← Nouns Cooking · Thai

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (about 1.5 kg), excess fat trimmed off and kept
• 3 l Water
• 5 slices Ginger
• 4 cloves Garlic, bruised
• 3 coriander roots or a handful of stalks, bruised
• 1 tbsp Salt
• 400 g Jasmine rice, rinsed until the water runs clear
• 2 tbsp chicken fat trimmings or neutral oil
• 4 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 600 ml broth from poaching the chicken
• 2 Pandan leaves, knotted (optional)
• 3 tbsp Thai fermented soybean paste (tao jiew)
• 2 tbsp fresh ginger, very finely chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic, very finely chopped
• 3 Bird's eye chilli, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
• 200 g daikon or winter melon, for the soup, cut into chunks (optional)
• 1 Cucumber, sliced
• 1 handful coriander leaves

Method

1. Put the water, ginger slices, bruised garlic, coriander roots and salt in a big pot and bring to the boil. Lower in the chicken breast-side down, return to a bare simmer, cover and poach gently for 40–45 min, until the thickest part of the thigh reaches 75°C (165°F).
2. Lift the chicken into a big bowl of iced water for 5 min; this tightens the skin and keeps the meat juicy. Keep the broth simmering.
3. For the rice, melt the chicken fat (or heat the oil) in a saucepan over medium heat and fry the chopped garlic for 1 minute until golden. Add the drained rice and stir for 2 min until every grain is coated and smells nutty.
4. Add 600 ml of the hot broth, the pandan and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, cover tightly and cook on the lowest heat for 15 min, then leave it off the heat, still covered, for 10 min. (A rice cooker does this perfectly.)
5. While the rice cooks, stir all the sauce ingredients together until the sugar dissolves. Simmer the daikon in some of the remaining broth for 15 min, until tender, and season it to taste for the soup.
6. Carve the chicken into bite-size slices. Serve on mounds of rice with cucumber, coriander, the sauce on the side and a little bowl of hot broth.

Tips

• Fermented soybean paste usually contains wheat. The leftover broth makes a superb stock for jok or noodle soup.
• Cool any leftover rice quickly and refrigerate it within an hour.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Rachel Cooks Thai Marion's Kitchen