Merdeka Open House 2006: Chicken with 8 Treasures Rice

I'm serving Chicken with 8 Treasures Rice as the main in conjunction with the Merdeka Open House 2006. It is not exactly a long forgotten recipe, just that it's kind of a hassle these days to cook up such elaborate dish. Just check up the recipe...

CHICKEN WITH 8 TREASURES RICE

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (1.5kg)

Chicken marinade (combined):
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp thick soy sauce

For the glutinous rice filling:
1 tbsp oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup glutinous rice, steamed till cooked
1/2 cup button mushrooms, diced
10 pieces gingko nuts (pak kor), shelled, skinned and parboiled
20 lotus seeds, soaked and parboiled
5 Chinese black mushrooms, soaked and diced
5 red dates, seeded
8 shelled dried chestnuts, soaked
125g carrots, diced
1 tbsp dried shrimps, chopped (I left them whole)

Seasoning for the rice:
2 tbsps water
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp thick soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine (I omitted this)
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper

Clean chicken thoroughly inside and out. Cut off the feet and bishop's nose. Rub the inside and outside of chicken with combined marinade ingredients. Let chicken stand for at least 1 hour.

Boil chestnuts in water for 15 minutes. Heat wok with oil and deep fry chestnuts for 3-4 minutes. Remove, drain and rinse under clean tap water.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in wok, fry garlic till fragrant. Add dried shrimps and fry for a minute. Add button mushrooms, black mushrooms, lotus seeds, chestnuts and dates and stir fry well. Mix in combined seasoning ingredients and cook for 2-3 minutes. Dish up and combine with rest of the ingredients, including the sticky rice.

Deep fry chicken in oil for 6-7 minutes until lightly browned. Drain. Stuff rice mixture into chicken cavity and place on a steaming tray.

Steam for 35-40 minutes or until chicken is tender. Serve chicken whole or cut up into big pieces, with 8 Treasures Rice on the side and gravy.

Gravy:
2 tbsps sugar
2 tbsps thick soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsps light soy sauce
3 galangal slices
200 ml water

Put 2 tbsps oil in a wok, add sugar and galangal slices. When the oil turns dark golden, turn off the heat. Add thick soy sauce, light soy sauce and water. Bring to simmer and set aside as gravy.

Kinda challenging actually for someone like me to cook up such as dish. However, as usual I cheated my way thru hahaha, no choice as one whole chicken is too much for two and a half of us. I opted 3 chicken thighs instead, hence my rice was cooked separatedly. I soaked my rice over night so that I do not need to steam the rice so long. I fried garlic and dried shrimps till fragrant before adding all the ingredients plus the seasonings and mix well. Dish them up into a heatproof dish and place in a steamer. Steam till cook.

I had to call my sifu mom for help since I've no idea how to steam glutinous rice. She told me I just need to add a bit of water to the rice and steam. Check for doneness along the way and stir the rice a bit to ensure even cooking. I've timed my cooking for one cup of rice. I checked the rice after 10 minutes, stirred then steamed another 5 minutes for a slightly soft texture (since I'm feeding boiboi) otherwise 10-12 minutes should be fine for a chewy texture.

I have to say I loved the 8 Treasures Rice. The taste is somewhat different from loh mai farn (steamed glutinous rice). Hubby mentioned that I was very close to making a bak chang or also known as glutinous rice dumpling (roll eyes cos that's a hint ok!!!). I gave a bit of the rice to my boiboi and he loved the rice too cos he whacked them all up including one drumstick which was very tender!

Hope you all will like this too. Sila jemput makan...

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