My mom's Chicken Rice (Malaysian)

My mom makes this nasi ayam or chicken rice around once a month. Especially when her grandchildren come to our house. Many of them and my far living cousins also loves my mom's rice chicken. To me, it's is a really decent rice chicken. I also like it just the way they are. 

My mom's chicken rice comprises of cooked flavored rice, fried chicken, chili sauce, soy sauce, chicken soup and vegetables like cucumber, tomato and lettuce. 

Actually my mother's fried chicken is dark in color because of the soy sauce used to marinade them. But my father doesn't like it. So my mum marinate those chicken with turmeric. But I still have the soy sauce to add the flavor to the chicken later. 

My mom make nasi ayam or chicken rice with malay and home style. It is a bit different than Chinese style chicken rice. There are many versions of chicken rice in Malaysia. Even the Chinese versions are varies, and the Malay version also have many varieties. So let's look at the recipe. 

Ingredients 

The base broth

1 whole chicken. Cut into 12 parts. Or cut them into your preferred way. 

1 1/2 inch of ginger 

1 big onion. Cut into 8 parts. 

7 cloves of garlic 

The rice

4 cups of rice. Washed. 

1 big onion, thinly sliced. 

1 1/2 inch ginger, cut into 2 parts and crushed. 

3 tablespoons margarine or other cooking oil. 

The chicken marinade 

3 inches of fresh turmeric or 3 teaspoons of turmeric powder.

Salt to taste. 

5 cloves of garlic. 

Some sugar. 

The chili sauce 

7 fresh big red chillies 

3 dried red chillies

3 cloves of garlic 

1/2 a tomato 

Sugar or palm sugar 

Salt 

White vinegar

The soy sauce 

Sweet soy sauce

The soup 

1 tablespoon soup powder. 

Some Chinese celery or celery. Cut thinly. 

3 shallots, thinly sliced. 

The vegetable

1 fresh cucumber 

1 lettuce of choice 

2 fresh tomatoes

Methods 

The broth

First, mom will cut the chicken into 10 or 12 parts and boil them in a pot of water. She add ginger, garlic and some onion. Cook until the chicken is cooked and tender. Then take out the chicken. 

The chicken marinade

Make the fresh turmeric, garlic, some sugar and salt into paste by pounding them or mixing them in the food processor. Marinade the cooked chicken with the paste. Let it rest for around 30 minutes minimum. Then, deep fry the chicken. Fry until the outer part is cooked and a little bit crispy, and the inside meat is still tender and juicy. It doesn't take long as the chicken are already cooked. Then, set aside. 

The rice

Heat some oil in the rice cooker. Then pour in the sliced onion and ginger in and stir. You also can add lemongrass or pandan leaves, or garlic, as you like. After the onions become a bit golden, add in the washed rice. Then add in the chicken soup you make earlier. Just enough to cook the rice. Some people also love to add chicken stock, but my mom don't do that. Okay let the rice cook. 

The soy sauce

Now take a small amount of the soup, like a bowl. Add in soy sauce. Mix well. Set aside. 

 

The chili sauce

Cut the big red chili, dried chili, garlic and tomato and blend them well with some chicken broth we made earlier. Then cook them for a while, add in some brown sugar and salt. Turn off the heat and add in some vinegar. 

The soup

For the soup, saute the shallots and celery stick in the hot oil. Add in soup powder, then add 1/2 cup of water. When the mix is aromatic, add them in the soup. Add sugar and salt to taste. If you like, add some drops of vinegar. 

The vegetables

Wash and prepare some fresh lettuce, cucumber and tomato. Cut cucumber and tomatoes in slices. 

Assemble and serve

After all cookings and preparation are done, assemble all of he cooked items on the table and serve. 

Eating 

Add some rice in the plate. Add chicken. Pour the soy sauce on the chicken. Add vegetables into the plate. Add in some chili sauce too. Add soup onto the rice. And your chicken rice is now ready.