Chicken Rice

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Inspired by a meal I never ate in Singapore

On my travels in Thailand there were some anti government demonstrations that closed down all the airports. I had to travel overland through Thailand and Malaysia to get to Singapore to make a flight. The trip down was great fun and met some great people along the way, who were all in a similar position to me. So really felt like a bonus as I got to visit Kuala Lumpur and see parts of Malaysia. Also I got to visit my friend Alan who was living in Singapore at the time. This is the most incredible city for food - every corner is overflowing with amazing places to eat, every kind of food imaginable - super extra bonus food!

Alan's friends insisted on taking us to eat 'Chicken Rice' that she'd always had growing up. After some driving we arrived at the place only to discover it was closed, we found something else equally delicious to eat in an old golf club. The idea of the dish however never left me. This recipe is based on what I think chicken rice would have been like!

Ingredients

1 chicken

2 onions - peeled and halved

3 carrots - peeled and halved

2 sticks of celery - halved

1 thumbs length of ginger finely sliced

6 cloves of garlic gently crushed

1 red chili finely sliced
2 cups of rice (I used basmati) but any fragrant rice would be good

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 scallions finely sliced

1) Put the chicken, onions, carrots, celery, ginger, garlic and chili in a large saucepan. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer gently covered for about 2 hours.

2) Remove chicken and veg from the pot. Discard pieces of ginger, celery and most of the garlic.

3) Add the rice into the stock then bring to the boil. Simmer until the rice is cooked. 

4) Meanwhile shred the chicken, and chop up the carrots.

5) When the rice is nearly cooked add back in 4/5s chicken, carrots and add in the soy sauce. Serve scattered with some scallions and the remaining shredded chicken.

Perfect for a grey wintry day - oh yes! This dish is only a little Asian but very delicious

Chicken Broth

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The loveliness of Leftovers

This soup really is a thin broth, and can also be used like a stock to make risottos, other soups, etc. Its is a great way to use the remains of your Sunday roast and make two (or three) meals out of one bird! I make a much more substantial version using a raw chicken, which I will blog as soon as someone in the house gets a cold, so far this winter we have been spared! This version comes from my mother, who got it from her mother, who also gave us the recipe for borscht. Its real authentic Jewish chicken soup and is great for cheering you up and curing all ills.

I made this on Sunday after we had roast chicken for dinner on Saturday. I could have added noodles, rice, sweetcorn, other types of veg or matzo balls ( I will get my mum to demonstrate these soon, they are a classic accompaniment) to bulk it out a bit, but I kind of like the simpleness of this, garnish with a few chopped scallions and your away! Just make sure you have it with bread if your hungry.

Ingredients

1 chicken carcass with some left over meat still on it

1 carrot

1 stick celery

1 white onion

6 pepper corns

Bay Leaf

about 3 Litres cold water

2 or 3 spring onions

Get the biggest pot you own and place your chicken carcass (with as much meat left on it as possible) in it. I even save the leg bones from peoples plates and put them in too. Any skin or gristle is also welcome, it will be strained out later and it all adds flavour.

Cover the carcass with cold water until it is just covered. The amount of water will depend on the size of your pot and your chicken. Peel the onion and the carrot, chop them in half and add to the pot. Half your stick of celery and throw that in too, along with the pepper corns and bay leaf.

Bring the whole thing to the boil, turn down the heat until you have a good energetic simmer, cover and leave to cook for at least an 1 1/2 hours, more if possible. The liquid will reduce, but you don't want it to reduce too much, or you will have no soup left! You should end up with about half the liquid you had originally. Remove the carcass and all the bones and veg and strain the liquid through a sieve and back into a pot. Place the carcass on a chopping board or plate and remove all of the meat that you can find. Add this back in to the soup. Taste and season.

If the chicken didn't have very much flavour to begin with, you won't have a flavourful soup. You can get around this by adding half a chicken stock cube or stock pot, don't be ashamed!

Serve and garnish with chopped spring onions.