This recipe originally called for a 6 ½ lb chicken, but the largest poultry we found was fowl, so we gave it a try; because fowl is less tender than chicken, we added more cooking time to tenderize the meat. Combine 14 cups water, 1 bunch Chinese celery (cut into thirds lengthwise), 1 bunch cilantro (cut in half
lengthwise), 12 shallots (peeled), about 3 inches of ginger (smashed and sliced lengthwise), 8 scallions (cut into half lengthwise), and 1 ½ Tbsp salt in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add ½ cup Shao-Hsing cooking wine, then add the whole chicken (here, fowl), breast side up. Top off with additional water as necessary (here, we added 4 more cups water and
3 more inches of ginger). Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, covered for 25 mins (we added an additional 20 minutes to account for the fowl, which has tougher flesh than chicken). Turn chicken over,
then cover and simmer for an additional 20 minutes (we added an additional 25 mins). Remove about 3 cups stock for separate use, then turn off heat and allow the chicken to rest, for 20 minutes. While the
chicken is resting, combine 2 ½ cups broth with 2 cups rinsed long-grain rice, then cook the the rice until tender (about 20 mins). Separately, combine the remaining ½ cup broth with 3 Tbsp each light
and dark soy sauce, 1 Tbsp Chinese white rice wine (here, we used Japanese rice vinegar), 2 tsp sesame oil, and 1 Tbsp each minced garlic and microplaned ginger, 2-3 chopped scallions, 1 Tbsp sugar, and ¼ tsp white pepper. Serve the chicken with the dipping sauce, broth, and the rice. The fowl and dipping sauce recipe are based on Chicken Poached with Chinese Celery in The Chinese Chicken Cookbook by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo. We served the broth-cooked rice and the broth based on a Hainanese recipe that we have made in the past. (July 2014)
Cooking Adventures 