The traditional way to make this involves poaching the chicken, which is delicious. I never get round to it, so tend to make it with leftovers from a chicken roast:
cold chicken
3 spring onions
white pepper
Soup
chicken carcass
1 onion
1 carrot
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp light soy sauce
Rice
1 mug rice
2 mugs cold water
1/2 tsp salt
Cucumber pickle
1 cucumber
1 cup vinegar
1 small chilli
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Once you’ve stripped all the chicken off the carcass, put the chicken in the fridge. Put the carcass in a big pot with a peeled chopped carrot and onion and two bay leaves. Cover with water and bring to boil. Simmer for an hour or two, then strain and throw away the bits, leaving the liquid to cool.
Meanwhile wash the cucumber and cut into batons or thin slices. Chop the chilli finely. Mix the chilli, cucumber, vinegar, salt and sugar in a bowl and leave to macerate.
When you are ready to eat, cook the rice. Bring the rice, 2 mugs water and 1/2 tsp salt to boil. Simmer for around 10 mins until water has evaporated. Taste the rice. If it is ready and the water is nearly gone, put a lid on the pot and turn up the heat for 30 seconds to generate steam, then turn off the heat. If not yet done, add a little more water then retest a couple of minutes later.
While the rice is cooking, bring the chicken stock to boil. Season with a dash or two of light soy sauce. Finely chop the spring onion.
To serve, pack the cooked rice into a small bowl, then turn one out onto each plate. Arrange the cold chicken next to the rice. Pour some chicken soup into a small bowl for each person, sprinkle in some spring onions and season with a shake or two of white pepper. Serve with the bowl of cucumber pickle on the side.
I absolutely love the clean, fresh tastes of this dish. To eat it you can take a spoonful of rice and dip it into your chicken soup. You then have the succulent pieces of chicken (more so if you make this by the poaching method), and some fresh and spicy cucumber to give it all a lift. We are having this tomorrow night and I can’t wait!