This is one dish that Jenn has been looking forward to ever since we found out that a Singapore trip was forthcoming. It is the comfort food that engenders feelings of great emotion and renders a room silent from all chatter. In its most basic, Chicken Rice consists of rice cooked in chicken fat and "flavorings" along with portions of a boiled chicken (boiled in, again, "flavorings") that probably was the self same chicken that gave up the fat for the rice. It is a simple two component dish served with an accompaniments of chilled cucumber slices, thickened soy sauce, chili pepper and beautifully vinegary grated ginger "juice".
Well, Tuesday was a solid lab day, and Andre and his lab members were kind enough to bring back lunch for the group so we all sat around the "pantry" table and dug into the take out Chicken Rice. The format of the take out was such a reminder of my childhood. Little packets of sauces and sides neatly placed into plastic bags of varying sizes. The opening is then closed trapping a bit of air and twisted close so the bag, with contents, blows up like a balloon. A rubber band is then wrapped around the twisted bag end for closure and any slack rubber band is then tied around the ballooned bag. The rice is aliquoted into pieces of rectangular waxed paper (waxed side in contact with the rice) and the entire thing is folded up into a rectangular packet and, again, closed with a rubber band. The chicken for this feast of a lunch consisted of the traditional boiled chicken or a less traditional roasted version. The procurer of foods also brought back a portion of soy sauce braised chicken offal (gizzards, liver, heart) and, with an eye on a balanced meal, a portion of Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. For beverages, there was a 2 liter bottle of Coke and a 2 liter bottle of F&N (??) Ice Cream Soda. The Ice Cream Soda was a treat, tasting much like a clear version of the cream sodas popular in the East Coast of the US but perhaps with a bit more sweetness. Also brought back were individually packaged ice cubes in the shape of pyramids.
To eat, one grabs a packet of rice, unfold the four folded sides, and dress it with each person's own blend of soy sauce, chili sauce, and/or ginger juice. The rice is packaged in such a way that the ample sides serves as side plates for any veg or chicken pieces you want to eat along with your rice. i choose to place my chicken pieces directly onto my rice, further enriching the already fragrant and delicious chicken fat rice with any juices that drips from the slices of the mostly deboned chicken. The chicken itself is a thing of wonder. The boiled chicken is soft and moist, yielding to each bite and slippery with the richness of the chicken fat. Favors of subtle herbs runs through each bite. The skin is one of the best points of the boiled chicken. A texture that is unique and, i am sure, familiar to those who grew up with it but odd to those who have not been raised with boiled chicken skin. The roasted chicken is similar to your run of the mill roast chicken one can find in Chinese restaurants. The flavor is subtle and deep but generally drier than the boiled version. Of the two, certainly the boiled chicken was a favourite of mine. It just goes so well with each spoonful of chicken fatty rice.
The lunch was fantastic, it is hard to stop eating the rice... the flavor so addictive that one's shoveling becomes automatic. i finally had to halt myself but putting down my utensils and sitting on my hands. What a treat!
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| The spread for 6, in its entirety, from the left, clockwise: Chinese broccoli, boiled chicken with cucumbers in sweet soy sauce poured over, a wee container of thickened soy sauce, a mug of tea, an opened packet of Chicken Rice, bowl of chili sauce, another container of thickened soy sauce, a closed packet of Chicken Rice, the roasted chicken with cucumber slices in sweet soy sauce, and a bowl of chicken offal braised in soy sauce and star anise. |
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