HelloFresh Chicken and Pandan Infused Rice
A little while ago Patrick dared to try his hand at a Singaporean institution: Chicken Rice. This deceptively simple dish is to Singapore what Shepherd’s Pie is to the UK. For this version 2.0 we’ve got a few recommendations to make it perfect: 1) Make sure you ‘poach’ rather than boil your chicken, 2) save any leftover stock to drizzle on your rice at the end and 3) don’t throw away that odd looking leaf in your box - it’s the pandan for the rice!
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the conflict in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
½ unit(s)
Chicken Stock Pot
3 unit(s)
Spring Onion
2 tbsp
Ginger
2 unit(s)
Chicken Breast
1 cup(s)
Basmati Rice
1 unit(s)
Pandan Leaf
½ tbsp
Soy Sauce
(ContainsCereals containing Gluten, Soya)½ unit(s)
Cucumber
In a medium sized pot add enough water to cover the chicken (around 700 - 900ml). Bring the water to a boil and add 1½ stock pot.
Chop 2 of the spring onions into 3cm pieces. Peel the skin from the ginger using the edge of a spoon (then discard it) and roughly chop. Chop the remaining spring onion widthways into thin discs, separating the white and green parts.
Add the 2 roughly chopped spring onions and half the ginger to the larger pot of boiling water. Add the chicken to the pot and bring it back to a very gentle boil. As soon as you see bubbles, turn the heat down so that the chicken poaches. Tip: ‘Poaching’ means the water is steaming but there are no big bubbles rising through it. Cook for 20 mins then remove the breasts and keep to the side.
Heat 2 tsp of oil in another medium sized pot on medium-low heat. Once hot add the remaining ginger and the whites of the remaining spring onion. Gently cook for 3 mins before adding the rice and cooking for a further 2 mins. Tip: Take a big enough pot; you’ll boil the rice in this.
Tie the pandan leaf into a knot and add this to the pot of rice. Scoop out exactly 350ml (exactly) of the water from the chicken pot and add to the rice. Cover the rice pot with a tight lid. Turn the heat to its lowest and leave for 10 mins before taking off the heat for 10 mins. Tip: Do not peek under the lid for the whole 20 mins or the rice will not cook perfectly.
Check to see if the chicken is cooked through - it should no longer be pink in the middle. Once you remove it rub ½ tsp of soy sauce over each breast and keep to the side.
Slice the cucumber as thinly as possible. Tip: If you have a cheese scraper, you can also thinly slice the cucumber with this by slicing of one of the ends and then just scraping each cucumber slice onto your chopping board. After 20 mins remove the pandan leaf from the rice and fluff it up with a fork. Fill a round cup with the rice, press it down and then turn onto the plate (like a sandcastle!).
Slice the chicken into diagonal slices and arrange next to the rice. Serve with some sliced cucumber, a drizzle of the remaining soy sauce and a sprinkle of the greens of the spring onions.