Chicken Rice/Nasi Ayam

Nasi Ayam is the Malaysian version of the famous "Hainanese Chicken Rice." The chicken for the Malay-style is roasted while the Chinese version is simmered in a chicken stock. Both are equally delicious and makes a hearty meal.
Ingredients for Chicken:
1 small fresh organic free-range chicken
3 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small piece ginger, minced
1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
2 tsp. light soy sauce
1 Tbsp. tomato paste or sauce
1 tsp. chilli powder or chilli sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 cucumber for garnishing
Ingredients for Rice:
2 cups rice, washed and drained
1 small piece ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. butter
2 pandan leaves
2 Tbsp. fried shallots
2-3 cups water or chicken broth
pinch of salt
Ingredients for Chilli Sauce:
6 fresh red chillies
5 cloves garlic
1 piece ginger
¼ cup lime juice
1 tsp. sesame oil
salt and sugar to taste
Method:
1. Mix the ingredients for chicken in a bowl. Clean chicken and pat dry, prick with a fork to allow seasonings to penetrated. Marinate chicken with seasonings for 1/2 day or leave overnight in refrigerator.
2. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Roast chicken for about an hour, remove and cut into serving pieces when cool.

3. Wash and drain rice. Heat some butter in a pan and fry ginger and garlic till fragrant, add in the rice and fry until rice are well coated with the fried ingredients. Remove from heat and pour this mixture into a reice cooker along with knotted pandan leaves. Add sufficient water or chicken broth to cook rice. Tips: I do the hand test on cooking rice by placing the palm of my hand on top of the rice and if water should come up high enough to cover the top of my hand.

4. Blend or pound finely all the ingredients for the chilli sauce. Season to taste with sugar and salt.
5. Serve rice with chicken, sliced cucumbers, chilli sauce and dark soy sauce. Garnish rice with some fried shallots.
Tips: Soak peeled shallots with a pinch of salt in water for about 5 minutes. Slice thinly and deep fry in hot oil till crisp and brown. Drain on paper towels.
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