REVIEW: READY-TO-COOK HAINANESE CHICKEN MIX

 "Life is a box of ready-to-cook-meals."

I'm quite picky with processed food preparations I have at home. It's the taste and the content of preservatives that bother me. Doesn't mean that I can entirely avoid it. My work schedule doesn't allow me to cook fresh meals all day everyday and I can't afford to eat out all the time.  So mixes like this ready-to-cook Hainanese Chicken sauce from Prima Taste sometimes saves the day, almost.

I say almost because there are too many cooking steps, it's hard to multi-task.  This is not the kind of food prep you just whip out of the box and put in the stove. Despite having to re-read the instructions over and over again, I ended up with an acceptable meal of rice, soup, chicken and condiment. 

The soup turned out to be a bit bland, you can add a little more salt if you want to. Make sure your chicken's at room temperature before cooking otherwise you will end up with uncooked chicken on the inside. The soy condiments were great but the grated ginger had lost the zing you get out of fresh ginger. The rice was the tastiest part of the ensemble. To get best results, use Thai Jasmine rice and mix it in the rice cooker after the "cooked" alarm goes off.

I suggest that you use mix this if you have no energy or time to cook  BUT don't make this if you need to do other things (i.e. work) while making your meal.

Straight from the box, here's the Hainanese Chicken Recipe.

INGREDIENTS

What You Need

Water Hainanese Chicken Rice Premix ** Whole chicken Long grain rice  Hainanese Chicken Rice Fragrance Oil ** Chicken stock (for Step 3)

2.5 litres 1 pkt 1.2 - 1.5 kg 500 g 1 pkt 610 ml

Condiments
 Sesame Soya Sauce Oil **
Chilli Sauce **
Chicken Rice Ginger Sauce **
Chicken Rice Dark Soya Sauce **
Cucumber
Coriander leaves

Suggested Soup Garnish
Soft bean curd (tofu), Lettuce (shredded), Coriander leaves, Spring onion

** Included in Prima Taste pack


TO MAKE

To Cook Chicken and Stock

1. To cook chicken stock, fill stock pot with 2.5 litres water, add Hainanese Chicken Rice Premix and bring to boil on high heat. Submerge chicken into the stock with its back facing up. Lower heat and simmer for approx 30 mins.

2. Remove chicken from stock and chill in ice water for 15 mins. Drain well, set aside chicken and chicken stock.

To Cook Rice

3. Mix rice, 610 ml chicken stock(from Step 2) and Hainanese Chicken Rice Fragrance Oil in rice cooker.

4. Stir rice gently after 5 mins and continue cooking. When cooked, fluff rice gently with chopsticks (while loosening rice, avoid the bottom of the rice cooker). Leave at 'Keep Warm' setting for 10 - 15 mins.

5. Put whole packet of Sesame Soya Sauce Oil packet in a pot of boiling water and boil for 2 mins. Remove from heat, cut open packet and pour into a bowl. Set aside at room temperature.

6. Chop chicken into parts. Arrange on platter, over a bed of sliced cucumber. Pour Sesame Soya Sauce Oil over the chicken and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with warm rice. In separate condiment bowls, serve Chilli Sauce, Chicken Rice Ginger Sauce and Chicken Rice Dark Soya Sauce as dips. 

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