Hainanese Chicken Rice (Savoy Chicken)

          As I told before, every foods have a unique characteristic. Characteristic is could be everything. Taste, Look, or even a Smell. I like Chinese foods, I often go to Chinese restaurant for feeding my appetite. Chinese foods are quite different from Indonesian cuisines. Chinese foods are likely more savory than the Indonesian cuisines. But, Indonesian has more spices that sometimes aren’t found in it.  One of my favorite Chinese food is Hainanese Chicken Rice.

          Hainanese chicken rice is a dish adapted from early Chinese immigrants originally from the Hainan province in southern China. It is considered one of the national dishes of Singapore. Hainanese chicken rice most commonly associated with Malaysian, Hainanese and Singaporean cuisines, although it is also popular in Thailand and Vietnam. It is based on a well-known Hainanese dish called Wenchang chicken (文昌雞), due to its adoption by the Hainanese overseas Chinese population in the Nanyang area (present-day Southeast Asia).

Catherine Ling of CNN describes Hainanese chicken rice as one of the "40 Singapore foods we can't live without". It also listed at number 45 on World's 50 most delicious foods complied by CNN Go in 2011. In Indonesia, Chicken rice is available in many Chinese Restaurant. I have eaten it in Imperial Kitchen Restaurant, one of my favorite restaurant in my city.

The taste of Hainanese Chicken Rice is very tasty. I can find happiness every spoon of it. Hainanese Chicken is made of boiled chicken in a pork or chicken bone stock. Due to majority of Muslim in Indonesia, many restaurants make it from chicken bone stock. It serves with Hainan rice which is made of rice and stock from chicken (including other spices). Vegetable and sauce usually is completed the dish.

A lot of effort goes into the preparation of this flavourful dish, with chefs slowly steaming or blanching the chicken until it is fully cooked, before immediately soaking it in cold water. This stops the cooking process and ensures that the meat remains tender, and is also why the meat is usually served at room temperature

The chicken is main star of this dish. Chicken is cut and put on the different plate from rice. It is also served with vegetable and chili sauce. Chili sauce is made of birds-eye chilies, ginger, garlic, and etc. The sauce is also made this dish perfectly delicious.

This is Recipe for making this delicious dish. It is quoted from Adam Liaw Website. 

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Serves 4

Preparation: 1 hour Cooking: 50 minutes plus 30 minutes resting

Ingredients

·         1 whole chicken (about 1.5kg), at room temperature

·         5 whole cloves garlic, plus 2 cloves, chopped

·         7 thick slices ginger, unpeeled

·         1 tbsp sesame oil

·         675g jasmine rice

·         1/2 tsp sea salt flakes

·          1 tbsp light soy sauce

·         coriander, sliced cucumber and spring onion, to serve

Chilli Sauce

·         6 red birds-eye chillies

·         2 tbsp grated ginger

·         2 garlic cloves

·         1 tsp caster sugar

·         1/4 tsp sea salt flakes

·         1 tsp lemon juice

Spring onion and ginger oil

·         4 spring onions, thinly sliced

·         2 tbsp grated ginger

·         1/2 tsp sea salt flakes

·         3 tbsp peanut oil

Dressing

·         1 tbsp sesame oil

·         2 tbsp light soy sauce

Step

·      Trim any visible fat from the chicken. Roughly chop the fat and put in a small saucepan. Cook over very low heat for about 1 hour until the liquid fat renders away. Pour off and keep the liquid fat as it pools. (You do not need the crispy pieces of fried fat for this dish, but they are excellent served over cooked noodles.)

·      Meanwhile, put the whole garlic cloves and 5 slices of ginger in the cavity of the chicken and place breast-side down in a large pot. Cover with water and bring to just below a simmer. The water should be steaming well, but not bubbling. Keep the heat at this stage for 20 minutes, then cover the pot and turn off the heat. Leave for 30 minutes, then lift out the chicken, keeping the poaching stock. Brush the chicken skin with sesame oil and wrap with plastic wrap. The chicken should be cooked very lightly, pink inside the bones and with a gelatinous skin.

·     Heat 1 tbsp of the chicken fat in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped garlic and remaining 2 slices of ginger and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the rice and toss until well coated and turning opaque. Add 1.25 litres of the reserved chicken stock, the salt and soy sauce. You can also add a few pandan leaves, tied in a knot (if you have them). Cook in a rice cooker or by your preferred method of cooking rice.

·     To make the chilli sauce, combine chillies, ginger, garlic, sugar and salt in a mortar and pound to a paste. Add the lemon juice and 1-2 tablespoons of hot chicken stock and pound again. Set aside.

·     To make the spring onion and ginger oil, add the spring onion, ginger and salt to a heatproof mortar and pound lightly with the pestle. Heat the oil in a small frying pan until smoking and pour onto the mixture. Once the sizzling stops, combine lightly with the pestle and leave to infuse for a few minutes.

·     To make the dressing, mix the sesame oil and soy sauce with 60ml of the chicken stock. If you have any remaining chicken stock after that, you can season it and add a few onion slices. This can be served as a light broth to accompany the meal.

·     Slice the chicken Chinese-style and pour the dressing over it. Scatter with a little coriander and serve with the rice, condiments, broth and garnishes

This Video is showed how to make Hainanese Chicken Rice

Circumhorizontal arc

A circumhorizontal arc is an optical phenomenon - an ice-halo formed by plate-shaped ice crystals in high level cirrus clouds.

Other currently accepted names for the phenomenon are circumhorizon arc or lower symmetric 46° plate arc. The misleading term "fire rainbow" is sometimes used to describe these phenomena, although they are neither rainbows, nor related in any way to fire. The name comes from its appearance as a rainbow taking the shape of flames in the sky.

The complete halo is a huge, multi-coloured band running parallel to the horizon with its centre beneath the sun. The distance below the sun is twice as far as the common 22-degree halo. Red is the uppermost colour. Often, when the halo-forming cloud is small or patchy, only fragments of the arc are seen.

How often a circumhorizontal arc is seen, depends on the location and the latitude of the observer. In the United States it is a relatively common halo seen several times each summer in any one place. In contrast, it is rare phenomenon in northern Europe for several reasons.

Formation of the halo requires that the sun be very high in the sky, at an elevation of 58° or greater, and that a cirrus cloud or haze be present and contain plate-shaped ice crystals. The sun's altitude determines the visibility of the halo; it is impossible to see at locations north of 55°N or south of 55°S (although a lunar circumhorizon arc might be visible at other latitudes). At other latitudes the phenomenon is visible,

for a greater or lesser time, around the summer solstice. Slots of visibility for different latitudes and locations may be looked up here. For example, in London, England the sun is only high enough for 140 hours between mid-May and late July. Contrast that with Los Angeles, with the sun higher than 58 degrees for 670 hours between late March and late September.

The halo is formed by sunlight entering horizontally-oriented, flat, hexagon ice crystals through a vertical side face and leaving through the near horizontal bottom face (plate thickness does not affect the formation of the halo). In principle, Parry oriented column crystals may also produce the arc, although this is rare. The 90° inclination between the ray entrance and exit faces produce the well-separated spectral colours.

The arc has a considerable angular extent and thus, rarely is complete. When only fragments of a cirrus cloud are in the appropriate sky and sun position, they may appear to shine with spectral colours.

A circumhorizontal arc may be difficult to distinguish from an infralateral arc when the sun is high in the sky. The former is always parallel to the horizon, whereas the latter curves upward at its ends.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumhorizontal_arc

My Culinary Experience.

                Everybody needs a food for fulfill their need. But, other peoples also enjoy food for a pleasure. I am one of that type, enjoying food for a pleasure. I can’t tell what the pleasure inside the food is, but I naturally feel joyful every time I taste the food. I love foods. I have tasted many kind of food, from traditional to modern one. Each food has a unique characteristic, and this is making foods so interesting. The mixing of flavor that serves in a plate making a good harmony. It dances and seduces you to taste it.

                In my life, as I tell before, I have tasted so many kind of food. In my childhood, my mom often used to cook many kind of food. I like my mom’s dishes. I think it is the best all the time. And also I think my mom was like magician. Because, even there were 1001 dishes that she cooked. She only used one type of spices for all food. It was magic, wasn’t? But, beside my mom’s dishes I have experienced so many kind of food until now that I want to share it to you.

                Childhood was my first culinary journey. I ate so many kind of food especially in my elementary school. Even its hygiene was so bad, I still enjoyed that food. When school bell rang, I hurry up to buy some food in canteen or outside my school. I still remember my favorite foods. I used to buy cubit cake, omelet, Siu may, meatball, puyam, and crepes. Cubit cake and Puyam were my favorite food when I was in elementary school. “Cubit” cake now is very famous and you can find it easily, and actually “Cubit” cake is made of very simple cake dough and then the dough is fried in designed pan with unique shape like fish, simple circle, and etc. I very like the medium cooked one, the one side is cooked but the other side is still raw it tastes so yummy. Not only “Cubit” cake but also “Puyam” is very special for me. I don’t know the ingredient exactly, but the seller said it is made of chicken, flour, and other spices he mixes and makes into a Christmas tree shape then he fries it in wok, and it tastes amazing.

"Cubit" Cake

                Time was passed by, I have another friend, and it is Chinese and Cantonese food. I often went to Chinese restaurant in my city for enjoying that food. I like canton fried rice and Hainan chicken so bad. Canton fried rice is quite different from Indonesian fried rice. The canton one is enriched with salty sauce and that is absent in Indonesian one (Indonesian is likely to use Oyster sauce than the salty sauce). Another difference is the canton fried rice is lighter in color than the Indonesian one because canton fried rice isn’t used soy sauce. I also like Hainan chicken. Hainan chicken is boiled chicken with some spices and usually it is served with Bok Choy (Chinese cabbage). I still love this kind of food anyway.

Complete Set of Hainan Chicken 

Cantonese Fried Rice

                I was very blind. I used to eat junk food so often. I could eat that food 3 times a week. Fried chicken, French fries, soda, and other junk food were being my friend in my childhood. But, they were so cruel, my body was overweight and I faced so many health problem because of it. I often saw doctor to cure my health problem, and now I try to avoid this kind of food slowly. 

Junk Food

                My life is changed. I make a great decision. I changed my food into the healthy one. Now, I often eat vegetable.  I like papaya leaf, bean, water spinach, and other kind of vegetable. That vegetable usually is processed into a vegetable sauté, salad, and many more. I love it because vegetable makes you are healthier than before. Vegetable is very friendly friend anyway. 

"Urap" 

Kang kong (Water Spinach) saute.

                I have so many experience in culinary for eating great food. It is very amazing, and I think that’s all. Thank you for reading my culinary experience.

                

My Holiday (Throwback from last 3 weeks)

It was been 6 months. Finally, I nailed this tough semester. I have done some tiring final test in a week plus one day, it was really pushed my brain. I only spent my day on that busy week just for studying, studying, studying. It was pathetic anyway. But, after that busy day was passed by, I just felt there was nothing to do.

So I spent my day after final week for reading some novels. My friend told me there is a good public library near our school. It is commercial library, if you want to borrow a book you must pay it. The fare is various, it depends on the novel price. In the first time, I borrowed Merry Riana semi-autobiography book. And now that novel actually is filmed and available at the cinema. It is a great book, this novel is about Merry Riana’s university life in Singapore until she gets her success. Merry Riana is Indonesian but in 1998 due to the “tragedy 98” her family sent her to Singapore for studying in there. But, because her family ran out of money, Merry had to struggle with low money living. Not only that novel, I also read some fiction novel.

Cover of Merry Riana's Book 

                Time was really fast. Finally, I received my report this semester. After receiving the report I went to my home in Serang, and I continued my holiday in there. In Serang, it was quite similar in Bandung. I spent my day by watching some movies. I like horror movie so I watched some great horror movie based on movie review on internet. Actually, the horror that I watched was quite scary. It is about satanic and witch theme. Not only horror, but also I watched anti-war movie. It was Grave of the Fireflies. It was great heart-wrenching movie about brother and sister who survive in war condition after their parents was died.

Movie Poster Grave of Fireflies

                My day in Serang was finally over. I came back to Bandung on Wednesday, 5 days before school starts. I came back earlier because I have to attend “Diklat PMR” on Friday to Saturday at Lembang. This events tend to make us become more competent and ready to join PMR’s activity. In this training we didn’t sleep at hotel, house, or villa but we stay at tent. It was camping time hehe.

"Diklat PMR"

                We didn’t only go for camping. But, we did some simulation to help injury people. The simulation wasn’t easy because the way to the victim was very dangerous. We must walk through the river, stone, and even a pipe of water. It was thrilling anyway.

"Diklat PMR"

            For girl, they slept at tent. But, my friend and I slept at “Bivak”, it is made of rain coat. It is small and open. I was really scared of wild animal that could easily enter my “Bivak”. And, unluckily I can’t sleep, it wasn’t because my fear of wild animal but the wind was killing me slowly. It was super cold wind. I didn’t know the temperature at that night, but I was just shivering all night.    

                I didn’t have a special holiday as my friend have. But, I was very happy to do it. Anyway, tomorrow is my first day of the second semester, Good Luck!