Windows video
QuickTime videoWhat a month it’s been. Moving to a new address on the other side of London, getting to grips with a new kitchen (while mourning the loss of the behemoth stove at our previous address), and on top of that, work work work!
THEN, just as we got this episode – where we make Hainanese chicken rice – shot and edited, Apple decided to bring out their new set-top box, Apple TV. It lets you watch podcasts like ours on your telly. Cool gadget, but it posed some issues, because to make the most of it we’ve had to step up the resolution of our videos.
But more on that later. We decided on something simple for the first show at our new place – Hainan chicken, or as some call it, Hainanese chicken rice. Like many Asian recipes it’s big on fresh ingredients prepared in a straightforward manner.
You stuff the chicken with a bit of ginger and greenery, whack it into a pot of water and simmer away. The chicken becomes fall-off-the-bone tender, the water becomes a stock and meanwhile you’re chopping other ingredients for a chilli sauce, a simple soup and the all-important chicken rice that Singaporeans claim as their very own.
It’s peasant food, intended to get the most out of a single chicken, and is the kind of meal Lenny really goes for. Me, I find the chicken a bit pale-looking and reckon it could do with a few minutes under the grill to add some colour – although a splash of the chilli sauce or soy-sesame mix does brighten things up. Some cooks suggest the use of kecap manis, the thicker, sweetened soy sauce from Indonesia.
I think we muffed it a bit with the chilli sauce – too much vinegar for my tastes. Asian-style rice vinegar is probably a better bet than our choice of cider vinegar (hey! nothing wrong with experimenting).
A bit more on the technical stuff. If you normally watch via our website, things won’t change much. You’ll continue to find a compact file that downloads snappily, either in QuickTime or Windows Media.
For now, the larger video only goes out with our RSS feed, which is picked up by iTunes and others. If you’re in this camp, it will just take a bit longer to download. Well worth the wait, we hope you’ll agree!
And if you’re watching via Apple TV please let us know how we look …
- Waz
Let’s get ready to rum baba!
Bangers and mash recipe – with video
Pavlova recipe from the end of the oeuf
How to make Kung Pao Chicken
How to cook with truffles
Let the jelly roll: Swiss roll recipe from Waz’s Nana
How to roast a duck, the slow and tender way
Our roast chicken recipe: hot and fast
No-fuss fish pie
Classic bolognese
Here’s steak in your ale pie
When bananas turn BAD!
Pudding it simply
We’re on a (cabbage) roll
Your sausage habits exposed
Can’t wait to try it. I really missed you two.
Love your podcasts, and this dinner looks like one I’ll try. I was a bit bothered by the videography on this one though – it was too “herky-jerky” (too many fast pans and cuts) and gave me a headache watching it.
Hey David,
Really appreciate the feedback. The video had some heavier processing than usual this time around, and I suspect that’s caused some of the jerkiness. Something we need to iron out as we get to grips with our new surroundings.
Waz
I’m glad you’re back, too!! This dish looked like fun to make and not too difficult to do. Will have to try making it soon. Thanks for the tips
Hi there. Intrigued how you got the link in at the end of the movie in quicktime? – is that an easy process. i’d like to do that before i export the movie in imovie is that possible?
Shame to have to give up that wide stove.
Great way to re-purpose food all at the same time, which is doable in pretty much any cuisine.
Hey Phil, and others interested in the clickable link at the end of our vids.
This is done using an HREF track that is added using QuickTime Pro. It involves a bit of coding but is not too difficult. Tutorials on the web can be found by searching on ‘HREF track’.
I’m not sure how to do it if you’re not using QT Pro.
Waz
Great podcast!! Always enjoy your episodes.
Best of luck in the new digs.
Natalie
Hi Guys
Nice to see your new kitchen.
Like this recipe, coming into Winter soon over here, so going to give it a go.
Lenny, perhaps a future in the advertising world!! What a slogan for happy food…was that it?
Cheers.
Lesleigh.
Hi Waz and Lenny. I’m a new(ish) viewer moved to Brisbane in 2001 so fascinated to watch the banoffee going on the tube etc. on a previous episode reminded me of London student days. New kitchen looks cosy and new skinny stove is what most people have to manage with!
How about cooking a Balti dish ?
I’m glad to see you guys put up a new episode, I am big fan of you guys
And I was even happier that you made my favourite dish – Hainanese Chicken Rice rules! Btw, I’m going to “betray” my family’s recipe a little and point out 2 more tricks for your recipe (my grandad emigrated from Hainan to Singapore).
You want to simmer the chicken on very low heat so that it cooks fork tender. And if you can find in your asian supermarket a bit of pandan (screwpine) leaves or essence for the cooking stock, you’ll take the dish to a whole new level.
Keep cooking, eat well and live happy
I’ve been a subscriber for over a year. I download the vids and wach em on my ipod. Waz, the resolution this time was higher and I believe it came out crisper. Keep up the good work. Was hoping for an Anzac Day “Anzac bikkie” recipe..lol. Oh! and great work with getting IKEA to come into it!!!!
Really like the cooking, bit concerned about the new download. 118Mb is a bit thick for a 10min podcast. Akin to a Champagne brandy for a pepper sauce. Tastes bloody good, but not really needed to get the right effect…
Alasdair, I agree wholeheartedly about the file size, and I have spent several frustrating days working on it, along with other video podcasters.
Unfortunately Apple have imposed certain fixed QuickTime settings to make videos work with both Apple TV and the iPod. But I am trying out some “hacks” devised by videobloggers that produce smaller files – so stay tuned, as they say.
The QuickTime link in the blog post is for a smaller file; you can right-click (or Mac equivalent) and download it to your computer, then drag and drop into iTunes. i realise this is less than seamless but if bandwidth/disk space is an issue …
Hey guys!
You’re great, I love your podcasts, the food and your accent
Also, I’m glad that I can watch in on Windows Media Player now. This is new, isn’t it? Maybe it is just me. Nevermind. Have a good May holiday! Looking forward to the next episode…
xx
A bit off topic, but can you validate? I mean really?
I motion for a CTK beer and something dish!!
CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) – Australians, long regarded as a nation of beer drinkers rivaled only by the Germans, seem to be turning soft, or sober.
After 113 years, the country’s biggest selling beer, Victoria Bitter, or VB, is to be produced in a mid-strength version to keep pace with the country’s fast-changing beer tastes.
VB, with its distinctive green label, has since 1894 been a staple of hard-drinking backyard barbecues, student revels and football games, not to mention healthy overseas exports.
Great podcast this time. I do agree that the end result looks a touch bland and pale, even with the sauces. One trick I’ve found is derived from a similar process in Cantonese cooking: after you’ve boiled the chicken, before you rub it with sesame oil, ladle some boiling soy sauce or red vinegar over the top, catching it back in the pan you boiled it in, and keep recycling until the skin starts to take on a bit of color. Rub in the sesame oil, then blast the chicken in the oven on a high setting until it gets nice and browned and crispy.
hi.. i’m a student from singapore and would just like to say thanks for promoting our unofficial ‘national dish’ to the world! chicken rice REALLY rules, we never get tired of it — even with so many choices of food available here
By the way, for the rice, most people here add crushed lemongrass stalks as well (and pandan, as another guy here has pointed out) you can fry the stalks together briefly with the rice before boiling it. And you can use good basmati rice, it gives a flavour with more oomph.
you have made a good attempt at the chilli though, although we don’t actually do it your way
we mince the chilli with the garlic and the ginger zest. No vinegar is added (as far as i know) but lime juice’s squeezed. and we use a sort of thickish sweet dark sauce (unsure of actual composition, though). i quite like the soy sauce and sesame oil dip though!
Matt, thanks for your tips about browning the chicken skin – I might go to the extra effort next time. But only if there are guests to impress!
Lenny
Hi guys.
1. Chicken boiled upside down because dark meat takes longer to cook, and water is hotter at the top where the majority of the steam is. Roasting chickens and turkeys this way also keeps the breasts moist (lower down), but doesn’t brown the skin. Skin is for sissies anyway.
2. Basmati rice especially, rice is washed to take off the stalk and excess starch. Wash 3 times with some light agitation. You don’t want to really grind the rice, as this damages it.
3. Prophylactics are put on cucumbers to reduce pickle count.
Hi, I just want to tell you that I enjoy your show and what you are cooking. I do agree with David, and wish you would not move around so much. Stay more with the food preparation. By the way is there any place where I can find the recipes in print?
Hi
love your show guys, truly grass roots, it puts jamie to shame! just to add my penny on this since you seem to enjoy chicken dishes. Greece, Cyprus and the south east med region has a dish which is similar but not really (!). Same principles, chicken, rice cooked in the broth and a sauce to match. Dish name depends on the region, I grew up on this stuff in Athens where it was referred to as chicken Milanese, which sounds italian (from the city of Milan) but none of my Milanese friends recognize it in this form! chicken cooked with vegetables and herbs (carrots, celery, celeriac, parsley, whatever takes your fancy really) to create a substantial broth. You use half the broth to cook the rice (long grain american sort) and the rest of the broth to make a white sauce. The sauce is the interesting part which has middle eastern and turkish routes. Whisk a couple of eggs to a frothy consistency and add the juice of two lemons combined with a level tablespoon of corn four. The tricky part is combining this to your broth as its easy for this mixture to separate, two principles I follow is a) don’t allow it to boil and b) start off the blending of egg&lemon with the broth by using small amounts of hot broth, once both mixtures are at the same temperature, you can just add them together. Simmer (don’t boil) for a couple of minutes until the broth thickens (thanks to the corn flour) and serve chicken with rice on the side and egg and lemon sauce to cover. looooovely.
I will try this. :d