Lavender Fest

Last weekend, we drove all the way from Kalamazoo to Romeo Michigan to celebrate their annual Lavender Fest. We headed out around 7:30 in the morning with a few scattered rain. Our hopes were high, we were excited and on we went. We had a very pleasant afternoon. No rain which was quite surprising because it was pouring back in Kalamazoo. We enjoyed each other's company sitting under a big tree with ice cream in one hand, the refreshing smell of lavender from the garden and the alluring musical notes from the harp playing behind us.

Hainase Chicken

I have tried making this recipe so many times and it had never came out as good as I hoped for but I wanted to try it anyways. I got this recipe from recipezaar.com from phabmissus. The recipe was pretty simple and the flavor was superb. The main ingredients were simple too, just garlic and lots of ginger. :)

Recipe: Hainase Chicken
adapted: phabmissus (http://www.recipezaar.com/133760)

Things you need....

lots of ginger (sorry I didn't keep track of the amount I'd used)
lots of garlic (agak2 jelah :) )
1 whole chicken
3 cups of rice
6 daun pandan/screwpine leaves
5 chilies
1 sliced cucumber
a handful of chopped coriander leaves
1 tbsp calamansi juice or lime juice is fine
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
salt to taste

*note: I puree the ginger & garlic separately in a blender.*

The Chicken
Step 1:
Heat about 2 to 3 tablespoons of veggie oil in a pot. Add in about 3 tablespoons of ginger puree and 2 tablespoons of garlic puree and cook until fragrant.

Step 2:
Add just enough water to submerge the chicken in and let boil. Once the water has boil, lower the heat to low and slowly put the chicken in. You can put in salt to taste at this time if you want to. I let each side cook for about 20 to 25 minutes to a total of almost 1 hour of cooking time over low heat.

Step 3:
Take the chicken out and let it drip dry in colander before serving. While we are waiting on that, we will go ahead and cook the rice.

The Rice
Wash the rice first of course. Then add in about 1 tablespoon worth of ginger puree and 1/2 a tablespoon of garlic. Salt to taste and mix well. Add in the chicken stock that you made earlier into the rice. 3 cups of rice to 4 to 4 1/2 cups chicken stock. Depends on you. I don't like my rice to be sticky so I made sure it's on a one to one basis. Now here is the secret to making the rice more fragrant...pandan leaves!!! I add in about 6 leaves since I only can find frozen pandan leaves. If you get them fresh, about 2 should do it :). Next, you know what's coming, cook/steam the rice. Same concept. :) While we are waiting on that to cook, let's make the sauces that goes with this...

Ginger sauce for dipping
1 tbsp of ginger puree
1/2 tbsp of garlic puree
5 pounded chilies
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp lime juice
2 tbsp chicken stock(again stock from the boiled chicken)

Mix all these together. Here you can add chilies if you want or omit it if you don't like it spicy.

Sauce for chicken
1 tbsp garlic puree
1 tsp sesame oil
5 tbsp light soya sauce
1 1/2 tbsp of sugar (to taste)
3 tbsps chicken stock (from boiled chicken)

Cut the chicken to bite size pieces and lay it over a bed of sliced cucumbers. Pour the sauce over it and serve with rice and ginger dipping. Enjoy...