Hoi An-style Chicken Rice

 

Ingredients: (serves 2)

2 chicken whole legs

1 litre water

2 tsp. chicken stock granules (to taste)

1 medium onion (skin-on, halved)

2 thick slices ginger (peeled)

1/2 tsp. ground tumeric

1 cup rice (uncooked) - washed and drained

Crispy fried shallots (to serve) - optional

Nuoc cham dressing:

3 tbsp. fish sauce

2 tbsp. white vinegar

3 tbsp. sugar

2 tbsp. lime juice

1 red chili (finely chopped)

2 cloves garlic (peeled and finely chopped)

Methods:

1. Remove the excess chicken fat from the chicken, dice into small pieces.  Place into a wok over medium heat and gently cook until you get 2 tablespoons of fat and the chicken trimmings are golden brown. 
2. Place chicken legs into a pot, cover with water and add 2 teaspoon of chicken stock granules.  Add the onion, ginger and ground tumeric.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Then, reduce heat to low and simmer until the chicken are cooked through.
3. Remove and discard the golden chicken trimmings and excess oil from the wok in (1).  We only need 2 tablespoons.  Add the rice to the chicken fat and 1/2 tsp. chicken stock granules, stir to get all the lovely chicken flavours over the rice. Remove the rice into the inner pot of the rice cooker, ladle 2 1/4 cups of chicken stock that your chicken is cooking in (2), give it a stir, and place into the rice cooker and start cooking.
4. Once the rice cooker have finished cooking and switch to 'keep warm', let the rice sit in the rice cooker for at least 15 minutes.
5. To make the nuoc cham dressing, whisk the ingredients together until the sugar dissolves.  Set aside for later.  I keep leftover nuoc cham dressing in airtight glass bottles and keep them in the fridge.
6. Remove chicken legs from the broth and set aside.  Taste and season the broth with chicken stock granules, if needed.
7. To serve, puff up rice with a rice spatula, spoon onto separate plates.  Top with a chicken leg; serve with chicken soup, nuoc cham dressing and any sides of your preference.  Since I have carrot & radish kimchi which I made recently, I serve it together with this yummylicious chicken rice.  Consider it as a Fusion between Vietnamese and Korean ~ Thumbs Up! ~

This recipe is adapted from 'Marion's Kitchen' with adjustments to suit my cooking preferences.

For those who are interested in this carrot & radish kimchi, I will upload in my blog, hopefully, soonest.  Thank you all for your patience ~ smile ~

Grilled or Pan-Fried Pork Belly With Lemongrass

This pork belly marinated with lemongrass is so tasty, and I am pan frying some of it for my Summer Rolls.  The rest of it is served with rice as a meat dish. 

Ingredients:

500 g. pork belly (remove skin and sliced)

Marinade:

2 tbsp. minced lemongrass 

2 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 1/2 tbsp. fish sauce

1 tsp. ground black pepper

2 shallots (peeled and minced)

2 cloves garlic (peeled and minced)

1/2 tbsp. sesame oil

1/2 tbsp. cooking oil

1 tbsp. sweet soy sauce

Methods:

1. Mix all marinade ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add pork belly, mix to combine well.  Place them into a container or zip-lock bag and leave it in the fridge to marinate overnight.
3. Discard excess marinade before grilling or pan frying.

This recipe is adapted from 'rasamalaysia.com' with some adjustments to suit my cooking preference.

Summer Rolls

Ingredients: (makes 3 rolls)

50 g. rice vermicelli

40 g. shrimps (peeled and deveined)

2 fresh lettuce (washed and sliced)

3 sheets Vietnamese Brown Rice Paper

28 g. carrot (peeled, cut into matchstick strips)

Grilled pork belly with lemongrass (for the recipe click here)

Hoisin-Peanut Sauce:

2 tbsp. hoisin sauce

1/2 tbsp. creamy peanut butter

2 tsp. vinegar

1 tbsp. warm water

Sugar (to taste)

1/2 tbsp. roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Methods:

1. Cook rice vermicelli, drain, rinse under cold water and set aside.
2. Combine all ingredients for Hoisin-Peanut Sauce.  Whisk to mix well and garnish with peanuts.
3. In a small pot, bring some water to a boil, cook shrimps until cooked, drain, let cool and slice in half lengthwise.  Set aside.
4. Divide the vermicelli, prawns, lettuce and carrot into 3 equal portions.
5. To assemble: Dip 1 sheet of rice paper in a big bowl (big enough for the rice paper to fit in).  Shake off excess water and quickly place it on a large flat plate or any flat kitchen counter-top or chopping board. 
   Starting from the rice paper nearest to you, leaving some space for folding, place the rice vermicelli on the bottom part, add lettuce and carrots; follow by shrimps and pork belly.  Fold the edge nearest to you down over the fillings; then fold the left and right sides over, making sure the filling is secured tightly.  Continue to roll the summer roll over and repeat the same until everything is used up.  Cut the Summer Rolls in the middle into halves, place them on a platter, and serve immediately with the Hoisin-Peanut Sauce.

I adapted this recipe from 'rasamalaysia.com' with slight adjustments to suit my cooking preference.

Vietnamese Style Chicken Salad

 

Ingredients: (serves 1)

1/4 cup chicken breast (cooked and shredded)

1/4 carrot (finely julienne)

1/2 cup cabbage (finely shredded)

Some onion (thinly sliced)

1/2 tbsp. spring onion (finely sliced) - I did not use

1/4 long red chili (finely sliced)

1/2 tbsp. roasted peanuts (crushed)

1/2 tbsp. fried shallots

Crispy Wanton (3 wanton sheets, cut into strips and fried in oil)

Dressing: (whisk together in a bowl and set aside)

1/2 tbsp. honey

1/2 tbsp white vinegar

1/2 tbsp. fish sauce

Methods:

1. Place chicken, carrot, cabbage, onion, spring onion (if using), chili and peanuts in a large bowl.
2. When ready to serve, add fried shallots into the bowl and pour over dressing.  Mix until well combined.  Pile onto a serving plate.  Add crispy wanton strips over the salad.
3. Serve immediately.

I adapted this recipe from 'Marion's Kitchen' with slight adjustment to suit my cooking preference.

Vietnamese Style Roast Chicken

Ingredients:

1 x 1.2kg. chicken

Marinade:

1 lemongrass stalk, pale part (finely sliced)

2 coriander roots (cut into smaller pieces)

4 garlic cloves (peeled)

2 1/2 tbsp. light soy sauce

2 tbsp. fish sauce

1 tsp. dark sweet soy sauce or kecap manis

1 tbsp. brown sugar

Nuoc Cham:

1 1/2 tbsp. fish sauce

1 tbsp. white vinegar

1 1/2 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. lime juice

1  red chilli (finely chopped)

2 garlic cloves (peeled and finely chopped)

Methods:

1. To prepare the chicken, place it breast side down on a chopping board.  Use scissors or knife to cut down either side of the backbone and remove it.  Flip the chicken over and press down on the breastplate so that breast bones crack and the chicken sits quite flat.
2. For the marinade, use a mortar and pestle to pound the lemongrass, coriander roots and garlic to a fine paste.  Stir through the light soy sauce, fish sauce, dark sweet soy sauce and brown sugar.
3. In a large bowl, combine the chicken with the marinade.  I let it marinate overnight in the fridge, turning a few times in between.
4. For the nuoc cham, add all the ingredients into a small bowl, whisk until sugar dissolves and set aside.
5. Prepare a baking tray and place a baking rack on top.  Place the chicken on the rack breast side up.  Pour over the marinade.  Pour 2 cups of water into the base of the baking tray.  Roast in a preheated oven of 200 degree Celsius for 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through (you can test by using a knife to slice into the leg joint, and if the juices runs clear, the chicken is cooked).  Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
6. Cut the chicken into pieces and serve with nuoc cham, cucumber and steamed rice or with other sides.  I did not serve with rice, but with sides of broccoli with buttery crumbs and roasted potatoes with garlic.  For these 2 other recipes, do check out in my next blog post.

This recipe is adapted from 'Marion's Kitchen' with slight adjustments to suit my cooking preferences.