VEGAN HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE

serves 6-8

My working recipe for veganizing my mother’s favourite meal.

Ingredients

1.2kg seitan chicken

1.2kg tofu based chicken (soya chicken, found at asian supermarkets)

1.5kg pearl or oyster mushrooms, in clumps

Chicken Style Broth

3L of vegan chicken-style stock

40g dried shiitake mushrooms

4 inch ginger, sliced thinly

4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

4 whole stalks green onion, sliced thinly

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Rice

1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil

2 tablespoons shallot sauce or mushroom XO sauce

1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/3 cups dry rice

Chilli Sauce

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon caster sugar

5 small hot chillies

3 cloves garlic

1 inch ginger

Pinch salt

Ginger Garlic Sauce

3 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 tablespoon rice or plain vinegar

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

4 stalks green onion, whites only, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

To Serve

1L leftover chicken style broth

4 stalks green onion, greens only, finely chopped

kecap manis

coriander

cucumber slices

fried shallots

2 tablespoons sesame oil for rubbing

Method

If using mushrooms, place a large frypan over medium-high heat. Squash with a larger pot or frypan until compressed, frying on both sides until brown. Remove the mushrooms and deglaze the pan with a splash of water to add to the chicken style broth.

In a large pot, place the chicken alternative and cover in the remaining broth ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover for 45 minutes. Remove the chicken, slather in the sesame oil and set aside. Squeeze the liquid from the shiitake, strain the broth and reserve both the shiitake and broth. Slice the shiitake ahead of serving on the side when you’re done to reduce waste and add texture/umami!

To make the rice, rinse the rice thoroughly under running water. In a hot saucepan, fry the rice ingredients for 2 minutes before pouring in 3.5 cups leftover chicken style broth. Stir in the rice and prepare in a rice cooker per instructions - I used a microwave rice cooker and the rice was done in 15 minutes.

In a blender, blend the chilli sauce ingredients together with 2 tablespoons leftover chicken style broth.

To make the ginger-garlic sauce, heat the oils in a saucepan until just smoking then pour over the ginger, garlic and scallions in a bowl. Stir in the vinegar and 2 tablespoons leftover chicken style broth.

Serve everything in small individual portions to combine at one’s leisure or heaped in the middle of a table for the family to fight over as I like to.