Chicken rice was one of the first meals I cooked using my Varoma. I am a huge fan of Rick Stein and I had made his version of the Hainanese chicken rice before, but I felt intrigued to try it out using my Varoma and the results were absolutely fantastic. It is a great dinner for the whole family and one of those all-in-one meal wonders that totally restores your faith in the Varoma if you haven't been using it for a while. This recipe is originally from my Varoma book Steaming Hot.
Place the peppercorns in the mixing bowl and grind 10 Sec. / Speed 10.
Add the chilli, garlic and ginger then chop 2 Sec. / Speed 7.
Add the palm sugar, rice wine vinegar, yellow bean sauce, dark soy sauce and salt then mix 20 Sec. / Speed 9. Place into small individual dipping sauce bowls. Set aside until later.
Place the sliced ginger, garlic and spring onions under the skin of the chicken breasts and into the cavity of the chicken. Add any remaining pieces around the outside of the chicken and rub the black pepper, sesame oil and soy sauce onto the outer skin of the chicken. Place the chicken breast-side down into the Varoma dish lined with greaseproof paper.
Pour 1000g boiling water from the kettle into the mixing bowl. Steam 55 Min. / Varoma / Speed 2.
Remove the Varoma to insert the simmering basket. Weigh the rice into it. Top up the liquid in the mixing bowl to the 1 litre mark and add the veggie stock paste. Place the Varoma back into position and cook again 20 Min. / Varoma / Speed 3.5 or until chicken and rice are cooked.
Carefully cut chicken into pieces. Transfer the rice into bowls, top with the chicken pieces and a spoonful of stock from the mixing bowl. Top with dipping sauce to taste, sliced spring onions, coriander leaves and cucumber batons.