KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — Limitations can be a good thing. They force us to be more creative, more playful sometimes.
At least that is how I view my near empty larder when I’m either too busy or too tired to head out. The question at the top of mind always seems to be "What do I have — and what can I make with it?”
This weekend it’s leftover chicken soup. Ladled into a container when cool then frozen, leftover soup can keep for months easily. Which makes it great for a Weekend Kitchen emergency.
In terms of other pantry staples, I only find some uncooked rice, a couple of eggs in the fridge and the last packet of natto, that indispensable Japanese fermented soybeans that is such an acquired taste (I have acquired it, as you might have guessed).
Here’s where a little creative cheating comes into play. Leftover chicken soup can be the base for the quick and easy chicken rice. The soup is made from both the stock of a chicken and has plenty of the flavourful chicken oils we associate with Hainanese chicken rice, after all.
Now this isn’t the same thing as poaching a whole chicken, then using the poaching liquid to cook the grains of rice. I understand that. This isn’t meant to be authentic but rather undemanding and fuss-free.
Cook the rice in the leftover soup the way you would normal rice and you’ll have some incredibly fluffy and flavourful chicken rice for your trouble.
Both hard-boiled eggs and natto are a convenient and good source of protein, so that makes for a balanced and nutritious meal without much elbow grease required.
A bit Chinese, a bit Japanese, this "chicken rice” with hard-boiled eggs and natto is comfort food for the soul. And very delicious, if I might say so. Try it and you’re likely to vigorously agree.
SIMPLE CHICKEN RICE WITH EGGS AND NATTO
Use whatever leftover chicken soup you have but understand that the taste of the "chicken rice” made from such soups won’t be exactly like the ones you get from your neighbourhood chicken rice stall.
For one thing, the more ingredients that were used in simmering the stock (shiitake mushrooms, maybe?), the more flavourful or heavy-tasting your rice might end up being. This just makes it more tasty, no?
Natto is basically a type of fermented soybeans. Most Japanese families just buy the ready-made packets from the supermarket, and we can easily find them here in Malaysia too (check the chillers or the Japanese food section).
There is something about its rich umami flavour and delicate funk, not to mention its sticky texture, that I find goes so well with a variation of chicken rice that itself is stronger in flavour due to the heavier leftover chicken soup used.
Every packet of natto comes with sachets of yellow mustard and tare sauce (usually a soy sauce based seasoning). This, I find, is all the additional flavour I need to go with the rice and eggs. Feel free to season further with salt and pepper if you like.
Ingredients
200g uncooked white rice
400-500 ml leftover chicken stock (for the actual amount used, follow rice cooker measurements)
2 eggs, hard-boiled
1 packet of natto
Salt and pepper to taste (optional)
Method
First wash the rice, rinsing several times to remove excess starch. Put the washed and drained rice into a rice cooker.
Add the leftover chicken soup to the appropriate level, which may differ depending on your rice cooker model. (An inch of liquid above the surface of the rice grains usually works well as a rule of thumb.)
Turn on the rice cooker. Once the rice is cooked, remove the rice cooker lid and fluff up the grains with a rice paddle. Cover the rice cooker with the lid again and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
When ready to serve, ladle the chicken rice into individual plates or bowls. Add halved hard-boiled eggs and half a packet of natto, making sure to squeeze some of the mustard and tare sauce from the sachets on the beans. Serve immediately.
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