Claypot Chicken Rice

Yet another popular dish in Ipoh is Claypot Chicken Rice. This one-pot rice meal dish is also found elsewhere in foodcourts around the country.

The pot arrives at the table piping hot, and once the lid is lifted, you would be hit with the aroma of the chicken and its sauce, dried fish and Chinese sausages sending those salivary glands into overdrive.


Recipe

500g (2 pieces) chicken whole leg

marinade

¼ tsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

¼ tsp ground white pepper

1 tbsp ginger juice

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornflour

½ tsp salt

300g long grain rice

420ml water

sauce (mixed together)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

½ tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp hot water

1 tsp sesame oil

½ Chinese sausage (lap cheong), sliced

2 pieces salted fish (optional)

chopped spring onions for garnishing

Cut chicken into smaller pieces. Combine the marinade ingredients and marinate chicken in it for one hour in the refrigerator.

Wash the rice in several changes of water and place into a claypot with 420ml water. Cook, covered, over medium heat, until water is almost absorbed. Add the chicken with its marinade, the Chinese sausage and salted fish (if using), over the rice, and drizzle in about two tablespoons of the sauce. Lower the heat and cook, covered, until rice and chicken are cooked, about 10-15 minutes. Flake rice, cover lid and cook for a further five minutes. Remove from heat and top with spring onions. Serve immediately.


Source: The Star

Salt-baked Chicken (Yim Kok Kai)

Salt-baked Chicken (Yim Kok Kai) is another famous food in Ipoh. It has its origins in the Hakka community.


Recipe

1 kg organic or free-range chicken, washed and patted dry

marinade

1 tbsp ginger juice

1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

½ tsp ground white pepper

1 tsp sugar

stuffing

20g codonopsis root (dong sum)

10g angelica root (dong quai)

1 tbsp wolfberries (kei chi)

15g Solomon’s seal (yok chok)

2 pieces greaseproof paper measuring 60x30cm

1 tbsp potato flour, mixed into a gum paste with a little hot water

3.5 kg coarse rock salt

Combine the marinade ingredients; rub or coat chicken with the marinade. Wash the stuffing ingredients and place into the cavity of the bird.

Set the chicken on the two pieces of parchment paper for a double-layer wrap. Fold the paper, overlapping, around the chicken to form a parcel. Seal with the gum paste to form a water-tight parcel.

Place the rock salt into an old wok. Heat salt over medium flame, stirring continuously for five to eight minutes. Make a well in the middle of the hot salt, place the chicken parcel in, and cover completely with salt. Cook, covered with a lid, over low heat for 35 to 40 minutes. Turn chicken over once halfway through the cooking time, making sure no juices spill out. Remove and serve warm.


Source: The Star

Ipoh Hor Fun (Rice Noodles with Chicken)

Mention Ipoh and it is not tin that comes to mind but food. Yes, Ipoh was once famous for tin-mining but now the city is known more for her famous food particularly, the white coffee, hor fun, and bean sprouts-chicken.

Ipoh is a city in the northern state of Perak. It can be accessed by road via the North-South Expressway which will take about two and a half hours, or by KTM shuttle train from KL Sentral.

As Ipoh is so easily accessible, many people from Kuala Lumpur hop over for their famous food fare during weekends.

Kway teow (rice noodles) soup is one of Ipoh’s most famous dishes. In fact, this is Ipoh's signature dishes. The star of this dish is the silky-smooth kway teow, or as the locals call it, hor fun.

Around Ipoh, vendors may serve the hor fun in a clear chicken broth, or a chicken-and-prawn broth. If using chicken broth, garnish with shredded chicken; if using a chicken-and-prawn broth, garnish with shredded chicken and shelled prawns.

Recipe:
(For six servings)

2 chicken carcasses, chopped into pieces

3 litres water

1 tsp white peppercorns, washed and lightly crushed

2 tsp salt, or to taste

5g rock sugar, or to taste

500g prawns, shelled and prawn shells fried in 2 tablespoons cooking oil to make prawn oil

300g chicken fillet

600g rice noodles (kway teow), scalded in hot water, rinsed in cold water and drained

2 cups bean sprouts

50g chives, washed and cut into 3cm lengths

½ cup chopped spring onion sliced red chillies with soy sauce

Scald the chicken carcasses with hot water to clean. Place chicken carcasses, water and peppercorns in a large pot and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 40 to 60 minutes. Season to taste with salt and rock sugar. Strain stock into a clean pot and discard the carcasses. Use stock to cook prawns and chicken meat.

Place a portion of cooked noodles, bean sprouts and chives in a bowl. Ladle hot stock over and garnish with prawns and chicken meat. Top with spring onion and drizzle prawn oil over before serving with some cut chillies in light soy sauce on the side.


Source: The Star