Chicken Long Rice
The other week, I stumbled upon this awesome BuzzFeed Video about [other] Americans trying local foods from Hawaii. Side note: I love how other is bracketed because the title of the accompanying article almost suggests that people from Hawaii are not Americans, which I couldn't help but notice had spurred some grumpy comments. (Yes, Hawaii's the 50th State, woot woot!! hehehe) Anyway, they tried spam musubi (spam and rice wrapped in nori/dried seaweed), loco moco ( beef patty, fried egg, and brown gravy over rice), lau lau pork and salted fish that's been wrapped in taro leaves and a ti leaf or two then steamed), and kalua pig and cabbage (slow roasted pork; recipe here). The responses to most of these dishes were a bit of a mixed bag with exception to the spam musubi, which pretty much got gold stars across the board and the lau lau, which no one seemed to like (it's awesome btw). Chicken long rice didn't make the cut, but I have no doubt that it would have received a resounding YUM if it made it to the panel. You can think of it as a Hawaiian-style chicken soup, and who doesn't love chicken soup!? P.s. My favorite quotes from the BuzzFeed video: "It tastes like a Sunday afternoon" and "it tastes like a super chill beach pork" (both referring to the kalua pig and cabbage). LOL
Like all the recipes I'm sharing this week, chicken long rice is easy to make and it really only has a few ingredients: chicken, chicken broth, ginger, garlic, green onions, bean thread or cellophane noodles (long rice), and Hawaiian salt! Simple! Also, can we take a quick minute to talk about peeling ginger? Is the back edge of the spoon trick known to everyone nowadays or am I sharing something super cool right now? It's a trick that most people from Hawaii know and my dad actually taught it to me. If you haven't heard of it before, get ready to get excited. The photo above pretty much explains it all. Basically, just turn your spoon over, hold it in your hand and use one of the edges to get that ginger peeled quickly and without worry (no sharp knives needed!). Happy Wednesday, now go get your chicken long rice on!
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 lbs. bone-in chicken thighs
8 c. (64 oz.) chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, lightly smashed
1 inch piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. Hawaiian salt
5.3 oz. bean thread (cellophane) noodles
6 stalks green onion, chopped (discard white bottoms)
TOOLS
Chef's knife or Kiritsuke knife
Cutting board
Large heavy bottomed pot
Medium bowl
FIX
Place chicken, chicken broth, garlic, ginger, and into large pot. Bring everything to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the chicken is cooked through (tender and not pink), about 35 minutes. Remove chicken and place on a plate to cool, then strain broth before returning to stove. If you want a mild garlic/ginger flavor, discard garlic and ginger but if you like a stronger flavor, return to strained broth.
Shred chicken into 1/4-inch-thick pieces, discard the skin and bones. Add meat to broth and return to a simmer. Cover pot and simmer for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, fill bowl with hot tap water and add bean thread noodles. Let sit for 30 minutes to hydrate and soften and continue to simmer broth.
After the noodles have soaked for 30 minutes, strain out water and add to broth. Simmer until noodles are soft.
Serve and enjoy!
Note: If it looks like your noodles have soaked up all your broth, or that it's reduced too much, feel free to add more chicken broth. It'll dilute the garlic flavor, but just a little. Also, I recommend serving this as a side dish with kalua pig and cabbage, a scoop or two of white rice, lomi salmon, shoyu ahi poke, lychee lemonade, and a giant bowl of poi if you can find it!