Samsui Ginger Chicken

Do you make 白切鸡, 'white-cut chicken'? If you do, chances are you stuff the cavity of the chicken with spring onions and ginger. After checking out the recipes online and in a few cookbooks, I think nine out of 10 people stuff their chicken. It's like these people, when they see an empty chicken, simply can't resist shoving in something. If you're one of them, I'm sorry to have to tell you, the method is wrong.

Why is it wrong?

Because jamming the cavity stops the hot water from circulating freely. Hence, the chicken is heated from the outside only, prolonging the cooking. By the time the inside is done, the skin would be overcooked and soft, and the meat on the outside dry and coarse. A good 白切鸡, one that's not overcooked outside or inside, should have skin that's still springy, and meat that's soft, juicy and silky smooth. Some people even like it slightly undercooked with the bones still red.

To cook 白切鸡 the correct way, don't block the passageway. Hold the chicken by its head, dunk it in boiling water, allowing the cavity to fill up, then drain the water back into the pot. Repeat the process 2-3 times. This warms up the cavity, and helps the chicken cook evenly as it steeps in hot water. Naturally, if you live somewhere where chickens are sold headless and neckless, getting the bird out of the hot water is a bit of a problem!

In the old days in China, common folks usually ate chicken only when they were making religious offerings. For these festivities, the chicken had to be whole, not cut up. Unless you're following the same tradition, there's really no need to cook a chicken the old-fashioned way. The head, neck and feet may be trimmed, along with the spine. Instead of a cul-de-sac cavern, the back of the chicken is wide open. Heat circulates freely, so the chicken cooks evenly without any dunking.

The traditional method cooks 白切鸡 by steeping the whole chicken, literally head to toe, in hot water. I, however, prefer to use a rice cooker on warm mode. This way, the meat juices released during cooking aren't lost in an ocean of water. Instead, the flavourful liquid may be added to the ginger sauce to give it extra oomph.

Before using the meat juices to make the ginger sauce, I drizzle the good stuff on the chicken. Basting, contrary to what some roast chicken recipes say, does NOT make the meat more juicy. I know because I once weighed a chicken before and after basting. But the extra step is useful because, as the liquid flows through the chicken, some of the salt is left in the meat. Which tastes better when it's salted, everyone knows that.

The best cooking technique in the world wouldn't make good 白切鸡 if you use a poor quality chicken with mushy skin and cottony meat. And don't think a bigger chicken would always taste better. It used to but nowadays size is no longer a good indication of flavour. Bigger chickens may just be pumped with more growth hormones than smaller ones! That's cheaper than investing time and feed to let the birds grow and mature in flavour.

In the place called Little Red Dot, 白切鸡 is usually served Hainanese style with garlic chilli sauce, grated ginger and dark soya sauce. The Cantonese style, with a sauce made with ginger, spring onions and oil, isn't common. I've not seen it anywhere here except Soup Restaurant where it's called Samsui Ginger Chicken. The restaurant serves its signature dish with lettuce leaves, which diners use to wrap the chicken and ginger sauce. This is a sexed up version of the classic style which is sans lettuce, and may be found everywhere in Hong Kong.

To some people, poached or steamed chicken may be just part of a low-carb, high-protein diet. It's something they tolerate, not enjoy. Poor things! (The chickens which die for an unworthy cause, not people). I'd tell the calorie counters to try Samsui Ginger Chicken except they'll refuse to eat the chicken skin, and probably make the ginger sauce without oil. *shudder* *wipe grease from chin* I wonder if they might change their mind if I tell them Samsui women, who loved nothing more than Samsui Ginger Chicken, were all skinny as a beanpole. Nah, cardboard chicken makes them feel all virtuous. Meanwhile, Samsui Ginger Chicken makes me feel all happy. *wipe more grease from chin*



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SAMSUI GINGER CHICKEN (三水姜茸鸡; 'WHITE-CUT CHICKEN' WITH GINGER SAUCE ) (Recipe for 4 persons) Chicken 1 kampong/organic hen weighing 1.0-1.1 kg, or 850-950 g without head & feet discard head; trim and reserve neck, feet and spine for making stock; rinse chicken thoroughly, removing feathers if any 1 tsp salt 20 g old ginger peel and rinse; slice thinly; crush slightly 20 g spring onion trim and rinse; halve lengthwise; crush slightly 姜茸 (ginger sauce) – makes about ⅔ cup 100 g young ginger peel, rinse and pound finely; squeeze to remove 3 tbsp juice; set both juice and pulp aside 30 g spring onions, bottom part only if you like a stronger onion flavour trim, rinse and chop finely 1½ tbsp groundnut oil 1½ tbsp white sesame oil ¾ tsp sea salt ¼ tsp chicken powder 1 head iceberg lettuce halve lengthwise; reserve outer and innermost leaves for other dishes; wash and drain the rest, or the amount you want; tear bigger leaves into smaller pieces just big enough to wrap bite size chicken; chill till ready to serve Garnish ½ cucumber wash, slice thinly and arrange on serving plate in a circle (1) The cooking time varies with not just the size but also the type of chicken. Organic chickens have denser meat and bones, so they need to be cooked longer compared to non-organic chickens of the same size. (2) If you live in the place called Little Red Dot, take note that the supermarkets sell both male and female kampong chickens. For白切鸡, you'd of course want a female bird. (3) The chicken shouldn't be too big so that there's room in the rice cooker for the heat to circulate. Chicken: Whilst preparing chicken as detailed above, place 2 tbsp water in a rice cooker on cook mode. After rice cooker changes to warm mode, place prepared chicken in the pot, skin side down. Spread ginger and spring onions on chicken. Add 2 tbsp water. Leave cooker on cook mode for 5 minutes. You should now see steam rising steadily from the air vent. Switch to warm mode and let chicken cook till juices run clear when a chopstick is inserted into the RIGHT thigh, about 30 minutes. Discard spring onions and ginger. Place chicken in running water till cool, about 5 minutes. Drain. Drizzle evenly with meat juices released during cooking. Repeat twice. Place chicken on a plate, minus juices. Brush with oil used for making ginger sauce (see below). Cover till ready to serve. Ginger sauce: Add meat juices to ginger. Stir through. Add spring onions and stir again. Heat white sesame oil and groundnut oil till just smoking. Drizzle on ginger and spring onions, leaving 1 tsp or so for brushing chicken (see above). Sprinkle with salt and chicken powder. Mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, adding some ginger juice if you like it more spicy. Set aside for flavours to mingle. Remaining ginger juice may be frozen, then thawed for marinating meat, or making sweet potato soup, 姜汁炖奶, teh halia, etc. Serving: Wearing gloves and using a chef's knife, halve chicken lengthwise. Cut along joints to separate wings, drumsticks and thighs. Cut each wing into 2 pieces along main joint. Debone breast by pulling. Cut meat into bite size pieces, by tapping knife sharply. Slice drumsticks and thighs lengthwise on side with less skin. Pull bones to loosen, then cut tendons at both ends of bones. Cut bite size as before. Keep bones for making stock which will, please take note, taste of ginger and spring onions. Arrange meat on serving plate garnished with sliced cucumber. Serve with ginger sauce and lettuce leaves. To eat, wrap chicken and dollop of ginger sauce with lettuce. May be enjoyed as starter, finger food, salad, breadless sandwich, main course, midnight snack, whatever.

Sambal Timun

I like Mrs Wee Kim's sambal timun recipe in Cooking for the President. The magic of the Spicy Pork Cucumber Salad is in the dressing – isn't it always, with salads?

Opposites attract, so bland, tasteless timun (cucumber) and spicy, hot sambal (chilli paste) are the proverbial match made in Nyonya heaven. And when the matchmaker is Mrs Wee, you can be assured it's a particularly blissful match.

Besides the usual red chillies and belachan, the ex-First Lady also uses pounded kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced bungah kantan (torch ginger bud) and julienned calamansi lime peel. That's a lot of intense flavours already but there's more.

There's a special touch in Mrs Wee's sambal timun: dried prawns which are dry-fried and then ground. The toasting gives the prawns a wonderful fragrance not found in other recipes that don't have this step. It also dries up the prawns which then soak up the calamansi lime juice, along with the delicious mix of flavours from belachan, chillies, lime leaves, lime peel and bungah kantan.

The dressing is looking good already but it's not done yet. Sliced shallots and blanched Chinese celery are tossed into the spicy paste, along with some salt and sugar. Mix, mix, mix . . . . Ok, now it's done. There're 12 ingredients in the Nyonya dressing, and each one plays a crucial role. It is, I tell ya, one awesome sambal that makes timun taste good. Who says cucumber is boring?

Sambal timun can be made without meat but if you have a carnivorous streak, Mrs Wee's recipe would make you very happy 'cause it has lots of soft, tender pork belly. Which, if you like, can be replaced with chicken and if you make it skinless, you'd have a tasty, fat-free salad. Hey, eat but don't forget about looking sexy in a see-through kebaya!

SAMBAL TIMUN (SPICY PORK CUCUMBER SALAD) Source: Adapted from Cooking for the President (Recipe for 8 persons) 300 g pork belly, cut 2 cm thick 500 g cucumber 30 g Chinese celery, cut 3 cm long, blanch in warm water and drain 50 g shallots, peel, rinse and slice thinly 45 g dried prawns, rinse, dry-fry or toast till semi-dry and grind till fine ½ cup calamansi lime juice (20-25 limes!), or 4 tbsp Chinese white vinegar 15 g calamansi peel (2 limes), rinse and julienne 2 bungah kantan (torch ginger buds), tender part only, rinse and slice thinly 40 g large red chillies (2 pieces), rinse red cili padi (bird's eye chillies) to taste, 6-10 pieces, rinse 2 kaffir lime leaves, medium size, rinse, tear and discard veins 15 g belachan (2 tbsp), toast till fragrant ½ tsp salt 2 tsp sugar Simmer pork belly in salted water till just tender, about 30 minutes. When cool enough to handle, cut crosswise 3 mm thick. Rinse and halve cucumber lengthwise. Deseed and cut diagonally 5 mm thick. Soak in water for 10 minutes. Drain. Prepare dried prawns, Chinese celery, lime juice, lime peel, shallots and bungah kantan as indicated above. Cut chillies and kaffir lime leaves into small pieces. Pound or grind with belachan into a fine paste. Place all ingredients in a big bowl. Mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Refrigerate if not serving immediately.

Chinese Rojak

Once in a while, I go on a binge eating session at a hawker centre to indulge in the "fun stuff". It's a low-carb pig-out so that there's as much variety as possible. Everything is, on its own, not very filling but when they're eaten together in one sitting, leave my friends and I barely able to move. A typical session may see us digging into barbecued stingray, barbecued crabs, stir-fried clams, fish soup, oyster omelette, chendol, ice-kacang and ngoh hiang. Anything else . . . ? Oh yes, we mustn't forget our fibre, so we'd have a plate of fruits and veggies in the most fun way possible – rojak!

I was busy stirring bowl after bowl after bowl of rojak sauce last weekend, trying to find one that I liked. The first mistake I made was with the tamarind water. I followed the rojak recipe in The Best of Singapore Cooking, mixing a walnut size blob of assam with 80 ml of water. That totally spoilt the sauce/dressing 'cause it was way too watery. I had to reduce the amount of water, and leave out the lime juice in the recipe, before I finally got a thick and sticky consistency.

Nailed it? Not yet, not so fast. The sauce turned watery again after I mixed it with fruits. The culprit this time was the (rather) expensive 'crystal' pineapple I had bought. It was really juicy and ideal for eating straight, but not for making rojak. The colour of the sauce wasn't right either. It should be almost black or very dark brown, but mine was more like a medium brown. Also, the fermented prawn paste didn't taste right, in a I-can't-put-my-finger-on-it-but-it's-not-quite-right kind of way.


I was into my third bowl of rojak sauce – making, not eating – and on a roll. Off I trotted to a minimart to look for a different brand of fermented prawn paste. 'This is the one rojak hawkers use!' the friendly shopkeeper assured me, holding up a red and blue plastic tub that said 'TWO BOYS BRAND'. 'Really ah?' I took his word for it, and also picked up a cheap, green and hopefully not so juicy pineapple.

On the fourth attempt, I finally nailed it with the help of the two new ingredients. The sauce tasted quite similar to the (famous) rojak in Balestier – hey, the one Chow Yun Fat goes to! It was a lighter version though, with less sugar and prawn paste – the way I liked it. If you prefer a richer sauce, just add more of both and peanuts, and provide for more sauce. And don't forget to toast the dough fritters and beancurd puffs till they're really crispy. That's the whole point of making rojak, to have you zha kueh and tau pok that go c-r-u-n-c-h! Plus, I can have as much green mango and jambu as I like! Plus, I don't have to wait – hey, the good places for rojak have electronic queue systems!


Was Chinese rojak invented by the Chinese? I hope so. It's a nice symbol of the old immigrants' assimilation into life in the 'South Ocean' with the use of ingredients from China and Southeast Asia. Even the name 'rojak', which means mix, is so apt. Do the 'new immigrants' know that, I wonder . . . .

CHINESE ROJAK (Recipe for 6 persons) 150 g mang kuang (local turnip; yam bean; jicama; 沙葛) 150 g cucumber 80 g under ripe pineapple 80 g green mango 100 g jambu (rose apples) 1 pair you zha kueh (Chinese dough fritters; 油条), toasted till crisp 4 pieces tau pok (beancurd puffs; 豆卜), toasted till crisp Rojak sauce (dressing) – makes 1 cup 90 g fermented prawn paste (6 tbsp) 60 g tamarind paste (4 tbsp), mixed with 3 tbsp hot water and drained; . . . seeds picked out and discarded (Orchid brand) peel of ½ calamansi lime, finely minced 1 packed tbsp torch ginger bud (aka rojak flower), finely minced 4 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp chilli powder, or to taste ½ cup toasted peanuts (80 g), skinless, and coarsely ground The dressing is sufficient for about 1 kg (8 cups heaped) of ingredients. Besides those listed above, other popular choices include green apples, buah kedongdong, cured jellyfish, cured squid, and blanched bean sprouts and kangkong (water spinach). Choose whatever strikes your fancy. Everything should be peeled, trimmed, washed and thoroughly dried as necessary, then cut bite size, into thin wedges where possible. To make rojak sauce, thoroughly mix all ingredients except peanuts. When sugar is melted, add all of ground peanuts except 2 tbsp and stir till evenly mixed. You should have 1 cup of sticky sauce that's as thick as peanut butter. Taste and adjust if necessary. Toss everything, adding dough fritters and beancurd puffs towards the end so that they don't turn soggy. Plate and sprinkle with remaining peanuts. Serve immediately. Why not make some Stuffed tau pok with rojak sauce as well? Click here for the recipe.