Other than chicken noodle (bakmie ayam), my man loves hainanese chicken rice. So it is fitting that after I finally get my bakmi ayam recipe right (can be found here), I then try to get this recipe right as well. The verdict, one happy husband and a satisfied wife. Haha.

This dish is very easy, simple and relatively cheap. The only let down is the lengthy cooking time because you’ll need to have the chicken stock ready before cooking your rice. The approximate cooking time is 1,5 – 2 hours, depending on your rice cooker cooking time. However you can always cook this dish in bigger portion and fridge it for next meal.

While the recipe is loooong, it is actually very simple. Let me know if you have tried this recipe through comment box below or tag me on instagram @jessneva.

Enjoy!

Hainanese Chicken Rice

1. Hainanese Chicken:

• 4-6 chicken thighs, on the bone
• 5 cm ginger, sliced
• water, enough to cover chicken by 2 cm
• salt, to taste

Instructions

1. In a large pot, boil water and ginger over medium high heat.
2. Trim excess fat and skin on the chicken, and gently score the meat near the bone. Keep the bone attached.
3. Once water is boiling, add chicken and salt. Add water if necessary to cover the chicken.
4. Let boil for 15 minutes then remove the white/brown scum and fat produced on the soup using ladle.
5. Reduce heat to medium low and let simmer for 25 minutes, then check if the chicken is cooked. To check this, removed chicken from soup and poke the chicken. If clear liquid comes out, the chicken is cooked otherwise continue cooking.
6. When cooked, remove from heat and drain the chicken. Slice chicken thighs and set aside.

2. Hainanese Rice:

• 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cups uncooked Jasmine Rice, washed
• 3 cm ginger, sliced
• 2,5 cups chicken broth (from part 1) to cook rice (or depending on your usual rice cooker measurement)
• a pinch of salt, to taste

Instructions

1. In a frying pan, heat sesame oil and vegetable oil. Add garlic and sauté until garlic is brown. Remove and set aside. This will be used in cooking the rice (this part) and the soy dipping sauce (part 3).
2. In the same frying pan, add 3/4 part of the fried garlic above, ginger slices and the uncooked rice. Stir fry for about 5 minutes over medium high heat.
3. Transfer the “fried” rice into a rice cooker and add the chicken broth and salt. The amount of broth should follow your usual rice cooking measurement. Remember that we’re aiming for fluffy hainanese rice.

3. Soy dipping sauce:

• Fried garlic (from part 2)
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 3-4 tablespoon chicken broth (from part 1)

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix al ingredients and set aside

4. Ginger dipping sauce:

• 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 stalks of green onion, finely chopped
• 3 cm ginger, finely chopped
• 5 tablespoon vegetable oil
• a pinch of salt

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix al ingredients and set aside

Oyakodon is chicken and egg rice bowl. In Japanese, Oyako means parent and child so it’s indeed a smart word play to name this seasoned chicken and egg rice bowl (donburi). I made this dish following my Japanese week in the kitchen and this is one of the easiest dishes I’ve made in the kitchen.

The whole dish is oil free and is boiled. It’s basically a one pan dish (which I love due to little washing) and it’s fairly quick. The recipe here is for one bowl because it’s easier to do so. Multiply the recipe to the amount of serve your require. Don’t forget to cook some jasmine rice to go with the Oyako or otherwise it won’t be Oyakodon without the “don”.

Enjoy!

Oyakodon

• 1 chicken thigh, cut small into bite size
• 60 ml /4 tablespoon Dashi (Japanese stock)
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Mirin
• 1/4 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 green onion

Instructions

1. Add dashi, sugar, soy sauce and mirin in a pan. Heat until boiling.
2. Reduce heat to medium, add onion and cook for a minute.
3. Add chicken pieces and cook for around 4 minutes until chicken is cooked.
4. Pour egg over the chicken and onion. Cover and cook for a minute.
5. Prepare rice in a bowl, ready to go with the chicken and egg.
6. Take off heat and pour the mixed chicken and egg over your rice bowl. Garnish with green onion.

Bakmi Ayam or Chicken Noodle is my dear husband’s favourite dish. He would happily eat chicken noodle anytime on any given day. Lucky him, my late grandpa from dad’s side was a noodle expert. By expert I mean he was in noodle making business. Of course then, by default my grandma became a noodle chef expert. Whenever we’re at her place, she makes sure that we’re not short of food and the fastest meal for her to cook is… noodle!

Imagine this, my husband who is very open about his love of noodle and I arrive at my grand’s. She’s obviously very happy to see us so she cooks us a meal. Lots and lots of yummy noodle.

noodle making at grandma

This kind of noodle is somehow only common available in Indonesia – or Indonesian restaurants for that matter. I’m not sure why this is the case so can someone give a clue? Here in Indonesia, it’s very common to have noodle as breakfast or lunch. My family (and so many others that I know) have a habit of having noodle for lunch after church on Sunday. This was something that I used to miss back in Melbourne.

The recipe that I’m going to share is probably one of the simplest variations of chicken noodle. My husband prefers boiled/steamed chicken so I didn’t proceed to cook the chicken further after I boiled it to make broth. You could add champignon mushrooms to add more texture to the dish or if you’re like me and my brother, we love to have fried meatballs as our side. I have posted the “cheese-infused” version of the meatballs here.

Before I proceed to the recipe, I have to make a big shout out to my dear husband with whom I developed this dish. As an avid noodle eater, he was so excited to hear that we’re having homemade chicken noodle for dinner. Of course he wanted to make sure that this noodle is on par with his favourite.

Chicken Noodle

For broth / soup:

• 400 grams chicken breast and thigh, on the bone
• pepper
• salt
• a bunch of bok choy, roughly cut
• 500 ml water

For onion oil seasoning:

• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 stalks of spring onion, use only the white part, finely chopped
• around 2 tablespoon oil to stir fry

For noodle seasoning:

• 300 gram egg noodle
• 3 bunch bok choy
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sweet soy sauce
• a pinch of pepper

Instructions

1. Prepare the broth, simmer in low heat for an hour to two depending on the thickness of the chicken. Turn off heat and discard the vegetable after cooking.
2. Ensure that the chicken is thoroughly cooked, take out and pat dry. Bone the chicken and cut meat into small pieces.
3. For the onion oil seasoning, heat oil on low heat. Add spring onion and garlic and cook until brown. Turn off heat once they turn brown as the heat will continue to cook them.
4. In your serving bowl, mix the noodle seasoning (soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil and sweet soy sauce) and the onion oil seasoning.
5. Boil egg noodle in a big pot for 2-3 minutes. Avoid rookie mistake by not overfilling the pot with noodle. Like cooking pasta, use lots of water to boil the noodle.
6. Take out noodle, set a portion into each of your serving bowl and mix well. Add chicken and bok choy to your liking. Garnish the dish with some finely chopped spring onion (the green part).
7. Add some broth on the side and enjoy your meal!

Due to my loooong holiday during the Christmas and new year period, I found it hard to get back into my cooking routine *supersigh* The last couple of weeks we’ve been eating out, justifying it with “i-miss-Bandung-food”, but I just can’t handle that much MSG anymore. And to be honest, there’s nothing exciting about food in Bandung, let alone me missing it. Meh.

So few days ago, I decided to start cooking again. To warm up the kitchen, something easy and one pan kinda meal is a must. Otherwise I might get lazy – again. Here it is, Tofu with Minced Meat! Hooray!

Tofu with Minced Meat

• 100 grams minced meat (I used pork)
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tauco / salted soya beans
• 1 tablespoon fermented black beans
• 1-2 chilli, thinly sliced
• cornstarch, mix 1 tablespoon water with 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 250 grams tofu (I used egg tofu)

To marinade meat:

• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• a pinch of pepper

Seasoning, mix well:

• 3/4 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Instructions

1. In a bowl, marinade meat for about 10 minutes
2. In a pan, heat oil and stir fry garlic, tauco, black beans and chilli for about 1 minute or until fragrant.
3. Add marinated meat and stir fry ensuring it’s cooking through (no longer pink).
4. Add seasoning, bring to boil.
5. Carefully add tofu into the pan, turn the heat to low. Let it simmer for about 3-4 minutes. Be careful to not break the tofu.
6. Thicken with cornstarch solution, mix well.
7. Take off the heat and dish is ready to serve!

I think chicken nuggets need no explanation. Almost everyone I know loves nuggets. To make you love nuggets even more, here we have a guilt free recipe using very little oil. By baking the nuggets, we have moist nuggets that also have the crispiness we all enjoy.

As holiday season is approaching, I can imagine having these nuggets as a nibble during our movie time at home. Yum!

Baked Chicken Nuggets

• 2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan (can be omitted) 
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour, prepare in a bowl
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten, prepare in a bowl

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Cut the chicken into your desired size. I prefer to cut it into bite size.
3. Spread panko on a thin baking sheet and baked for about 7 minutes until golden brown.
4. Transfer panko into a bowl and mix in the parmesan, salt and oil. Mix well.
5. Increase oven to 210°C and prepare a baking sheet on a wire rack.
6. Coat chicken pieces in flour, eggs and panko. Transfer to baking sheet.
7. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, ensuring that nuggets are thoroughly cooked. Transfer to serving plate.
8. Serve with ketchup or chilli sauce.

Chicken Katsu reminds me of Hoka-Hoka Bento (a famous Japanese fast food chain here in Indonesia) and how I used to love eating them. In fact, I always ordered Chicken Katsu whenever my parents took us there.

This Chicken Katsu recipe is one of the easiest recipe to cook as it’s quick and requires basic kitchen ingredients, apart from the panko. However if you can’t find panko, you could always substitute it with breadcrumbs. A great Chicken Katsu would also require a great Tonkatsu Sauce and I’ll share a simple recipe for making one. If you opt to buy the Tonkatsu Sauce, the common one to find would from Bulldog brand.

Chicken Katsu with Tonkatsu Sauce

For Chicken Katsu:

• 2 chicken breasts, flattened
• Salt
• Black pepper
• All purpose flour
• 1 egg
• Panko
• Oil for deep frying

For Tonkatsu Sauce:

• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce

Instructions

1. Prepare your frying pan and heat oil in medium heat
2. Seasoned the flattened chicken breast with salt and pepper
3. Dip the seasoned chicken breast into the 3 ingredients in the following order:  flour, egg and panko
4. Fry the chicken in the medium heat oil until it’s golden brown, ensuring that the chicken is cooked through (not pink in the centre). Depending on the thickness, this might take 4-5 minutes
5. Once cooked, transfer your katsu to a paper tower lined plate to reduce the oil and leave to rest
6. Make the Tonkatsu Sauce by combining Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and soy sauce in a small bowl
7. Cut your katsu to serve and drizzle some sauce over katsu.
8. Serve katsu with a bowl of warm rice and the remaining sauce for dipping

I’ve been craving for a burger – the gourmet one, not the one from fast food chains – in the last couple of weeks yet I wasn’t able to find any restaurant nearby that would satisfy my craving. So yup, I decided to jump online and look for recipes. I bumped into Marin Mama Cooks‘ food blog and saw her take on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Thai Chicken Burger recipe. Perfect, this is just what I’m looking for; white meat, tasty and spicy! (Somehow I have unreasonable crave for spicy foods these days)

To complete the burger, I also made Marin Mama’s cilantro lime mayonnaise, easy lettuce salad and faux sweet potato chips. The cilantro lime mayonnaise and lettuce salad are big win but I’m totally loving the faux sweet potato chips, which essentially are steamed sweet potato cut into chips shape! I have to say that it took me longer that expected to cook the dish, mainly due to chopping but boy, I was amaze by the taste.

I made a little twist on the recipe by exchanging red chilli pepper with curly chilli and pan frying the patties instead of grilling them as our griller is not compatible with our electric stove. I also couldn’t find any plain brioche so I used big sloppy round breads, which were toasted on the pan.

Anyhow, this recipe turned out well and dear hubby kept saying “Oh this is so good!” “Maybe you can try more burger recipes from now on…” while munching on his burger. One happy customer and I’m a happy cook!

Thai Style Chicken Burger

Burger Patties

• 400 grams minced chicken
• 3 garlic cloves, minced well (I used garlic presser)
• 3 shallots, minced well
• 3 handful coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 1 or more curly chilli, finely chopped. The amount should depend on your spicy tolerant level.
• 1.5 tablespoon fish oil
• A pinch of salt
• A pinch of black pepper
• Oil, to stir fry

Instructions

1. Minced shallots and garlic
2. Wash curly chilli and chopped
3. Wash and rinse coriander, chopped them well. Yes, there are a lot of them!
4. Put minced chicken in a bowl and pour all ingredients together. Don’t forget to add fish oil, salt and black pepper. Mix them gently with hand or fork.
5. Don’t overdo the mix as it will squeeze the juice from the meat and make your patties drier.
6. Take 1/4 of the mix and form it into a patty shape. The mixture is a bit flimsy but it will hold during frying. Continue making the other 3 patties.
7. Prepare your pan and heat up the oil
8. After ensuring that the oil is hot, reduce your heat and stir fry your patties. After 2-3 minutes, flip patties to the other side and leave it for another 2-3 minutes. Don’t press your patties as it will dries out the juice.
9. Take out patties out of pan and put them on paper tower to rest and to reduce the oil.

Cilantro Lime Mayonnaise

• 125 gram mayonnaise
• a handful coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced well (again, I used garlic presser)

Instruction

1. Mix everything in a bowl and refrigerate until needed

Lettuce Salad

• 3-4 iceberg lettuce (depending on size), washed and sliced
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• 2 tablespoon mayonnaise
• A pinch of salt
• A pinch of pepper

Instruction

1. Mix everything in a bowl and refrigerate until needed

Faux Sweet Potato Chip

• a medium size sweet potato, keep skin intact
• A pinch of salt

Instruction

1. Put sweet potato in a steamer and let the steam flow in low heat for around 20-25 minutes. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of sweet potato.
2. After 20 minutes, check if it’s cooked through. If so, take off the heat.
3. Remove the skin, which should be easily peeled.
4. Cut sweet potato into fries shaped and it’s ready to be served.