use my rice cooker mix rice marking as a guide line. However if yours does not come with the mix rice marking. Don't worry! Remember this is not normal white rice. The water level have to be slightly more than the normal way of cooking because there are condiments inside the rice that will absorb the water. I have experienced uncooked rice before 😓 because I never add enough stock to my rice. I can only say you should add in about 5-6 tablespoon more than the usual way of cooking. Once the rice is done. Do not open it immediately. Leave it inside for 20mins and remove the condiments using chopsticks to loosen up the rice (this is to prevent the rice from getting too mushy)
To save time, it'll be good to do some planning ahead. Best is to have the chicken stock to start boiling. Concurrently you can prepare the condiments, marinate the chicken, wash rice, prepare ice water.
For the chicken sauce, I use about 1 tablespoon chicken stock, 1.5-2 tablespoon oyster sauce, pinch of sugar and salt. Mix and pour over the chicken. You may taste and adjust accordingly.
The leftover chicken stock you can sieve out into a smaller pot and add in corn, carrots or any other ingredients to your own liking and you can have soup to go with the rice.
