Hainanese Chicken Rice

Chicken rice is so common in Singapore that I hardly have a craving for it back home. However, now that we are thousands of miles from home, the food that we often take for granted comes into our mind once in a while.

Drizzle with soya sauce / sesame oil before eating

Steep chicken in hot water and immerse in ice bath after cooking

Here's how I do it (the easy way):

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (about 4lb)

thumb size garlic, bruised

stalks of spring onion (optional, I didn't use it as I don't have it at home)

salt

Method

1. Sprinkle salt generously over chicken and give it a good scrub. This removes any impurities and makes the chicken looks nice and clean. Rinse well. 

2. Fill a pot with water just enough to cover the chicken. Bring it to boil.

3. Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt all over. Remember to season the cavity of the chicken too. After this is done, insert the bruised ginger and spring onion bundle into the cavity. 

4. Insert the chicken (breast side down) gently into the water when it has come to a boil. Immediately lower the heat to a very gentle simmer. Partially cover the pot. Steep the chicken for 40 - 45 mins. (This helps to maintain the tenderness of the chicken while keeping the skin intact). 

5. To test whether it is cooked, insert a tester (I used the pointed end of a kitchen thermometer) into the thickest part of the chicken away from the bone. The chicken is cooked if clear juices run out. If it's bloody, the chicken is not cooked yet and you have to let it steep for a couple more mins. 

6. Remove chicken from pot when it is cooked and immerse it gently into an ice bath (ice and cold water in a deep basin). Let it sit for 15mins. I usually leave it in the ice bath (refreshing it with cold tap water) till I'm ready to eat it. 

7. Chop it up, serve with chilled cucumbers and enjoy!

Usually 1 whole chicken is too much for us so I'll often keep some of the breast meat aside to prepare a simple shredded chicken porridge for lunch the next day using the chicken broth from steeping of the chicken. 

Simple red wine beef stew

Here's a simple red wine beef stew that I cooked over the weekend. We enjoy having stew most when it's cold & windy outside. This is my own recipe adapted from several Beef Bourguignon recipes that I found online.

Ingredients

1.5lb stewing beef, cut into bite size cubes

1 large onion, diced

2 celery ribs, cut into bite size

2 carrots, cut into bite size

1 tbsp flour plus extra for dusting

1.5 cup of red wine

2 cups beef broth

1.5 tsp sugar

1 can diced tomato
1 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp of dried thyme
salt & black pepper 

Method
1. Heat up oven to 160 deg C.
2. Use a paper towel to wipe off any water/moisture on beef. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Dust with flour.
3. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in an oven proof pot and brown beef on all sides. Remove.
4. Saute onion in the same pot. Add a little bit of oil if it is not enough. When onion has turned translucent, add in carrot and celery. Cook for 2 mins.
5. Add in red wine. Use a wooden spatula to scrape off the browned bits at the bottom of the pot. The wine will start to bubble now.
6. Add in all the browned pieces of beef into the pot. Add in beef broth. The level of the liquid should barely cover the meat.
7. Add in diced tomato, bay leaves, worcestershire sauce and sugar. Mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. I usually do not add anymore salt as the beef will give out more flavor during the cooking process.
8. Bring contents of the pot to a boil, then simmer for about 10mins. Give the contents a stir halfway through the simmering to make sure that the beef / vegetables are not stuck to the bottom of the pot.
9. After 10mins of simmering, turn off the heat and put the pot into the pre-heated oven to cook for 2.5 hours. Check every hour to make sure that there is sufficient liquid in the pot. Top up with beef broth if necessary.
10. The beef should be very tender at the end of the cooking time. Remove from oven to the stove top and thicken the gravy with flour.

This goes very well with mashed potato (our favorite way of eating this stew), pasta or bread. I usually cook a large batch of this with enough for lunch the next day. The flavor is more intense the next day and I enjoy having it more as leftovers :)

Kimbap

It's been a while since I last made kimbap. Hence, I decided to make it for lunch today as I still have some radish and half a cucumber to use up. 

I was really pleased with the way it turned out today. I think the color of the veggies goes well together. In addition, I finally figured out how to make the individual pieces look neat & compact. The trick is to spread a thin layer of rice on the laver so there is a right amount of rice vs ingredients. 

 Ingredients arranged neatly in rows about 2inches from bottom

7 rolls of kimbap from 2 cups of cooked rice

Kimbap with eggs, cucumber, carrots and radish. Delicious!

Lock & Lock goodies!

My recent purchases from Lock & Lock finally arrived today. All four items were purchased at 50% off. Lock & Lock is usually quite expensive back home in Singapore. I'm fortunate that there are frequent promotions for it here in the States.

I've been looking forward to receive the cupcake holder and tea bottle with strainer. The cupcake holder can double up as a snack tray too and now we will not need to use aluminum trays for transporting snacks.

Just brewed some green tea in my new bottle. It is indeed very useful and convenient.

Guacamole

The Super Bowl is on Sunday February 5. It is one of the biggest sports event in America and people usually have parties on that day where family and friends gather to watch football and eat.

Amongst the party food, guacamole (eaten with corn chips or tortillas) is one dish (snack?) that will most likely be served. Maybe that is the reason why I see so many avocados in the supermarket lately.

I bought some avocados yesterday as they looked really fresh and ripe for eating. When choosing avocados, check for ripeness by gently pressing into it. If it's hard, then it's not ready to be consumed. If it's too soft, it is over-ripe and will not taste good. Look for one that gives in a little when it is lightly pressed. Traditionally, raw onions and cilantro are added in guacamole. However, I left them out as I do not like its taste.

 Guacamole
3 ripe avocados
1 jalapeno pepper, remove seeds and diced
1 tomato, diced (I used about half a box of cherry tomatoes)
1 lime
sea salt

Method
1. Cut avocados in halves, remove seeds and mash them up in a large bowl.
2. Season with sea salt (to taste).
3. Squeeze juice from lime over the mixture.
4. Add diced tomato and jalapeno and mix well.

Serve with corn chips or tortillas.

*On a side note, I would like to recommend the green kitchen utensil you see in the photos above. It is an avocado slicer/scoop/cutter. This is how it looks like.

This is the first time I am using it ever since picking it up at the supermarket when it was on 50% off. I paid about $2 for it. It is very useful. It can be used to cut an avocado into half by using the serrated edge. Then use it to remove the seed and the rounded part to scoop out the avocado from its skin. It can also be used to mash the avocados. Now I can cut, scoop and slice avocados using one utensil! 

Flowers

Spring is almost here and flowers are starting to make their reappearances.

These are two of my favourite flowers. 

Pink Gerberas

Fresh Tulips