Hainanese Chicken Rice
Jul. 14th, 2008 05:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranThe key to the perfect Hainanese Chicken Rice is to realise that the plump, boiled chicken meat is meant as a complement to the chilli sauce and pounded ginger. That is to say, you don't actually want the chicken to be all that flavourful. You want it to be soft and yielding and rich in texture, and with a good layer of fat beneath the skin. When you bite into it, you feel it as much as taste it. What taste there is, mildly salty, mildly savory, is there just to set out the fragrant sauces that would be overpowering without a modest base to work on.
The chicken itself is often less flavourful than that the stock-soaked rice it comes with. Once again, it's all about the texture. The same taste is presented in two different forms with very different feels in the mouth. And on top of it all, the same dressings, themselves complementary - the nuanced chilli and the pungent ginger. If you're going to make a truly balanced chilli sauce (and that requires that you can even conceive of such a thing existing), then you need the perfect canvas to show it off on, and that's what the chicken and the "chicken rice" provide.
The perfect Hainanese Chicken Rice is also served with soup (of course), providing the base flavour in yet another form and texture. It should come with cool cucumber to play against the chilli and with something green to complete it as a meal. The servings may well be small, but that's okay too. This is meant to be cheap food, eaten at a market stall. If you're still hungry, you can always order another bowl of rice, and another after that.
If you do find the perfect Hainanese Chicken Rice, make sure you take the time to savour the chilli and ginger against all the different textures. Don't complain if the chicken tastes bland on its own, or if it appears cold or fatty. Make sure you use up every last bit of the sauce and drain the soup - that's what the meal is all about.
And when you're done, don't feel bad about asking for another bowl of rice.
The chicken itself is often less flavourful than that the stock-soaked rice it comes with. Once again, it's all about the texture. The same taste is presented in two different forms with very different feels in the mouth. And on top of it all, the same dressings, themselves complementary - the nuanced chilli and the pungent ginger. If you're going to make a truly balanced chilli sauce (and that requires that you can even conceive of such a thing existing), then you need the perfect canvas to show it off on, and that's what the chicken and the "chicken rice" provide.
The perfect Hainanese Chicken Rice is also served with soup (of course), providing the base flavour in yet another form and texture. It should come with cool cucumber to play against the chilli and with something green to complete it as a meal. The servings may well be small, but that's okay too. This is meant to be cheap food, eaten at a market stall. If you're still hungry, you can always order another bowl of rice, and another after that.
If you do find the perfect Hainanese Chicken Rice, make sure you take the time to savour the chilli and ginger against all the different textures. Don't complain if the chicken tastes bland on its own, or if it appears cold or fatty. Make sure you use up every last bit of the sauce and drain the soup - that's what the meal is all about.
And when you're done, don't feel bad about asking for another bowl of rice.
