Recipe Reeeeeemix: Chicken Long Rice with Green Curry and Leeks

I dig braised meats, deep-fat frying, and charred chops as much as (who am I kidding, grossly-more-than) the next eater, but I've definitely hit a brown-food wall.  I'm a 'lil fatigued of things that taste like they're meant to prepare you for hibernation.

Which makes me cuckoopants-nostalgic for local Hawaiian food.

Which makes me dig through the pantry...and realize that I'm a couple of staples short of a faithful reproduction of chicken long rice. 

(Perhaps in the next life, I'll learn to keep a non-sprouting hand of ginger around.)

What is chicken long rice, you ask?  It's basically broth-bathed, ginger-scented bits of vermicelli noodles suspending tender chunks of chicken, usually spooned over rice.  It's a pretty Hawaii-specific thing, amorphous by nature--neither Chinese nor Japanese, too thickened to be soup-noodles, but too thin to be stew. 

No matter! I'm recklessly tweaking the beloved, monotone classic of chicken long rice to suit the contents of my fridge and my selfish mid-winter needs.

At home, they usually make long rice with round onion and finish it with green onion; I didn't have either, but I did have some pert leeks.  Using both the white and the green parts of the leeks made a fine (if blaringly inauthentic) substitute. 

I was also missing the aforementioned ginger, which is tougher to duplicate.  But my eye landed on a jar of Thai green curry paste crouching in the fridge door.  Why not?  It's got galangal in it--not quite ersatz ginger, but closer than anything else I had on-hand--plus, the heat from chilis and citrus notes from the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves would be an eye-opening off-beat to a generally one-note dish.

And hell, since we were taking it to curry paste, why not season with Vietnamese fish sauce rather than salt?  Let's flip in some star anise, too, as a shout-out to the Chinese.

The result?  Not a chicken long rice you'd find at a luau or plate lunch place, but a bright, soothing bowl that I'd be happy to serve to NYers and kamaaina alike.

Chicken Long Rice with Green Curry and Leeks

Adapted by An Effing Foodie

Based on: Jean Watanabe Hee's Hawaii's Best Local Dishes, pg. 83.

Yields 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

• 2-4 TBSP vegetable oil
• 1-2 tsp. Thai green curry paste (if you're going traditional, replace with one 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled & crushed)
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 lbs. chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces (I include skin and bones, but you don't have to)
• 2 large or 3 small leeks, cut into 1/2-inch pieces on the bias (both white and green parts)
• 2 (14.5-oz.) cans chicken broth
• 1 pod star anise
• 2 (2-oz.) bundles long rice, soaked in hot water (AKA bean thread/mung bean vermicelli, available at Asian markets)
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Fish sauce, to taste
• White pepper, to taste

For serving: Hot rice and Sriracha
For pie-in-the-sky serving: Squid Luau, Lomi Lomi Salmon (Sigh)

Method:

Bring a large, heavy pot (I use a 5-qt dutch oven) to medium-high heat.  Saute the curry paste and garlic in vegetable oil briefly, enough so that the paste melts down but the garlic doesn't brown.  Add the chicken and saute until lightly browned, about 4-5 minutes.  Add chicken broth and star anise; bring the mixture to a boil before lowering to a simmer.

Drain and cut the soaked long rice into 3-to-4-inch lengths (otherwise, the finished noodles will be unwieldy).  Add to the pot.

Bring a large skillet to high heat with vegetable oil; stir fry the leeks with a pinch of salt until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.  Add to the simmering pot.

Simmer for about 10 minutes, so that the leek greens remain bright.  Adjust seasoning with fish sauce and white pepper.

Serve spooned over rice, with Sriracha for personalized squeezing.

Comments

[Mom]

That's my girl! Very creative! You bet it tastes good as leeks and green curry go well with long rice (which is kind of bland).

Mom

[BCC]

Hey, I made this the other night. Except:

1. I used pork instead of chicken.
2. I went traditional, with ginger instead of curry.
3. I added mushrooms, stir-fried with the leeks.
4. I couldn't find any star anise so I used about 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves, which didn't taste in the broth at all, but made it smell really nice.
5. I used rice noodles 'cause I live amongst white folks and couldn't get any bean thread.

So on second thought maybe I didn't make this at all -- but whateever it was, it tasted good.