Growing up, Momofuku Kōjin‘s chef Eva Chin’s family typically enjoyed dim sum over the holidays, rather than traditional North American festive foods, such as stuffing. One family favourite was lo mai gai, which is dim sum stuffed with sticky rice and chicken.
Chin’s grandmother decided to take a cue from classic stuffing and put a holiday twist on the famous dim sum dish by stuffing a whole turkey with sticky rice cooked with shaoxing wine, soy and braised shiitakes. This stuffed and roasted chicken and gravy recipe has been passed down from Chin’s grandmother to her mother and now to her and her siblings. Chin sees it as a lovely merging of two cultures to create new traditions.
CHICKEN
· 1 whole chicken (crown boned out, thigh bone and wing flat removed)
· 2 tbsp five spice powder
· 2 tbsp salt
BRINE
· 4 L water
· 3 cups kosher salt
· 2 cups brown sugar
UMAMI PASTE
· ¼ cup sake
· ¼ cup mirin
· ¾ cup shoyu
· 5 tbsp bonito flakes
· 5 sheets of nori sheets
SOY MUSHROOM RAGU
· 2 cups shiitake mushroom, dried, rehydrated and diced
· ¼ cup sesame oil
· ¼ cup sake
· ½ cup mirin
· ¾ cup umami paste
STICKY MUSHROOM RICE
· 1 cup Thai glutinous rice
· 1 cup soy mushroom ragu
BRINE STEP
Mix all the brine ingredients together and brine the boned-out chicken for one hour.
UMAMI PASTE STEPS
1. Bring everything but the nori sheets to boil.
2. Take off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
3. Strain off the bonito flakes and transfer to a blender and blend with nori until smooth.
MUSHROOM RAGU STEP
1. Bring everything to a boil and let it simmer for 15 minutes
CHICKEN AND STICKY MUSHROOM RICE STEPS
1. Put the sticky rice into a bowl with cold water and cover completely. Let it soak overnight.
2. Once soaked overnight, rinse the rice under hot running water for 10 minutes.
3. Line a sieve with the rice, ensuring that the layer of rice doesn’t exceed ¼ inch in depth.
4. Place in a steamer and steam over high heat for 18 minutes.
5. Remove from the steamer and with heat-protective gloves, use your hands OR a heat-proof spatula to fold in the warm soy mushroom ragu (see above for recipe) and mix well until a gooey texture forms.
6. Open the chicken breast with your knife like a book and butterfly it to create space for your stuffing to go in.
7. Once open, season the chicken with five-spice powder and salt. Lay sticky rice onto the opened breast meat and fold over with the rest of the breast meat and roll tightly into a swiss roll.
8. Steam the chicken until the temperature of your thermometer reads 150°F in the breast and thigh. Let it cool down in the fridge and dry overnight on a wire rack and sheet tray.
9. The second day, preheat the oven to 425°F, pop the chicken into the oven for 8–10 minutes. The skin should be a nice dark brown caramel colour.
10. Let it cool from the oven just until the skin crisps up from the air, and then transfer to a chopping board to cut and enjoy.
You can also order this dish from Holidays at Home with Kōjin
