Delicious and Beautiful Sticky Rice Chicken with Pickled Plum Sauce for the Year-End Celebration

How to prepare Chicken wrapped in Pandan leaves with Plum Sauce

• 1

  Prepare chicken and ingredients

  For the chicken, buy a pre-prepared chicken, then chop off the neck and the two chicken legs. Next, remove the bones from the two chicken thighs by using a knife to cut around the bone until you can easily pull the thigh bone out.

  Then, cut the belly of the chicken about 1/2 to stuff the filling in the next step. Finally, use 1/2 tablespoon of salt to rub on the chicken and rinse with water, then let it drain.

  For the lime leaves, remove the leaf veins and chop them finely. Rinse the pandan leaves a few times with water and let them drain.

  Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms until they expand, then drain and slice them. Soak the dried jujube in water for about 10 minutes and briefly boil it together with lotus seeds until slightly soft. Then, drain both of these ingredients.

  Tips for cleaning chicken, no smell:

  • Method 1: Dissolve vinegar and salt in a 2:1 ratio, then apply it to the chicken and rinse with clean water.
  • Method 2: Rub lime on the chicken, then rinse with clean water.
  • Method 3: Use crushed ginger, mix it with a little white wine, rub the mixture on the chicken and rinse with clean water.

  

  

  

  
• 2

  Cook the butterfly pea flower water and steam the sticky rice

  Place a pot on the stove, add the butterfly pea flowers (washed) along with 600ml of filtered water into the pot, cover and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes.

  Then, turn off the heat and keep the pot covered to steep for another 10 minutes, then strain to obtain about 500ml of butterfly pea flower water.

  Next, rinse the sticky rice briefly in water and let it drain a bit.

  Finally, put the sticky rice into the rice cooker and pour the butterfly pea flower water in so that it covers the surface of the sticky rice by about one finger width. Press the button to cook.

  When the sticky rice is cooked, use chopsticks to stir it evenly and cover the pot to cook for another 10 minutes. Next, open the lid and mix the sticky rice evenly and add 50ml of coconut milk, stir well, and cook for another 10 minutes.

  

  

  

  
• 3

  Prepare the chicken marinating sauce

  Put all the ingredients into a bowl including: 2/3 tablespoon of seasoning, 2/3 tablespoon of salt, 2/3 tablespoon of monosodium glutamate, 2/3 tablespoon of fish sauce, and 2/3 tablespoon of sesame oil, and mix well.

  
• 4

  Sauté the stuffing ingredients

  First, place a pot of water on the stove, bring it to a boil to cook the quail eggs for about 5 minutes, then remove and drain.

  Next, put a pan on the stove, turn the heat to medium, and add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil (about 20ml), swirling the pan to sauté 2/3 tablespoon of minced garlic and 2/3 tablespoon of minced shallots until fragrant.

  Gradually add the ingredients into the pan, including: 10g of licorice, 20g of shredded kaffir lime leaves, lotus seeds, and cooked jujube, stirring the mixture for about 3 – 4 minutes. Then, add all the quail eggs (cooked), and stir for another 5 minutes.

  Finally, add 1/3 of the marinating sauce into the sautéed mixture, stir well for about 5 minutes and turn off the heat.

  

  

  

  
• 5

  Marinate the chicken

  Place the chicken (prepared) in a bowl, pour the marinade evenly and use clean hands to rub the marinade all over the chicken, including inside the cavity. Marinate the chicken for about 15 minutes.

  
• 6

  Stuffing ingredients and steaming the chicken

  You stuff the sautéed filling into the chicken’s belly and seal it with a skewer (or sew it with food-safe thread).

  Then, you place the chicken on the steaming rack and begin steaming the chicken for 30 minutes on high heat, then turn off the heat.

  Tip: If you have leftover filling, you can steam it along with the chicken.

  

  

  
• 7

  Making sticky rice wrapped chicken

  Take a tray larger than the chicken and cover it with a layer of plastic wrap. Next, spread the sticky rice evenly over the surface of the tray and press down lightly.

  Wait for the steamed chicken to cool slightly, then remove the skewer that was secured in the chicken’s belly and place the chicken in the middle of the sticky rice tray. Wrap the sticky rice around the chicken with the plastic wrap and press tightly.

  Finally, wrap another layer of plastic wrap around the sticky rice wrapped chicken, press tightly again, and place the chicken in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.

  

  

  

  
• 8

  Cooking plum sauce

  Place a pan on the stove over medium heat, boil 30ml of water and 5gr of plum cube (1 cube). Add the ingredients in order: 1/3 tablespoon of seasoning, 1/3 tablespoon of minced shallots, 2/3 tablespoon of sugar, 1/3 tablespoon of garlic, 1/3 tablespoon of fish sauce, and 2/3 tablespoon of plum chili sauce, stirring well. Cook until the mixture thickens slightly, remove the plum cube, adjust the seasoning to taste and turn off the heat.

  

  
• 9

  Frying sticky rice chicken

  Place a deep pan on the stove, pour in cooking oil to about 2/3 of the pan. While waiting for the oil to heat, remove the plastic wrap to take out the sticky rice chicken.

  Place the sticky rice chicken on a large sieve and continuously drizzle hot oil over the chicken until the outer layer of sticky rice becomes hard and crispy, then place the sticky rice chicken into the hot oil for frying. At this point, fry until the sticky rice layer is golden and crispy. Remove and let it drain.

  Note: Drizzle oil over the sticky rice to make the outer layer crispy, preventing the rice from bursting during frying.

  

  

  
• 10

  Finished product

  The purple sticky rice chicken with sour plum sauce has the characteristic purple color of the pandan leaves, and the outer layer of sticky rice is fried crispy while still maintaining the chewiness of the glutinous rice when bitten. The chicken inside is fragrant thanks to the filling ingredients such as lime leaves, licorice, lotus seeds, and jujube. The chicken meat is tender and just right to eat, combined with the rich flavor of young egg yolks blended with the richness of lotus seeds, which is very perfect.

  When eating, you can dip it in the sour plum sauce that has a sweet and sour taste, which is very delicious, along with some fresh vegetables for a light accompaniment.