A Delicious Chinese Flu Remedy
For as long as I can remember Hainanese Chicken Rice has been my go to meal when the first signs of a flu appear. To explain to those unacquainted - it's a poached chicken dish served with rice cooked in buttery chicken stock, ginger and chilli sauces and a bowl of the fresh broth. Warm, salty, nourishing it's the perfect sick pick-me-up.
It might seem like a strange craving for a person with strong Irish and English heritage (read: a red head) but I was grew up in Singapore in my formative years and I suppose that's when Asian tastes were stamped into my DNA.
So when I fell ill recently my brain hit the automatic "Hainanese" panic alarm and I went searching for the dish of my infancy. As a child it was my mum (who is so, so brilliant at cooking Asian food) who would lovingly answer the call. Now thanks to the good people of Deliveroo and a few clicks on my phone I had the dish on my lap within half an hour. When I slurped down the last piece of silky chicken breast and felt warmth of the meal flood my body I realised, I've never once made this dish myself! Kind of shocking for someone who's written a cookbook, tests countless recipes every week and who writes a monthly food column.
Now I'm well again (readers, try to avoid this year's flu if you can) and have been armed with these local, gorgeous chickens thanks to Shirley at Hand Sourced (more on the brilliant things she's doing to support great Australian farmers soon) I'm prepping a poached chicken feast and these are some of the best recipes I've rounded up so far:
Masterchef's Poh reveals her secrets in this recipe, pictured above
My friend Julie shared hers with me verbally then luckily backed it up with this link
Made with the 'Cadillac' of local chickens
You might find this chef's secret ingredients squeamish
Try to find a better name for it
So I'd love to know, what's your go-to food medicine when a cold or flu strikes?
