Malacca Chicken Rice Balls by Coco Chiang

Taken from Astroview May 2010

• 1 cup of chicken oil
• 5 cloves of garlic, diced
• 3 shallots, diced
• grated ginger (amount should be roughly equivalent to the shallots)
• 2 strips of pandan leaves, folded
• fragrant Thai rice (enough for 10 people)
• 6 cups of chicken stock
• 3 tsp of chicken powder or granules (use crushed chicken stock cubes in the absence of granules or powder)
• salt to taste

Method:

1. Preheat your wok. Add about 2 ladles of chicken oil and set aside the remainder
2. Stir-fry shallots, garlic and ginger till fragrant
3. Add pandan leaves and butter
4. Once the butter has melted, add the rice and stir-fry
5. Once the liquid has been absorbed by the rice, transfer the contents of the wok to a rice cooker
6. Add the chicken stock, chicken powder and salt to taste
7. Cook for 30 mins
8. Once ready, stir the rice so that it doesn’t clump up
9. Scoop out individual balls of rice using a metallic spoon and lay them on a plate
10. Coat your hands lightly with the remaining chicken oil and shape the balls of rice into perfect spheres by rolling them to and fro between your palms
11. Serve the rice balls with steamed or roasted chicken