To Cook
Place chicken drumsticks and a teaspoon of salt in six cups of boiling water and bring back to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on.
Remove chicken and set aside to cool down. Add cooked rice to the broth and boil until rice thickens into porridge, stirring the whole time.
Chop up the white section of the spring onion and thinly slice up the green part.
Saute the chopped onion and the white spring onion with oil until fragrant. Add julienned ginger and continue to saute until onion is caramelised. Turn off heat.
Remove meat from chicken drumsticks and coarsely chop up chicken. Return chicken pieces to rice congee. Add extra water to congee if it becomes too thick.
Taste test. Add remaining salt as necessary. Add pepper, stir through and remove from heat.
Serve congee garnished with caramelised onion, ginger and sliced onion.
Rice
Japanese Rice Balls (Onigiri)
To Cook
Cook rice in accordance to instructions.
Combine rice wine vinegar, sugar, salt and pour into rice with sesame seeds and mix well.
Cut the seaweed sheet into six strips. You may further cut the seaweed into any shape to decorate the onigiri.
Place 1/3 cup of rice over the centre of the cling wrap. Gather the ends of the cling wrap and squeeze to form a ball. To add filling, press an indent into the rice, add filling and mould the rice into a triangular shape or a ball.
Remove the cling wrap and cover the bottom of the onigiri with a seaweed strip.
Serve with Japanese soy sauce.
Sesame Rice Cakes
To Cook
Combine rice, soy sauce, mirin, flour, spring onion and pepper and mix well.
Divide mixture into 10 equal portions and roll into balls. Flatten each rice ball slightly to form rice cakes. Sprinkle both sides with white or black sesame.
Fry rice patties in hot oil over medium heat until golden brown.
Japanese Green Tea Rice (Ochazuke)
To Prep
Prepare hot Japanese green tea
Microwave cold rice and divide into two bowls.
Layer rice with salmon flakes, seaweed, sesame seeds, spring onion, mirin and however much wasabi you like.
Pour hot green tea over rice and serve immediately. Garnish with crispy puffed rice.
Add the desired amount of soy sauce to your personal liking.
Indonesian Fried Rice (Nasi Goreng)
To Cook
Prepare the optional accompaniments – Javanese Fried Chicken, Beef Satay, Crispy Fried Shallots, Sambal Kecap, Krupuk and Mixed Vegetable Pickles.
Lightly grease a non-stick skillet with a little oil and fry the eggs sunny side up. Remove from heat and set aside.
Heat the wok and add oil over medium heat and stir-fry the shallots, garlic, minced chilli and dried shrimp paste until fragrant for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the prawns and stir-fry until almost cooked and then add the cabbage and leftover cooked meat and continue to stir-fry until the cabbage is slightly wilted. Increase the heat to high, add the rice, salt and sweet Indonesian soy sauce and stir-fry until all the ingredients are mixed well and heated through, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Transfer the fried rice to a serving platter, top with the fried eggs and arrange the accompaniments at the side, around the plate. Garnish with cucumber and tomato slices and serve with the accompaniments on the side.
Crab Curry Fried Rice (Khao Pad Boo Garee)
To Cook
Sauté the garlic over medium-high heat in a bit of oil.
Add the sliced onion, crab meat, crab paste in soya bean oil, and curry powder. Sauté until the onions are just starting to cook but still fairly firm.
Add the cooked rice and mix everything together. Season with fish sauce and thin soy sauce, starting with 1 tsp of each and adding more if required.
Set the fried rice to the side of the wok. Add some oil, and then scramble your eggs in the center of the wok. Once cooked, stir into the fried rice.
Add the coriander and green onions and mix to incorporate.
Remove the heat and serve with the Thai dipping sauce (Nam Pla Prik) – a bowl of fish sauce with sliced Thai chilies and lime (optional)
Nasi Lemak
To Prep
Wash the rice until the water runs clear.
Saute the lemongrass, pandan leaves, ginger, and shallots in a pot until fragrant.
Add the water and coconut milk to the pot and bring to a boil. Add a couple pinches of salt and mix thoroughly.
Pour the cleaned rice into a rice cooker pot together with the ingredients mentioned above.
Preparing the Sambal
Deep fry the half anchovies until crisp and golden.
In the frying oil on low heat, add in the chilli paste, minced onions, and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent.
Add in the sugar and mix thoroughly.
Next, mix in the tamarind paste and the rest of the anchovies and allow the sambal to cook over low heat.
Finally, add salt and sugar to taste.
To Assemble
Prepare a hard-boiled egg.
Scoop the cooked rice into a rice bowl, then cover with a plate. Then, flip over the plate and remove the rice bowl. Place the egg on or next to the rice.
Add a tbsp each of the fried anchovies, fried peanuts, and sambal. Garnish with a few slices of cucumber. Serve hot.