HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE

Here's what's cooking in my kitchen now! Hainanese Chicken Rice. I learned this when I attended a cooking class in Singapore a couple of years ago. I like it because it's a complete meal. It has soup, chicken, and rice. The condiments can be purchased in the grocery if you don't have time to make it from scratch. This is my comfort food for the moment. Hope you can try making this easy recipe in your own homes too. Enjoy!

HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE

1 1/2 kilograms whole chicken

20 cups water

1 ounce fresh young ginger -- peeled and sliced

2 cloves garlic -- peeled

1 bunch spring onions -- washed

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

slice cucumber -- for garnish

cliantro leaves -- for garnish

condiment

chilli sauce

grated ginger

sweet thick soy sauce

1. Wash chicken and remove knobs of fat on either side of the buttocks.

2. Smash the ginger and garlic and tie the spring onions into a knot.

3. Stuff the chicken with salt, garlic, ginger and spring onions.

4. Boil 20 cups of water in a large pot. Add chicken, breast side down first, submerging completely.

5. Let water boil, then turn the heat down to very low heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes, uncovering once to turn chicken turn over.

6. Remove the chicken and drain liquid from the body cavity. Retain liquid for later use.

7. Wash under tap water for about 2 minutes to stop the cooking process and to tighten the skin.

8. Drain, rub some vegetable oil over and let the chicken cool to room temperature.

9. Chop the ckicken into bite-sized pieces and serve garnished with sliced cucumbers. Then top with cilantro leaves.

FOR CONDIMENTS:

1. chilli sauce can be purchased in the grocery.

2. for the grated ginger...

1/4 c. grated ginger

3 T. vegetable oil

salt and white pepper to taste

heat oil in a sautepan. add ginger and cook until juices are slightly reduced. season with salt and white pepper to taste.

3. sweet thick soy sauce can be purchased in the grocery. If not available, you may use soy sauce.

FOR THE RICE

12 ounces long grain rice

5 cloves garlic -- minced

5 pieces shallots -- minced

3 teaspoons vegetable oil

3 1/2 cups chicken broth

3/4 teaspoon salt

1. Wash rice and drain in a colander for 10 minutes.

2. Heat 3 T oil over high heat in a wok. Add shallots and stir fry until fragrant. Add garlic and stir fry for one minute.

3. Add the rice grains and stir fry for 3-4 minutes.

4. Transfer to a saucepan or rice cooker and add the chicken broth and salt. Boil over high heat and lower down the heat to steam the rice when the water level reaches the level of the rice grains and steam holes appear. Cook for 30-40 minutes until the rice is cooked.

HAWKER FOOD IN MALAYSIA

I went to Malaysia last April to attend classes at the Callebaut Chocolate Academy. We arrived late at night and so upon reaching our hotel, everybody was hungry. We walked around the area and looked for places where we could eat and we ended up eating here in this area...

This was like a strip of small stores that serve different kinds of foods from bbq chicken wings, char kway teow, congee, grilled shrimp etc.

Here's what we ordered. The chicken wings right on the center, some char kway teo on the left, hainanese chicken with ric, satay chicken and beef, some iced honey dew melon with coconut milk, congee and some barley tea.

This one came last. Stingray sambal... It's really good!!! even if we were so full, we had to eat it...and we finished it. What was good about it too is that it was so cheap. Each of us paid about 20 ringgit , that's about 300 pesos in Philippine money so that's not bad considering we ordered a lot.

Will post some more good food that we had in a few days.

UNI IN CALATAGAN!

Holy week was spent in Calatagan with Marivic and JV. I was so happy that we got there in the afternoon after having a fun lunch in Sta. Rosa.

We headed down to the beach and decided to make the kids play in the sand. While walking around, we saw sea urchins...a ton of them. I got so excited!!! I remembered when we were younger, Marivic and I used to get them during low tide and bring them back to the house to serve them as sashimi for appetizers. That was several years ago and I was kinda glad that the sea life in Calatagan in alive again!

Scroll down so you can see what I'm talking about... Of course, we had to choose the big sea urchins and let go of the smaller ones.

Here I am with a rake... which I borrowed from the kids. I had to disrupt them from finishing their sandcastle. For me, getting the uni was more important haha.

Here it is. The sea urchin is cracked in half, then...

The meat is scooped out...the yellow part.

This what we got from a bucket of sea urchins, almost 3/4 of a bowl of uni

To serve, we drain the excess liquid.

This is Ari's creation...uni on top of sushi rice...with wasabi and soy...Yum!!!

SUMMER COOKING CLASSES!

This April, I'll be holding summer classes for kids. Feel free to call or email me at goodiesnsweets@gmail.com for inquiries...

FOOD FINDS!

I went out today right after lunch to go get some chocolate for a Yummy shoot tomorrow. I tried a recipe of a chocolate croissant pudding. I wasn't so happy with it. I wanted more chocolate in the pudding...so I had to go out to get some more dark chocolate. While at the store, I saw some items that I found interesting so I grabbed them as well. Here's what I got...

Caramel Fudge and Chocolate Fudge...something to top your ice cream with or make other great desserts with. I have to buy some vanilla ice cream and try it out tomorrow.

Then I saw this pack of Cocoa Tablea... not bad for the price. I wonder if it's any good. I'll actually try some after I write this...

Then I saw these vanilla sticks. It's 3 in a pack. I intend to use one stick to dunk in my bowl of sugar. I'm thinking, it would smell so good to use that sugar for my coffee or tea... I'll have to wait for about a week for the vanilla scent to infuse in the sugar...I'll let you know if it's any good.

Here's the label for the vanilla sticks...it's organically grown in Papua New Guinea...

I headed to Terry's in Podium to get other stuff... here's what I found... cheese with cranberries, and Manchego marinated in red wine...perfect for after dinner get togethers.

This brand of truffle oil, I encountered when I went to Italy years ago. We actually went to see the factory where it was made. I had to get a bottle. This time, I got the white truffle oil instead of the black. Now I have to plan to make the pasta with truffle cream sauce to try the oil out. The price was a bit reasonable considering the size of the bottle but comparing it to say like the price of a gallon of olive oil, this one becomes very expensive...oh but as they say...life is short so the food you eat should have some quality also... for you only eat three times a day. Every meal should be memorable...

Lastly, I had them slice me some chorizo pamplona. They were out of stock the last time. I'll probably make a panini sandwich with it tomorrow. Ok, that's all for now. Got to head back in the kitchen to make another batch of chocolate croissant pudding...You should smell my kitchen now...it smells heavenly!!!

MARCH MMS CONTENT

Here's what's up for March...starting tomorrow!

Arancini...Risotto balls with mozzarella cheese...really yummy best with a creamy pesto dip or with a simple tomato sauce. Then, beef bolognese on spaghetti noodles. There's also Asparagus and Prosciutto Rolls...perfect for cocktails

Scroll below and see the other photos that will be featured this March...

Crispy Ham and Chesse Balls

Spaghettini with Crab Meat in Spicy Tomato Cream Sauce

Panna Cotta

I'm so excited. March will be filled with a lot of good food! Enjoy!!!

RUM RAISIN LOAF

This is what I'm baking today. I'm actually waiting for it to come out of the oven and I'll be ready for merienda.

I had a batch of raisins that I soaked in rum last month. I did this recipe for my MMS Service a couple of months ago and I'm missing it. I'm pairing it with my English Breakfast tea by Dilmah with some milk and sugar.

Since I've been snacking every single day, I try to eat smaller meals for lunch and dinner. Then I run and go to the gym at least 4-5 times a week just to make sure I get to burn all the sweet stuff I'm taking in.

Anyway, here's the recipe....Enjoy!

RUM RAISIN LOAF

Ingredients:

2 cups raisins
2/3 cup rum
1 1/2 cups butter
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
4 pieces eggs
1 tablespoon rum flavored extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Soak raisins in rum for about an hour or overnight is better.

2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 2 7x4 inch loaf pans 1 10 inch bundt pan

3. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Add eggs one at a time, then add the rum extract.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

6. Reduce speed of mixer to low. Gradually add 1/3 of flour mixture to the batter. Alternately add the half of the sour cream. Repeat process ending with flour mixture. Mix batter well.

7. Add the rum soaked raisins ( do not drain). Fold into the batter.

8. Transfer to baking pans. Bake for 30-35 mins for loaves and 55-60 minutes for bundt.